C.L. Smith
Today Wimon and I spent a good part of the day at a funeral. C.L. Smith passed away. He was an old man, and had lost his wife a couple of years ago. He was ready to go. His grandson, Tony, preached the funeral sermon and made me cry a couple of times. Several other relatives took part in the service as well. C.L.'s son mentioned that after he was an adult, C.L. changed his second name from Louise to Louis. His legal name was Cecil Louis. Like Clive Staples, you can see why he'd go by initials.
He was apparently a wild and tough man in his youth. But when he went to live with his brother in New Mexico, he noticed the girl down the street coming and going, and began to often sing "Love your neighbor ..." Laura was a godly woman. C.L. became a Christian before they married. Then he became an itinerant preacher after they had four children. Once he told us that she had written all of his best sermons, and I believe it. They worked among the Navajos as missionaries, the first sent out by Minter Lane.
When the kids were ready to go to college he became a dorm director at ACU. Wimon's father and many others knew him then. Today Wendell Willis told about being an R.A. and having a rowdy kid barge into his room and yell out, "All right, where are they???" When Wendell found out it was about his Playboy magazines, he told him: "If I had found them, I'd have taken them. But I did not find them. Maybe C.L. Smith did." So the rowdy boy fumed down the hall and barged into C.L.'s office. Wendell followed, thinking it might be entertaining. He says he heard the first "All right, where are they???" yelled out, and then silence. Ten minutes later the rowdy boy came out crying. We all would love to know what soft words C.L. had to break through a hard heart.
I remember being at Minter as a newlywed. They asked Wimon to teach one of the Sunday School classes, and other free-thinking young couples flocked to be a part of a class in which we could read the Scriptures and interpret them for ourselves, without the shackles of tradition. Woody Woodrow came, and later his fiance Sandi. We got to know the Francis' there, too. But then before we started meeting, we heard that each class would have one elder and wife meeting with them. When C.L. and Laura came in, I thought, "Oh, boy, will they ever be wet blankets." So it was a complete shock to see them quietly listen to us, and then often come up with far more radical things than we ourselves would have come up with. And quiet Laura was the MOST radical of all of us!!
Laura and C.L. were involved in meals-on-wheels and Christian Service Center for years. They knew and visited their neighbors. Laura knit and crocheted countless blankets and caps and things to give away. They never had much, but used it all wisely to invest in people. I was surprised, at Laura's funeral, that they didn't just bring out the things she had made, and resurrect her on the spot, as happened in the New Testament :-)
One of the relatives talked about "anonymous immortality". And that's what they have: they have touched countless lives for the Lord, and most have forgotten their names and faces. The ripples of the good things they have done will go on and on. I am grateful to have been touched by them. I hope that in time I can live up to their examples.
He was apparently a wild and tough man in his youth. But when he went to live with his brother in New Mexico, he noticed the girl down the street coming and going, and began to often sing "Love your neighbor ..." Laura was a godly woman. C.L. became a Christian before they married. Then he became an itinerant preacher after they had four children. Once he told us that she had written all of his best sermons, and I believe it. They worked among the Navajos as missionaries, the first sent out by Minter Lane.
When the kids were ready to go to college he became a dorm director at ACU. Wimon's father and many others knew him then. Today Wendell Willis told about being an R.A. and having a rowdy kid barge into his room and yell out, "All right, where are they???" When Wendell found out it was about his Playboy magazines, he told him: "If I had found them, I'd have taken them. But I did not find them. Maybe C.L. Smith did." So the rowdy boy fumed down the hall and barged into C.L.'s office. Wendell followed, thinking it might be entertaining. He says he heard the first "All right, where are they???" yelled out, and then silence. Ten minutes later the rowdy boy came out crying. We all would love to know what soft words C.L. had to break through a hard heart.
I remember being at Minter as a newlywed. They asked Wimon to teach one of the Sunday School classes, and other free-thinking young couples flocked to be a part of a class in which we could read the Scriptures and interpret them for ourselves, without the shackles of tradition. Woody Woodrow came, and later his fiance Sandi. We got to know the Francis' there, too. But then before we started meeting, we heard that each class would have one elder and wife meeting with them. When C.L. and Laura came in, I thought, "Oh, boy, will they ever be wet blankets." So it was a complete shock to see them quietly listen to us, and then often come up with far more radical things than we ourselves would have come up with. And quiet Laura was the MOST radical of all of us!!
Laura and C.L. were involved in meals-on-wheels and Christian Service Center for years. They knew and visited their neighbors. Laura knit and crocheted countless blankets and caps and things to give away. They never had much, but used it all wisely to invest in people. I was surprised, at Laura's funeral, that they didn't just bring out the things she had made, and resurrect her on the spot, as happened in the New Testament :-)
One of the relatives talked about "anonymous immortality". And that's what they have: they have touched countless lives for the Lord, and most have forgotten their names and faces. The ripples of the good things they have done will go on and on. I am grateful to have been touched by them. I hope that in time I can live up to their examples.
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