Faith Revolution

I have met a lot of people in my 39 years. Some of them were rather powerful corporate executives. Some of them were famous, such as Terry Bradshaw and long-time Pennsylvania senator Arlen Spector. Those who know me well know that I am a major southern gospel fan. In those circles, I have met Lynda Randle, Jesse Dixon, David Phelps, Bill Gaither, The Isaacs, Claude Hopper (yes…that’s his name), Jake Hess, Ben Speer and Deb Talley amongst others.

The other day, my wife asked me why I pester them. She asked “why don’t you just let them be people?” It is because I like to see if they are “for real”, so to speak. Famous people present an image on camera. Sometimes, their real personality does not match up to their TV reputation. So one reason that I like to “pester” them is to find out if they are authentic.

I had an aquaintance a number of years ago whose daughter had a wonderful voice. She was given the opportunity to join a major, well-known southern gospel group. As I remember it, she lasted with them a year, maybe two, because she could not stand the fact that their lifestyles did not match up with who their fans thought they were and what they represented while on stage.

My wife, daughter and I went to a Gaither Homecoming concert the other night. We had pretty good seats right on the isle where the performers entered the arena. As the concert was beginning, Guy Penrod of the Gaither Vocal Band came in and began to greet people. I said hello to him and my nine year old daughter reached out to shake his hand. Guy took her hand and knelt down to say hello and engage her a little. At intermission, as he was leaving the stage, I stopped him and asked him if he would give my daughter an autograph. He grabbed my arm and pulled me over. He whispered in my ear that he would, but he didn’t want to get caught as he only had a few minutes. He said, “if you give me a few minutes, I’ll come back.” Now, I have been brushed off before. I thought that maybe that was what was happening with him. So we waited. After intermission, he went back on stage to perform with the others. The second half of the concert lasted about an hour and my daughter and I thought that he had forgotten. After the concert ended, I watched as he came down from the stage and walked right over to where we were seated. He signed my daughter’s autograph book and once again, knelt down and spent a moment talking to her.

Guy Penrod always seemed authentic on TV. Now I have reason to believe that he really is.