GREATNESS

Greatness.

It is something many of us seek. We wonder how we will be remembered when we cease to walk this planet. When I was a teen I attended a small country church. The pastor at the time was a man named Harry Wilburn. Though he was a wonderful pastor and a greatly loved man, as I look back on those days, I kind of think that much of the spiritual power brought to that church came from his unassuming wife, Ruth Wilburn.

Mrs. Ruth, as she was known, was a quiet woman, an exhorter, a cheerleader of sort. She was a walking example of that scripture, "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things." Perhaps that was the reason I was unable to ever say, "No," to her.

It was about 15 years ago that I last saw Mrs. Ruth, but we exchanged Christmas cards every year. She always included photocopies of magazine articles or newspaper stories about her 3 sons, all of whom were preachers. She was a very proud mother.

Last year I didn't get a Christmas card and that concerned me. Only this week did I learn that Mrs. Ruth did not see last Christmas here on Earth. It was a loss for this world, but for the first time in 20 years, she was reunited with her husband at Christmastime.

It is with true sadness that I know I will not receive another Christmas card from Mrs. Ruth. I have met few in my life (men or women) who have won my respect as Mrs. Ruth did. She was a woman of greatness.