Living by The Book

Last week while some were focused on the election, real heroes were hard at work in the northeast helping to restore power to areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. 

A recent news article about the aftermath of the storm told of the crimes committed as people’s property was left unprotected.  There have been arrests for looting, price gouging, gas siphoned from cars, and cruelest of all criminals posing as relief workers who then steal from those already victimized by the storm.  “Most loathsome, perhaps, were reports of people posing as FEMA and utility workers to gain entry into homes, then sticking up residents.

Connecticut College professor social psychology Jason Nier was quoted as saying, “In a disaster situation, people aren’t sure what the norms are.  People may be looking to what others are doing in determining what their behavior may be.”  If that statement is true, it is a sad comment on how far character or our nation has deteriorated.  People may be looking to what others are doing for their standard of behavior, but there is a standard, a “norm”, and Americans used to be well educated in that standard.

The founders of America believed in a Supreme Being, a Creator God who granted liberty and with it accountability for one’s actions.  The foundation of their moral belief system is still in place today, given to us in the Holy Bible.  The first book of the Bible tells us that people are prone to bad behavior, behavior that goes against God’s desire for us and separates us from Him.  The second book and all those that follow give us a standard for behavior, to help us know how to live in community with one another.  Jesus Christ showed us by example how living by that standard works.

            Keep the Sabbath holy.  Gather regularly together in church.

            Honor your father and mother.

            Do not murder.

            Do not steal.

            Do not covet your neighbor’s house or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

            A thief must make restitution.

            Love God with all your heart, soul and strength.

            Teach your children God’s rules.

            When you eat and are satisfied, thank God.

            Love your neighbor as yourself.

            Take care of the poor, the widow, the fatherless.

            Do not lend with excessive interest.

            Be generous, not greedy.

            Pray always

            Forgive each other.

            Be ready to explain to someone who doesn’t know God why you have hope.

            Be able to discern truth from falsehood.

There isn’t anything unclear about God’s standards, and the beauty of His plan for us is that it works!   God didn’t give us His Word as a club, to beat people over the head with it.  He gave it out of love for each person, so that our life on this earth could be good and we can demonstrate His goodness.  If we would abide by the standard of the One who gave us life, breath, and the ability to have what we have life would be so much better. 

I have a nephew who lives in Texas but who is currently in New Jersey, working with a crew to restore power to the millions who have lost it.  His experience has quite different from the one in the article I referred to.  He tells of people who are patient, grateful that they didn’t lose their lives or homes or possessions, who provide the workers coffee and kind words and hot meals from their cars, and who thank those working to help them.   Those people are living by The Book.

He told us about crews from Texas and New Jersey sleeping in an 18-wheeler temporary bunkhouse.  They work together in harmony, building friendships and meshing similar skills with different accents to accomplish their shared goal.  These men too are living by The Book.   Take a look at these guys – forget about politics, it’s people like these men that have my support, my gratitude and my heartfelt thanks that in the midst of crisis they too are working and living by The Book.

The Harper Dynasty

J. D. Harper was one of the kindest men I ever knew.  I first met him in the late 1970’s when I moved onto Brentwood Street.  As a young adult in my twenties right out of college I didn’t have much money after paying rent and bills.  But the folks at the neighborhood shopping center always treated me with friendliness and the utmost and respect.  At the Crestview Minimax the owner, Herb Prellop, always greeted me by my first name.  What little dry cleaning I had I took to Sabrina at Perfecto Cleaners.  I got my hair cut at Crestview Beauty Salon.  And all my drug store needs were met by Mr. and Mrs. Harper at Crestview Pharmacy.

Most of the time I just needed sundries but occasionally I needed to fill a prescription and Mr. Harper always had what I needed.  Their service was so fast there was never a need to wait, but often I would stay a bit and talk with Mr. Harper about how business was, or the weather.  Or Mrs. Harper would fill me in on the latest about the children and grandchildren as they started to come along.  I could look up above the counter and keep with the grandchildren and follow their progress through school. 

Once I was very sick and went to the pharmacy to get a prescription filled.  When Mr. Harper told me how much the medicine was my face fell.  I realized I didn’t have enough money to pay for it and payday was still a week away.  He was very kind and suggested that he set me up with a charge account.  I didn’t even know what that was.   He had to explain that it would allow me to sign for my purchases, they would send me a statement in the mail and I could send them a check.  I was amazed - me, a young lady with no credit worthiness other than my promise to pay and the fact I was a regular customer – I had my very own charge account at a local business!   My loyalty to the Harpers was cemented in that moment and I remain a customer to this day. 

Later when I was married and began to have babies I would bring them to the pharmacy with me.  Mrs. Harper always oohed and aahed over them and I solicited her advice on their current health or development issues.  She gave her opinion about colic, sleep habits, toilet training.  When they got older they began to look forward to the pieces of candy she would hand out to them.  Going to the pharmacy was always a treat for them.  Years later when they were in high school and driving, I could send them to the pharmacy and they could pick up our medicine by simply signing on the account. I’d get a statement to review for exactly what they signed for and that added some accountability along with their new-found freedom.

I knew that J.D. was well-educated, a successful businessman, husband, father, grandfather and knew the pharmacy business well.  At his memorial service, I learned also that he was a fellow-Believer, a veteran, an entrepreneur, a native of Ranger, Texas, and had a wonderful dry sense of humor.  Mrs. Harper was his high school sweetheart and they were married over 55 years. 

Attending Mr. Harper’s service was very important to me.  We must never let our lives get so busy that we don’t make time to honor the lives of those who have made a huge impact on our own.   J. D. Harper was a good, honorable man who made a significant impact in my life and who was a great help to me when I needed it most.  I praise the Lord for J.D.’s life, for the lives of his sons who will carry on the Harper Dynasty, and for the continued opportunity to show my gratitude and loyalty by giving my business to the Harpers at Crestview Pharmacy.

Legacy of Mrs. Harper

I saw Mrs. Harper last Friday.  She hasn’t changed in 36 years, except to be a tad forgetful.  Understandable now that she has great-grandchildren of her own.  She recognized me even though it has been over a year since she personally waited on me.

The Harper family has owned Crestview Pharmacy forever.  It is the oldest independent pharmacy in the city.  When I moved here in the mid 1970’s and found Crestview it was always either Mr. or Mrs. Harper behind the counter.  As their boys Jerry and David got old enough, they began to work in the family business and now manage much of the day to day operation.  In all these years they have consistently provided accurate prescriptions in the correct dosage without a single mistake and in the friendliest, fastest, most efficient way possible. 

But that’s not the reason I keep coming back.  What the Harpers do best is build relationships.  Just like their neighbors in the shopping center, the Prellops who own the Crestview Minimax, they know their regular customers by name, ask about their children and carry unique items in addition to the usual stock.   When my children were little Mrs. Harper would always make sure they got a piece of candy while I waited on my prescriptions to be filled, and maybe an extra piece if they were sick – no charge, of course.  She recalled those days on Friday as we visited – how she would make home or business deliveries – no charge, of course – and as mothers began working outside the home she would even deliver to the day care because the mothers trusted her so much to take the right medicine to the right place. 

I have an old-fashioned charge-account at Crestview Pharmacy.  When I go into pick up medicine I simply sign a charge slip and then pay my bill each month when it arrives.  As my children got old enough to drive it was wonderful that I could send them to pick up their own prescriptions, let them charge it and not have to send them with money.  Mrs. Harper recalled one time when a little girl came in with several of her friends and announced that her mom said she could charge candy for her and all of her friends.  Mrs. Harper said, “I’m not sure that’s what your mom said, let’s call and ask her”.  Immediately the girl confessed. 

There will come a day when Mr. and Mrs. Harper will no longer work at the pharmacy, and that will make me very sad.  It will be the end of an era, not to walk in and see his tall frame with dark hair and big glasses back at the filling counter, or over in a booth having lunch with a crony.  Or not to see Mrs. Harper’s perfectly coifed gray hair and smiling blue eyes, looking almost exactly like one of my grandmothers.  But I take comfort in knowing that Jerry and David will be there, and they have children so perhaps the legacy will live on past my lifetime.    I’d like that.