As mentioned in my previous post, I would like to share with you the tribute that was written for Lee Patrick Kidd (Pat) upon his passing in 2006. It touched me greatly and I hope it speaks to you too.
Funeral - Saturday 12-16-06
Connell Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Tx
Growing up in this church, I learned the importance of what Pastor Ira Bentley called "simple, childlike faith." I was maybe 10 y ears old when at the end of a Sunday morning service here, I answered the invitation to profess my faith. There was no test to take or class to go through. Brother Bentley just simply asked if I trusted in Jesus as Lord and Savior, and I told him yes. Then the congregation voted me in, and that very night I was baptized. Later, when I went to Princeton Seminary, I learned a lot more about the Bible and theology, but it was always "simple, childlike faith" that motivated me, and that has not changed. Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." Taking a child in his arms, he told his disciples, "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me." Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." The 20th century theologian Karl Barth wrote many volumes perhaps hard to understand; but at seminary I learned that when Barth was asked by a student to sum up briefly what he had been writing over a lifetime, Barth said, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." There is no substitute, is there, for "simple, childlike faith."
The life's work of my brother Pat was to keep bringing us back to the humble basics of love and hope and "simple, childlike faith." What is essential? What is necessary? Pat did not put on airs. He was who he was. At the table he didn't bother with pleasantries - "Don't talk, eat." Early, he learned what a hamburger was, but he would say "ruh-ruh-ruh" for hamburger because he couldn't articulate the word. I used to work with pat on that when we would go to Dairy Queen and eat our burgers and drink our malts in the car. "Pat, can you say 'hamburger'?" "Ruh-ruh-ruh" he would respond. You know, women often notice that men are not very verbal; well, Pat was an extreme case. Eventually, he did learn to pronounce words correctly, but he never really got the hang of speaking in sentences. Instead, he would throw out some key words: "Time for lunch. How 'bout Luby's" Just the basics.
But Pat was perceptive about what was happening, how people were feeling, and what the day's schedule was. Like his father and like his brother, Pat craved routine. F or a long time the day would begin with a Carnation instant breakfast. A glass of milk would be let for him in the refrigerator, and when he was ready, he would come into the kitchen and get out the glass and go get a spoon and get the packet of instant breakfast and pour the powder in, and stir, and stir, and stir. At the workshop where Pat worked, a girl with Down Syndrome was given the name "Christmas" because she was so slow. Well, Pat wasn't quite that slow, but he was slow. Eventually he would finish stirring and take his instant breakfast into the living room and sit in his favorite chair and drink at his leisure.
Usually he was pretty cooperative about fitting into the family's plans but he would not be rushed, and often it took a lot of persuasion and explanation on Mama's part to motivate, especially when something different was being required of him. Pat enjoyed doing things the same way every day, opening and closing the curtains, turning lights on and off, and managing the television with the remote. Pat, whose life was pretty much managed by others from first to last, found ways to assert himself and claim control. Sometimes it seemed to me that he was the one who ran the place. Mama would select some nice clothes for Pat to wear for an outing but after the outing Pat would go to his room, take off his nice clothes, and slip into something well worn.
(continued next post...)
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