Saturday, October 31, 2020

a life of fullness and joy

 

Benny Dickinson


I feel lucky to have married into a family

with so many cousins brilliant in both head and heart,










Benny Dickinson lived life with joy

and infused his joy with the call of service,

delighting in helping others, in living a life of love:

with his wonderful partner, 

the two of them completing each other,

with his kids, whose lives resonate with his,

with any he could touch with the help they needed,

paralleling Paul Holman’s care for others

with his care for Paul when Paul needed it,

when Mildred had a stroke,

there he was with us making sure

there was a power of attorney, a will,

a sureness to discovering and implementing Mildred’s wishes,

so like his father Sam, who Mildred described as

“probably the nicest person she had ever known,”

so like his mother Esther, a nurse, devoted to serving others,


Benny a Democrat, in a family of Democrats,

a family also informed by the Word

through the Disciples of Christ,

believing in “the priesthood of all believers,”

echoing the work of John Rogers

who worked to make certain The Bible was translated

so that all could have access to the Word themselves,

and to then live the teachings of Jesus in their own lives, as he did,

religion and politics combined to make the world better,

serving God through service to others,












































there was a fullness and a joy to Benny’s life,

a life which shone brightly, even to this newcomer to the family.


by Henry H. Walker

October 20, ‘20

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