She taught my first grade class. I thought she was old in 1962, but she didn’t die until 2011. At that time I was working at the funeral home and I was the one to prepare her body for embalming and then to get her ready for the casket. Back in first grade I thought she was over 100 years old. But apparently, I was wrong. It was an odd feeling working on her in 2011. She looked just like she did in 1962.
She was such a sweet lady. I don’t recall her ever raising her voice. She taught us the basics of reading and arithmetic and printing. She never seemed flustered. On the last day of school before Christmas Break (and back then it was called Christmas Break) she received gifts from all the children, and you could tell she was deeply touched just because she was given any gifts at all. That was also when each day was started with some Scripture and a prayer. “Children, it is time to read from the Word of God.” That seemed almost impossible to me. I had always heard it called the Bible at home, when it was mentioned at all. But when she read it, it was the very Words of God. She said so! It is funny how little things stay with you. The words on the pages of the Book are still the very Words of God and I still feel privileged to read them.
One day, this wonderful lady told us we were going to have a special drill. Kind of like a fire drill, but for this drill we would stay right there in our classroom. We would get down on our hands and knees and crawl under our desks. That seemed odd to all of us, but she explained that this was a drill in case an atomic bomb was ever dropped nearby. This drill would help us survive.
Well, that was frightening. We all knew something about the BOMB. We had heard that it would just make us disappear or, if we made it through the blast, something called fallout would kill us. It had never seemed real before, but now we were having a drill for it. We had fire drills and we all knew what fire could do. We had seen wood burn or trash. Fire was real. Now we were having an atomic bomb drill. It must be real then, too! And we had heard what that could do and had seen its devastation on TV.
When the drill started, 31 little kids hit the floor on their hands and knees and crawled under their desks. We were taking it very seriously. I looked up to see where the teacher was and I saw her standing by her desk with a sad, sad face.
After the drill one of the boys asked a very good question. Why would the ‘enemy’ drop the BOMB on us? After all, we were a farming community. Unless the goal was to kill corn, we were pretty harmless. The teacher explained that Cleveland was just 40 miles to the west of us and there were several very big steel mills there that the ‘enemy’ would want to wipe out. And to the south of us, also about 40 miles, was Ravenna Arsenal, one of the biggest manufacturing and storage areas in the world for explosives and ammunition. (A quick history of the Arsenal. Just prior to our entry into WWII it was assumed that Germany would defeat England and then use her Navy and Army to attack the United States. It was decided that there needed to be at least two places east of the Mississippi River, one in the north and one in the south, that could manufacture and store large quantities of military ordinance. The one in the north would be bigger because it was believed that, although Canada was still part of the British Empire, they would fight the invader. So the northern arsenal would also furnish Canada. It was placed in parts of three communities, one of which was Ravenna, Ohio. Over 21,000 acres of manufacturing and storage above and below ground. At the peak of WWII more ordinance was produced there than some countries involved in the war produced throughout their entire history. The US provided weapons and ammunition for England and Russia and other countries, and much of it was made and stored right there. In 1962 it was the largest ammunition dump in the world. Now all that is gone and it is an Army National Guard facility. They also open it yearly for two weeks for deer hunters.) The teacher explained that in the event of atomic war, these places would be bombed.
I went home pretty worried about all I had learned that day. At supper that night my mother asked me what was wrong. I didn’t answer. My father looked at me and said, “What is it, boy?” When my father asked any question, you needed an answer. So, I explained what had gone on that day and what the teacher had said. My parents exchanged a glance and my mother got up from the table and hurried into the kitchen. My sisters also looked worried and we all looked at our father.
It was a rare moment. His face broke out into a smile and he laughed a little. He told us not to worry, that the Ruskies (his word) were not going to bomb anywhere near us. No one was going to bomb the US of A. Wasn’t gonna happen! And then he reached over and for the only time I can remember, he put his hand on my head and ruffled my hair. With laughter in his voice, he said, “Boy don’t worry about it. It won’t happen. I said so.”
And I never worried about it again. They could tell us anything at school, even my sweet and wonderful teacher, but I was going to believe what my father said. He had fought in the war and he would know.
Of course, he wasn’t actually telling the truth. It could have happened. But they weren’t actually telling the truth at school, either. Crawling under the desk would not save our lives. The point is, even though I had a harsh and demanding father, I believed him.
We have a loving and compassionate Father. He loves us without fail and He never lies to us just to make us feel better. 1 Peter 5:6-8 says; Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Does that include us today? Of course it does.
There are numerous verses I could use here about our Father watching out for us, but I want the lesson that is here. First, we are to humble ourselves. In this case, it means to give our control over to Him. We are to put our anxieties on Him. No one cares for us like the Lord and He has the ability to completely protect His own. And we need to be aware that Satan is out there seeking to snatch our minds. He cannot have the soul of a believer, but he can surely corrupt our minds.
So, if we give control over to Him and put our fears on Him and understand that He cares for us and can protect us, why should we worry? And I don’t worry. The Bible told us there would be plagues and disease. The Bible told us there would be wars and rumors of war. Nothing is happening today that we were not told about. We also know He has a plan for us. Why should we fear?
This year there will be, if the pace holds, 250,000 to 300,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the US. That is sobering. But EVERY year there are right around 200,000 deaths from diabetes. I have diabetes. Should I fear? No, I need to live my life. I take measures. I am careful. But there is no cure. Heart disease accounts for 600,000 deaths EVERY year. It is the fourth leading cause of death in the US. I have heart disease. Should I fear? No, I need to live my life. I take measures. I am careful. But there is no cure. I have inherited both diseases, diabetes from my mother’s side and heart disease from my father’s side. If I fear these two diseases to the point that the fear disables me, then I have let Satan stop me. COVID-19 will likely wane. In the meantime, I will take measures. I will be careful. But I am living under a death sentence anyway. For that matter, we all are. However, too many are living in fear. Fear of disease, fear of violence in the streets, fear of political upheaval, fear of the end of days.
If you are a believer, you are in His hands. Nothing happens that is not in His plan. In my years at the funeral home I handled hundreds of bodies every year. Some died violently, some in accidents, some by disease, some quietly in their own beds while they slept. One particular lady comes to mind. When I talked with the family I was told heart disease was in her family. She obsessed getting heart disease for years. It ruled her life. She didn’t do anything that would tax her heart. She never had heart disease, though. She died in a car accident.
Don’t go to some place like Portland, Oregon or Chicago or Minneapolis where there is violence every day, unless you have to go. It would be stupid to put yourself in danger like that. Use common sense. Don’t attend COVID parties. Take precautions. If you have diabetes, don’t eat a whole pie at one setting. If you have heart disease, don’t try to run a marathon. Be sensible. But if you, as a believer, can be silenced by fear, if you can be made to quit your witness for Christ because of a possible bad outcome, Satan has won.
We keep hearing conflicting thoughts from medical experts. You know the drill. But one thing does not change. Cast your anxieties on Him, for He cares for you.
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