I write
today with a broken heart and a shattered sprit. The loss of my
friend Chuck will be with me forever. What can I say? Chuck
Jenkins was the kindest, most gentle person I've ever known. The
man didn't have a mean bone in him. That's what makes this whole
situation so tragic.
Chuck and I go way back. In fact,
he warned Sarah, my wife of 32 years, back in high school that
she better not get involved with somebody like me, I was
trouble. We've had a lot of laughs about that one over the
years. Back when we served on commission together, sometimes as
we were heading home after what might have been a contentious
meeting he would say, "I need to apologize to you and the other
commissioners." I would ask why. He would say,
"for getting angry at the meeting." In reality,
he was so meek and so mild that none
of us even realized he had gotten mad.
Recently, he
had been having trouble with a family of possums getting under
his mother's house. I offered to come down and help him catch
and kill the varmints,
but, oddly,
he never took me up on the offer. Come to find out,
he had gotten a live trap cage and was just catching the animals,
but it seemed there was no end to how many he was catching. I
asked him if he was killing those nasty pests
or what. He said that
he was just taking them across the street and letting them go. I
said, "Chuck,
you're catching the same possums over and over again. They're
just following you back to the house. Why
don't you let me come down and shoot those things?"
But for Chuck, that just
wasn't an option. The man couldn't even bring himself to hurt a
pesky rodent. That's just how he was.
Never in all my years of life or politics have
I known a man like Chuck. Whether it was on county commission,
as the property assessor,
or all the boards and
committees on which he
voluntarily served, all he ever wanted to do was help people. He
wanted to do what was right. He had heart for public service
like no other.
Yes, Chuck had made some powerful political enemies.
That just comes with the territory, but
unlike myself and others, his instinct was not to strike back at
those who didn't like him. Rather,
he wanted to try and
change their minds. He was convinced that,
if he showed his enemies that
he loved them and wanted to be their friend, he could change
their hearts and minds. That was just Chuck. A passage in the
Book of Romans, chapter 12, describes
Chuck's life so perfectly:
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling
to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love.
Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking
in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the
Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction,
faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who
are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do
not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn
with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one
another. Do not be proud, but be willing to
associate with people of low position.
Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful
to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it
is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at
peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear
friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is
written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says
the Lord. On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is
thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this,
you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil
with good.
The human mind is an incredible, miraculous
organ, but it can also
be a wicked, devastating organ. The mind of the man who
determined in the wee hours of August 1st that the only solution
was death was not, WAS NOT, the mind of the man I knew and
loved. Not the mind of the father, the husband, the church
leader, the public official, the friend I knew.
I don't know what happened, I don't know what
went wrong, and I guess
I'll be asking myself that question until the
day I die. I and others knew he was having a tough time lately,
and there had been many conversations with
him. But none of us had any idea nor understood the
depths of our friend's despair. But again, that was the way he
was. He would never have wanted to burden us
with his problems.
In the vastness of time and history,
this event will be no more than a tiny wisp of wind, but
in the present the pain is inconsolable for all of us. My
friend Chuck, however,
is now in a place of peace where there's no more tears or pain
and everybody loves him.
Please remember Chuck's family, myself,
and all his friends during this time. It's just so hard.