Print |
E-mail to a friend
OPINIONS
Voice of the people
McCalla spread the word of God
Thank you for your fine article in the July 1, 2008, Herald-Dispatch. I wish to especially thank you for printing the picture of Mark submitted by my friend, Mark's wife, the Rev. Mrs. Pam McCalla. If ever a single photo captures "the man," that one certainly does for me.
However, one element of Mark's life seems overlooked. That being Mark McCalla's deep and often profound conviction as a Christian gentleman, his personal spiritual life and dynamic examples presenting Jesus Christ from Sunday pulpit and personal conversations. Mark saw God's saving grace everywhere and in every person.
The Rev. Mr. Mark McCalla, to my mind is/was a 21st century St. Francis who saw and rejoiced for evidence of God's Hand everywhere he went. To my mind Mark was a brief visitation of a blazing star across our sky.
I will think of Mark when I look at a leaf, stand by a stream of rushing water, watch bicyclists race or read the Bible. Inasmuch as we served together on a committee of the Presbytery of West Virginia, riding together along Route 64 in the privacy that such a drive affords, I will miss conversations that only clergy colleagues share when both are on the same wavelength. Mark once referred to me as a "grain of sand in his oyster."
Mark and I were members of a Tuesday lectionary study group comprised of several local pastors. There was nothing or no one we couldn't talk or argue about.
Mark's family lost a husband and father, the faithful members of Highlawn Presbyterian Church lost a beloved pastor, I lost a close friend and colleague in ministry.
There is more, of course. No one of us can plum the depths of a man's soul. However, all we who knew him, all were blessed by the soul of Mark McCalla.
Richard S. Mobayed
Honorable Retired
Huntington
Parents responsible for teaching manners
I own a country gift shop in Hurricane and have wonderful customers who come in with their wee ones. But you know, I have been in places where mommies bring children in and let them run wild and do not give it a second thought. Then, if something happens, you are the first to scream lawsuit!
I mean in restaurants this is uncalled for. We go out to eat and want a calm environment while dining. In a store to allow your children to go pilfering and picking up stuff and possibly breaking it and then you walk away and pretend it did not happen -- who pays for your inconsiderate behavior?
I see parents today just put their heads in the sand, and you are responsible adults raising irresponsible children who will follow in your footsteps. I love children, but I love well-behaved children who have been taught manners. If a child enters my shop and does not behave, I am going to say something if the mommy does not.
Patty Hager
Hurricane, W.Va.
