Quite unexpectedly, I “struck gold”
right before Christmas. No, I was not
out in the hills somewhere mining for treasures. In fact, I was looking for a cassette tape
(yes, we kept some when we downsized significantly moving to Charleston) that I
thought I still had. In digging out
those few cassettes, I came across the golden, but forgotten tape of Jim
talking about his Christian life almost 30 years ago. We were attending a nondenominational church
at the time, and the deacons had been asked to share their testimonies with the
church members. Somehow, I had procured
a tape, the item of gold, in my stash of ancient tapes.
I saw this discovery as a gift, and
the timing could not have been better.
Our son David and his family were coming here over the holidays, so my
hope was the adults could listen to it one night after the kids were in
bed. The logistics didn’t work out for
that, but David and I did find a time to play it and hear the voice of someone so loved
and missed.. Sharing it with our daughter
here in Charleston would be much easier to work out.
In the meantime, I wanted to get a
copy of the tape on a CD, a more durable saving device than those old cassette
tapes. Beginning with a phone call to a
computer store here in town, I ended up at the university library which had
just the equipment I needed, and using it was free! As I had mentioned the tape to a few friends—I
was so excited to have found it, an excitement that I had not felt for anything
since Jim’s death—I found people were interested in hearing Jim’s story. Lou, a friend from his high school class, who
had worked with him on the 50th class reunion committee, wanted a
copy and talked about sharing it with the committee who still gets together
every few months.
While talking with Lou on the phone, I
saw possibilities for sharing Jim’s words well beyond our family. One thing that I was sad about when he died
unexpectedly of a massive heart attack, was that such a Godly man, something so
needed, men and women alike, was no longer among us, serving in word and in
deed. But finding this recording and
sharing it opens possibilities for his life to continue to further God’s efforts
to reach out to people, to draw them closer to Jesus Christ and open hearts to
a fuller experience of the Holy Spirit.
The old tape was like gold, indeed.
To date, I have made about 20 copies
and even calmed my eagerness to hurriedly get them out so I could put a little
more polish into the “project.” I bought
some clear CD holders, largely to give them more protection in the mail. Last Sunday, our church bulletin had a dove
and the scripture, “baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”
on the front. Fairly primitive in my knowledge
of computer scanning, graphics, etc., I copied the bulletin graphic and listed
this blog website on it as an easy—and free—means of sharing the “story of the
tape.”
Here in Charleston, I just started a Disciple
Fast Track Bible study on the letters of Paul at my neighbors’ church. I am enjoying being back into study with real
homework and participation among the “students” in the class. This week the
study book talked about how Paul’s letters were written to various churches he
had started with the intention of being read to gatherings of these
Christians in different cities and countries.
Paul’s words were then spoken, just like Jim’s words on the CDs; I am
praying they will “speak” to the hearts of those who listen.
A few friends might get the CD package
tomorrow, some whom I have not talked to about it. A few names came to mind as I went through
the stack of copies to mail beyond the people I had mentioned finding the
tape to. If any who get a copy want to make
some more to share, please do. God does promise
to “work all things together for good for those who love God . . . “ (Rom. 8:28). This tape would have remained in an old
collection of cassette tapes, unheard by others, if Jim still walked among us. Now his genuine and honest sharing, his testimony that
powerfully reveals how God works in our lives and nurtures growth in the things
of God will be heard and hopefully nudge people to draw nearer to God and experience a fuller measure of the Holy Spirit. This is truly good.
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