Giants
Isaac Newton has written, “If I have seen farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” I believe we all must stand on the shoulders of “Giants” in this life, or we would have few successes or feel worthy. In the real world these “giants” are common folk, but our personal “giants” who have altered our lives.
For example, my dad was my first “giant.” He loved me. I was his first-born; I resembled him; he was proud of me. Then one day, he caught me telling a lie. I was still a little girl, but big enough to know better than to lie. I will never forget his reaction. He took me to the back of the house where we could be alone and began to kindly cajole me to admit that I had lied. At first, I would not, but he kept at me, never yelling or threatening me, never spanking me. Finally, in tears, I admitted it. Then he took me in his arms and calmly explained how important it is that I could be trusted when I was grown and how important it is to be a reliable person. He asked me to promise never to lie again. Then he never mentioned our time together again. He trusted me. I have tired never to break that trust.
Two teachers have been “giants” in my life. The first, an English professor at Ball State, convinced me that I really could write a thesis good enough to fulfill the requirement for a Masters Degree. He loved the poetry of W.H. Auden and his admiration spilled over on me. With his guidance, I wrote the paper about Auden’s poetry and honor him my using the name “Auden” as part of my email address.
The second, a professor of Piano at Anderson University, took me on as a piano student after I retired from high school teaching. I have always liked to play the piano, but I am not blessed with the talent to be anywhere close to being a concert pianist; I just like to “make music.” Because of his patience, encouragement, and teaching technics, I have had many hour of joy “making music.”
No doubt, the most influential “giant” in my life has been my husband, Pete. He was one of those fortunate people who decided early in life what they want to do and do it with joy. His mother died when he was thirteen; he had a younger sister whom the family surrounded so Pete was left to move into puberty and adulthood by himself. A minister/friend helped him decide to be a minister when he was about fifteen. He prepared himself by going to Pepperdine College in Los Angeles. In 1951, we moved to Indiana for him to complete a seminary degree at Butler University. Meanwhile, he served a church as the pastor in New Lisbon, Indiana. In 1957, we moved to Chesterfield where Pete became the minister of a red brick church located on Water Street.
Pete was absolutely convinced that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and his call was to proclaim that message with love and good works. As a result, Pete loved the people, the church and that entire ministry involved. We shared a little over forty-eight years of marriage. His “giant” life and Christian commitment helped strengthen my own personal decision to live a life committed to Christ.