THE LEGACY WE BEAR
Robert Meyers

It is a bitter experience to realize anew how one must occasionally bear on his shoulders the mistakes of his past. This is especially true when one has renounced that past, and sought to atone for it but still finds he must sometimes groan under its burden.

I felt this keenly once when a group of singers from the Riverside Church of Christ in Wichita appeared one Sunday night in the chapel of a large Masonic Retirement Home for thirty minutes of hymn singing. I had not identified the group denominationally when I set up the program, for two reasons: first, I had no interest in having credit go to any particular segment of Christendom, but only to Christians in general; and, second, I feared that if I identified us by name it would diminish our chances of getting to perform the service. The Church of Christ has been harshly critical of the Masonic order, as of almost every order besides itself, and I feared that a too-quick identification of our people might bring a courteous but firm, “No thank you, we are all booked up.” So I said merely that we were a group of Christians who wished to sing for the folk in the Home. I assured the lady in charge that the singers were excellent and that they would present an enjoyable program. I had no fears about that.

This was enough, and the program was set up. When we arrived, nearly one hundred were present to listen. I met our hostess, a gracious and poised lady. She was, however, obviously upset about something, and I soon realized what had happened. She had discovered that we were Church of Christ people and she was obviously fearful of what we might be planning to do.

This will be painful to some, I suppose, but the plain truth is that she was dismayed and uncertain about our possible motivation. She tried hard to keep me from knowing what was bothering her. “May I introduce them as the Robert Meyers Singers?” she asked me. I could not help laughing at the hilarity of that title, since I cannot carry a tune and never mar the effect by joining very audibly in song with the group. I told her that they did not permit me to spoil good music, that my connection was as a friend, but I knew she was trying anything to avoid introducing the group as Church of Christ singers, so I simply brought it out into the open.

“You are fearful that we may say a few words about why this piano over here is sinful, aren’t you?” I asked her, smiling as I did so. Sensing my sympathy with her plight, she relaxed and agreed that this was true. I felt it was time for a short course in candor. I told her that we understood her concern and that we were not typical of what she might have encountered in the past, promised that we meant to say nothing at all, and said again that our only interest was to edify and comfort our friends in the audience with lovely Christian hymns. I explained that we were not exclusive or dogmatic and that for this very reason we were not even recognized by most Churches of Christ in the city. She tried to be politely restrained, but her relief was plain to see.

I was sure that the quality of the singing would prove some things, and it did. It was lovely, and the elderly listeners were immensely pleased. But I brooded long, afterwards, over the handicap we had to overcome. One does sometimes grow weary of answering “Church of Christ” to a questioner, noting the sudden wary look, and then trying patiently to explain, “But we do not believe that we are the only Christians. . .”

The legacy can be painful, and as one of our fine young couples in the group said later, when one feels that the old dogmatic way is right, he doesn’t care what other groups think of him. He is right and they are wrong, and if they don’t listen, they’ll wake up in the hot place someday and realize they were in error all along. But when one quits seeing it that way, and tries to undo the havoc of his past arrogance and the acrimonious debates, he suddenly sees how vast a residue of ill will our people have created in the world.

We know perfectly well, of course, that the image is not entirely accurate and tends to become stereotyped, just like our responses to other folk. But we mustn’t let that remove the sting. This lady would have been equally nervous about a few other authoritarian religious groups I could mention, but that doesn’t help me much. I also know that visits by certain other church groups would not worry her at all, for she would be able to rely on their discretion and their tolerance for those who differed with them.

We may as well admit that we shall be a long while removing this legacy. It is lodged deeply in the minds of many who have had close associations with us, and it will not pass away overnight. Changes are taking place --- one is glad to say it --- but a generation may yet pass before all the animosity is removed. Meanwhile, the wise course is to be courteous, to act with dignity and restraint, to convey our genuine regard and affection for all whom we would serve, to avoid seizing upon every conceivable opportunity for insisting on our own set of traditions, and to bend over backwards to avoid any hint of party-serving.

In time, that course will win. The older generation will pass on and with them will go the bitterness and distrust we generated in our days of partisan strife and debating. I rather wish, when I think of it, that I could be twenty-five years younger so that I might live a little longer in that new atmosphere, but it is a happy thought to know that it is coming inevitably.