goodbye, my friend

When we were in seminary, my housemate, Burt, and I lived on very little. We were school bus drivers when we weren't in class, which paid about $400 a month in the late seventies. We each budgeted $10 a week for food, which meant we bought our bread at the Mrs. Baird's Thrift Shop (day old) and counted out slices of the world's cheapest lunch meat to make our sandwiches. Whoever got to the kitchen first got to make the lunches -- and got to write a note to Miss Landers (Beaver Cleaver's teacher) on the outside of the bag. Here's one example I remember (Burt's work):

Dear Miss Landers,
I'm sorry for the incident with little Milton on the playground yesterday. I hope none of the children is psychologically scared.
June Cleaver.

We cracked ourselves up.

We needed all the help we could get. We felt like outsiders in the restrictive world that was (is?) Southwestern Seminary, and our humor was one of the ways we stayed sane. Another way was looking for voices that fed us. One of those voices was John Claypool.

I found out last night he died in September. I didn't know. His death is not news, but my grief is fresh. You can read a wonderful tribute here.

I met him a couple of times. He was a contemporary of my parents. I never really talked to him, but he felt like a friend because of his writings. The book I remember best was Tracks of a Fellow Struggler, which told the story of the death of his young daughter. In a time when most Baptist preachers were telling everyone to get right or get left, Claypool was talking about how his faith intersected his life. His resonance with my struggle to live out my faith was profound for me.

One day I told one of my professors how much Claypool fed me. He responded, "The only people John Claypool speaks to are the walking wounded and those in adolescent rebellion."

"Is there anyone else?" I asked.

And I thought, to myself, if I could reach those people I would be doing pretty well.

One of the joys of the Communion table for me is I am sitting down to the meal with all those who have come before and all who will come after. It is an eternal moment where time is of no consequence. I'm sad John's voice is no longer speaking in our time. I'm grateful for the legacy he left and that we still share a Meal together now and then.

Peace
Milton