Crazy
Worrall
Fear not,
little flock;
for it is
your Father's good pleasure
to give
you the kingdom.
--
Luke 12:32
We all want a President with the Godly courage
and toughness of George Washington, the sensitive kindness and honesty of
Abraham Lincoln, and the freedom and fearlessness of Crazy Worrall.
Crazy Worrall?!?
Yes, he was a great American, too. He had the
personal security and the fearless freedom to be silly and funny. He did it
without hurting anybody and in the pure spirit of humor and joy.
Fearlessness and freedom both come from a
strong, secure foundation . . . and that foundation is literally at stake as
never before in this Presidential election. I've sure been sensing tension,
worry and fear these past few weeks. We could all use a good laugh right about
now.
So consider the chronicles of Crazy Worrall:
It all started one Halloween in the 1960s.
Worrall, our longtime family friend and neighbor, was a dignified stockbroker,
and dedicated husband and father of three. He got together with Roger Kupka, another
friend and neighbor. They decided Halloween fun shouldn't be just for kids.
They decided to dress up, too. They drove from house to house, ringing
doorbells and towering over the other trick-or-treaters. And here is how they
looked:
That's Worrall as the Girl Scout, and Kupka as the Camp Fire
Girl.
As you can imagine, their friends and neighbors
loved it. So they literally created a monster. The NEXT year, Worrall showed up
on doorsteps in a monster costume with a big cape, and a box under his arm.
He'd lift up the box lid . . . revealing Kupka's head inside.
Then there was the year they rented a hearse and
got a real coffin. One dressed as a mortician and brought you around to the
back of the hearse. The other burst open the coffin lid to give you the scare
of your life.
One year they got a hold of a firetruck, and dressed
as firefighters. They would ring your doorbell and spritz your doorframe with
lighter fluid. When they heard you coming, they'd light it on fire (don't
worry, only the fluid would burn), and heroically put it out with a fire
extinguisher.
And THEN there was the year they got a Chicken
Delight truck with a huge, fake fried chicken leg on top, and dressed up in
white gear with little black bow ties. When you opened the door, they would
shout, "Here's your Chicken Delight!" and throw a LIVE CHICKEN into your house.
I guess one family had hunting dogs and brand-new white carpeting, and you can
just imagine. We had our chicken penned up in the basement for days until we
could find a farmer to adopt her.
The morning after that stunt,
Worrall found his car filled with chicken feathers . . . and a dozen "FOR SALE"
signs all over his yard. He asked for it . . . and he was glad he got it. That
was the whole point: to connect, to make people laugh, to share a deep and
abiding love of life.
Fourteen years after his death, everybody still
tells Crazy Worrall's family all the time how much they loved those practical
jokes, and how much they miss him. To this day, when Roger Kupka sees a family
member, he tears up. Those were some of the best moments of his life, just
sharing joy.
You may not think this story has anything to do
with Tuesday's Presidential election. But I do. I hope you'll pray about it,
and vote for the candidate who you believe will do the best job of reducing our
fear, building up our security, and pointing us to God for guidance in everything
we do, as individuals and as a nation.
Fear not, little flock: just vote for who your
Shepherd would want you to vote for.
And fear not: Crazy Worrall passed the baton on
to the next generation. Here's his daughter Lisa, a teacher. Her pupils are in
to bugs, so she was a mad scientist this Halloween. That's her dog Charlie as Elvis:
No matter how the election goes, little flock,
fear not: a good God Who loves us is in the White House of the Universe . . .
and He won't let things get TOO crazy, no matter what. †
