FIREPLACES, FRANKLIN STOVES, AND COMMUNITY

Back in the late winter of 2020, I had just signed a contract to be the new Senior Minister at Unity of Roanoke Valley.

This meant that my two daughters, our cat, and I would be leaving Tulsa, Oklahoma – – the home of my first church— and moving back to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Needless to say, we were all excited to be moving back to Virginia and the mountains.

The first thing I did was “shop” for a school district, and I concluded that Salem, VA would best meet my daughters’ needs. This turned out to be a very wise decision, if I do say so myself.

So the game plan was to wait until the end of March when my daughters had a Spring break from school. Then we would fly into Roanoke and purchase a house in the Salem school district. But sometimes if you want to make God laugh, tell Spirit about your plans.

COVID-19 was sweeping the nation, and it was clear that if we waited to the end of March, much of Virginia – – and the nation— would be shut down because of the pandemic. So, a good friend said she would sit for my children, and I flew off to Virginia faster than the state’s bird.

I told my real estate agent that I would be landing on a Monday and I expected to have a signed contract by Friday. I did a lot of homework on the Internet looking at many Salem, Virginia houses on the market. I had the top 10 houses that I wanted to see.

With my agent, we walked into my first choice. It looked just as beautiful in person as it did online. However, when we walked on the living room floor, there was a loud noise almost every time when we took a step. It was clear to me that my number one choice had a structural problem which obviously didn’t show up on the Internet. There were other— shall we say— “challenges” with all of my other so-called “top picks.”

The clock was ticking, and I hadn’t made an offer on any house – – let alone having a signed contract. My agent suggested that I look at a house that I had not ranked as a “must see.”  When we saw this house, I was amazed at how much I liked it, and I sensed it would really work for my two daughters.

The house was right near Roanoke College and it had many charming features. However, it had one thing that I was not really fond about. All I wanted was a traditional fireplace. Instead, this house had an old black Franklin stove smack-dab in the middle of the fireplace.

My real estate agent, and several trusted friends started singing to me the praises of Franklin stoves. Named after Benjamin Franklin, who invented this type of stove in 1743, they are reportedly far more energy/heat efficient than normal fireplaces.

“You are going to love a Franklin stove during the winter. They will keep your house, toasty warm, and you can have a tea kettle going on the top of it. Why don’t you try it for a year, and then, if you don’t like it, you can always have the Franklin stove removed from the fireplace,” a dear friend suggested.

I decided to follow this friend’s advice and made an offer on the house. The then owners were conservative Christians, and they were delighted to sell their home to a minister. In fact, they agreed to several of the terms I put in my offer that I felt they would reject.

When we met, they asked me what my denomination was? I told them Unity and you could tell that was not the answer they were hoping for. However, they loved gospel music and it is hard to be a minister in Oklahoma without becoming an aficionado of gospel music. It turned out that we liked many of the same singers, and we spent some time together, listening to— among other things— Randy Travis sing “Turn Your Radio On.” We also listened to some Alan Jackson.

When we had finally moved into our Salem home, we found a great deal of kindling and wood in the detached garage. However, before I would use the Franklin stove, I called in the leading local stove and fireplace company to inspect the contraption.

The technicians told me that they could not find the manufacturer of my Franklin stove. They raised several safety issues, and said that they could not guarantee the safety of my aging Franklin stove. One friend questioned if this company was just trying to make a costly sale? I honestly didn’t think that was the case because this company came to me highly recommended for their competency and integrity.

Many years ago, I was almost in a serious indoor fire. This experience led me to have a very healthy respect for the safety of stoves, fireplaces, and candles. The bottom line was that I decided not to use the Franklin stove, and in fact, I would like to remove it and have just a plain old fireplace.

But the Franklin stove is very heavy, and I have put off doing anything about it until some other home priorities are taken care of.  Given all of the above, I was really intrigued to read a recent post by the spiritual writer, Buck Storm.

Buck Storm

Buck is an award-winning writer and musician.  He is the author of Venus Sings the Blues, and The Sound the Sun Makes.

Buck asks, “Have you ever moved a wood stove? You know if you had. And there’s a word to describe the thing, it’s HEAVY… it’s like the manufacturer builds them with as much cast-iron as possible and then – – out of what I imagined to be gleeful malice – – adds a healthy dose of the heaviest element in the universe.”

Buck was about to attempt to move the wood stove, which would’ve sent him and his team “to the emergency room.” However, his son, and two of his young and very strong friends walked in. “Let me tell you, my praise echoed heaven’s halls. We can plan, and we can scheme, but sometimes it simply takes a community to get us through this life‘s journey,” he notes.

Buck adds that he is convinced “this is why God gave us each other. How many times have I faced some seemingly immovable obstacle in life, and had the beautiful experience of a brother or sister (or several of them)… step in and link arms with me. Our God supplies all our needs, sometimes in the most unexpected ways.”

Buck finished his post with a short prayer that goes like this: “Dear God, thank you for providing faithful friends. And help me to be the same when the need arises.”

Several things come to my mind. Of course, I remember the Beatles’ lyrics: “We get by with a little help from our friends.” I also remember the saying, “It takes a village.”

But what also comes to mind is the lobby of the old United Way of America building in Alexandria, Virginia. As vice president of research and chief economist for the United Way movement, I would walk into the United Way lobby almost every workday morning. There on the wall was a very large quilt, which showed neighbors helping neighbors over the many decades in America.

I think my favorite part of this large quilt was the panel depicting barn raisings in early America. Back then it really did take the community coming together to raise a barn. Our national culture, or ethos, may all too often focus on “rugged individualism.” But in so many ways — such as barn raising— it has required cooperation and community to get the job done. In fact, modern evolutionary biology has often shown the importance for a species to come together and work as a team.

Maybe that is why my Franklin stove sits unmoved in my living room. I have seen it as an individual project instead of being a team effort.

I think the same lesson applies to Unity in the Seven Hills. In several areas where we have been able to come together, cooperate, and really function as a team, there has been great success. However, in several areas where “rugged individualism” has predominated, we often see burn out and things sitting like my Franklin stove.

I would ask you to seek the guidance of Spirt. Where could you volunteer to serve on one of U7H’s teams? That sense of community and helping others is powerful in helping us to spiritually grow— and to create the spiritual home that we all desire.