My Spiritual Odyssey

Traditionally on new years eve my wife and I have gone to a restaurant with good friends. We went to Romano's Macaroni Grill and had a good meal and time of friendship and left in time to go home before the drunks came out. We were sitting on the couch watching the crowds at New York's Time Square. My wife held a second job at Goldsmith's jewelry department so during the Christmas season we both had been busy.

With an open Bible I was explaining to her what had been going on spiritually; the two morning experiences. I slipped to the floor on bended knees with the Bible open to John 15 and looked up at her and said: "honey I am that little boy and that little boy was hit in the face with a pie when he was young!"

I immediately thought to myself, "where did that come from?" That was a secret that was hidden in my memory. I had not told anyone. My wife or my family had never heard the story.

It happened 45 years ago! August 6, 1960 my hometown, McMinnville, Tennessee was celebrating its sesquicentennial celebration. I was downtown alone and there was a pie throwing
event. Local celebrities were sitting in a chair and people were paying to throw a pie at them.
I was elbowing my way between the crowd to get a view. Someone got the ideal to arbitrarily hit an innocent victim with a pie. I was their choice. Suddenly I was the center of attention with over fifty people gathered around me laughing. The pie dried quickly in my face and I could not wipe it off. The only bathroom was the "colored" bathroom and I went there to wash off the pie.
The bathroom was used only by vagrants and was nasty. I was so shamed by the experience and never told anyone about it.

Suddenly from deep in my memory came this revelation I was telling my wife. I had carried in my heart the fear of being laughed at by people. I was plagued by feelings of fear when I endeavored to accomplish something.

Friday morning, Saturday morning and now new years eve God was healing me of 45 wasted years of fear. At five AM New Years I was going up and down the isles of Walmart telling every single person what God had done for me. I was so thrilled at God's work and I was given favor by every person I talked to.

I bought the best pie I could find and went to my daughters house and woke the family and shared my joy with them. I went to Church that Sunday and helped my wife afterwards take down the Christmas lights. We then went to my other daughter's and I shared my joy. We drove there in two cars and afterwards I drove the five hour drive to McMinnville to share my joy.

I arrived there at midnight and by five AM I was standing in the rain at the very spot I had been hit 45 years earlier with raised hands praising God! By the time I arrived back home in Memphis, Collierville, I had probably shared with over hundred strangers about my testimony.

That was in the month* following Adrian Rogers death!

*edited 11/22/08 thanks to anonymous