Like Daniel, I knew its name
Is there a Daniel in your life?
There is, was, in mine. I have long lost contact with Daniel. Life, geography, time and ambition have distanced me from him. His life, personality, friendship, his impact on me remains in my memory and my person. Though separated now, we are linked in eternity.
Daniel was my friend. I knew he loved me and cared for me. I did not understand in those days the implication of his friendship. His presence in my life defined society’s enduring cleft. He was black, poor, ignorant but wise, and I, though middle class, was by comparison educated and privileged. The divide between us was as black and white as our color. His ineffable friendship inheres my perspective today.
In my formative years, I had heroes, mentors, teachers, parents and coaches who played a pivotal role in my character development. In my idol worship years, I looked to these people to guide me through my confusion. Then, there was Daniel, as a shadow, silent, present, reaching, assuring as God’s shade, nudging me toward light though I did not know it then.
Our imagination dreams our life. Our ends seek means. A Daniel awakens us to thoughts and realities unrealized in books or aspirations or heroes. A Daniel in one’s life will not provide the obvious but will ground us, live within us, undergird each step and remind us what is right and true.
Daniel’s impact on me makes me hesitate, taps me on the shoulder and reminds me of a person’s value, if not to society, to God. For all Daniel suffered, his shadow, tall, remained in my mind and heart. He was as much a compass in my life as dad or coach. If my mentors were there to say, “do this” or “be this,” Daniel stood silently to say, “never be this, never do this.” I listened, eventually.
When I read the Bible, I hear the same message. “Do this, be this, but never be this,” Jesus says. God’s word is a dividing line, tapping me on the shoulder the same way Daniel’s long ago friendship did and does. I did not always listen and sometimes forgot, but Daniel’s gravity in my life was truth reaching toward light.
An anonymous work, “The Cloud of Unknowing” says, “As God, he is creator and dispenser of time; as man, he consciously mastered time; as God and man, he is the rightful judge of you and your use of time. Bind yourself to Jesus, therefore, in faith and love, so that belonging to him you may share all he has and enter the fellowship of those who love him.”
Grace found me, bound me to Jesus by his love. But first, there was Daniel whose friendship reminded me grace comes without boundaries and judgments and preconceptions.
And when grace came, I knew its name.
A woman rests her hand in the hand of a statue of Our Lady of Fatima after a Mass in Fatima’s honor. Pope Francis canonized two poor, illiterate shepherd children
Community Chapel Baptist Church, 3773 Black’s Bluff Road, will celebrate its 66th homecoming Sunday at 10:30 a.m. The Rev. Jim Reynolds, director of the Floyd County Baptist Association, will be preaching and the Gentry Trio will be the guest singers. Lunch will be served at 12:30. For more information call 706-291-9443.
Enon Baptist Church, 3105 Turkey Mountain Road, will host guest speaker Kenny Thompson, president and CEO of the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home, on Sunday at 11 a.m. For information call Cindy at 706-728-6060.
First Christian Church, 209 E. Second Ave., will hold worship (casual/business casual dress) at 11 a.m. Sunday. Sunday school meets at 10 a.m. 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 Calvary Baptist Church, 445 E. 14th St., will have Vacation Bible School for preschool-adults on June 5-9 from 6-8 p.m. Transportation will be provided. For more information call 706-234-2091 or 706-234-5047.
Greater Mount Tabor Baptist Church, 259 Herring Road, Armuchee, will celebrate its annual homecoming May 28 at 2 p.m. Pastor Frank Johnson and Pine Grove Independent Baptist Church, Cartersville, will be the guests. Spring revival will be held May 30 through June 1 at 7 p.m. nightly. The guest speaker will be the Rev. Bryant T. Steans, pastor of Springfield Baptist Church.
Holsey Sinai CME Church, 1233 Martin Luther King Blvd., will hold its 51st anniversary on Sunday at 3 p.m. The Rev. Terrell M. Shields and Greater Mount Calvary Baptist Church will be the special guests. Dinner will be served at 2 p.m.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 3000 Garden Lakes Blvd., offers services on Sundays beginning with Sunday School classes for all ages starting at 9:30 a.m. Worship services are a liturgical service with biblically based sermons beginning at 10:30 a.m. Communion services are observed on the first and third Sundays of the month. Call 706-2327257 for more information. whose visions of the Virgin Mary 100 years ago in Fatima marked one of the most important events of the 20th-century Catholic Church.
Believers reach out to touch a statue of Our Lady of Fatima after a Mass in her honor at the Metropolitan Cathedral, in Santiago, Chile.
A woman prays during a Mass in honor of Our Lady of Fatima at the Metropolitan Cathedral.
Photos by Esteban Felix,
Metropolitan United Methodist Church, 700 Broad St., will have Vacation Bible School on June 5-8 from 5:30-8:15 p.m. For more information contact Lily Miller at 706-409-1576.
Mount Calvary Freewill Baptist Church, 54 Baker St., Shannon, will host a homecoming singing Sunday with the Resurrection Trio of Alabama. There will be no evening services.
New Hope Cathedral Church of God, 200 Nixon Ave., will celebrate its 75th anniversary on May 28 at 3 p.m. Bishop Mitchell Gilbert, pastor of Redeeming Overcoming Church of God of Adairsville, will serve as guest speaker. Dinner will be served at 1:30 p.m. For more information call Gladys Allen at 678-986-0285.
New Victory Ministries CME Church, 615 Cleveland Ave., with the Kinnebrew family and Holsey Sinai CME Church, will host the eighth Ethel B. Kinnebrew Memorial Singing on May 28 at 3 p.m. The hosts request that choirs, soloists, male or female choruses and praise dance teams join. For more information call 678-901-7688 or 770-749-9013.
Pisgah Baptist Church, 5603 Alabama Highway, will host Vacation Bible School on June 11-15 from 6-9 p.m. Bible study activities are planned for teenagers and adults. Call 706-232-4431 or visit www.pisgahbaptistrome. com for more information.
Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church, 735 Old Summerville Road, holds a praise and worship service at 10:45 a.m. each Sunday in the new Fellowship Hall. Music is led by Ben Thornton & Praise Band. A blended worship service is held at the same time in the sanctuary.
The Associated Press
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. The Adult Class “Wired Word” meets at 11:15 a.m. 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.
Third Street Ministries, hosted by Rome First United Methodist Church, will give away clothing to those in need June 3 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The giveaway will be in the parking lot behind Good Neighbor Ministries on Second Street (across from the bus station) and the First Christian Church on the corner of Second Avenue and Third Street.
Transfiguration Episcopal Church, 304 Coker Drive, will have Holy Eucharist on Sunday at 11 a.m. Tuesday Travelers will meet at Schroeder’s, 3170 Martha Berry Highway, on May 23 at 6:30 p.m. On May 24, Al-Anon will meet in the Parish Hall at noon and there will be a public service of healing with Eucharist 6 p.m. An Alcoholics Anonymous women’s meeting will meet May 25 at 6 p.m.
West Rome United Methodist Church, 1003 Shorter Ave., will hold Sunday service at 11 a.m. The sermon text will be John 14:15-21. Visit www. westromeumc.org for more information.