Hero

Honored by man and God.

“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.” (Romans 5:7)

Tommy was my uncle, but more like a cousin. My mother brought him home from the hospital where she worked as a nurse. Her parents, Grams and Pop to us kids, adopted Tommy a few years before I was born. From time to time we would spend the day together and I came to know an older boy very different from me.

I was wild and grew as a weed. Tommy was refined in the graces of men. Years of music lessons and voice training resulted in Tommy sounding like the voice of an angel singing “Ava Maria.” It was said, “He was over-protected”, but that was in overhearing my folks who weren’t what you would call “disciplinarians.” Slight of build he was meek and mild and very polite.  Oh, and handsome. Did I tell you we were quite different? He shared his secret with me.

We all have had or have compulsions that dictate the course of our life. Struggling against them is futile until God, in His grace, sets us free. A few years before his death God set Tommy free. Tommy became a born again child of God.

A courageous sacrifice was his last deed among men, but I remember one of his lasting deeds. Tommy and a friend of his came to visit me in down town Los Angeles. Recently released from prison I was living in a dungy room while attending a data processing school. Me, twenty- three years old and hoping for a future. A surprise knock on the door and a short while later the three of us were visiting a store front church called “The Open Door.” I responded to a call.

Wish I could say Tommy would have been proud of me the following ten years. If he had lived, he would not have been. In time my heart was broken and I finally understood “the call.” It is to be loved. As Tommy loved me let us do our best to love those who are lost.

Father, thank You for Your patience with all who belong to You.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. (Revelation 3:20)