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His name was Walter Edwin Peck, a college professor with a brilliant mind; an authority on the poet Shelley. He was charming, witty and wise in the things of the world. He had the world in a jug and the cork in the other hand.* But in 1954, The New York Herald-Tribune reported his death on skid row during a snowstorm.
Somewhere along the pathway of living he had zanged when he should have zinged. Somewhere
along the way this child of God, with a lifetime of promise in front of
him, threw it all away for some moments of impulse. He failed his wives - all three of them. He failed his children - all three of them.
He failed his God - who had given him more than most.
And everyone of you reading these thoughts, figuratively shake your head and think, How tragic.
To you to whom skid row probably seems a million miles away; a tragic, wasteful, miserable miles away. But
you see, skid row isn’t that far away for it isn’t just an area in New
York City or its counterpart here in Miami-Dade County. It is a state of mind, heart and soul. Skid row is what is inside of you, and if you give it half a chance it will ruin your life.
Walter
Edwin Peck came into this world like you and I, and those two American
West pilots, who a few years ago with a few drinks too many, drank away
their careers, and Albert Schweitzer – doctor and missionary in Africa
who was almost a saint, and Mother Theresa, and each of us, and all of
us, starting out starry-eyed and innocent.
And
then, making decisions and still more decisions, and probably praying
they be the right decisions because wrong decision can create such
chaos.
In short, destiny is not a toy to be played with. The moral order of the universe is not just an idle rule to be forgotten. You don’t plant drunkenness and harvest sobriety. You don’t plant a selfish life and harvest a host of friends. You don’t plant a lazy faith and harvest a bumper crop of God’s power. If
you could have asked Walter Edwin Peck as he grew up just what kind of a
future he had in mind, the answer would certainly not have been what
finally came to pass.
Did Mr. Peck ever say to himself I’ve got to get my act together? Probably. He was an intelligent man, remember? But knowing and doing…. waiting too long and then weeping…. It is the heritage of far too many. And the terrible thing is, it doesn’t have to be.
Genesis 3:12-13 reads, “The man said, ‘The woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit of the tree, and I ate.’ Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’ ”
We
do that, and have been doing it ever since Adam and Eve showed us how –
blame others – our parents, our friends, our teachers, our work
associates…life itself. Not
many end up like Edwin Peck, on a real concrete skid row in a snowstorm,
but everyone of us, to one degree or the other, have played the fool
while trying to fool ourselves it was someone else’s fault when things
went wrong, not ours.
A man fills the air with curses and obscenities, and then one day reaches the point of not caring and takes no blame. “It’s not my fault. My father cursed. They curse in the movies. They curse at work. I can’t avoid it. It’s not my fault I use such language.”
A
man or woman pulls a fast business deal or cheats a store and gives a
great big fat excuse, “Well, they probably pull fast accounting deals
all the time. I’m only doing to them what they do to me or the government or…”
As long as we cry out, “I may be bad but he is badder, ” we are guilty not only of bad grammar but of bad faith. As
long as we say, “I may be inconsiderate, but my neighbor is more so,”
and use that as an excuse to stay inconsiderate, we will continue to
earn membership in the ROYAL ORDER OF BUCK PASSING Association with flying colors.
And how to solve the problem. Accept the blame for each deed. Blame no one but self. Repent and be redeemed.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
TO
WATCH NEIL WYRICK IN HIS ONE MAN DRAMAS (Presented to millions all
around the world) (Ben Franklin, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley and
Abraham Lincoln (this Lincoln film takes 11 seconds to download but is
worth the wait)
CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING
To Order and Read Neil's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN
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QUOTES ABOUT THIS WONDERFUL INSPIRING INFORMATIVE book
STILL RECEIVING RAVE REVIEWS 8 YEARS AFTER IT'S PUBLICATION.
"Positive,
powerful utterances...skillfully enhancing our understanding and
appreciation of Lincoln while revealing the Divine source of his
strength."
Lt. Colonel C.A. Olsen (Ret.) Asbury College (Professor Ret.)
"The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln is an
extremely well written book that investigates what might be termed the
spiritual side of President Lincoln. It's both scholarly and very
readable. I came away impressed at Mr. Wyrick's portrayal of the
President and with an altered and enlarged vision of the man:'
William Hoffman, Award winning fiction writer; author of Blood and Guile, and Wild Thorn
"Wyrick
has authored a wonderful examination of the spirituality of one of
American history's most devoutly religious leaders...a pleasant and
readable book that has a rich depth of information."
Maynard Pittendreigh Presbyterian minister
"When
it comes to invoking religion in support of any of their decisions,
politicians need to sit at the feet of Abraham Lincoln. Reinhold Niebuhr
once called him 'America's greatest theologian.' Why so great? Because
he invariably distinguished between human works and the works of the
Almighty. As Wyrick
says, 'He wore the mantle of humility easily: because he was more
impressed with what God was doing in the world than with what he,
president of the United States in the midst of an awful crisis, was
doing. That is why in his last major speech he distinguished between
both human causes in the Civil War and the Almighty's 'own purposes.'
Lincoln would have agreed that it is better to leave God-talk out of
politics than to decorate human proposals with divinity. This is a book
for our American time. Through his careful study of Lincoln's career,
Wyrick compels us to remember that piety belongs in politics only when piety transcends politics."
Dr. Donald W. Shriver
Emeritus professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Author of An Ethic for Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics
"v. Neil
Wyrick's fine work allows the reader to appreciate Abraham Lincoln's
Christian commitment and his prophetic role in American history. Should
have a wide readership."
James H. Smylie Professor of Church History (Ret.) Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia
"Neil Wyrick's The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln should be read
by anyone attempting to understand the man who was probably the most
complex person to ever hold the office of president of the United
States. Dr. Wyrick is intent on demonstrating that the spirituality so
often expressed in Lincoln's writings and speeches was not merely lip
service to a Deity, but rather expressions of a profound faith in a real
God. It was this faith that provided the wisdom, compassion, insight
and sometimes steel that Lincoln would need in full measure
as he led the United States through the Civil War. Dr. Wyrick's clear
and unpretentious style of presentation is very much in keeping with the
character ofhis subject, and in so doing, Wyrick makes his point very
well that Lincoln, his beliefs, and the faith that formed them, are as
relevant to a troubled America in 2004 as they were in 1863."
Daniel Allen Butler, author of "Unsinkable"; The Full Story of the RMS Titanic, The Lusitania and The Age o f Cunard
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