Everett and Opal Hogue are not
beginners. He
is 95 and
she is 88. I have known
them for many years. He
was a longtime pastor
with
the Church of God of
Anderson, Indiana. Opal
served as the church pianist
After they were married, having known each other since she was 12 years old and he at age 20 came riding up on his horse and saw her at the little white country church, he completed high school, was called to the ministry and went to Anderson College.
My Dad was one of those who finished the eighth grade and went to work to help support his widowed mother, Octavia Hodge Ellis, and his sister Clara’s son, George Carr, whose mother died at his birth. Those were not easy days in the little coal mining community of Wevaco at the head of Cabin Creek, 35 miles east of Charleston, West Virginia.
By the time I was 10 I was impressed by my Dad’s thirst for knowledge and learning new skills. He was always taking a correspondence course. He studied for years to compensate for the formal education he missed. He made sure his three children became college graduates and well beyond.
As a boy we never had a preacher who had more than the normal eight grades. They, however, seemed to know more than others. The time came when preachers were expected to be high school graduates. The learning level moved higher for pastors. A college degree became the norm, others moved to masters degrees, some completed Ph.D. degrees and now many young ministers expect to complete a doctorate. Jesus set the example when “He grew in wisdom . . .” (Luke 2:52). He also taught that the greatest of all commandments was to “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength” (Mark 12:30). The mind is the world’s greatest computer.
Graduation time is important at every level. In one church when the pastor was introducing those who were being graduated from high school and college, her five-year-old son yelled out, “Don’t forget me. I graduated too.” Dr. Melissa Pratt said, “Yes, you did, Joshua, from pre-school and we are all proud of you.”
On Thursday, May 31st, 2007, at the dedication of the Billy Graham Library, in Charlotte, North Carolina, I had the privilege of speaking to Billy Graham who is now 88 years old. There is no quitting or retiring in his heart. I’ve heard him say many times, “I do not read in the Bible about preachers ever retiring.”
Others participating that day were soloist George Beverly Shea who is 98 and Cliff Barrows at 84. Former President George H. W. Bush who is 83 was the dedicatory speaker. President Jimmy Carter, also 83, had just returned the day before from a trip to South Africa and brought to Dr. Graham personal greetings from Bishop Desmond Tutu and President Nelson Mandella. Among invited guests on the platform, President Bill Clinton, at 61, was the youngest.
The message is this: do not quit learning, serving and helping others until life is over. If we ever quit listening to and learning from older people we will be an impoverished people.
To you who were just graduated from high school and college, many of us wish we could be in your position. Just make sure you do a better job than we did. Keep learning. Never give up.
Publisher's Note: Bill Ellis, Award Winning
Syndicated Columnist, P.O. Box 345, Scott Depot, WV 25560.
Phone:304-757-6089
www.BillEllis.Net.
