FOLLOW UP ABOUT "MISS ENNIS"

"Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby." (Hebrews 12:11)

My December 14, 2008 posting entitled "What Do You Think I Should Do?" was essentially a "re-run" of my December 7, 2006 posting entitled, "Where's Miss Ennis?". I mentioned that after doing on-line searches many times, I had located Ellen Ennis Kane's husband's business address. I did sent off a letter a few days ago.

When you attempt to contact someone with whom you've had absolutely no contact in over forty-three years, you do wonder if that person will even remember you. Will they think you're some kind of weirdo? Will they respond? Will it be a positive response? I'm pleased to say I got a very positive response last night. I received a phone call from "Miss Ennis" and we had a great talk on the phone for over an hour. Her voice is a lot lower than it was in 1965, but she's as jovial and opinionated and perceptive as I remembered. She DID remember me well, and she remembered writing the letter to my father. She said I had a horrified look when she handed me the letter to take home (well I CERTAINLY believe that...I'm amazed I didn't outright COLLAPSE!), and that because I'd had SUCH a horrified look, she didn't later push it when I did not give a good response about what I'd done with the letter.

"Miss Ennis" is not a "computer person" at all, but her husband and grown kids are, and this contact has helped inspire her to take the plunge regarding the whole world of "going on-line". She said this (my contact with her after all those years) was a great Christmas present for her; and it kind of was for me, too!

"CHECK YOUR COMPASS"

“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” (Hebrews 13:17)

You may notice that a new “follower” of my blog is listed at the right, and I also have a “live link” to that new “follower’s” blog. He is a pastor friend of mine, Vinnie Cappetta, who is an Associate Pastor in charge of Family Life at Crossroads Community Church on Edgell Road in Framingham at the Sudbury line (formerly Village Bible Chapel). You can click on the live link to go right to his blog or enter his URL address-

http://checkyourcompass.blogspot.com/

You may want to check out Vinnie’s blog entitled, “Check Your Compass”. Pastor Vinnie Cappetta belongs to the “John 17:23 Fellowship” which is a fellowship of evangelical pastors who are in covenant with one another. I also belong to the "John 17:23 Fellowship", although we happen to be in different small groups. I believe Vinnie holds a Masters' Degree in Counseling. His blog is pretty deep and "not for the faint of heart" but believe me, he is a VERY solid and mature evangelical Christian and has a LOT for readers to think about.

HONOR TO MR. JOHN WALSH

“Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.” (I Peter 2:17)

I think in the past few days I’ve posted more pieces on my blog within a short period of time than ever before! Usually, I like to post three times a week- sometime around Tuesday, sometime around Thursday, and sometime around Saturday. I know I’m now way off my schedule and there have just been a whole bunch of postings, but it seemed most fitting to post this tonight:

You may have heard that police in South Florida have revealed the identity of the man they positively believe killed little Adam Walsh back in 1981. His name was Ottis Toole. Toole was a vicious serial killer who is now deceased. The story was posted on America OnLine today and can be read at:

http://news.aol.com/article/police-say-walshs-1981-murder-solved/279175

About a week ago, I posted a piece about famous people I’d like to meet. I’m sorry I did not include John Walsh in that piece because he is definitely a famous person I would like to meet. I guess my daughter Rachel must get her interest in law enforcement and criminal justice from the genes of my late father Eugene A. Baril because Rachel’s favorite T.V. show is “America’s Most Wanted” and I know she highly respects John Walsh. If anybody had a “right” to be bitter it’s John Walsh (and his family). At this time of year when we talk of “peace on Earth, good will toward men”, it’s difficult to think about an incident as horrible as the murder of Adam Walsh. I wonder how I would have handled such an event. Would I have remained as a committed Christian or would it have shattered my faith? Would I have become consumed with cynicism and self-pity? Would I have been overcome by fear? Would I have (foolishly) turned to drugs and alcohol for solace? Would my wife and I have blamed each other for our child’s murder (also foolishly) and gotten divorced? Only God knows.

I am deeply grateful I never faced such a horrific event in my life, but John Walsh and his family DID. John Walsh is a huge hero to me because he did not allow that terrible event to destroy him. Rather, he has put his energy...well, his LIFE into seeing that criminals are hunted down and apprehended, AND into trying to comfort and help other families who have been victimized by violent crime and by other forms of evil.

Does this news provide “closure” for the Walsh family or has it brought them more pain? I can’t help but think it’s the latter. To the Walsh family: I am truly sorry for your pain. I know I will never understand what you have gone through. You are very special people. You have done so much to make America and planet Earth a better place. Thank you. I’m not a real “huggy” person at all, but if I could, I’d give you a hug.

I hope this will be a wonderful Christmas for you. I don’t say tritely, God loves you and cares about you. I know there are no easy answers...really NO answers for what happened to your wonderful little boy. For me, this is the hardest part of ministry...wanting to give “answers” to hurting people when there are no answers. But all I can say is Jesus really cares about you.

Mr. Walsh, I’ve seen how much Rachel admires your work, and it blesses me that you’ve touched her life in ways you’ll never know. My father who had a distinguished career in law enforcement (he passed away in 2000) was not a “huggy” guy either, but I know he’d have hugs for the Walsh family, also.

God bless you, John Walsh!

GRAHAM RIGHT ABOUT THE PIKE

“...Thou couldesr have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: ...” (from John 19:11)

Today was SUPPOSED to be a day of great protest against the proposed toll increases on the Massachusetts Turnpike. (In November, the Massachusetts Turnpike Board voted to increase tolls. The tolls at Weston and Allston would increase by 75 cents and the Sumner and Ted Williams tunnel rates would be boosted from $3.50 to $7.00. Public hearings about the toll increases have been taking place, and in fact a public hearing is scheduled for Framingham’s Memorial Building Wednesday evening at 6:30.) A grass roots organization called Stop the Pike Hike had originally scheduled the “Boston TOLL Party” for today. The original plan was that on “Boston TOLL Party” day as many commuters as possible would NOT use the MassPike but rather take alternate routes. In fact, some estimate that as many as 25% of MassPike commuters WILL opt for alternate routes once the toll hikes are implemented, and this increase in traffic on the alternate routes may cause major congestion and gridlock.

On Sunday, the Mayor of Boston and Boston Police Commissioner had a meeting with the leaders of Stop the Pike Hike, pretty much insisting that they NOT have their “Boston TOLL Party” in the interest of public safety and that IF the “Boston TOLL Party” went off as scheduled and IF there was some public safety disaster, THEY (the leaders of Stop the Pike Hike) would be PERSONALLY held responsible. The leaders of Stop the Pike Hike then called off their original plan and instead urged MassPike commuters to NOT use transponders today, AND to pay with pennies as a protest.

WTTK radio’s Michael Graham was VERY disappointed that the Stop the Pike Hike leadership backed down from their original plan. Michael took Route 9 to the radio station today but saw few join him in staying off the Pike. (It’s NOT illegal to choose to take Route 9 or some other roadway rather than the MassPike. I think the Mayor and Police Commissioner were WAY off in making a big deal about that!)

I have mixed emotions about the MassPike being a toll road. Many argue that the MassPike is no better or worse than any other road and that paying tolls for the Pike is ridiculous. I actually agree with commentator Emily Rooney of WGBH’s “Greater Boston” who argues that the MassPike IS a much better roadway than the other superhighways of Massachusetts. It really is. It’s just SO well maintained, and they do a FABULOUS job with snow removal, etc. I don’t see a big deal about the Pike being a toll road, BUT... Are the tolls too high? In my humble opinion, YES! I’d reduce all of them by around 50%. Do MetroWest commuters pay an unfair burden by having to pay these tolls? Although the western suburbs EASILY have the best commute into Boston, I think it can be argued that yes they do. Are the toll hikes too much? Absolutely. Do toll collectors make too much money? I think they do, but that’s peanuts compared to what a lot of the “political hacks” in Massachusetts make.

Bottom line, I don’t think Michael Graham and I agree 100% about the Pike and whether it should be a toll road, but we DO agree that the hikes are too much, and at the WRONG time! I am so BLESSED that I do not regularly commute into Boston. Typically I only use the MassPike a few times a month. I will say that IF I regularly commuted on the MassPike I’d try to stay off of it at least for the next few weeks to make some kind of protest. I DO think not using the Pike would have a lot more impact than paying the tolls in pennies will.

I am going to try to avoid the Pike for a few weeks, BUT I admit a dilemma I have is that I really don’t know how to get to Logan Airport without using one of the tunnels. I’ve got relatives coming into Boston for Christmas that I’ll have to drive to and from the airport so I kind of think I’ll have to use the Pike and tunnels for that.... :-( sorry!

Anyway, I agree with Michael Graham....try to stay OFF that Pike as much as possible for the next few weeks!

WHAT DO YOU THINK I SHOULD DO?

I AM POSTING A PIECE THAT WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON DECEMBER 7, 2006 AS "WHERE'S MISS ENNIS?" This weekend I was doing some searching on the internet and I was able to find out that "Miss Ennis" and her husband Paul Kane live in the Boston area. I was not able to find a residential address, but I WAS able to find the business address for her husband. I'm debating: should I attempt to contact "Miss Ennis" after over 43 years or should I leave it alone?
Please read the "Where's Miss Ennis?" post below and I'd love to get your feedback:

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)

Miss Ennis was my 5th grade teacher. This was during the 1964-1965 school year. As most of you know, I grew up in Canton, Massachusetts. At that time a new elementary school was under construction, but would not be ready until the Fall of 1965. The elementary schools were overcrowded and the Town had to do something. The “something” was that for the 1964-1965 year, all 5th Grades in the Canton Public Schools were on the lowest level floor of the 1963 addition to Canton High School. “The 5th Grade in the High School” was almost run like a private school (or a charter school) that year. The one male teacher, Mr. Lynch, became the de facto “principal”. I didn’t like Mr. Lynch at all, but his ‘64-’65 teaching assignment did wonders for his career. He ended up becoming a highly respected elementary school principal in Canton (later becoming “Dr. Lynch”) and retiring just a few years ago. None of this has anything to do with Miss Ennis; but it’s background...

Miss Ennis’ name was Ellen Ennis. She was in her early 20s. She actually shared a lot about herself with her class (usually teachers didn’t share much about their personal lives, but she did). She was from Glen Road in the Wellesley Farms section of Wellesley. She was a pretty serious Roman Catholic. I think she had gone to either Boston College or Providence College. She drove a brand new white Ford Mustang. She had very high expectations for her students, particularly the boys. She very much liked me, but it was obvious she feared for my future. It bothered her that I was not athletic enough. Looking back, I think she feared I would become gay.

That was a tough year for me. I hung around with a young man I shouldn’t have gotten involved with (in that class) and it led to a lot of problems. I got into very serious trouble (for a 5th grader) in late September of that year. Maybe I’ll write about that another time. Did you ever watch “Leave it to Beaver”? Well, I will say that as a kid I was a LOT like Beaver. Remember how Richard, and Whitey, and Gilbert would manipulate him into things and he’d get in trouble? In elementary school, that was me.

December 1, 1964 was my father’s birthday. He was 42 that year. That’s interesting because in fact it was 42 years ago, and yes, if he were still living, he’d now be 84. I got in very serious trouble with Miss Ennis that day; instigated by the kid I wrote about. Miss Ennis did the unthinkable: She wrote a long, handwritten letter to my father about it! I had to bring it home and have it signed by him!

I wanted to DIE. Remember the kid that was caned in Singapore about ten years ago? I’d GLADLY have been caned rather than bring that letter home! My father was very strict. I had already been in serious trouble in September. It was his birthday. It was horrible. I didn’t know what to do. Twenty-two years before “Ferris Beuhler’s Day Off”, I put on an Oscar-level performance of faking being sick, and so I got out of going to school the next day. I tried forging my father’s signature onto the letter. It was a terrible job and I knew it. Now, I’d only made matters worse! Looking back, my father NEVER would have just signed a letter like that anyway. He’d have contacted the school and met with the teacher, and I’d have been, well, “dead”...

You may not believe this but for the next week I faked sick day after day. I knew I could not continue this forever. Finally, I went back to school. I hoped it would all just blow over.

“Did you show that letter to your father?” Miss Ennis asked me.

“Yes,” I lied.

“What did he say?”

“He was mad.” I said. It was an obvious lie. It was one of those situations for which Bob Dole used to say, “You know it, I know it, everybody knows it.”

To my shock she never brought up the matter again. I think maybe she knew that the letter thing was just more than I could handle with my very strict father. Of course, she did not know it was his birthday. Well, now I’m 52-years-old and have been an Assemblies of God minister for over twenty-five years. My own children are grown. Miss Ennis married a man named Kane in June of 1965 at St. John’s Church in Wellesley. I attended the ceremony. I got my parents to drive me, and that was a “trip” because they considered it very inconvenient and almost refused to take me. Mr. Kane was in the Air Force. I never saw Miss Ennis/Mrs. Kane again.

As silly as it may sound, the scenario I’ve just written about has kind of bothered me for forty-two years. I know God has long ago forgiven me. I’d love to contact Ellen Ennis Kane who would now be about 66-years-old and explain what happened. I know it’s usually easy to locate people on the internet. I’ve located all sorts of people from my past on the internet. I found out that my high school biology teacher, for instance, is now a professor at U.Mass-Amherst. A girl I liked in Bible College is now a missionary to Germany. (It looks like she tripled in weight since the ‘70s ... she’s married with several kids....I’m kind of glad a relationship with her did not work out!) But I can’t find Miss Ennis. December 1 just went by a few days ago, and I’m dealing with those memories all over again...

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES!

“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,” (Matthew 17:1)

Last Monday night (December 8) I went to the 2007 Christmas Dinner of the “Central Massachusetts Section” of the Assemblies of God. It was held in Fitchburg at what used to be known as the Fitchburg Assembly of God church. (It’s now “Crossroads Church” or something like that. Right now in the Assemblies of God it’s considered really uncool to have “Assembly of God” or “Assemblies of God” in your church’s name so I guess that makes the name “First Assembly of God of Framingham” QUITE uncool!)

The Assemblies of God in the U.S.A. are divided into “Districts” which would be like a “Diocese” in the Catholic Church. We’re located in the Southern New England District. Then the Districts are divided into “Sections”. Our “Central Massachusetts Section” is one of the largest in the District. Framingham has the distinction of being the easternmost church in the Central Mass. Section and Orange is the westernmost. I like when a Sectional function is in a place like Marlboro because it’s close by, but I really don’t like to drive to Fitchburg. I know commentator Mike Barnacle is originally from Fitchburg. He likes to affectionately refer to the Fitchburg/Leominster area as “The Kingdom”. My own opinion of that area is not so affectionate. It’s geographically isolated and a pain to get to Fitchburg. And when you DO get there it looks like Worcester, only worse.

My wife starts work at Marian High School VERY early in the morning and can be falling asleep at 8:30 p.m. She really didn’t want to go to the Sectional dinner for that reason, and I couldn’t blame her. The dinner was actually pretty good and the evening was pretty good, but afterward the pastor of our church in Marlboro commented to me that he’d gotten lost trying to find the Fitchburg church. I commiserated with him, saying that while I’d found it THIS time, I’ve also been lost in Fitchburg in the past. He said he’d call me on Friday and that maybe we could set up a time to get together for coffee sometime soon, to which I agreed.

I did not hear from him on Friday, and I wasn’t surprised. That was the morning after the ice storm, and he lives in Worcester. Boy, I feel delighted and yet almost guilty that I live and work in Framingham! SO many areas were devastated by last Thursday night’s ice storm. Fitchburg is one of the hardest hit areas with trees down and wires down all over the community. Had that dinner been scheduled for Monday, Dec. 15 or really anytime between Dec. 12 and Dec. 16, it wouldn’t have happened! Many of the towns I drive to on the route to Fitchburg were also devastated. In fact, much of Marlboro was pretty hard hit. Framingham borders Marlboro, and Framingham had no ice, no downed trees and no loss of electricity. WE ARE VERY FORTUNATE.

In 2007, my daughter Amy experienced one of those devastating type ice storms in Springfield, Missouri. The only previous such storm there on record happened in 1954, so everybody was quite unprepared for it. I’ve seen many photos of the January 2007 Springfield, Missouri ice storm, and it the current photos on T.V. of Fitchburg look identical. Parts of Springfield, MO had no electricity for nine days. Amy and several young people went to stay at a friend’s home in Kansas City, KS until things in Springfield were back to normal. I’ve seen a number of people on the T.V. news who similarly report staying with relatives in Boston suburbs such as Newton. Thousands and thousands have no electricity and it doesn’t look like it will be back on any time soon.

I drove through that area just a week ago with no idea what was coming.
MANY churches in that area had services canceled today. I feel for pastors who have frozen and broken pipes in their church buildings and in their homes. There will also be so many consequences for computers and other modern electronic devices of power being off for more than 24 hours straight. We got “Verizon FiOS” last January. One of the BAD points of it is that it runs off of electricity. There’s a battery backup with the FiOS system so that even if you lose electricity for up to 24 hours, you’ll still have telephone service. That system fails after 24 hours and in most cases would necessitate a service call for a new battery after power is restored. That’s also true with church emergency lighting, certain fire alarm system batteries, etc. I am SO glad I don’t have to deal with all that stuff, but those who DO will need our prayers.

Yes, what a difference a week makes!

"NONE FOR THE BARILS!"

“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)

(As I begin writing, it occurs to me that the story I’m sharing from my childhood today was shared previously on my blog. I believe I shared it way back in the blog’s early “AOL Journals” days in 2006. I think I even titled that posting “None For the Barils!” I’m just too lazy to go back through the “archives” and find it, but I’m stating this as sort of a disclaimer or clarification in case there’s that one lone person with a fascinating memory who remembers that posting.)

I grew up (mainly) in the Boston suburb of Canton, Massachusetts. When I was a kid, we had next door neighbors with whom we were very friendly. This is not their real last name, but I’m going to call them the “Petersons” and the kids who are in my age group I’ll call Josh and Ricky. We went all sorts of places with Josh and Ricky and they went all sorts of places with us. We’re in their parents’ home movies and they’re in some of the home movies my Dad shot back in the 1960s. We were so close to Josh and Ricky that they were like members of our family- it felt like they were relatives.

When the Peterson's REAL relatives came to visit them, however, we understood very quickly that we were not related to Josh and Ricky. It was the strangest thing. Josh and Ricky were the nicest kids and we were so close to them, but when their cousins came over, we felt like Old Testament lepers. Josh and Ricky had cousins from the next town of Sharon who came over at least once a month. Although Josh and Ricky kind of ignored us and treated us like second class citizens when they came over, the Sharon cousins were really nice kids. The cousins treated us well and it KIND OF worked out. The scary thing, however, was when the Peterson's cousins from Connecticut came over. That happened maybe twice a year. I don’t remember the name of the “Aunt” from Connecticut, but I DO remember the Uncle was “Uncle Rip” and that WAS his real name. Josh and Ricky were crazy about Uncle Rip and their cousins from Connecticut. It was MUCH worse than when the relatives from Sharon came over. My brother and sister and I called them, “the Connecticuts”. If one of us would say, “Don’t even bother trying to play with Josh and Ricky today; the Connecticuts are over!” we all knew what that meant.

Josh and Ricky would get glazed over looks as though they had smoked crack, and I don’t even think crack existed then! Josh and Ricky would take on totally different personalities. As far as they were concerned, royalty was visiting them, and they didn’t even KNOW us. If we saw that black 1961 Chevrolet Bel-Air sedan with the attached dark blue Connecticut licenses plates, we just knew to stay in our yard. My most vivid memory of a visit of the Connecticuts is one pleasant day when they were at the Peterson's. The Peterson kids and their Connecticut cousins had all been given some kind of special candy treats. As they enjoyed their treats, Josh and Ricky danced, yelled, and shrieked, “NONE FOR THE BARILS!! NONE FOR THE BARILS!!”

You may wonder how we ever could have remained friends with these kids. I guess that’s a good question. We knew when the Connecticuts left, it would take about 24 hours for Josh and Ricky to go through withdrawal, and then they’d be back to their old selves again. It was painful for us, but we understood they had a weakness. If there was a 12-Step program for children with cousins from Connecticut, they needed to join. But somehow we loved them and put up with them anyway. Incidentally, Ricky grew up to become a somewhat famous physician. He lives in Pennsylvania and I’ve read about some of his accomplishments on the WEB.

You may have guessed that something tripped off the, “None For the Barils” memory for me. It did. It happened about a month ago. A person I know very well and who is one of the kindest and most generous people I’ve ever known made a statement that kind of floored me. The statement was not anything to do with me, thank God. But this person that I don’t think I’ve ever heard say a bad word about ANYONE or ANYTHING made such an insensitive, inappropriate, selfish remark toward someone else, that I was STARTLED and felt like I’d been hit by a falling boulder or something!

As I thought about this later that day, it “totally tripped off” the memories of the Petersons and the Connecticuts from forty-five years ago.

“Wow,” I thought, “this is the grown up 2008 version of ‘None For the Barils’!”

Now, again, I use that FIGURATIVELY. The person did not say anything nasty to or about me. But you can tell how FLOORED I was to have heard what I did.

For some reason, it has come back to my mind again today. At first, I was kind of disgusted and started to think less of my friend. Then I remembered how many times as a kid that I forgave Josh and Ricky. If I could forgive those kids, then I could forgive that adult who obviously had a moment of total tunnel vision and such an incredible lapse in judgment.

This is a time of year that can bring out the BEST in people and can also bring out the WORST in people. Let’s all remember the “golden rule”! Let’s “get the big picture” and try to avoid having “tunnel vision”. And, YES, let’s try to skip the “None For the Barils!” kind of stuff!