The Royal Law

When I attended North Bay Teachers College in 1968 and 1969, Lozanne and I lived in a small one bedroom apartment on Hammond Street. The zoning of that neighbourhood could only be described as industrial. Our home was over the office and warehouse of an electrical contractor. The upstairs hallway had outside doors at both ends and was indeed a perfect fly through for many bats. Getting to our apartment at night during warm weather was always interesting. The owner of the business and the building was truly a likable character. He had several favourite sayings. When he light heartedly wanted to issue a modern day curse, he would quip, “May all of your children need braces”. After paying for orthodontic treatment for three of our four children, I truly do understand the gravity of his pronouncement. When we had been disturbed all night by a group of his young apprentices installing a new engine in an old Dodge, his response to my query and complaint was to apologize for them, but to also explain that the car would never be fixed unless they figured out how to do the job themselves. This was followed by another of his favourite sayings, “Necessity is the mother of invention”. I have also experienced first hand many times what a truism that cliché constitutes. Fern is memorable to us for another reason. He was a very perceptive and kind man.

As the academic year came to a close, we had just about run out of money. The “loan” from my parents and the student loans that we would pay off for years had proven to be just enough to finish the school year…almost to the day. Our difficulty was that there was still a four month period before I was to start my teaching career. I had been exempted from examinations by several very kind teaching masters so that I could indeed find a job in order to support our growing family. Our eldest daughter was born in March of that spring. The problem was that there were not a lot of summer jobs to be found that would support a small family. As I paid our rent with our last ninety dollars, Fern engaged me in a conversation about our future. Before the conversation was over, he had decided that indeed he needed a tradesman’s helper for the summer and offered me the job on the spot without an application or resume being presented. He wondered, because his need for help was so great, if I could start tomorrow. I have never forgotten his kindness and indeed I did work for him until just before we moved to start our new life. Fern was demonstrating what Christians should be living every day of their lives. In the Book of James, in the middle of an admonition to treat everyone alike, there is one very powerful statement.

8 ¶ If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well; (James 2:8)

This is described as a royal law because it comes from the King Himself. Jesus is the one who gave us this very simple and succinct principle for Christian living. If we do indeed treat others as we would wish to be treated, we do well. Of course our neighbour is not just those who live close to us, but all who are in need and we are able to help. I recognize today the enormity of the kindness shown to us by a man who was only involved in our lives for less than a year.

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