Drat You Meddling Holy Fool! Tagged Again!

Seems I have been tagged once again by another of these unholy memes that sucks up what little blogging time I have available. And once again, that Holy Fool has his fingerprints all over this one - this time tagging me with a meme asking to know "MY TOP TEN GREATEST INFLUENCES, OUTSIDE OF GOD AND MY FAMILY MEMBERS!"

I suppose I should comply, if for no other reason that to give props to the wonderful people who have helped shape my life. This is my top 10 list, in no particular order:

(1) Reisor Pickett - My best friend since 3rd grade. He's stuck with me through thick and thin, and we've been through quite a lot together. Since I'm supposed to exclude family members from this list, I should probably exclude him, since he has been more than a brother to me for almost 30 years.

(2) Dr. Andrew Arterbury - My closest friend during my college years at Baylor University, Andy was ordained a Baptist minister while he was still in high school, and is currently a professor of Religion at Baylor's Truitt Seminary. While we were students at Baylor, Andy was the person who lived the example that showed me that being a good Christian was an everyday vocation, not just a matter for Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday night prayer meeting.

(3) Mr. James L. Golden - My high school debate/speech/drama teacher, Mr. Golden is the man single-handedly responsible for turning me into the self-assured, opinionated, argumentative S.O.B. I am today. In all seriousness, they don't make teachers like this anymore - he was Socrates to me, and, indeed, incorporated the Socratic Method as part of his daily instruction. This man taught me how to think, how to reason, how to look at all sides of an issue, how to come to an informed opinion, and yes, how to argue persuasively in advocating a position. James Golden, in many ways, was a second father to a young man who spent 4 years seated at his feet learning the art of rhetoric.

(4) Coach David Whiting - Coach Whiting was an assistant football coach on my high school football team. An intimidating, towering, giant of a man, who spent hours of every day yelling at players and pushing them beyond their limits, he helped to build the Van Vandals into a dynastic East Texas football powerhouse. But that's not what made him special. I saw him cry. Several times. This huge intimidator was also the sponsor of my high school's chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He was a devout Christian man, and not afraid to talk about it. And sometimes when he talked about his relationship to the Creator of the Universe, his Lord and Savior, he got choked up. When he saw hardened young men and women have their rough edges smoothed by making Jesus their Lord, he wept like a baby. He showed me that it's okay to be a "manly man" and still be as a child when approaching the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

(5) Father Gerald Przywara - Formerly the pastor at St. Joseph's/Shrine of St. Katharine Drexel in Columbia, Virginia (and now pastor of St. Francis of Assissi in Staunton, VA), I'm not sure I would ever have become Catholic without his influence. At a time when the Church was rocked by scandals involving "less-than-manly" behavior by priests, Father Jerry's masculine example of priesthood convinced me that the Catholic Church could be home to my family. You always knew where Father Jerry stood, and it was always squarely with the Church. He would always say, I'm not conservative, I'm not liberal, I'm Catholic. He was right. He is one of the, if not THE, holiest and most orthodox priests I have had the privilege of meeting.

(6) President Ronald Wilson Reagan - In 1976, when I was 8 year old, I supported Governor Reagan in his challenge of then-President Gerald Ford. I was elated when he was elected President 4 years later. I was in shock at the near-fatal attempt on his life in 1981. I was in awe when he delivered on his promise to defeat Soviet Communism. The 1980s were the formative years of my life politically, and Ronald Reagan WAS politics and statesmanship during that decade, and shaped my views accordingly. He took the conservative movement that was considered "extreme" just a decade-and-a-half earlier and made it the mainstream political philosophy of our time (despite what the Dems on the Senate Judiciary Committee would have us believe).

(7) "Mr." Thomas Jefferson - "I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." I'm not so much a Jeffersonian these days, opting now instead for a more Washingtonian view of civic virtue. But for most of my life, my political philosophy was shaped by the writings of the Sage of Monticello. When it came to choosing a law school, I had full-ride and nearly-full-ride scholarships to other fine institutions, but my childhood dream was to attend law school at Mr. Jefferson's University. Jefferson, during his life, opposed all manner of public debt but, ironically, died deep in personal debt. I followed the latter example and went deeply into debt by attending the University of Virginia, thus fulfilling a lifetime dream. I have never regretted that decision (and, besides, my student loan debt has long been paid off). Furthermore, I love this Jefferson quote about the University he founded: "For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it." In this day and age of campus speech codes, who wouldn't want to attend such a place?

(8) Dr. Albert Schweitzer - "I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know; the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve." Enough said.

(9) St. Columba (a.k.a. Columcille) - At some point, because of my Irish and Scottish heritage, I began to study some of the Celtic Saints. St. Columba in particular stuck out to me. Not sure why, but maybe it was because he wasn't your normal "peace and love" saint. This guy was a prince of the royal family from which the High Kings of Ireland were chosen, but chose the Church over power. Well, not exactly. He was a power broker among power brokers. And he relished the role. He was also a scholar, poet, and warrior. In fact, he started a war over a "copyright" that he infringed when he secretly copied a psalter belonging to another monk. Exiled from Ireland as punishment for the bloodshed resulting from that war, Columba went to the Kingdom of Dalriada on the west coast of Scotland, from whence he took the lead role in the dynastic struggles for the kingship of the Kingdom, as well as converting the native Picts to Christianity. At any rate, what started out merely as a historical interest in my Celtic heritage turned into something more. As John Henry Cardinal Newman once noted, "To be deep into history is to cease to be Protestant." Well, that's what happened to me, and I credit St. Columba for leading me home. To honor him, I took "Columba" as my Confirmation name.

(10) His Holiness, Pope John Paul II ("the Great") - The late Holy Father was a hero of mine for 20 years before I ever became Catholic. I need not recount all the reasons, for anyone familiar with the man knows what they are. Let me just say that watching the Christian example of John Paul II made Catholicism a palatable option to a Southern Baptist boy who might not otherwise have even considered the possibility. I am proud to be a "John Paul II Catholic".

And now I tag Rick Lugari, Rich Leonardi, Sydney Carton, and Darwin Catholic. Sorry about that, guys. But I'd really be interested in reading about who influenced you.