By Judi McLeod ——Bio and Archives--October 21, 2014
Cover Story | CFP Comments | Reader Friendly | Subscribe | Email Us
“ Wathen had stopped eating and had become weak and frail. His condition kept deteriorating, and he was barely able to talk. Wathen managed to whisper to a nurse his wish to see his dog, Bubba, just one more time. The 73-year-old hadn’t seen his one-eyed Chihuahua with no bottom teeth since he arrived by ambulance at the Whitley County hospital six weeks earlier.” (Jerry A. Kane, CFP, Oct. 19, 2014)
“They met at a bus stop 2-3 weeks before Christmas 1950, married two years after and had four children.” (Daily Mail, March 26, 2014) “Even in the daily grinding rush of the to and fro, bus commuters have been left teary-eyed when they stopped to read Franco’s moving note left on a bunch of purple tulips: “Rest in peace my darling. I’ll see you soon.” Down through the annals of time, the love of the more famous Rudolph Valentinos has faded. Over 64 long years, Franco’s never did. “The note among the purple tulips reads: ‘Joan and I met right here in this shelter 2-3 weeks before Xmas 1950. We married two years later. ‘Joan, my beloved, passed away on 9-3-2013 and broke my heart forever!” ‘Rest in peace my darling. I’ll see you soon, I’ll be 87 soon so I will not be long…God Bless.’ “Grandfather-of-four Franco told how he makes the monthly trip in memory of Joan. “He said, ‘Every month or so I go there and lay flowers because it is the place that I met her. ‘I do it because I know she is up there looking down at me. It is quite a journey for me, don’t forget I am 86.’ Some people carve their names in the bark of an oak tree, but Franco Gorno’s message left at a bus stop reminds us that “Love conquers all”.And then only yesterday, it was the story of 85-year-old Bob Davey, who defied death threats from Satanists to spend 22 long years returning a 1,000-year-old derelict church to its former glory. (Daily Mail, Oct. 20, 2014)
...”It has been struck by a German bomb, torn apart by American GIs and left in squalor by a pagan cult. “So when the ruins of an ancient church were discovered in thick woodland by Bob Davey, he could have been forgiven for thinking its fate had already been sealed. “Instead, the determined church warden used his retirement to embark on a 22-year crusade to return the dilapidated building to its former glory – despite receiving a death threat from the cult. “But even he was surprised when his noble DIY effort threw up an unexpected gift, unearthing ancient paintings inside its ivy-covered walls. “The images depict the Holy Trinity and the Last Judgment and are thought to have been created in 1090, soon after the Norman Conquest. “Believed to be the oldest wall paintings in Britain, they have seen the tiny church become an international tourist attraction. They have even earned Mr Davey, 85, an MBE after Prince Charles made several visits to the church. “Mr Davey heard about the tower in 1992 when his late wife Gloria came across it on a ramble near Houghton-on-the-Hill, Norfolk, with her WI group. “Thought to have been last used in the 1930s, it had no roof, door or windows. Mr Davey and his wife had to push through piles of rubbish outside to get in. “They were horrified to find that a satanic temple and pagan altar had been made in the church, which was built around 1000 AD. “Mr Davey managed to gain protected status for the church, then sold his antiques business so he could work on its restoration. “He said: ‘I feel I have a relationship with the building. I have got a funny feeling that I was always meant to save it.’ “Recounting his first encounter with the property and the pagan imagery within, Mr Davey said: ‘This annoyed me intensely. I’ve been a Christian all my life and wasn’t putting up with this on my patch.’ “Because the site was still consecrated he was able to start services straight away, the first being a purification event following the pagan rituals. “He initially had to guard the property at night to deter the cult members, who once drove a car at him and sent him a death threat. He even enlisted the Territorial Army to guard it for a time after the pagans smeared the walls with blood. “In spite of some local opposition, he built a road to the church under an old law stating that any consecrated site should have an access route. “He has also faced opposition from church authorities, who initially wanted the building to be torn down. “It was during his attempts to fix a wall that had been cracked by a German bomb that Mr Davey noticed the unique paintings. “He soon realised the walls were covered in dazzling religious murals that had been covered in whitewash plaster. “A large section of the artwork is yet to be uncovered as Mr Davey battles to raise the funds for the specialist teams needed to remove the plaster. “He added: ‘It’s cost me a lot of money, it’s cost me no end of time, but look what I’ve got out of it. You’ve got to do something when you retire – you can’t sit around watching the telly all day.’ Imagine a tireless 85-year-old who devoted the whole of his retirement to restore a thousand-year-old church to its former glory, telling a newspaper reporter when he accomplished the near impossible that “you can’t sit around watching the telly all day”.The watching world should have no hesitation on bestowing the old Irish blessing on Mr. Davey’s head: “May you be in Heaven an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.” To their own testimony, stories like Bubba’s, Franco’s and Bob’s are the ones most beloved by readers . In the middle of life’s struggle, it is stories like theirs that come along to prove that, while so many of us wait for heroes to deliver us from the evil of current Western society, we have bypassed the real Hero of all life on Earth, the most loyal Hero of them all, Who is always there for all of those looking. The Hand of God is everywhere.
View Comments