A Slight Delay

The venerable Bobby Burns said in his poem, "To a Mouse":  “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley.”  We ordinary English-speakers have adapted that line to say:  "The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry."  Such was the case last week. There were four schools I had not yet visited and they were in a near straight line toward the Coast.  My "best-laid plan" was to visit them on my way to a conference of my brother's tribe I was attending last week.  Thus I would, as J. Morgan Ghent wrote in 1632, "kill two birds with one stone."  However, as John Donne wrote in "No Man Is An Island," the bell tolled for a dear friend and I was privileged to attend her homegoing celebration.  She was a dear lady who gave of herself freely and has now received her reward.


I suspect that is quite enough googled literary references for this lifetime.  So I will, as Judge Jesse would say, "cease and desist.

I left immediately following the service for the conference where I spent three days under the instruction of a convictional professor from Indiana and in the company of men and women whose lives are devoted to serving others and sharing the Good News of the Gospel.  It was, needless to say, a worthwhile three days.


I had to return home for responsibilities on Wednesday night so on Thursday morning, I retraced my steps beginning in the town of Hamlet at the Richmond County Community College.  Carolyn Bittle is the Dean of the Library there and,as has been the case so often, she was working at the information desk.  These community college deans and directors are far from administrators alone.  They are all working librarians.  I believe it is, at least in part, because they love books and the people who read them.

My next stop was in Laurinburg at St. Andrews University where I met Mary MacDonald.  I wondered if everyone who worked at a University named after the birthplace of golf in Scotland had to have highlander names.  But on their faculty directory I found names from Austin to Wojtasik so I guest they allow non-Scots to teach.  There was one swimming coach named Burns and eight professors whose names began with "Mc" or "Mac."  Needless to say, the school is proud of it's Scottish heritage.  St. Andrews was founded by the Presbyterian Church and is the product of a merger of an all-male and an all-female school.  They have recently become a campus of Webber International University in Florida and each summer, they host the Governor's School for gifted and talented high school students in North Carolina.  St. Andrews also has a world-class equestrian program.  In addition to many competitive equestrian championships, the school offers a degree in therapeutic riding and preparations for vet school.  My brother rode a horse for much of his ministerial career though I don't believe he ever went to school to learn how.


My next stop was at Bladen Community College near Dublin.  Dublin.  St. Andrews.  Are you seeing a theme here?  The early settlers of this area were from Scotland and Ireland and traveled up the Cape Fear River. It was lunch time so I stopped in at a restaurant named Dowless and Co. in Dublin.  Being unfamiliar with the area, I pulled into the wrong entrance.  It was, however, a fortunateerror because I saw behind the restaurant a man standing at a cooker.  He signaled the direction I should go and after paring in the correct lot, I walked walked around back to meet Lennox the Pit Master for Dowless.  Lennox opened the cooker long enough for me to see about eight pork shoulders which looked ready to eat.  Lennox's experience, however, said they needed another "three hours."  Inside, I found the special of the day to be country-style steak which I ordered with cabbage, field peas and cornbread.  Delicious!  Dublin is in the heart of "peanut country" and the residents were gearing up for the annual peanut festival which began on Saturday.  Sherwin Rice is the director of the library at Bladen CC and is rightfully proud of the work being done by her school for the community.


My final stop was in Whiteville at Southeastern Community College.   Kay Houser is the Director of the library and we had a long conversation about both the changes occurring in libraries and education in general as well as our families.  The day following my visit was Constitution Day.  Kay had made a most-creative window display to celebrate the day.

Speaking of the Constitution, I would like to make a political statement although I am, myself, an undocumented alien:  The next President of the United States will likely appoint three or four justices to the US Supreme Court.  Those appointments will affect the future direction of this country for generations to come.  Please choose wisely. As the Grail Knight said to Indiana Jones:  "You must choose but choose wisely."