UPDATE FROM JERUSALEM

     I shared earlier about our friend, Yair.  I was fearful that he had been called up to active duty.  I received this email from him today:  

Dear Ray
I am doing great. I was not called on reserve and I have many cancellations, so I am back home, reading a lot and watching the news. Our everyday life is more or less the same even though there were missiles everywhere. Many of my friends were called and one of them is injured, but he is doing better now.
As for my reflections, I would make an emphasis that we are not just, to have not solved the conflict untill now, but untill there will be a state builder On the other side, we have to do what needs to be done in order to protect our land and citizens. I hope that the campaign will end soon and that life would go back on track.
Yair

Conrad & Hinkle Pimento Cheese and "Our State"

        I love “Our State” magazine.   The August issue came this week with a feature on “Southern Food: Six Classics that Define Us.”

        The six classics are Pepsi Cola, Okra, Boiled Peanuts, Redeye Gravy, Honeysuckle, and Pimento Cheese.  I quickly turned to the article on Pimento Cheese, knowing that I would read about Conrad and Hinkle, but was stunned when they were not even mentioned.  The article was written by a Northern transplant by the name of Scott Huler.  I decided that I should write a letter to the editor to complain about this grievous omission!  (Wake Hamrick has a great letter in the August issue--not complaining about anything)

        I reread the article on Saturday morning to make sure I didn’t miss a reference to the Pimento Cheese King, Conrad and Hinkle.  It wasn’t there.  I wrote my letter and then called Lee Hinkle to make sure I was correct that C&H starting making Pimento Cheese in the 1930s.  Lee said someone had told him about the article and said they were mentioned.

        So I went back and read the article again, but could not find it.  Then I saw it—not in the article, but a sidebar placed by the editors that asked “Where do you get yours?  Musten & Crutchfield in Kernersville?  Conrad & Hinkle in Lexington?”

        Feeling better that we were at least referenced, I changed my letter.  Here is the letter that I sent to Our State this morning:

Editor:

          I loved your August feature on Southern Foods, especially Scott Huler’s article on Pimento Cheese.  Lexington’s Conrad and Hinkle Grocer has been on the town Square since 1919 and has been producing the most enticing, mouthwatering pimento cheese for over 80 years.  As synonymous with Lexington as our barbecue, people travel across state lines and time zones to enjoy this exquisite delicacy. 

Mr. Huler should visit Lexington and sample the quintessential Carolina caviar.  One taste of Conrad and Hinkle Pimento Cheese on fresh bread with a homegrown tomato—Oh my!  This Northern transplant will be shouting glory!

Ray Howell

 

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

The escalating conflict in Israel is of grave concern to everyone, especially to people of faith as the Holy Land is sacred to the world’s three major religions.  Several of us were in Israel just a few weeks ago.

 

I think our guide in Israel, Yair (whom we all called Jaya) is in the military reserves.  I have tried to contact him, but have heard no response.  I was in touch with him less than a month ago, so I am inclined to believe he may have been called up to active duty. 

 

I recall standing on the top of Megiddo (Armageddon) and talking about why the Apostle John selected this place to represent the ultimate conflict between good and evil.  No other land in the world has witnessed more war than the Holy Land.  Now, once again, there is deadly conflict in the land.

 

The Scripture that comes to me today is Psalm 122: 6-8  "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:  "May those who love you be secure.  May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels."  For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, "Peace be within you."

 

I will never forget my first trip to Israel in 1996.  We had just landed in Tel Aviv and were greeted by our wonderful guide, Sarah.  One of the first things she told us was:  "Of all the places in this huge world, God selected this small land to touch the earth." 

 

Is it more than irony that the most conflicted land on earth is where God reached down and touched us with his love and blessed us with the Prince of Peace?

 

Once again we pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  May God reach down again and touch the earth.  May the Prince of Peace shower his healing and protective grace upon the land.

 

 

 

RULES ARE RULES, BUT RELATIONSHIPS ARE MORE IMPORTANT

      Joyce and I are pretty sure we were the oldest chaperones at youth camp last week.  Joyce said she knows she was the only chaperone on Medicare!  When I told one of the counselors that I took my first group of youth to summer camp in 1974, he looked at me like I belonged in the Smithsonian. 

        Our youth attend Passport, an ecumenical organization that sponsors Christian camps all over the southeastern United States.  The counselors are all very young (mostly graduate school), the atmosphere is high energy, and the programming is exceptional.  The camps are held on college campuses, a great experience for the Middle and Senior High students who receive a Passport the first night assigning them to a group.  This group stays together for Bible Study, recreational events, and mission projects.   Working with local mission groups such as Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army, clothes closets, food banks, and low-income housing, the students spend several hours each day engaged in a mission activity in the community.  We were in Danville, Virginia, a city devastated by the loss of industry and the economic collapse.  Being from Lexington, we felt their pain!

        On my first youth trip back in 1974, I established a bunch of rules.  We had not been at camp an hour before the girls informed me that the boys brought beer with them—a major violation!  I had only been at the church a few weeks and wasn’t much older than some of our youth.  It was clear that I was being tested and I prayed for wisdom to handle the situation in a redemptive way. 

        Rules are rules, I thought; and the boys broke the rules in grand fashion!  I called them in for a “Come to Jesus” meeting and they feared the worst.  If I had followed the letter of the law, I was to call their parents and ask them to come and take the boys home.  But rather than condemn these young sinners, I asked them what would happen when I informed their parents of their transgression.  One boy started to cry.  His daddy was the sheriff; a no-nonsense, tough guy.  His son was convinced he would hang him on the courthouse lawn. 

        In a moment that God most certainly directed (because I was scared the death), I introduced the concept of grace.  I would forgive these boys, but it they EVER did anything like that again—I would introduce the concept of judgment.  The boys were angels for the rest of the trip.  Looking back, it was that moment that defined my relationship with those young people, a relationship formed by grace.  They didn’t just learn about the Gospel, they experienced it!

        I worked with those youth for four years and kept up with them for many years after.  All of them, without exception, became great leaders in their churches and communities.  The boy who cried became a respected political leader in the state of Alabama.  Gradually, the distance of time and miles took their toll and I lost touch.

        A few years ago on Easter Sunday we had a visitor in the congregation. A mother was taking her son to visit Wake Forest University.  She had been one of the youth on that memorable trip so many years ago.  She shared with me that the church had a reunion and most of my old youth group was there.  They started talking about me, about that first youth camp, and we reconnected. 

        I have learned that it is through mission trips and youth camps that lifelong relationships are made.  We may have been the oldest chaperones at camp, but we wouldn’t take anything for the powerful experience of sharing these dynamic formative moments with our wonderful young people. We see lives changed and lifetime patterns of Christian service established.

        I don’t talk much about rules anymore.  Oh, we have rules, but if you have a relationship based on respect, trust, and love you don’t need to worry too much about them.  I don’t think our kids broke any of the rules, well, except curfew—but what do I care!  At my age, staying up past 10:00 pm is a curfew violation!   Let the kids have fun!   They will remember it for a lifetime.

 

 

America's Top Ten Sacred Sites

        Colin Beamer and friends are on a wonderful journey that placed them in New York City on July 4.  Colin posted that they visited the 9/11 Memorial.  It started me thinking about “sacred sites” that every American should visit if they have the opportunity.  Here is my list of the top ten sacred sites.  All but one is on American soil.  While Washington DC is number one, the others are placed in chronological order rather than order of importance. 

1)           Washington, DC:  You will discover the entire American Experience in Washington.  Gaze on our nation’s sacred texts at the National Archives.  Be inspired by our great leaders at the monuments and memorials:  Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, and MLK.  Pay homage to our fallen at the War Memorials:  WWII, Korean, and Vietnam, and don’t miss Arlington.  Review our nation’s history at the Smithsonian Museums and the Newseum.  See our nation’s government at work at the White House, the US Capitol, and the Supreme Court Building.  Be inspired and pray at the National Cathedral. Stand on the National Mall and simply be proud to be an American.

2)         America’s Historic Triangle:  Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown.  This is where it all began.  The first permanent English colony at Jamestown.  A visit to Williamsburg is to travel back in time to Colonial America and an experience of the spirit of Revolution that was building.  Yorktown is where the dream of independence became a reality in our unlikely victory over the powerful British.

3)         Boston and the Freedom Trail:  The fires of Revolution were also burning in Boston.  Walk the Freedom Trail.  See Bunker Hill, the Old North Church, and relive the Boston Tea Party.  Follow the midnight ride of Paul Revere to Lexington and Concord and see where “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World” was fired.  Every citizen of Lexington, NC should visit Lexington, Massachusetts if they have are able because the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” landed here just a few weeks later when brave Patriots named our town Lexington.

4)         Philadelphia:  When the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence placed their signatures on this priceless document, many thought they were signing their death warrant.  The odds were against them.  They truly risked their “lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.”  Visit Freedom Hall and the Liberty Bell.

5)         Fort McHenry:  This year marks the 200^th anniversary of our National Anthem.  Most Americans don’t realize how close we came to losing our new found independence in the War of 1812.  The story of Francis Scott Key and the writing of the National Anthem is an amazing experience.  Combine this with a visit to the American History Museum to see the actual Star Spangled Banner.

6)         Mount Vernon and Monticello:  A visit to the home of two our founding fathers is another journey back in time.  It helps us to understand the genius of two of our greatest founders.

7)         Gettysburg:  This is sacred ground.  It was here that the Civil War turned.  It was also here that Abraham Lincoln uttered his immortal words that have galvanized our nation ever since.  “That government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the face of the earth.”

8)         Pearl Harbor:  The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor changed our world forever.  Over 2,500 Americans died and it propelled us into World War II.  To visit the Arizona Memorial is a powerful and sacred experience.  It still holds the bodies of 1,102 sailors including Harold Tussey of Davidson County.

9)         Normandy:  D-Day not only won the war, but it saved democracy for our time.  Yet, more American lives were lost in one day that the entire war in Iraq.  The American Cemetery holds the bodies of 10,000 American soldiers, plus the Wall of Missing has over 1,500 names.  We must never forget. 

10)      The 9/11 Memorial.  This is the Pearl Harbor of our generation.  No one will ever forget where they were and what they were doing on September 11, 2001.  Freedom is never free.