Vita 3: 1985

1985: a year of particular significance. For instance, (acc. to Wikipedia):

March 11 - Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and de facto leader of the Soviet Union;

March 31 - WrestleMania debuts in Madison Square Garden, "BROTHER!";

April 23 - Coca-Cola changes its formula and released the New Coke. The response was so negative that they brought the original back to the market within 3 months.

October 18 - The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is released in US stores. 1-Up!;

And two I find interesting:

February 19 - William Schroeder becomes the first artificial heart recipient to leave the hospital.

September 1 - A joint American-French expedition locates the wreck of the Titanic.

1985 was a significant year for my life, for although I was only four years old and really can't cognitively recall the details of it, it was the year of most trying times (financially speaking) for my family. My father and grandfather had started their farm store 16 years earlier. The mid-80's were not easy on rural, agricultural communities and their businesses and in 1985 my family's store had its heart torn out and it sank into bankruptcy. Living in a society that values independence (financial and otherwise), bankruptcy/going out of business is a shameful and embarrassing state. If nothing else does, such a downfall brings humility (or humiliation). Among other results, my grandfather's farm (including his house) was at stake for being lost. Hopelessness...helplessness...

Enter community: the residents in the surrounding area to my family organized what they called 'Bill Rudy Day' (Bill being my grandfather, in case you didn't figure that out). It was held at the local high school and thousands of dollars were raised, put in escrow, and the house, along with much of the property, was saved. The community response was a testimony to Papaw's character (which I'll probably write about later) but also to the power of united hearts who design to rescue one in need.

I think this story is remarkable...from time-to-time, I ask my dad to tell it...not to grovel in our family's past suffering, but to rejoice in the rescue and the story that has taken place since. It's my way of 'remembering,' if you will. Remembrance and story have always belonged together...it's how the Passover is celebrated; the story is told and the hearers participate in (i.e., remember) the story by partaking the meal. In a sense, this story is humanity's story (read Ephesians 2.1-10). Thinking about the metaphor of the Titanic as what happened to my family's business and the subsequent rescue of the community reminded me of one of Dad's favorite hymns. He has oft told the story of how his proneness to being seasick (something I share with him) took shape in one deep-sea fishing expedition in Acapulco, Mexico. I think some upchucking had already occurred and one of the men on the boat was getting upset at the water pollution. So he sat Dad down in the center of the boat and told him to concentrate his mind elsewhere by singing or humming his favorite song. Dad, being the song leader at church he is, began with Hymn #1 in the All American Hymnal ('O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing')...and eventually got to #11 ('Love Lifted Me'), which says this (remember, seasick wayfarer):

'I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore,
Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more,
But the Master of the sea, heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me, now safe am I.

Love lifted me!
Love lifted me!
When nothing else could help
Love lifted me!....

Souls in danger look above, Jesus completely saves,
He will lift you by His love, out of the angry waves.
He's the Master of the sea, billows His will obey,
He your Savior wants to be, be saved today.

Love lifted me!
Love lifted me!
when nothing else could help
Love lifted me!'

And like William Schroeder on February 19, 1985, we will be able to leave the hospital the recipient of a new heart, only it won't be artificial...the one we have had is artificial...God gives the real one...His own!!

Pax!