Thank you James Brooking

I had to do a funeral yesterday for a member of my first congregation. James and his wife Kathleen were very special to me during my 4 years at North Covington. Their daughter called me last week to tell me that they had to admit James to hospice last week and wanted to know if I would preside over James' funeral. Of course, I accepted the honor and thanked them for thinking of me. Not long after hanging up the phone and I began to think about James, the word "treasure" popped into my head.

James had a very unique way of looking at life. No matter what people saw whether it was in an object or a human being, James saw something of value—something that could be treasured. A good example of that occured the very first time I went to visit James,. He invited to tour the shed to left of the house. What some may consider to be junk, James considered them to be treasure; maybe not at that very moment, but something that could could be fixed or repaired into a futire "treasure." The family and some of James' friends shared numerous stories about the STUFF James brought home from other people's garbage or thrown away on the side of the street. He could go to work or go to run some errands with an empty pickup truck and come back later with the back of the truck filled with just about anything that could be fixed. Most of whatever James could fix, he would eventually give away to those in need.

In the neighborhood, along Sammar and Odom Streets, James was a treasured neighbor, helping out wherever he could. If anything needed to be fixed or repaired, James was the man to call to help out. There were also times that I was the beneficiary of some of the treasure that came from James’ and Kathleen’s garden. They would usually have to remind me to leave my car unlock so I could receive some of the vegetable of the week. I also benefited anytime Kathleen used some of those fresh vegetables at our church's covered dish dinners.

Another one of James' treasures was his old Model A car. James loved to talk about his treasured Model A and the trips James and Kathleen took showing the car off around the South. It was his Model A that James made some of the numerous friends that he enjoyed over his 90 plus years of life. James was not only a treasured friend to so many, but in his later years treasured his friendships. Anytime when I would visit, James loved to tell the stories of times and friendships from the years bypassed.

Now, what did I treasure most about the years I have known James Brooking: LIFE LESSONS. James had a special way of looking at the world—mainly through what he saw out his front window. I can remember sitting in James and Kathleen’s house listening to the stories of James and Kathleen’s life. When I was in licensing school, I was alsways told to limit my pastoral visits to be no more that 30-45 minutes. With James, there was no such thing as a 30-45 minute visit; James would start talking and then I would look at my watch and it was 2-3 hours later. Time flew by while James shared different parts of his and his family's life. Each and every story I heard from James was a TREASURE—no matter how many times he told the story. During my last couple of visits, Kathleen would try to correct James by telling him I had already heard that story or maybe James got the story a little mixed up. For me, it didn’t matter because James was willing to share the treasure of his life and families’ life with a brand new preacher who was still trying to figure out what visiting people in their homes was all about.

The last verse of the Scripture that I read yesterday says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If that is the case, then James Brooking lived his 90 plus years because of the size of his heart and the size of the treasure that God had blessed him with. I believe James looked at life much like Christ did; where people saw junk and no value, James saw treasure and where people saw worthless and no good people, James saw people who could be treasured. I can never ever remember James saying anything bad about any one person. You could see it in the way James treated his family, his friends, and in his neighborhood.

I am thankful to God for the many treasures that he has blessed me with over the years of my life. I am especially thankful for the treasure of James Brooking in my life. I pray that after you finish reading this, you will look over your life and see the many treasures God has blessed you with. And after you finish inventoring all those treasures, thank God for them and then make the time to tell each of those treasures how much they mean to you.

Blessings and Grace,

Dan