FRONT-PORCH GOSPEL: This life story begins in 1973 (kind of) – part 42

“Cheyenne,” I said, thinking deeply as we got to the part of our story where Mama and Corinna met, “I think about somethin’ sometimes when all of these people the Lord put in our lives back fifty years ago come to mind.”

Cheyenne waited for the answer, suspecting we were about to venture off onto an uncharted trail and seeming okay with it.

“I find myself pausing all throughout the week,” I continued, “saying a prayer for all of those I think of, from the ones there in Roanoke and on the bricklayin’ job to the classmates with whom we sat in class for years learning to become somethin’, even though we didn’t know what.

“When I was in elementary school, early on, maybe the second grade, I remember us doin’ a choir program; and at the end we had a ‘benediction.’ I didn’t know what a benediction was, and I’m not sure I had ever said a four-syllable word before; but the teacher gave me a line to recite at the end of the concert, and it was, simply, ‘Now for the benediction.’

“I’ve always loved the idea, maybe largely because of that. I never forgot it. I heard a preacher preach about benedictions several years ago, and that sermon struck me, too. He talked about saying ‘God bless you’ and how we should make sure that we mean it when we say it. With all of these memories that we’re talkin’ about comin’ back to me, I cannot help but say a little blessin’ for different ones, I can’t help but offer them my ‘benediction.’

“On the bricklayin’ job, we have everybody from Doocy to Red, and these are real people even though most of the names in the book are changed to protect the guilty,” I said with a chuckle, “and I love to pause to say a prayer for all of them.

“And then thinking of those high school classmates with whom we are reacquainting ourselves – Patti, Susan, Bob, James, Sandy, Anya, Gary, Rick, Sheila, Jo, a girl named Kyle, and these are just the ones that we have had direct contact with as we prepare to all go back together for the reunion – and then there’s Steve Sauter and all those ‘boys down at the Y’ with whom we played basketball every trip home to see Grandma.

“Steve is the master of the one-liner. Several years back when we were playin’ on my trip to see Grandma, I made a couple of good moves – I was back in my 40s then – and Steve quipped for all to hear, ‘Now there’s that Texas two-step.’ On another occasion, after swishing a shot from downtown (I always remember the good things, you’ll note), he fell back into his color commentary and hollered out, ‘That’s a ten-gallon-hat shot there!’”

I had to pause just to soak in the memories.

“Cheyenne,” I continued, with a sigh, “by the time we get home from the reunion, I’ll have a hundred more names and faces to remember and to say a prayer for and to be thankful for. It’s a special time of life.”

“Popman,” Cheyenne jumped in, curiously, “what kind of ‘benediction,’ as you call it, what kind do you pray? How does that work?”

“Oh,” I said with little hesitation, “mostly some from the Bible. There’s the Old Testament one that may be the best: ‘May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; and give you peace.’

“Just think, Cheyenne,” I continued, leaving the story for a moment for a sermon, “think of the power of a prayer when you ask the Lord to ‘turn His face’ toward somebody, toward Doocy or Pee Wee, Sandy or Bob, or Corrina and her family who moved up on that hill after the job was complete and spent some of their best days that Roanoke hill – all of these people being among those who made a lasting impression on your life when you were the most impressionable.

“And some of those people have gone on, so you offer a benediction for their families who are left behind. I can pray for a lady named Shirley who lost her husband and our good friend Tony Pippen only a few months before this reunion, and I think often of the family of a young man, Mike Cosper, who left us long, long ago; but before he did he impacted our life.”

Cheyenne seemed to be soaking it all in, this idea of a benediction and of never forgetting to offer one for those people who come along in your life and make a difference, and no difference is small.

“Popman, I was just thinking,” he said, contemplating everything, “Your whole story of the summer of 73 and then adding in those classmates of ‘74 who crossed your path way back, I think every time you write or when you tell these stories, it is kind of a blessing.”

He paused.

“I guess,” he said, “it’s kind of like the line your teacher gave you back in school – this is nearing the end of you program, in a way, and all of this is your benediction to them.”

I could only smile, and think, “Now for the benediction.”

Coach Steven Bowen, a long-time Red Oak teacher and coach, now enjoys his time as a writer and preacher of the gospel. And, after a ten-year hiatus, he’s also returned to work with students at Ferris High School as well.

In addition to his evangelistic travels, he works and writes for the Church of Christ of Red Oak at Uhl Road and Ovilla. Their worship times are 10 a.m. Sundays and 6:30 pm. Wednesdays. Email coachbowen1984@gmail.com or call or text (972) 824-5197.