‘What about me?’ he said
Sometimes we just don’t know where to begin or where we did begin. A step taken, a word spoken and our journey begins, a journey expressed and exposed by firsts.
My firsts were expected and expectant: riding a bike, water skiing, hitting a golf ball, holding my future wife’s hand. I remember them all. I also remember the moment, the day and the season I learned the world is not as it should be.
A photograph I possess captured this moment. The photo shows a mother next to my grandfather receiving gifts — a happy family, in a happy season. I look at this photo and what else do I see? I see a fleeting second, gone, obscured. I see a grandson, a young boy puzzled, thinking, “What about me?” My journey’s first reflection is best forgotten but is remembered, repeated, captured on Kodachrome.
Everyone experiences childhood’s safe, loving cocoon dissolving as we discover we are no longer the center of the world. One day, we are happy, simple, unaware. The next, we know the world is not as it was or as it should be and neither are we or anyone else.
I stepped toward epiphany and fear, triumph and missteps, but I stepped because to remain still is to die. I pondered and dreamed and all seemed perfect while each real step I took risked discovering more about me. And where did it end? Where I started, reminded I am not what I think I am. Honesty is an angel passing.
My steps were not unlike the certain man in the story of the Good Samaritan who “went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.” The first time I knew the world was not as it should be, I was stripped and wounded.
I fought my imperfection like the brother in the prodigal son story, who stayed at home secure in his perceived righteous life. His heart filled with anger and jealousy when his prodigal brother returned and received the finest robe and the fatted calf. “What about me?” he said.
We, too, are prodigal by our want and envy, layered with ego. We cannot be healed until we see us as we are. The picture overwhelms us, hurts us. But as the light from God’s mercy and redemption shines on us, his grace washes over the pain like a waterfall.
Truth clarifies a picture like binoculars coming into focus, like passing angels and remembered firsts. Mercy and redemption greet us as sunlight on our heart. Let’s confess we are the same, like the certain man and the brother at home, stripped and wounded by clarity. When will we see beyond our nature, beyond our day and beyond our wants? When will we see us as we are and greet each other just the same?
Adairsville Church of God, 297 Old Dixie Highway, Adairsville, will host Vacation Bible School each Sunday in July from 11 a.m.12:30 p.m. Email acogchildren@ gmail.com or call 678-848-2539 to register. The church will host Kids Blast “Crazy Days of Summer” July 23-25 at 6 p.m. nightly. Dinner will be served each night. There will be door prizes and inflatables.
Community Chapel Baptist Church, 3773 Black’s Bluff Road, will host Vacation Bible School for first- through sixth-graders Monday through Friday from 6-8:30 p.m. nightly. For more information call Phyllis Vice at 706-844-5638.
East View Baptist Church, 901 Kingston Ave., will celebrate homecoming Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Russell Headrick will be guest speaker and there will be special singing by The Davis Trio. For more information call 706-2950806.
Emmanuel Baptist Church, 1414 Old Dalton Road, will celebrate homecoming Sunday at 10:30 a.m. with special singing by Heartfelt. Lunch will be served after service. The church will host Vacation Bible School for kindergartners through adults Monday through Friday from 6-9 p.m. nightly.
First Baptist Church of Cave Spring, 4 Cedartown St., Cave Spring, will host “A Salute to America” on July 2 at 6 p.m. There will be patriotic music, presentations and a salute to all branches of the military. Refreshments will be served afterward in the fellowship hall. The Rome Exchange Club will display a replica of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. For more information call the church office at 706-777-3566.
First Baptist Church of Rome, 100 E. Fourth Ave., will hold worship service at 11 a.m. Dean Jeff G. Willetts of the McAfee School of Theology will be preaching. Bible study for all ages meets at 9:45 a.m. Visit www.fbcrome.org for more information.
First Christian Church, 209 E. Second Ave., will hold worship (casual/business casual dress) Sunday at 11 a.m. Sunday School meets at 10 a.m. for a series led by the Rev. Cynthia McCarthy, “As We Believe: Spiritual Strategies for a Deeper Understanding of the Divine With Us.” Morning coffee is each Thursday from 7-9 a.m. For more information contact the Rev. Craig McDonald or the church office at romedisciples@gmail.com.
Greater Mount Tabor Baptist Church, 259 Herring Road, Armuchee, will celebrate Usher’s Day on Sunday at 11 a.m. The Rev. Frank Jones, Lovejoy Baptist Church, will be the guest speaker.
Lovejoy Baptist Church, 436 Branham Ave., will host Youth Day on Sunday at 11 a.m. Nehemiah “Nemo” Reddish will be the guest speaker.
Merra Young (from left), Sadie Haynes, Emily Gentry and Sam Haynes play in the street at 1804 Gordon Ave. during the third Tables Around Rome gathering.
Lea McIntosh (from left), Jashawn Curn, Jameria Wood and Kaitlyn Gentry smile for a photo while enjoying a meal during Tables Around Rome.
The community meals are sponsored by The Church at Rome and are planned around Rome throughout the summer. On June 28, Tables Around Rome is scheduled to meet at the apartments across from Main Elementary School on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Photos contributed by Emily Wallace
New Canaan Baptist Church,3 Excelsior St., will host Vacation Bible School on Sunday through Thursday from 6-8:30 p.m. for ages 4 and up. If children need a ride, call Mindy Wright at 706-767-0204.
Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church, 735 Old Summerville Road, holds a praise and worship service Sundays at 10:45 a.m. in the fellowship hall with music by Ben Thornton and the Praise Band. A blended service is held at the same time in the sanctuary.
Rome First United Methodist Church, 202 E. Third Ave., will hold contemporary worship at 9 a.m. Sunday in the Garnett M. Wilder Center and traditional worship at 11 a.m. in the historic sanctuary. Sunday School and Connect Groups meet at 10 a.m. In July, one service will be held on Sundays at 10 a.m. in the Garnett M. Wilder Center and Sunday School will not meet.
St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, 42 Ash St., meets for Holy Communion Sundays at 9:30 a.m. A nursery is provided. Morning prayer will be held Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. For more information call 706-506-1241.
St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 911 N. Broad St., offers Saturday Vigil Masses at 5:30 p.m. in English and at 7 p.m. in Spanish; Sunday Masses are 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. in English and at 1 p.m. in Spanish. For additional information on any church activities or programs contact the church office at 706-290-9000 or email DeaconNeslin@smcrome.org.
St. Paul AME Church, 106 E. Sixth Ave., will host the 100 Women in White 2017 program Sunday at 3 p.m. with First Lady Latrice Gardner and Holsey Sinai C.M.E. Church choir as the special guests. Men are invited to attend. Lunch will be served at 2 p.m. For more information call 770-6080447, 706-295-3557 or 770-910-3599.
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 101 E. Fourth Ave., offers services of Holy Eucharist at 8:30 a.m. in the chapel and 10 a.m. in the church each Sunday. A service of Holy Eucharist in Spanish is offered Sundays at 5 p.m. in the chapel. Midweek Eucharist services are held on Tuesdays at 12:15 p.m. and on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. in the chapel. For more information call 706-291-9111 or visit stpetersrome.org.
Silver Creek Baptist Church, 1600 Booze Mountain Road, will host Vacation Bible School for ages 3-12 Tuesday through Friday from 6:30-8:30 p.m. nightly. Supper will be provided. There will also be a Vacation Bible School on Sunday from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Ridge Ferry Park, 363 Riverside Parkway.
Silver Creek Presbyterian Church, 6 Old Rockmart Road, Lindale, will hold worship led by the Rev. Rebecca Blackwell at 11 a.m. on Sunday. There will be a free covered-dish lunch after service in the fellowship hall.
Silver Creek United Methodist Church, 36 Reeceburg Road, Silver Creek, will hold revival today through Sunday at 7 p.m. nightly. The Rev. Tony Cargle, the Rev. Jim Turrentine and the Rev. Michael Holt will be the speakers. The church will sponsor a free community lunch with hot dogs, chips and beans on Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. in the fellowship hall. For more information call or text 706-506-6493.
State Line Baptist Church, 8536 Black’s Bluff Road, Cave Spring, will have Vacation Bible School from Sunday through Friday from 6-8:30 p.m. nightly.
Summer Hill AME Church, 1981 Kingston Road, will hold a fundraiser Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with inflatables, concessions and free games. Admission is $10 per child.
The Church of the Living God, 19 Hillendale Road, will hold a healing service on Wednesday at 7 p.m. For more information call Pastor James Abercrombie at 770-769-4338.
The North Georgia General Missionary Baptist Association will hold the annual Congress of Christian Education today and Saturday at 6 p.m. nightly at Hopewell Baptist Church, 3527 Airport Road, Dalton, with Pastor Windell Smith. For more information contact the Rev. Steve Caldwell at 706-512-0925.
The Solid Holy Rock Deliverance Tabernacle, 700 Kingston Ave., will celebrate homecoming Sunday at 4 p.m. The church will host Vacation Bible School on Monday through Friday from 6-8 p.m. nightly. For more information call Janice Gibson at 706676-6332.
Third Street Ministries will distribute free clothing to the homeless and low-income residents of Rome on July 1 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in the parking lot between Second Street and Third Street. The parking lot is behind Good Neighbor Ministries on Second Street, across from the bus station.
Transfiguration Episcopal Church, 304 Coker Drive, will hold Holy Eucharist on Sunday at 11 a.m. Tuesday Travelers will meet at Red Lobster, 700 Shorter Ave., on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. On Wednesday, Al-Anon will meet in the parish hall at noon, and there will be a public service of healing with Eucharist at 6 p.m. An Alcoholics Anonymous women’s meeting will be held Thursday at 6 p.m.
West Rome United Methodist Church, 1003 Shorter Ave., will hold service at 11 a.m. on Sunday. The message, “A Resurrection like His,” comes from Romans 6:1b-11. For more information visit www.westromeumc.org.
Wilkerson Road Missionary Baptist Church, 323 Wilkerson Road, will host Vacation Bible School for all ages Monday through Friday from 5:50-8:55 p.m. nightly. For more information call 706767-1664.