I want to honor my mother by sharing a story we talked about the last time I visited her before she died on March 8th of this year.  She wanted to talk about things that happened to me as a little boy.  At one point she asked if I remembered Miss Drace.  It is hard to know if I really remembered her or just remembered all the times she had been talked about.   I do know that she was my first Sunday School teacher.  I went to church with my parents in a little hall on Race Street in Willow Glen.  Mom asked me if I could recall anything about this older woman.  The one thing I did remember was that she taught all the kids she had in her class to memorize scripture verses using each letter of the alphabet.  “Can you still recite them?” mom asked.  “I can recite many of them”, I told her.  I’ll share many of them right now.  A – All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  B – Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.  C - Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.  D – Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you.  E – Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father.  F – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life..........

I was able to go up to the letter K before I even hesitated.  Mom and I laughed at that memory.  Then, I confessed to her that for many years I really had a problem with one of those verses.  I know that Miss Drace had explained each verse and gave examples of what it meant and why it was important. But, even with the King James sounding old-fashioned in the other verses, “Draw nigh to God….” was really bothersome.  To me, “draw” meant to make pictures with pencils or crayons.  And “nigh” wasn’t a word I heard used at all.  Why did Miss Drace think that was an important verse for us to memorize?  Mom and I talked about that for a bit and then she suggested I get the dictionary and find what it said about Draw and Nigh.  I found that the first definition for Draw – as it was used in this scripture was “to pull or to drag” and it used the example of a horse “drawing” a sled.  “Nigh” meant to “come near”. So, we decided that the verse for the letter D could mean to “pull or drag ourselves near to God” so He could come near us.

I recently received an Email after mom died that made me think of this discussion with mom.  It had to do with “drawing” or “dragging”.  I will tell you what this Email said and I hope you find it as interesting as I did.  I know that my mom would have related to it with interest and a chuckle. 

The Email goes like this.  “The other day, someone at a store in our town heard that a Methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farmhouse in the adjoining county and he asked me a rhetorical question, ‘Why didn’t we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?’  I replied that I had a drug problem when I was young: I was drug to church on Sunday morning.  I was drug to church for weddings and funerals.  I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.  I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults.  I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didn’t put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.  I was drug to the kitchen to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profanity.  I was drug out to pull weeds in mom’s garden and flower beds and cockleburs out of dad’s fields.  I was drug to the homes of family, friends and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline, or chop some firewood, and, if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the woodshed.  Those drugs are still in my veins and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, or think.  They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin, and if today’s children had this kind of drug problem, America would be a better place.”

After reading this Email, I wished mom was still here so I could tell her that I, too, have a “drug” problem and it was her and dad’s fault. They had “drug” me to church. They “drug” me to Sunday School and made me sit respectfully and listen and learn Bible verses from Miss Drace. The “drug” that caused me to remember those verses by the letters of the alphabet is still in my veins. I’m sure I didn’t appreciate being “drug” to church when I was young, but I do now.

As a coach, I have this thought.  Our players usually don’t want to practice or train all that much.  We will do them a favor by “dragging” them to the practice area or the weight room.  It will be a “drug” problem they will probably thank us for later.

And, as a Christian, I now find myself thinking of Jesus as He “drug” the cross to Calvary. He staggered under the load of your sins and mine as He was “drawing” that cross through the streets of Jerusalem.   And for what?  So that you and I could “draw nigh” to Him. It was because Jesus had a “drug” problem that I can come into the very presence of God.  I think mom would have loved hearing that I shared this story with you.