As Jim Sees It

No discernable thread here, just some random thoughts. Apparently, it’s what I do. Consider each paragraph as if you just hit the remote control on your TV.
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This past weekend, Kathryn and I were in Beaufort, SC with some of her family. We stayed in a beautiful waterfront house on Bay Street that was built in 1852 by one of her ancestors from the Sams side of the family. If you saw the movie “Prince of Tides” you saw it when Nick Nolte visited the richest man in Beaufort. We also spent a good bit of time visiting the ruins of the family plantation and exploring family history. Often in our reading we would come across a first person account about how good life was in the antebellum South. Sometimes the writer would talk about how happy everyone was, white and black alike. Or, it would be mentioned that such and such was a good man and treated his slaves very well. After awhile I noticed that none of those glowing reports were ever written by a slave.
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A few days ago I read a column by a fellow named William Murchison. The essence of his point was that the Church has been neglecting its primary purpose, to help people connect with God. He said that churches often resemble a branch of the Peace Corps and ministers act as if they have missed their true calling as research scientists, public policy experts, or congressmen. Ouch. That feels a little too true to me.
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A while back a kid told me that I am not as funny as I think I am. I have heard that a lot and it used to kind of hurt my feelings. It doesn’t bother me so much now. I have realized that nobody is as funny as I think I am.
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I was thinking about starting this post with an explanation about why it has been so long since I posted anything here. I was going to say that I only want to blog when I have something to say. Of course, if you have read this far, you know that isn’t true.
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Back to the antebellum South. Along with a lot of African-Americans, I am glad Kathryn and I didn’t live back then. A girl whose family owned Dataw Island and half of Beaufort would have never even looked at a pig farmer from Davie county North Carolina.
Happy 36’th K. On May 27’th, 1973 you proved God sometimes blinds young women and blesses stupid twenty year old boys.

Just some random and possibly self-serving thoughts.

-Kathryn and I are hosting an educational trip to Greece and Turkey, following Paul's second and third missionary journeys, in November. We will be staying on a cruise ship in the Agean Sea at night and going to the sites during the day. So far we have a great group going with us. Wanna come? Want info? Let me know.

-I have taken a communication via technology giant step in the last few days. I am now twittering at JimCHunter on Twitter.com, I am giving FaceBook a try, and I started a church twitter at HibbenUMC. Seems like just a couple of years ago I was laughing at people who thought they needed a cell phone.

-On a political note. . . This may feel partisan but I believe I will still be keeping my vow of nonpartisanship. . . I was watching the president's press conference tonight and couldn't help but remember how when I was a little boy playing army in the woods of NC, I always felt like I, as a pretend GI in WWII, was standing for something better than the enemy. One of those things was that we didn't torture our prisoners. . . Never thought I would live to see the day when there would be a serious faction of the population mad at our president for denouncing torture. (I will be looking forward to hearing from all the Jack Bauers out there)

-On a religious note (tried to tell you this would be random), we were looking at Psalm 23 during tonight's bible study. Ran across something I had never considered as I prepared for the night's discussion.Concerning the part about goodness and mercy following us, one scholar said that was like goodness and mercy is following us to clean up what we mess up. Reminded me of some canoe and rafting excursions I have been on when one of the guides was the sweeper. He or she would take a position at the back of the pack and when a raft or canoe tipped over, the sweeper would come along and get them back on track.

Messed up some how? Off track? Tipped over? Mercy will be along in a minute to get you squared away.

I have been wondering if being a father figure for a boy will be very different from being one for girls.

I will confess that I have approached being a Grand Daddy to the two girls with a great deal of confidence. After all, I happen to be the father of two incredible daughters so I must be pretty good with girls. Or, maybe I am at least smart enough not to get in Kathryn’s way. (my ministerial philosophy in a nutshell by the way)

But this boy thing, I have really been curious about how it will be different.

I spent a good deal of time with J.T. this past week and so far, not so different. I hugged him up, kissed him a lot, and called him sweet boy. When he cried, I didn’t tell him to get over it and get back in the game. Could have been Sarah or Maya.

As a matter of fact, when J.T. stares me in the eyes, he reminds me of the only other baby I have ever seen that stared at me like that, his mother.

But I have discovered one deep instinctual desire that is different in my and J.T.’s relationship. I want to play a role in showing him what it means to be a man.

With the girls, the prime directive was, make sure they know that you love them. Everyday it’s “I love you. You must know that Daddy (Grand Daddy) always loves you.” With J.T. it feels like the prime directive is, show him how to be a man. This is how you do it.

I’m a pretty liberated guy. I taught my girls how to throw a punch and I expected them to be honest, strong, wise, honorable, and brave. From the other side, I certainly think there is more to being a man than punching, strength and bravery. I’m just saying that it feels a little different when I hold the little boy.

Maybe I am just realizing that with this one, I am not supposed to get out of the way so much. I am supposed to crank it up and live the best life I can live. Then, hopefully, when J.T. is finding his path in the world, I will be one of the ones he views as a faithful guide.

I officiated at an amazing wedding this weekend. The bride was born in India, the groom in Nigeria. Friends were there from Ireland, South Africa and every U.S. time zone. Everyone was dressed in the formal dress of their culture and traditions were observed from the Syrian Orthodox Church. Quite a stretch for a Carolina boy.

After the service I was talking to one of the musicians and she asked me where everyone was from and what the various crosses and pendants that were given meant. When I told her how many countries were represented, she looked at me and said, "Wow, we really have a big God don't we?"

A big God indeed. Little jim, big God.

Today my daughter Cammie and her husband Joey are celebrating their second wedding anniversary. Way back on the eleventh of this month, their daughter Maya Campbell Egan was born. All this sets me a ponderin’.

There is an extremely good chance that Maya will live into the twenty-second century.

My Granddaddy, Wesley Royal Hunter, who had a big impact on my life, was born in 1898. He grew up on a small farm in Davie County, North Carolina, where they raised everything they ate. His father was in the Civil War. I once had a conversation with him about the first time he saw a car. He remembered clearly his amazement that there was such a thing as a flying machine.

One day, probably around 2079, Maya will have a conversation with a young person whose parents haven’t been born yet and she will tell him or her about her childhood and they will be amazed that they know someone that lived like that. She will talk about how when she was born her parents kept track of their friends via a thing called Twitter. She will tell them about her father’s Blackberry and how he could work at home because his business was so tied to the internet. She will talk about the cars, the houses, high definition TV’s and it will all sound like another world.

The thing that sets me a ponderin’ is this. What will they be comparing all that to?