Standing Alone and Having the Last Word

 Most of us have ventured farther than we needed to go in life.  We took that infamous next step and fell flat on our face, had the last word and it has cost a life of regret, got one more laugh and it led to embarrassment.  My family says that I always have to have the last word.  I usually reply, “No, I don’t.”

When I think about going a little farther, I remember the words of my dad.  He would say, “Son if you make a stand, be willing to stand alone because most of the time you will look around and see that you are all by yourself.”

Forty-five years ago, I had the one of many “stand lone” experiences.  It was Friday August 13, 1976.  I was fried from my job after I confronted the owner about an insurance policy. 

It started at the birth of my eldest son, Andy, on January 18 of that year.  The insurance policy included coverage for the birth of a baby.  I paid a deducible and took Andy home from St. Vincent’s Hospital in Birmingham.  Shortly, I received statements that I owned for Andy’s birth.

I asked the owner, since he was boss, human resource, personnel, and insurance managers for the company why the insurance did not pay for the hospital stay.

He said he had to get with his partner in New York and that he would let me know.  Another statement came and I again asked the owner about the status of the insurance inquiry.  The same question received the same response, “I will get with my partner in New York.”

I revisited my policy and once again, all I owed was a minimum deductible that I had already paid.  I don’t know about you, but I dislike to be ignored and for people to be disingenuous with me.

Since I was a young man of twenty-three, I sought the wisdom of older guys whom I worked.  They talked of all the shady things that transpired in the routine work of the shop.  I remember doing things that I thought were improper and wrong, but I was a stupid twenty-three year old.  What did I know?

The collective thought of the employees was that the owner needed to answer some questions we had.  I received encouragement from my Sunday school class that we as Christians needed to stand for that which was moral and right.  I remember a sermon that the pastor preached about snakes.  He said, “If you mess with snakes, you will get snake bit.”

I finally got an answer from the owner about the insurance.  He said that he and his partner did not know of any insurance that paid for baby delivery.

On my favorite day, Friday the 13^th, I, with the backing of six to seven employees, confronted the owner about irregularities with work and insurance.  I know now, but was clueless back then that my companions lacked backbone, why else would they let a young man lead? 

I showed him my policy and the coverage.  Looking back, I realize I caught him with the proverbial “hand in the cookie jar.” He became hostile.  When the discussion got heated, I looked around and I was the only one standing up to the owner.  After a short exchange and my short diatribe on the owner’s spiritual lostness, he fired me.

The response from my allies shocked me.  They said I took the discussion too far.  I thought I did the right thing.  The premiums I paid were for full coverage, but the owner and his partner were paying for a lesser insurance coverage.  When caught, they agreed to pay my hospital bill.

The owner realized what he did and offered my job back, but I took another road on life’s journey.  I never made a full machinist because I never had an opportunity to continue the apprenticeship.

After two months of building houses, I went to work at the cement plant on October 13.  During the between months, I faced great challenges and criticism.  Everyone was mad at me for getting fired.  I stood for what was right, I found myself alone, and I went into a time of a personal low.

Lying on the front seat of my old Ford pickup, my dad asked what was wrong.  I told him that I stood for a principle I thought right morally and ethically.  Now, I feel abandoned.  His words I never will forget.  “Son, if you stand for what is right, be willing to stand alone.  If you are right, that is what matters regardless of what others think, including me.  Son, I am proud of you.”

At a pastor’s conference Dr. Rick Lance, Executive Secretary for Alabama Baptists, gave an inspirational devotion on Jesus at Gethsemane and the phrase, “Jesus went a little farther in following God Will, Word, and Work.”  I immediately went back to 1976.

 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.  Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.  And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.  And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? (Matthew 26:36-39 KJV)

I cannot start to imagine how Jesus felt at that tremendous moment in His journey to the Cross.  His dad knew that His Son would be all alone.