COMMENTARY: Start with a huugg_cosby_60203

Posted: 6/04/03

COMMENTARY:
Start with a huugg

By Terry Cosby

Dallas has a lot of concrete and asphalt. It has a lot of people, too. I saw a few of them recently.

Going to the oncologist's office is never fun. We took my mother-in-law for a checkup. Sometimes, it's OK when you leave and you've gotten pretty good news, as we did. Other people I worry about.

A family came in, 30-something mom and dad with two girls. One about 8 the other about 5. Which one had cancer? They were all too young and healthy-looking. It was the dad. Mom registered him, and he went on to the lab. What must he be thinking as he looked at two young kids, a pretty wife, and fighting cancer? If I'd seen him in another place, I'd have never known about his fight.

Isn't that the truth about everyone? We just never know what people are carrying, do we?

In the same office, a 40-plus-year-old man shuffled in with several family members. They were not from Dallas. The whole family was dressed in western attire. One lady, either his sister or sister-in-law, was large and in charge with big hair. She looked like someone's fun aunt. The man with the cancer looked ashen, shaky. He had on a nice shirt, blue jeans, boots and a cap to hide the chemo-baldness. She was on a cell phone and was a bit loud: “Hi, we just got him to the doctor's office. He's been practicing walking. He's getting pretty good. …” They called him back to the exam room. He stood shakily and moved haltingly toward the door. He stumbled a bit and hit the door facing with his forehead and eye. I turned away. The family was silent a moment. The brother took his arm to guide him back.

We can think we've learned to dance around our enemy, but just then he trips us up.

We met our boys, Clay and Matt in Dallas. It was good to see them. After a little shopping, Clay said he wanted a shake from Jakes. I found the little joint he knows about and pulled around the building to the drive-through. This building looks like it fits more in Hereford than Dallas. I pull around thinking, “Good. There are no other cars in line. This will be quick.” No cars in line, but a Jazzy, one of those electric wheelchairs, is at the drive-through. The lady was large, very large. I could see her leg dangling off the side of the wheelchair. It was purple and black with sores, some bandaged, some not. She battles diabetes. She has a dog. I could see it in the crook of her arm. It is a Chihuahua. She got her sack of burgers, fries and her drink and drove off.

I thought: “Where are her friends. Where is her family?” Very likely, they were in her arms.

I went to Golfsmith for the first time. I could afford nothing. I don't have a sand wedge. I found the cheapest one in the store. I had a 15-percent-off coupon. The guy at the check-out in front of me bought a $199 three-wood. He had no coupon. The cashier told him, “Good luck with that this weekend.”

I placed my $25 sand wedge on the counter and presented my 15-percent-off coupon. It is now the second most expensive club I own.

He asked, “Is that all?”

“Yes.”

He took my money, handed me the change and wedge and said nothing as I left. I want to practice with my wedge and give new meaning to the term “wedgie.”

Pam was going to make her mother a fresh strawberry pie. We went to the store. Albertson's had strawberries, two baskets for $3. Good deal. We grabbed what she needed and went to the check-out. While I was fumbling with the debit card, the cashier took note of Pam. This lady sounded and looked a lot like Queen Latifa.

She said, “Ma' am, are your all-rrite? (Clay later said she said that like she thought we must be beating her.) You look soo saad. You look like you need a huugg.”

We laughed. I got some extra money. She said, “Y'all goin' to the show?”

“Well, I guess we could. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Go see ‘Bringin' Down the House' with Steve Martin and Queen Latifa. It's funnnie. … I'm goin' back as soon as I get off here.”

The more I thought about it and the folks I saw in Dallas, they all needed a huugg. More than that, whether in Dallas or Hereford, they need Jesus.

You might start with a huugg,

Terry Cosby is pastor of First Baptist Church in Hereford