Page 16 - Robeson Living Summer 2020

The Parade

of Life

By Pastor Charles Locklear

Psalm 90:12, “So teach us to number our days,
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

As a young boy growing up in a small town, I have always Pasadena and in living rooms around the world to watch this
enjoyed a parade. Not many exciting things happened in Historic event take place on New Year’s Day 2021.
our small town. But two or 3 times a year the streets would
be lined with happy faces when the news was spread that a So, what is the meaning of all this interruption to our nor-
parade was going to happen. As a small boy I always enjoyed mal way of living in America? Why is my small town being
the sirens, the music, the soldiers and if it were a Christmas turned upside down by this international visitor called co-
parade, of course the arrival of Santa would signal that the vid19? If I had the absolute answer to that question, I would
Christmas season had arrived. As I grew older, the beautiful be famous, and you would probably have seen me a dozen
girls wearing their crowns and their smiles, captured my at- times sharing my conclusion on the national news. The fact
tention as well. is, I must take my place with the rest of humanity and declare
my ignorance and beg for your patience, as I at least offer a
This year has been different in so many ways. For the first few suggestions.
time in about 50 years, The Lumbee Homecoming Parade,
which drew the biggest crowd of people to Pembroke every As a Christian minister, of course there are those who are
year, did not happen. It seemed so strange that the 4th of July listening for my thoughts from a Biblical world view. Some
came and went, without more than 30,000 people enduring are, I suppose, expecting to hear me say…. that God is sover-
the heat, the traffic, and the temptation of spending lots of eign and that nothing occurs in both Heaven and earth with-
money on collard sandwiches, ice cream and t-shirts. It is out His permission. And I am fully persuaded this is true.
still hard to imagine, that no parade has taken place in our Others might be waiting to hear me say, we are reaping what
small town in 2020. It may well be, that parades are gone we have sown, and our sins have caught up with us. I am also
for the rest of the year. This possibility is added to a list of inclined to see this as part of our dilemma. Still others might
many other activities that are no longer permitted and whose say….We have dis-invited God from our schools houses, our
absence has created a new normal way of living life in our courthouses, even our church houses….and Gods response
small town. It is amazing that something so small, you can- to our disrespect and dishonor to Him as the creator and
not see it with the naked eye, has made such an impact on the sustainer, of all that is good, is wait…you are living in my
way we do living in 2020. world, you are breathing my air, you are eating my bread,
you are enjoying my blessings on your life…. And in order
In spite of a very strong effort to arrest this virus, and with to help you understand all this….I will allow your world to
the extraordinary effort being made by the medical commu- be touched in a way that will bring you back to the strong
nity to get some control over it, it continues to race across the reality that I am indeed still sovereign and I refuse to be dis-
globe, leaving suffering, sorrow and death in its path. Hardly invited by those who have no honest claim to ownership of
any community in America has not been touched by this pan- anything. Perhaps the message we should hear is, a remind-
demic. And depending on who you are inclined to get your ed that We Are pilgrims and strangers, on a very brief trip
news from, the worse may yet be seen. And the parades are through a world that we cannot remain in,
already being cancelled that would ordinarily take place dur- despite our determined effort to do so.
ing the Christmas and New Year’s Holidays, including the
Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California. For the first time As we make our journey from the cradle to the grave, our
in 75 years parade lovers will not gather on the streets of
Page 16 Robeson Living ~ Summer 2020