Short Stories

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"Dancing With The Wind"
By
Morris B. Tampa

"Sonny don't die, Sonny don't die"!
My dad screamed those words at me with tears streaming down his face as I lie there in the road after being hit by a car. My eyes were open but I could neither move nor speak, the car had hit me in my back.

I was in 6th grade at the time and had received some roller skates for Christmas. These were those metal skates that came with the key to adjust the skate clamps to your shoes. These were considered the Cadillac of skates at the time. I wanted those skates badly and finally got them.

Many days I would go skating in Jordan Park. I loved skating in Jordan Park because it was a beautiful place with the cherry bushes and mango trees and also there were great people there.

The walkways through the community were built as if they had the thought of roller skaters in mind. You could hear the roar of the skates on the walkways and then the loud thump when the wheels passed over the splits in the walkway. Sometimes there would be many people skating together to form one line called a "train".

If you were at the tail-end of the pack which was where the lesser-skilled skaters were, you were the caboose. To be up front or leading the Train you really needed to know how to skate. As for me, I was between the caboose and the middle of the pack.

On this particular day I, along with several others was playing the game of Tag. The object of the game was to skate fast enough to elude that person that was selected to be the chaser or tagger. If he or she caught up with you and touched you, then you would have to chase and tag someone else for them to be the new chaser. We would all start closely bunched in a group then the chaser would count to ten as the others skated away as fast as they could to put some distance between them and the chaser so as not get caught.

Quickly counting to ten, the chaser started out after us and we divided up so that the chaser will have to select one out of the group he felt he could catch. He selected the group I was in and he was coming fast, fast after me.

I remember skating as fast as I could on the walkway behind what was then the Royal Theatre to get away from the chaser. I was fast approaching the road behind the theatre when I looked to the left and I saw my dad walking to his fish market which was located on 22nd street, across from Mr. Silver's shoe repair shop.

To get his attention,I hollered to
him and he turned around to see me skating fast toward him. He started to franticly wave his hands,and shouting something, I know now that he saw the car coming and he knew what was about to happen to his son.

I was skating fast and was close to the roadway when out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of the car coming from the right. I tried to stop myself by grabbing at the rails where the trash cans were stored but my hands slipped off the rails and I went directly into the road and into the path of that car. It hit me head-on.

I remember the loud, ugly sound, the instant great flash of light and the sharp, intense pain my body felt from the initial contact. My dad is there kneeling over me,crying and moaning--"Sonny get up, Sonny Get up, Lord don't let my son die". He kept repeating--"The Lord is my Shepherd, Sonny Don't die!Sonny Don't Die"!

All I wanted was to just get up and go home but I could not. Someway I could see others standing over me as I tried to get together whatever strength I could to move or get up, but I could not. My body was in shock.

My dad had seen the total incident and later he told me that the car had hit me and knocked me into the air where I landed hard on the ground like a broken doll. Strange as it seems now the skates probably saved my life. If I had been in the same type accident without the skates I probably would have been hit and gone under the car.

But through all that, God is Good, a merciful God. I was very well taken care of at the hospital and when I got home many classmates from my school (Jordan Elementary) and some teachers, came to visit me. For months my doctor would tape up my back to give it support and today after all those years there is neither a scratch nor a scar on my back to remind me of that incident. There is only a very small un-noticeable scar on my right knuckle from my hand scraping the pavement that reminds me of it.

My dad died while I was in high school and a great void was in my life. He and I worked together many years in his fish market and I missed him much. Who would I have to consult with? To help me grow into this man that he wanted me to be? Who would help me be that person he spoke of me becoming? What is going to happen to my brother Ray? He needed dad there with him also. Those questions at the time were not answered. I turned inward and did not want to talk to anyone nor discuss anything about a God that would take a young man's dad when he needed him most.

It took me awhile to heal and to even go back into the area where we worked together. In college, many times after a tough game it would have been good to call him to share the going's on. I was the captain of the basketball team at East Tennessee State University and doing well. I was the team's leading rebounder, second leading scorer and one of the best in the nation in field goal percentage. I looked forward to having a shot at the professional ranks but a knee injury sidelined that dream.

Life's challenges sometimes are immense and come with great pain. I have been there and had my share and sometimes even had the feeling of being unable to move through them. But somewhere in the back of my mind I kept hearing the message: "Sonny Don't Die, Sonny Don't Die". It was a message to tell me that inside of me I have been given by God the power to get-up, to speak to and move through whatever negative situation that tries to come against this God-given life.

When I was down on my back from the skating accident, I had neither the power to move or get up out of that street. Nor did I have power over life or death. I could have died there. But God has ALL power and He looked over me and was merciful to me. I don't want to forget that--how could I.

Being a big man,(6ftm,4in tall-275lbs)some people probably cannot picture the many tears I have shed over being thankful to God for being merciful to me. Tears have come when I see others being blessed or healed. I also thank God for blessing me with such a beautiful daughter (Karmen) that sometimes she even ministers to me.

I look at her beauty not just in her physical appearance but in the heart that she has for others. She has such a great and positive spirit always seeking growth in her life and growth in the Lord.

As a young child she did not like others to try to feed her. When other people tried to feed her food, she would turn her head and turn up those lips of hers to show that she wanted the spoon or fork to feed herself. And once those lips of hers got turned up, it was hard to get them down until she was satisfied. She has matured and much better now (Thank God).

Some people have asked me what is my greatest accomplishment. I tell them I have none. Although I have done some things I am proud of, but it has been God that has been His best for me.

God's greatest gift to me outside of Jesus is Karmen Tampa, the love of my life-My Suga and that is what I call her. I sometime play back her messages on the phone and to me there are no greater words that I can hear than when my child says --Dad, I love you. Nothing that day or any day outweighs those words I hear from her.

These days the pressures on people's lives and their liveihood are as great as in no time seen before.
Many homes and jobs have been lost. Families have been torn apart. Some to escape the pressure have committed suicide. The shootings, killings and crime around this country have grown constantly. There is a certainty that the constant dose of this type of news into a person's spirit will truly deplete the joy and whatever hope they may have.

In the Book of Acts, Paul, the author of many writings, speaks of his encounter on the Damascus Road inwhich he saw The Great Light that blinded him for several days. He spoke of his conversion to Jesus Christ and the understanding that he is now a deliverer of the message of Hope and Salvation.

While I do not place myself even close to Paul, there is a message that God says all should do and that is share the word with all nations and on that Paul and I are alike in that I have a commandment and even the reader of this message if you are a Christian, you have also.

Paul after his conversion to Jesus Christ considered himself the chief sinner for the way he destroyed many lives and tried to lay waste to the church. As for being a chief sinner, I may be with Paul on that one also. But I Thank God for forgiveness. For He forgives and forgets and the negative things of the past are never brought up, ever.

Not too long ago I was in a park sitting on a bench under a tree reading my bible and the commentary and there was a family close by flying a kite with their children. I watched that kite start off slowly and then catching the wind it dawned on me how God's word works in our lives.

That kite got up so high on the currents it was as if it was dancing and had a life of its own. It was as if a message from God had come into my spirit telling me to watch that kite, to see how He works. You cannot see the wind just as one cannot see God but you see His work. A clear message to me and it was well received.

After watching awhile, I got up to leave and this gentleman spoke to me saying "Good morning sir, how are you doing today"? I smiled and answered back-- "Thank you sir, I am doing just fine, I am Dancing with the Wind"--It was my way of giving thanks to God for lifting me up through the troubled and challenging times and also thanking Him for the good times and for the people that have impacted my life.

The earth's winds come at us in different ways just as the word of God does. A strong wind is like the word of God telling us to blow or remove certain obstacles out of our path. To clean-up things out of our life that is not in-line with the growth of a true life of peace and joy. A soft cool wind is to allow us to know of the great love that God has for us and to enjoy the comfort that the Holy Spirit brings to us. A slow or non-blowing wind is to remind us to learn to be still, meditate and wait on the Lord for guidance.

Just as that kite was lifted, we also are lifted by the word of God to a place of Peace, to a place of Joy, to a place of Prosperity. When a person that has gone through much gets that word in their spirit and the true understanding that the Lord is there with them to help them through whatever, the dancing starts.

We must know that God is with us no matter what type wind is blowing in our life. We should show our joy, show our hope and give praise to God in a world that seems to have lost much of it. We should let others see that our hope is not fixed in circumstances or dependent on the constant changes to the economy but on a God of Mercy and Goodness that NEVER changes. The words that come out of our mouth can change or even maybe save a life. Many times the thoughts of my dad and mom come to mind and mentally I speak to them that their son did not die and is alive and well due to their prayers to God for me.

These days when a person speaks to me and asks "How am I doing?", because of knowing the God that has blessed me and knowing the type of God we serve and He that has watched over us (my daughter and I), I can truly answer back in all sincerity,"I AM DANCING WITH THE WIND"-God is steadily lifting me up.

Morris Tampa 03/09/2009

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