I Had No Idea
The lady in the picture with me is a new Facebook friend. Until very recently, I only knew Jane Humphrey as a nice lady who worked in an insurance office. I had spoken to her on the phone and talked with her in person about “business stuff,” but I had no idea about how much we had in common.
Those who read A Legacy of Faith may remember that one of my recent posts was about a man by the name of Robert Waller. [Read that post here if you missed it.] The post included a picture I had taken of brother Waller and our son, Adam Faughn. The picture was taken after our son had presented a lesson at the Freed-Hardeman University lectureship a couple of years ago.
I think I’m fairly safe in assuming that, when brother Waller baptized me, he had no idea that he would someday hear my son speak at the FHU lectureship. In fact, when he baptized me, he had no idea that I would ever have a son.
After that post appeared, one of Jane’s cousins made her aware of it. The insurance agent for/with whom she works (and who is an elder in a congregation close to where I live) told me a little about her reaction. As I remember it, he told me that her reaction was: “I had no idea…”
There is a little “backstory” to all of this. By the time I got to know brother Waller in the early to mid-1970’s, he had lost his first wife. I never knew her. I only knew the lady he had married after her death. I was only vaguely aware of the fact that brother Waller and his first wife had a couple of children. By the time I got to know him, they were no longer at home.
At about the same time I wrote the post about brother Waller a few weeks ago, I learned that Jane Humphrey is one of those children. I had no idea.
Similarly, she had no idea that I had even known her father. She certainly did not know that he had baptized me.
As they say on television – But wait! There’s more!!
When brother Waller baptized me, I was a high school teacher in my hometown of Metropolis, Illinois. At that time, I thought that would be my career for a lifetime.
However, that proved to not be the case. Sometime after brother Waller left my hometown, I ended my career as a teacher and began preaching in Vienna, Illinois.
During my time in Vienna, brother Waller preached in a gospel meeting at his “home congregation” in Paducah, Kentucky. I was able to attend one night of that gospel meeting. As I talked with him following the service, I expressed “mock disappointment” about something he said – or more accurately did not say.
Before he began his lesson for the evening, he expressed gratitude for people who were in attendance from various congregations in the area. As I talked with him later, I told him that I was “disappointed” because he had not mentioned Vienna, Illinois where I was preaching.
I wish I had a picture of the look on his face. I still remember it. I also remember that, as rare as it is, I had caused a preacher to be speechless. While he did not say the words, the message was that he had no idea that I was no longer teaching school and was preaching.
I can remember that, during his time in Metropolis, there were a few times when brother Waller would ask me to accompany him as he conducted a Bible study in somebody’s home. It goes without saying that he had no idea that he was planting a seed that would someday produce a gospel preacher.
So – what is the point of all of this?
It is not merely about the fact that I have a new friend. It is not merely about some of the unusual twists and turns that my life has taken. It seems to me that there is something much bigger than those things to consider.
It seems to me that the point of all of this is that none of us ever truly knows the people with whom we may be having what we think is only a casual conversation, a business transaction, etc. We may have more in common with a lady in an insurance office, a bank teller, a worker in some store or restaurant we frequent, etc. than we could ever imagine.
I’m really hoping that my new Facebook friend was pleasantly surprised to learn about the connection between her late father and me. I’m hoping that, when she said that she had no idea, she was not saying that she found it difficult to believe that somebody who is so different from her father could have anything in common with him.
We never know what kind of impact that our interaction with other people may have. How would you feel, for example, if you were to learn that the “nameless person” you just yelled at, cheated in a business deal, were rude to in some way, in a business, recreational, or social environment was, in fact, a brother or sister in the Lord? How would you feel if you learned that somebody who was giving some consideration to becoming a Christian was turned away from the Lord by observing your behavior?
Our impact and influence could reach beyond the immediate moment. We may never know how far-reaching our words, attitudes, and actions may be. It could very well be that the way I treat somebody who, at the moment, is unknown to me could change his or her life from that moment on. It could even very easily be the case that each of us could have an impact on generations yet to be born. (Remember, our son who is now a preacher was not even born when brother Waller baptized me.)
It could even be the case that what I do and say as I interact with others could have an impact for eternity. I think it would be wonderful to see somebody in heaven and for one or both of us to be able to say…
I had no idea.
To Receive Every Post from A Legacy of Faith through Email for Free, Click Here
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
