* * Tommy McDearis’ epiphany of unloading chairs

If I was a Christian, I’d go to Pastor Tommy McDearis’ Blacksburg Baptist Church, just to hear him speak. A Canadian politician and judge, Thomas Chandler Haliburton, wrote in 1840, “Never discus religion or politics with those who hold opinions opposite to yours; they are subjects that heat in handling, until they burn your fingers.” Tommy doesn’t hesitate to talk about both.

I know Tommy best through our Blacksburg Rotary Club. We talked recently about his take on religion and politics.

Tommy grew up in north Georgia. He first attended a rural Methodist church, but later his family migrated to a rural Baptist church. It was a less than favorable migration. “The negative preaching highlighted hell. Every scripture reading led to a sermon on hell.

“Most people believe a wrong choice leads to a penalty. Human minds are geared that way. To me, the Christian faith is based upon God’s grace. God loves you no matter what. Our response should be a life of gratitude. ‘Thank you, God for loving me even when I’ve done unworthy things. I want to honor you by doing the best I can do.’ Our call is to share that there is a God who loves and cares about people.

“That approach goes against human nature. It seems to lack justice, and people believe there should be justice. There are consequences to bad choices. The good news of my faith is that not even bad choices will prevent God from loving us.

“Yes, God cares what we do … He wants the best for everybody. I think He’s omnipresent and involved, but I don’t think God knows of every move we will make before we make it. He knows our potential for positive and negative actions. This is different to many of my more conservative brothers and sisters in faith. Many believe God knew all along of our every action. I disagree. God knows what we could do, and he has shown us how to avoid bad choices. He offers the power to choose well.

“Today, we are seeing choices by some Christians which are not for the benefit of people, society or the nation.”

Disillusionment with graceless faith led Tommy to leave the church entirely during his early teen years. But at age 16 he met a minister who convinced him God was a God of grace, mercy and love, one who had dreams for him. It changed Tommy’s life and directed him back to the church and ultimately to the ministry. Not long afterwards, another mentor guided him to a social justice gospel.

“They helped form who I became. I was unloading chairs from a pickup truck at a youth outreach rally where I was one of the leaders. There I realized the ministry was my calling. It was a mysterious, amazing moment for me. It was the epiphany of unloading chairs.”

Tommy went to Berry College and then to seminary where his brand of Christianity became inextricably tied to social justice. He said, “I personally don’t believe you can follow Jesus and not care about people. Christ was a radical man. He befriended prostitutes and sinners. He sought those who needed him most. His entire ministry was about making things and people better. He fed the hungry. He clothed the unclothed. He gave drink to the thirsty. God wants the best for the world, and our task is to make that happen.

“You can’t accept our faith and envision Jesus taking children from their parents and putting them in cages. You cannot advocate ‘sending her back home’ to an American citizen born somewhere else.

“I look at the strength of Christianity in the time of slavery and Jim Crow, and I cannot understand how Christians felt that was okay. As I’ve gotten older that’s become more baffling. Ours is a faith of love, and true love creates the justice that makes the world a better place. It looks at what’s wrong and tries to make it right.

“People – and not just Christians – are fearful. Things seem to be getting worse and we’re not able to stop it. Parishioners are being shot in churches and kids in schools. This never happened in my youth. We lock our church to protect ourselves. When this happens, even faith turns negative.

“Mine is a love-based, grace-based ministry. Even people who disagree with me know that I love and care about them. Occasionally, people will leave our church annoyed, but not often. Everybody is welcome in our church. It’s the best I know at making all people welcome. Sometimes this bothers some people, but not often. On the whole, our church embodies God’s love to everyone, and that thrills me.”  

* * Virginia Republicans show cowardice on gun control

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.

A month ago, following still another mass murder like our country endures seemingly every few weeks, this time in Virginia Beach, Virginia’s governor Ralph Northam compelled the General Assembly to convene in special session in Richmond to debate and potentially pass several measures he’d suggested to reduce the possibility of more gun deaths. This is not a minor problem: last year, over 1000 Virginians died from bullet wounds.

Many people consider his proposals entirely modest. They included:

* Universal background checks, closing a loophole allowing private citizens to sell guns without getting background checks.

* Bans on assault weapons, high-capacity ammunition magazines, silencers and devices like “bump stocks” that increase a gun’s firing rate.

* Reinstating a law repealed in 2012 that limited handgun purchases to one per month. (Again, note that we once had this law, but for gun rights advocates, being able to assemble an arsenal of 120 guns in ten years is not enough.)

* Requiring anyone whose firearm is lost or stolen to report it to police.

* Creating an “extreme risk protective order” allowing courts to seize guns from people who a judge deems a threat to themselves or others.

* Prohibiting anyone subject to a court’s final protective order from possessing a gun.

* Allowing cities and counties the ability to pass gun laws stricter than state law, such as banning firearms from public events or buildings.

Most of these proposals enjoy widespread support. For example, in 2018, 84% of Virginia voters said they favor requiring background checks for all gun sales. (Source: Christopher Newport University poll.)

To their credit, Republicans did present a proposal, when House Speaker Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) proposed to increase criminal penalties like mandatory minimum sentences for gun-related crimes.

So the General Assembly, dominated by Republicans, met in that special session. For a mere 90 minutes. There was no debate on any proposals, even Cox’. No action. No laws. Then in grim irony to the Governor’s request to do more than send thoughts and prayers, they passed memorial resolutions for each of the Virginia Beach victims. And then they fled Richmond, scurrying home, presumably hoping nobody noticed.

Senate Minority Leader Richard Saslaw (D-Fairfax) called it “The most totally irresponsible act I’ve seen by a political party in four decades I’ve been here.”

Many gun control advocates, including me, were dumbfounded and dismayed by this blatant abdication of duty. Do we not pay these people to make laws to protect us? I didn’t expect them to pass all these proposals, but neither did I expect them to do nothing.

When mature problem solving was called for, Delegate Speaker Kirk Cox and Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment, Jr. muttered flaccid excuses as they sat on their hands claiming that the Virginia Beach Crime Commission investigation, “needed to carefully review any findings that are available” before any decisions could be made. It is insulting to hear Cox stating that everyone, “shares the goal of reducing gun violence,” just before calling Governor's special session “a stunt.” Remember, Republican lawmakers failed to act 12 years ago when the commission Governor Kaine appointed to study the shooting at Virginia Tech.

In hindsight, though, everything comes into clarity when we wrap our heads around the idea that party control is everything and public safety is nothing to these Republicans. When we try to think in any other way, that their motives surely must have been purer, they confirm our darker thoughts themselves.

You see, one of those Republican legislators, Senator Amanda Chase (R-Midlothian), literally admitted in a taped interview – and I admire her candor – that these Republicans had decided before their arrival that they had no intention of considering the governor’s requests at all, ensuring that he’d never achieve anything resembling a victory. She said, “There was some concern that we did not have the votes in the House to be able to defeat these measures. There were some weak-kneed Republicans on the House side that could have very well voted for some of these bills, and we couldn’t take that chance in an election year. So that’s the play that was made; it was one that we agreed on in advance…”

Read that again: they agreed before they arrived that nothing would be done.

For Republicans, it’s not about public safety at all, but more of political gamesmanship. They have decided they’d rather face voters in November having done nothing but show contempt for public safety, than having considered, much less passed, reasonable safety measures. Seemingly nowhere in their calculus was the issue of tackling what is a state and national emergency. Succinctly, they don’t give a damn how many people are killed or wounded.

Remember, we lose on average 3 Virginians every day.

So now it falls to voters. Local Delegates voting to adjourn include Nick Rush (R-Christiansburg) in District 7 and Joe McNamara (R-Salem) in District 8. Whether they can be seriously challenged in heavily Republican districts in November is yet to be seen. But it seems clear that the only way we’ll get the legislation we so desperately need is to vote these deadbeats out, in favor of people willing to do their jobs.

* * Walking distance

My feet hurt. I bet yours do too.

I recently wrote some columns about my Camino de Santiago in Spain, from the French town of St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela. I was pleased at the performance level I was able to coax from my aging body, as I walked from 12 to 21 miles per day on 34 of 35 days I was there. But my feet were another story, giving me constant problems.

Today I went to the podiatrist. I’ll tell you about it momentarily.

I’m pleased and proud to say that in spite of the physical challenge and discomfort I had on my walk, I was able to complete all 500 miles, walking all but 4 miles of it (I took a short taxi ride when I couldn’t find a place to stay). All that time on my feet gave me a new perspective not only on how people relate to each other but in a grander way how humans relate to the landscape.

When you think about “walking distance,” what does that mean to you?

Most Americans own a car and thinking nothing of hopping into it for even the shortest trips. Most American communities are designed around the needs of cars, and in many cases how to get cars through rather than into them, rather than the needs of pedestrians. Our area’s three main downtowns, in Christiansburg, Radford, and Blacksburg, designed more than a century ago, have narrow streets and small parking areas, much different than our malls and shopping regions that emerged in the last 40 years. In Europe, almost all communities were designed hundreds, even thousands of years ago. Streets are very tight, sometimes the width of a horse-draw cart, and often crooked. Parking is scarce to non-existent. It’s easy to get to stores, shops, and offices without a car and many people don’t own one. Buses and trains will take you to the next city or beyond, and departures are frequent.

There are lots of benefits to this.

One thing I’ve noticed in pedestrian environments is that people are typically friendlier to each other. When you’re on foot and going in the same direction, it’s easy to converse. Conversations among friends and strangers alike seem natural and commonplace. Conversely, while sometimes a motorist will allow you to merge your car into his or her lane with a friendly wave, loud honks of disapproving horns seems equally common, perhaps more so.

I can tell you from experience in my training and on the Camino itself that walking alone is deeply contemplative. It allows time for thinking about commitments and tasks, and fostering creativity. I’ve often said that my books were written not sitting at my computer but instead walking into the night on the Huckleberry Trail, where my subconscious was unleashed. Walking allows the inner voice to emerge, free from the distractions of the highway and the dashboard entertainment systems.

Another thing I noticed in pedestrian Spanish communities was that walking was a natural part of the day for everybody. Women pushing strollers, children on tricycles, older kids on bicycles, and adults walking, toting bags, carts, or even walkers, were all part of the daily scene. It has a unifying aspect to it, where there is less perceived status differences than there would be at a parking lot, with gleaming Mercedes cars parked next to battered Datsun pickup trucks. Kids grow up with walking as part of everyday life, hanging out with friends or family at the plaza or park, walking the family dog, or sharing a meal, often outdoors. These are great multi-generational experiences as older family members run into younger generations and spend time together.

There is far less pollution in pedestrian-oriented communities, with fewer cars belching hydrocarbons into the air. And they are far, far quieter. Some of the smaller Spanish towns were spookily silent.

And undeniably there is a health benefit. We have an obesity problem in America today that is costing our society billions of dollars and our citizens countless health maladies. People are designed for ambulatory movement, not for sitting in chairs where most of us spend our days. I lost 8 pounds in 35 days and I ate until I was full every day. It pains me to say this, but I’ve gone into stores and restaurants where 70-80% of the people were overweight, many of them obese. More weight puts more stress on our feet. Few Europeans are overweight, and almost universally they eat better, fresher, more nutritious food than we do.

My podiatrist said the bone structure in my feet is crooked, not easily fixed. And I have severe Athlete’s Foot fungus. But he’s confident I can one day walk great distances pain-free again. After my 500 mile Camino, I feel like any distance, given enough time, is walking distance.

What’s your walking distance?

* * I want to live in a country…

I recently had an e-conversation with a local friend who runs several businesses here in the area about the state of the nation. This led me to contemplation about the United States of America in which I wanted to live. I thought I’d share this with you and ask your feedback.

I want to live in a country where there are opportunities for everybody, where the rungs on the ladder to prosperity are climbable, and the middle class is large and vibrant.

I want to live in a country where the elite, monied class has limited political power and where everyone, regardless of status or wealth, has a say in how we’re governed.

I want to live in a country where everybody over 18 can vote and every vote is equally counted and applied. I want to live in a country where voting and representative districts are fairly drawn and our legislative governments in race, color, and creed are mirrors of the citizenry.

I want to live in a country where our rivers are clear and uncontaminated, our air is clean and free of pollutants, and our soils are healthy and vibrant.

I want to live in a country where we preserve our wild spaces and the animals that occupy them.

I want to live in a country where women have all the economic opportunities as men and they have full control their reproductive rights without government interference.

I want to live in a country where immigrants are treated fairly as guests and given opportunities to become citizens and contribute to our great American experience, as our ancestors did.

I want to live in a country where every citizen has access to clean, fresh drinking water, nutritious food, and health care when they get sick.

I want to live in a country where the rights of children, the infirm, the handicapped, the mentally ill, and the disadvantaged are respected, because at least physically, we’re not all created equal.

I want to live in a country where citizens are taxed fairly and that money is invested wisely in research, education, and infrastructure, so we have a chance at a successful future in a competitive world.

I want to live in a country where firearms are legal for use in legitimate purposes such as hunting and self-defense, but tightly regulated to keep them from the hands of those who might do harm to others.

I want to live in a country where we respect the 94% of the people of the world who don’t live in America, and honor our shared humanity.

I want to live in a country where we make economic and defense pacts and treaties, commensurate with our national interests, and then stick with them by honoring our commitments.

I want to live in a country where our “defense” department is truly defensive rather than offensive, and the size of our military is commensurate. I want to live in a country where our leaders of all parties and all stripes view war as a last resort.

I want to live in a country where we honor the contributions of all working people, even those in government, and recognize the worthiness of all useful occupations.

I want to live in a country where all those who choose to break our laws are fairly, equitably, and sanely punished, with no special favors to the monied class.

I want to live in a country where we believe our scientists and engineers about existential threats on a changing planet and we act on their conclusions and recommendations.

I want to live in a country where everyone is free to worship as he or she sees fit, or not worship at all, and where people are free from fear in their places of worship and free from persecution elsewhere.

What kind of country do you want to live in? How can our United States of America be more like that?

* * Bill Ellenbogen, a catalyst for the Huckleberry Trail

For a guy with such a tremendous impact on Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Montgomery County, Bill Ellenbogen is a modest man. The founding director and President for over 30 years of an organization called Friends of the Huckleberry Trail, Bill has overseen the expansion of that beloved community resource from one mile to fourteen miles in thirty years of effort. Following the recent ribbon cutting of the latest section, from Prices Fork Road to Glade Road in Blacksburg, Bill and I got together and talked about his passion for trail building and the economic prosperity of our community.

Bill got involved at the request of former Blacksburg mayor Roger Hedgepeth, charged with finding a way to obtain the necessary rights-of-way to extend the trail farther south from its original layout with a 90-degree turn near Margaret Beeks School. Bill had just finished his tenure as the president of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, and was well entrenched with local business interests.

“We formed a group called PATH, or People Advocating The Huckleberry,” he said, “which needed to be multi-jurisdictional. Our goal was to stretch the trail from downtown Christiansburg in the south to the Jefferson National Forest north of Blacksburg. We wanted more than just a trail, but indeed a linear park. What that means is a series of parks and amenities that the trail would tie together.”

Early in that process, Bill relied on the contributions and expertise of Ken Anderson at Anderson and Associates, an engineering firm in Blacksburg.

“We didn’t have any money and initially not much community support,” Bill admitted. “But it was like rolling a snowball down the hill. The farther along it went, the more people saw the potential and they wanted to come along. Ken was instrumental in that with engineering and planning support. The first land donation was under Ken’s impetus, land that became the Coal Heritage Park in Merrimac.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

“I never knew I was going to be the guy to lead this and I never knew it would take so long. I have always worked in the private sector, where if you want something done you go do it. It seemed like this should be a no-brainer, in that it benefited everybody. In the first couple of years, we got rights of way and some federal funding. We got it done from the Blacksburg Library to the New River Valley Mall.

“Going north through the Hethwood complex and across Prices Fork Road to Glade Road had new challenges, primarily rights of way acquisition. Our group and the governments involved never considered condemnation of private land for a bikeway; we thought it was wrong. We went to landowners and asked and the community responded.”

He said that getting to the National Forest on the north end of the corridor involved about 8 property owners, including Virginia Tech. Hethwood already had a trail system. For the others north of Prices Fork Road, Ellenbogen approached them in 1996 and began obtaining rights-of-way. Long story short, working through all the access, money, and engineering issues took 23 years.

“So now we have a connection from the original trail near the US-460 bypass tunnel to the edge of the National Forest. It’s not my nature to give up. I worked with three different Parks and Rec directors, several town planners, three different Town Managers and a bunch of Town Councilmen in Blacksburg before we got it done. I really wondered if I’d live long enough to see it through. But I never considered quitting; I didn’t want the work to go to waste.

“You don’t do something like this for personal gain. While I get some kudos for heading it up, it’s a team effort. Part of the satisfaction I get when I go there and see the diverse community of users. There are babies in strollers. There are young children riding tricycles, older children riding bicycles, college students riding jogging and biking, fit people going fast, and then older people walking slowly. There is diversity in types of people, ages and demographics. It provides a safe environment for people to get out and exercise. I was an athlete at every level, from childhood through professional football. Now I’m an aging one. I hope getting out on the Trail will slow the inevitable fitness decline all of us experience.

“For a vibrant, complete community, you need art, culture, government, and commerce, but you also need outdoor recreation. It helps us compete with the San Franciscos, the Seattles, the Austins, and the other quality places where people want to live. In that sense, the Huckleberry (Trail) has been a great addition to the community.”