farm. which is named
we have faro-
two kinds of them --
are the wrlU
starting with
on my father's
family. The reason for
receiving a promi-
on our farm is Ihc
acres' are a piece of
by my great-great
rendered by him in
War. As you
I'm proud of that!
kind of family
oaks that guard
from the hot sun
winter protect the
the snows, winds,
provide beauty in
In the little book I
the family (Franks and
and our children.) The
COurse, "Our Family'.
0ff the family trees in
ff this book are Rodg-
tree, starting with
Michael and his
down to that
opposite side were
done in the same
The family trees in-
who they
their children.
trees are important to
keep. We have the
)le of that re-
time we begin read-
story of the crea-
book of Moses,
called Genesis, is in
I'm reading
God said, "Let
forth living crea-
Chapter 10, will
the meaning of family
-' 18. The sons of Noah
from the Ark
Ham, and Japheth.
father of Canaan.
were the Sons of
these three the
was peopled. Keep
will find all
discouraged I
when asked about
I to whom, everyone is
back to the Creation
paragraph of the
Revised Standard
me, and will be to
is more than a his-
to be pre-
By Roberta Patton Rodgers
served. It must stand forth in
language that is direct and plain
and meaningful to people today.
It is our hope and our earnest
prayer that this Revised Stan-
dard Version oLthe Bible may be
used by God to speak to men in
these momentous times, and to
help them to understand and be-
lieve and obey His Word."
It frightens me for people to
say "I don't believe any of that
stuff I usually say "earth and
the fullness thereof could not
have been by our hands." God
came first and still must be first.
He gave us our freedom, there-
fore our choices the wages of sin
are death we will all die an
earthly deathl We are all sinners
But, for the Grace of God, we
who believe in God will be joined
together.
Sometimes I think was sent to
preach. The t,ord knows my fam-
ily gets tired of my sermons and
even me sometimes.
My fall flowers, the Cosmos
climbing toward the heaven in
lovely pink and white are
prayers especially sent to the
boys in Saudl Arabia, to the suf-
fering everywhere, to Llbby
Jacobsen, Dianne Flynn, Nuna
Hughart, Boone Harvey. Charles
Lobban, to Jane Carey, Mary
and Larry Carter, Jayne McClin-
tock. Lucille Skaggs and Melvin
Patton, Christiansburg. Virginia,
Llnda Wanda Kirby. George Clin-
ebell, all who are working on
family trees.
Robert and Gillus of Chat-
tanooga. Tennesse, priviledged
us with a delightful plane ride
over Greenbrier Valley and we
saw the Elizabeth Chapel
steeple. I had my hands on the
steering wheel and said to Gil-
lus, "stop a minute, I want to
find our house" by that time we
were miles away. A minute can
go far in a plane!
647-5030 or 392-5030
John Knox...
"long and lonely" where the sur-
roundings were silent and unin-
habited. This was especially true
during the long winter months
with the cold. snow and rain.
John became a surrogate
family member to many families
in the region. Three of these
families were the John Wise
Hoke family on Hoke's Mountain
near Second Creek, the Marion
Francis McGulre family of Rox-
alia Springs, near Montcove
Lake, and a Wickllne family near
White Sulphur Springs. Eliza-
beth Hoke is remembered as car-
ing for him as she cared for her
own children, especially sewing
and mending his clothes. He
kept in touch with this family
until his death.
Vlolet McGulre Smlthson,
now of Richwood, had been ac-
cepted to Marshall College for
the fall session of 1919. She
fondly recalled John's visits to
the Cove, One summer evening,
as she was milking the family
cow, John approached through
the field. She said he never used
the path. As he passed by her he
commented, "That's a good job
for a college student." Violet re-
called another time when she
couldn't get off her horse and he
helped her to get her feet on the
ground.
Later that winter, he stayed at
the home of Clara McGutre Reed
in the Cove during her bout with
flu and pneumonia. He sat up
with her and helped care for her
and her family.
In January, Lieutenant An-
drew Bert Hoke died from expo-
sure to nerve gas he had experi-
enced in France during World
War I. Myrtle Hoke Walker,
Bert's younger sister, recounted
John's special loving care,
friendship, and attention toward
their family at this time, in addi-
tion to his regular vlslts, He
preached the funeral sermon
and wrote the obituary for the
paper, as well as helped at the
house. Bess Lynch Hoke, a sis-
ter-in-law to Bert, once com-
mented as to his helpfulness in
the kitchen, which he had
learned from his own home liv-
ing. She remembered that some
of the mountain women did not
appreciate his presence in the
kitchen. Their thinking was that
the kitchen was no place for a
man.
This was a memorable year
for John. He hated to leave the
Sweet Springs area. However,
the bishop appointed him to go
to Sudbrook, near Baltimore in
Jtme 1920.
Emory University of Atlanta,
Georgia, became his next home
in the fall of 1921. As a divinity
student, he felt quite comfort-
able, as opposed to his earlier
college years. Absalom, his fa-
ther, became fll during his sen-
ior year (1924). John returned
home to help care for his father
who died in January. His grief
and loss was vast. John's father
had been a loving, klnd parent
as well as John's mentor for the
ministry. The son sadly returned
to Emory to graduate, then
teach.
While on a European travel
study seminar he became more
convinced to pursue equality,
justice, and peace. Later that
year he was not rehired at
Emory due to a letter he had
written to a local newspaper
concerning the long hours and
poor pay of the cotton mills. This
created an opportunity for a new
learning venture.
He chose to continue his
learning and entered the Divinity
school of the University of Chi-
cago, working in new Testament
toward a doctoral degree. While
there, he rented a room at the
Hull House from Jane Adams,
but found it not suitable to the
atmosphere he needed for study.
Late March of 1929 found
John returning to West Virginia
to be with the John Wise Hoke
family and to officiate at Mr
Hoke's funeral at Second Creek.
In Mr Hoke's obituary John
wrote of his feelings and atti-
tudes toward this home as one
-in which he had experienced
special love and caring.
In 1929, John began a new
facet of his life at Fisk University
in Nashville. Tennessee as chap-
lain. Flsk was one of the few In-
terracial schools of the south --
faculty wise. Lois Bolles of At-
lanta married John in 1930. She
The Mountain Messenger, Thursday, October 11, 1990 7A
was a librarian and began to
work at the Flsk University Li-
brary. There were some tensions,
but overall John felt that thne
period was a most significant pe-
riod in his career. The relation-
ships at Fisk were warm, happy,
and filled with kindness. He felt
they became "color blind."
The next seven years were
mostly to be spent in Chicago.
He received his Ph.D In 1935.
The family lived quite simply
during that first year.
John became a part of the
editorial staff of The Christian
Century in Chicago. This publi-
cation had earlier belonged to
the Disciple of Christ Church. Dr
Morrlson took over the publica-
tion; making It a weekly Inter-
denominational and theologically
liberal publication, considering
the world as Its parish. For four
of these years John was a fac-
ulty member of the University of
Chicago Divinity School.
New York City became the
Knox's next home in 1943. Dr
Knox became professor of New
Testament at Union Theological
Seminary. Dr Knox considered
this time period the most settled,
most active, and most produc-
tive years of his life. A leave of
absence was granted from the
university to allow the Knox fam-
ily to spend a year in England
where John fulfilled a Fullbright
teaching fellowship at Cambr-
Idge.
He was chosen to be an asso-
ciate editor of the twelve-volume
biblical commentary, The
Interpreter's Bible, printed by
Ablngdon Press and later The
Continued From Page 1-A
works of biblical scholars and
expository preachers.
In 1954 John was contacted
by Monsignor Myles Bourke, the
Dean of the Roman Catholic
Seminary of Saint Joseph's In
Yonkers, New York. Monsignor
Bourke was editor of biblical
translations and asked John to
become one of the associate edi-
tors and translators of The New
American Bible. he accepted and
the Bible was published In 1970.
Dr Knox was overloyed at his
"fellowship between the Roman
and non-Roman Christians."
With this came speaking and so-
cial engagements at many
Catholic schools, Including Notre
Dame.
Dr Knox became confirmed In
the Episcopal Church In 1959,
to be followed by his ordination
as a deacon In 1962.
John and Lois retired to
Austin, Texas so he might be a
part of the Episcopal Theological
Seminary of the Southwest.
There he taught and wrote.
After his seventieth birthday
came his second retirement and
the move to Medford, New Jer-
sey, a Quaker retirement Com-
munity where he continued to
write articles and revise editions
of earlier works. He was quite
proud of the library there. His
book of essays, A Glory in it All,
was published in 1985 by Word
Books, although many other
published books and articles are
to his credit.
Dr John Knox was preceded
in death by his wife. Lois.
He is survived by two sons: Dr
John Knox, Jr of Madison, New
Interpreter's Dictionary of the York and Hamilton Bolles (Tony}
Bible. This biblical conkmentary Knox of Simpsonvllle, South
series represented cohabined Carolina.
Available No Down ,ment on )roved Credil
BARRY L. BRUCE
Attorney at Law
Announces the opening of his
Lewisburg Law Office
101 West Randolph Street
Suite 29
Post Office Box 388
Lewisburg, West Virginia
24901
(304) 64S-4182
Effective October 1, 1990
;r 11.13
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