"Don't you realize that we are just passing through?"

In the movie "Out of Africa" that I have watched at least 45 times, there is a line said by Robert Redford to Meryl Streep that I want to share with you. Streep and Redford are dancing at the New Year's Eve party and she is telling him all of her concerns about her coffee farm and her nationals that she supports, the low productivity of her farm, etc. Several times she mentions "my farm", "my natives", etc. Redford responds, "Baroness, you certainly have alot of 'my's' in your life. Don't you realize that we don't really 'own' anything? Don't you realize that we are just passing through?"

Again, I have been trying to sort out the "passing through" of our particular lives in light of the events that are moving so fast today.

As products of the 50's - the light, bright, fun and fantastic 50's, (yes, we do the jitterbug), my husband and I married in 1962 and stood on the threshold of "The Brave New World", but didn't really know it.

As a new young "on fire" pastor and his wife, we bravely set off to the mission field of Mississippi to "save" Mississippi and of course, the rest of the world too. Larry was so fired up that we thought it would maybe take him "two weeks" to accomplish this mission.

Being a native Mississippian, he felt incredibly qualified to do God's will in Mississippi. Passing through Mississippi in the 60's was a challenge to stay alive. He began by consistently preaching from the pulpit that "The Ground is Level at the Foot of the Cross". He added to the mix marching with the Catholic priests in the Delta of Mississippi for the rights of all people. Larry became a pastor of a small African church in the heart of the Mississippi Delta. Passing through Mississippi at this time, we watched as 50 miles away in Marks, Mississippi, Martin Luther King started the mule train to go to Washington, D. C., where he gave his famous speech, "I Have a Dream". And, passing through Mississippi, we were accompanied by our small sons, one of whom developed a brain tumor and died at the age of 16 months. Before we passed on through the Mississippi mud, we had a beautiful baby daughter to accompany our eldest son. And, in passing through Mississippi, we had crosses burned in our yard and received many hate letters. We alienated many friends and relatives, though many of them loved us anyway and through all our trials. And, we were meeting the planes that came in with the gray boxes from Vietnam bearing the 53,000 beautiful young men and women of America who died in Vienam - our college buddies. Passing through Mississippi took a little longer than two weeks.

Passing through Georgia, Larry pastored two fantastic, traditional Presbyterian USA churches. Again, he had to hold the line on the racial issue and both of the churches were persuaded to "do the right thing." They led their communities in the fight for racial justice. Passing through Georgia.

Passing through Arkansas under the leadership of Gov. Clinton and Hilary, we ran into another huge cultural problem. Again, Larry had to keep the flag high for racial justice and he was persecuted many times for his stance and by not sitting on the fence for racial justice. He preached justice for all of the poor and illiterate of Arkanasas. Twenty-five percent of the people in our county could not read. We were always very busy, passing through Arkansas. Gov. Clinton promised us the moon and the stars while raising taxes 5 times in our 10 years there. Gov. Clinton was also very busy in many other ways which was common knowledge among his constituents. But, the kicker in passing through Arkansas was the new cultural courage of our traditionally married choir director to come out of the closet. He thought it would be just fine to present his lifestyle as a learning curve to our young people in the church. Again, Larry held the line and unequivocally told him "no". As long Larry was pastor of this church, he would not allow the leadership of the church to present homosexuality as a lifestyle to be sought after by the young people of the church. God meant marriage to be betweem a man and a woman and for the reproduction of human life. All of us are sinners and need God's forgiveness. Homosexuals are always welcome in the church but approval of the lifestyle is not God's teaching. Passing through Arkansas, we had our salary frozen for 7 years (while our daughter was in college in Texas), we received hate mail, giving at the church dropped off drastically, the associate pastor later had a heart attack. Larry told his two associates that he thought they should move to other churches, that he would finish this fight alone. We stayed with very few friends in a town that we found out later was very incestuous and filled with bi-sexual marriages. Finally with God's grace we were able to stabilize the church and hold the line for traditional marriage. We survived passing through Arkansas. God was with us.

Passing through Atlanta, the joy of our many years in the pastorate became a new church. A new church that we were able to build from scratch with the support and financial help of the largest Presbyterian church in America, Peachtree Presbyterian Church. In the hills of the north metro area of Atlanta, God sent us many funds, many talented people and His Grace to make this new church happen. We had an incredibly talented staff and amazing volunteers. It happened for 15 years passing through Atlanta.

Now we are passing through the United States of America in our rv. We are enjoying the pension that the Presbyterian Church USA has provided for Larry's many years of holding the line and loving his people. We are enjoying the social security benefits that are a result of our contributions through the years.

BUT, where we are passing through now is all changing. None of our benefits may last another year. We could lose all of our medical and social security. Is our pension secure? On looking at passing through, all is not clear. The great lifestyle advertised on "The Villages" may just disappear. While passing through, we will not be eligible for the swine flu vaccine - only those under 64. Anyone over 60 may not be eligible for hardly any kind of medical care such as stents, etc. Will they limit our driving age and we must park?

"The Brave New World" America began in the 60's, 70's, is coming to fruition and they want SOCIALISM. Very few of the masses right now get it. But they will when they reach the magic age of 60. They will get it when they watch their children bound by government constrictions that limit personal freedom of choice. Is no one going to hold the line for CAPITALISM?

Hey, but you know, "we are just passing through." God is still in control.
Helen