“You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.” Nehemiah 9:6 This past Friday, I watched as a friend of mine concluded over 20 years of public service. You may know this friend, as a matter of fact, you have met him if you do much fishing or hunting around Fairfield. His name is John Thorne, and this past Friday, he officially retired as Game Warden of Freestone County. I don’t know what your personal relationship with Mr. Thorne is or was. Perhaps you were none too excited to see him approaching your campfire, walking into your deer camp, or pulling up alongside you in his boat while you tried to catch a few fish. But none can argue his devotion to duty, the respect and care he showed to others, and the protection he administered over God’s creation.
Back in 2022, I had just started my second or third week on the job as Pastor of First United Methodist Church here in Fairfield. I heard the church office door open and the strong Texas twang of someone greeting our church secretary, Tonya. Before I knew it, the looming figure of a uniformed peace officer was standing over my desk, as Mr. John Thorne entered my office. On that day, he invited this wet-behindthe- ears, new-to-town, movein pastor to serve as a Chaplain for the Game Wardens in Freestone County. What began in that office turned into three years of sitting alongside John as we traversed the tri-county area in all manner of ventures. I learned the ins and outs of boater safety requirements and fishing limits. I experienced the litany of procedures after tagging a recently hunted deer. I heard the public’s excuses for their lack of proper licenses and watched as Warden Thorne gave numerous opportunities for people to correct their mistakes. There were even moments when I watched individuals shout obscenities and even threats, and my brother John, for the mere infraction of asking questions or pointing out the law. What I will cherish the most from those “ride-alongs” is the meandering drives through treecovered county roads, or the boat journeys along Richland Chambers as the sun set in the background, all the while engaging in conversations that ranged from church life to life in general. We both carried each other’s burdens at times, and what began as a pastor/ parishioner connection turned into a brotherhood of believers.
The road we traverse in this life as Christians was never meant to be journeyed alone. Isolation is not a quality of Christian life. We need those people with whom we can jump into the passenger seat, sit down over a cup of coffee, or pick up the phone and engage as brothers and sisters in Christ. Proverbs 27 states, Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Most assuredly, those days in the truck or out on the water were moments when open and honest conversations about God occurred.
