I attended a banquet tonight here for a non-profit organization called Contact. In the aftermath of the massacre at Virginia Tech, the purpose of this banquet was very fitting tonight. The purpose was to raise money for this organization that provides around the clock telephone counseling free of charge for anyone who is troubled and wants someone to listen. And believe me they get a lot of telephone calls. They get calls from people who are angry, people who are depressed, people who are confused, people who have lost hope and the list goes on and on.
Looking at the news tonight, God knows there are troubled people in this world. And the people who died and the families they left behind and the people who lived through that ordeal in Blacksburg Virginia are victims of our troubled world. The organization called Contact is trying to make a difference and I was glad I was there to be a part of it.
I was honored to sit at the table tonight next to a man who has lived his life for many years to make a difference in the lives of others. His name is Bill Curry. For those of you who are not sports fans, Bill Curry played football at Georgia Tech and became an All Pro Center in the NFL having played for Vince Lombardi who is one of the greatest coaches ever. He is the former assistant coach of the Green Bay Packers, head football coach at Georgia Tech, the University of Alabama and the University of Kentucky. He has been the SEC Coach of the Year as well as ACC Coach of the Year. He currently is the director of the Leadership Baylor Program at Baylor School in Chattanooga. He also is a football analyst for ESPN.
Now here is a man with a resume. And because of that he has no trouble getting the ear of folks who are in his presence. But the thing that hit me as I sat and talked with him during dinner that this is a man with a compassionate heart who carries the burdens of others.
He told me about his wife, Carolyn, who is founder of a nonprofit organization called Women Alone Together, which she started to assist women who are left alone because of death or divorce or separation. As we ate, he also told me with tears in his eyes a personal account of the day his friend and famous golfer Payne Stewart died and how his wife’s ministry was somewhat born out of the experience of this widow’s pain of being alone.
When he addressed the group tonight, he got emotional to the point of being almost unable to talk when he talked about the pain he felt for the students at Virginia Tech. He talked about his own contacts who made a difference in his life. And he talked about all of our responsibility to make a difference in the lives of others of whom we come in contact.
And he wondered out loud if the tragedy in Blacksburg is a result of our failure as a civilization. He ended his speech by quoting part of the Sermon on the Mount ending with the verses that says we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth and the responsibilities that light and salt bring.
I couldn’t help but be struck by the fact that Bill Curry is a man who has found riches and fame and notoriety in this life. People listen when he speaks. And his message is clear. And the message is we have a responsibility in this life to make a difference in the lives of our youth and to set the proper example for them.
The minister who gave the benediction tonight ended his prayer with this verse in Galatians 6:2, “Carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
Like I said I think I got a glimpse of greatness tonight. And I believe that Bill Curry’s greatness comes from the fact that he is fulfilling the law of Christ. He is without a doubt a man with a compassionate heart who carries the burdens of others.
1 comment:
Looks like Bill has lost alittle weight since his football days.
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