“You can’t go home again.” So postulated Thomas Wolfe in his popular 1940 novel. Still, how many of us would not like to revisit the world of our childhood as it once was? I, for one, certainly would.
Obviously, however, I can’t. Things change, as do places. So I regularly choose to make such a trip vicariously by tuning into “The Andy Griffith Show” and visiting the fictional small town in North Carolina where it was purported to be situated. All I can say is “Long live Mayberry!”
Of course, I can certainly visit my own home town whenever I desire. Fayetteville, Georgia is still there, still alive, and still quite well. Still, for all it now has to offer (which is quite a lot), the modern version of this place will always differ from the earlier version that I so valued back in my childhood.
That version had barely 13% of its current population. It also lacked an equally significant percentage of the commerce and industry that would eventually manifest itself in its present form. And yet, I would still contend that the earlier version had much to offer – maybe even more to offer - than the current manifestation! At least in my mind it did.
I say this because, for me, it was the quintessential small town. Carved out of the wilderness, and named for a hero of the Revolutionary War, it reflected the spirit of manifest destiny that once shamelessly characterized all that was to make America the great nation she was destined to become. But I digress.
In the days of my childhood, Fayetteville, Georgia was much more than just a small town. As one who grew up on a farm several miles outside of town, I saw this relatively small municipality as “the big city”. (While my father’s 40 acre farm was barely 30 miles south of Atlanta, it was situated only 4.5 miles north of Fayetteville. So, whenever, we went to the “city”, it normally meant we were going to Fayetteville.)
To this day, I can remember marveling at going to that “big city” and seeing all the sights. Whether it was going to the County Courthouse, visiting Alford’s Department Store for a furniture purchase, stopping by either Jake Mask’s Tire Store for a repair or Travis’ Hardware Store for what we needed to make our own repairs back on the farm, going to Jones’ Pharmacy for the occasional “Root Beer Float”, or having a hot dog lunch at Willie Eason’s café, believe me when I say that, for a little boy growing up on a farm outside of town, such visits were remarkable and definitely made an impression.
I trust you get my point. Every pilgrimage there insured that a small boy from the country was overwhelmingly awed by what he saw in that place!
As I reflect on this, I cannot help but recall the words of King David in his famous song of ascents in the 122nd Psalm, verse 1, when he said: “I rejoiced with those who said to me, “‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’”
In this statement, we have the paradigmatic example of how a country boy feels whenever he comes to town. For David was the youngest son of Jesse who hailed from the rural little hamlet named Bethlehem. In other words, he was essentially nobody from nowhere. But he was going places.
One can only imagine the awe within him as he made the periodic trip up to the nearby capital city of Jerusalem, full of all the things that were not to be found out in the country. Years later, of course, David himself would occupy the royal palace in that metropolis. And he would increase the city’s splendor by bringing within its walls the Tabernacle in all its glory.
I wonder, though, if amidst the awesome burden of responsibilities that came with being king, he might not have looked back longingly at the relatively carefree days of his youth down in Bethlehem. After all, it was here shepherding sheep that he learned a lot about how to lead people. It was here, in defense of those same sheep, that he slew, first a lion and then a bear, and in the process, gained the confidence and experience necessary to defeat a giant named Goliath.
And given that when he first bursts onto the pages of Scripture, he is a teenager who is passionate about taking a stand for the one true God of Israel, it is evident that he had come to know his God and to serve Him in those childhood years spent in and around Bethlehem.
Little wonder that he was excited to go up to Jerusalem to the House of the Lord. For there, he not only worshipped his Lord, but also feasted and celebrated with throngs of God’s people. Given the close proximity of Bethlehem to Jerusalem and the fact that David was quite literate, it may well be that he even attended some form of school there at some point.
Thus it is that so many of the things David likely found in Jerusalem were the very things I found in Fayetteville. While our family attended a small Baptist church near our home, I went to Kindergarten in Fayetteville at the First Baptist Church. I also attended elementary school, middle school, and high school there. I played sports there. I went to fairs there. I shopped there. I dined there. I worked my first job(s) there. I dated there. I even met my wife there.
Sadly, however, with all the changes that have occurred over the years, many of the specific places within my home town that were once so dear to me now no longer exist. Stores, restaurants, banks, theaters, gas stations, ball fields, parks, houses, schools, and even churches that once stood in that place have long since disappeared, been supplanted, or else repurposed. New people, new businesses, new buildings, new streets, new parks, new factories, new stores, new government facilities, new schools, new churches, and even a massive new hospital now fill the ever expanding spaces incorporated within the ever expanding city limits.
Perhaps this is why I was thrilled recently to find a copy of a publication titled “Walking Through Historic Fayetteville”, prepared as a class project by the local middle school back in the day. Reading through its pages filled with pictures of people and places and anecdotes and stories about them has been like a trip back into my childhood. It has made me more and more thankful for when and where I was born and raised.
More importantly, it has also made me more and more thankful for the people God positioned there in that time and place in order that they might have an impact on me. Grandparents, parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, neighbors, friends, classmates, teammates, coaches, teachers, doctors, employers, and pastors all found time and ways there to leave their imprint on me.
David went on to accomplish much in his life. But surely, much of what he did accomplish was due to the foundation he was given by those who helped to form his values and convictions in his home town. I have something in common with David, in the sense that I had similar help from others during my own formative years in my own home town. I trust that, like David, I will build upon that foundation and eventually leave a mark upon others in turn.
SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Can%27t_Go_Home_Again;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fayetteville%2C_Georgia.
https://fayettehistoricalsociety.com/old-fayetteville/.
SCRIPTURE:
https://biblehub.com/psalms/122-1.htm.
SEE ALSO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuiBGht6FHY.
Obviously, however, I can’t. Things change, as do places. So I regularly choose to make such a trip vicariously by tuning into “The Andy Griffith Show” and visiting the fictional small town in North Carolina where it was purported to be situated. All I can say is “Long live Mayberry!”
Of course, I can certainly visit my own home town whenever I desire. Fayetteville, Georgia is still there, still alive, and still quite well. Still, for all it now has to offer (which is quite a lot), the modern version of this place will always differ from the earlier version that I so valued back in my childhood.
That version had barely 13% of its current population. It also lacked an equally significant percentage of the commerce and industry that would eventually manifest itself in its present form. And yet, I would still contend that the earlier version had much to offer – maybe even more to offer - than the current manifestation! At least in my mind it did.
I say this because, for me, it was the quintessential small town. Carved out of the wilderness, and named for a hero of the Revolutionary War, it reflected the spirit of manifest destiny that once shamelessly characterized all that was to make America the great nation she was destined to become. But I digress.
In the days of my childhood, Fayetteville, Georgia was much more than just a small town. As one who grew up on a farm several miles outside of town, I saw this relatively small municipality as “the big city”. (While my father’s 40 acre farm was barely 30 miles south of Atlanta, it was situated only 4.5 miles north of Fayetteville. So, whenever, we went to the “city”, it normally meant we were going to Fayetteville.)
To this day, I can remember marveling at going to that “big city” and seeing all the sights. Whether it was going to the County Courthouse, visiting Alford’s Department Store for a furniture purchase, stopping by either Jake Mask’s Tire Store for a repair or Travis’ Hardware Store for what we needed to make our own repairs back on the farm, going to Jones’ Pharmacy for the occasional “Root Beer Float”, or having a hot dog lunch at Willie Eason’s café, believe me when I say that, for a little boy growing up on a farm outside of town, such visits were remarkable and definitely made an impression.
I trust you get my point. Every pilgrimage there insured that a small boy from the country was overwhelmingly awed by what he saw in that place!
As I reflect on this, I cannot help but recall the words of King David in his famous song of ascents in the 122nd Psalm, verse 1, when he said: “I rejoiced with those who said to me, “‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’”
In this statement, we have the paradigmatic example of how a country boy feels whenever he comes to town. For David was the youngest son of Jesse who hailed from the rural little hamlet named Bethlehem. In other words, he was essentially nobody from nowhere. But he was going places.
One can only imagine the awe within him as he made the periodic trip up to the nearby capital city of Jerusalem, full of all the things that were not to be found out in the country. Years later, of course, David himself would occupy the royal palace in that metropolis. And he would increase the city’s splendor by bringing within its walls the Tabernacle in all its glory.
I wonder, though, if amidst the awesome burden of responsibilities that came with being king, he might not have looked back longingly at the relatively carefree days of his youth down in Bethlehem. After all, it was here shepherding sheep that he learned a lot about how to lead people. It was here, in defense of those same sheep, that he slew, first a lion and then a bear, and in the process, gained the confidence and experience necessary to defeat a giant named Goliath.
And given that when he first bursts onto the pages of Scripture, he is a teenager who is passionate about taking a stand for the one true God of Israel, it is evident that he had come to know his God and to serve Him in those childhood years spent in and around Bethlehem.
Little wonder that he was excited to go up to Jerusalem to the House of the Lord. For there, he not only worshipped his Lord, but also feasted and celebrated with throngs of God’s people. Given the close proximity of Bethlehem to Jerusalem and the fact that David was quite literate, it may well be that he even attended some form of school there at some point.
Thus it is that so many of the things David likely found in Jerusalem were the very things I found in Fayetteville. While our family attended a small Baptist church near our home, I went to Kindergarten in Fayetteville at the First Baptist Church. I also attended elementary school, middle school, and high school there. I played sports there. I went to fairs there. I shopped there. I dined there. I worked my first job(s) there. I dated there. I even met my wife there.
Sadly, however, with all the changes that have occurred over the years, many of the specific places within my home town that were once so dear to me now no longer exist. Stores, restaurants, banks, theaters, gas stations, ball fields, parks, houses, schools, and even churches that once stood in that place have long since disappeared, been supplanted, or else repurposed. New people, new businesses, new buildings, new streets, new parks, new factories, new stores, new government facilities, new schools, new churches, and even a massive new hospital now fill the ever expanding spaces incorporated within the ever expanding city limits.
Perhaps this is why I was thrilled recently to find a copy of a publication titled “Walking Through Historic Fayetteville”, prepared as a class project by the local middle school back in the day. Reading through its pages filled with pictures of people and places and anecdotes and stories about them has been like a trip back into my childhood. It has made me more and more thankful for when and where I was born and raised.
More importantly, it has also made me more and more thankful for the people God positioned there in that time and place in order that they might have an impact on me. Grandparents, parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, neighbors, friends, classmates, teammates, coaches, teachers, doctors, employers, and pastors all found time and ways there to leave their imprint on me.
David went on to accomplish much in his life. But surely, much of what he did accomplish was due to the foundation he was given by those who helped to form his values and convictions in his home town. I have something in common with David, in the sense that I had similar help from others during my own formative years in my own home town. I trust that, like David, I will build upon that foundation and eventually leave a mark upon others in turn.
SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Can%27t_Go_Home_Again;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fayetteville%2C_Georgia.
https://fayettehistoricalsociety.com/old-fayetteville/.
SCRIPTURE:
https://biblehub.com/psalms/122-1.htm.
SEE ALSO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuiBGht6FHY.