A Tribute to Wheaton College Class of 1952


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A Tribute
To
Wheaton College And The Class of 1952




Fifty years after one graduates from college it is difficult for some of us to remember a lot of the details of individual days. The ambience, the emotions, the songs and the spirit of the place live on, but memories of specific days are like long erased entries on an 18,000-day calendar.

For me, the music at our reunion touched more "heart strings" than anything else. Like one speaker said, "The songs of those years are not frequently heard nowadays." These are not songs I hear when I go to church in Georgetown, Kentucky. I didn't even hear them very often in Pasadena or Arcadia years ago. The songs I'm speaking of are:

Because He Lives I Can Face Tomorrow
To God Be The Glory
Like a River Glorious
I Will Pilot Thee
And Can It Be That I Should Gain.

But singing these songs, or hearing them played or sung by the excellent musicians of our class, was worth the entire price of admission to the weekend of May 9 -12, 2002 spent in Wheaton, Illinois.

Rev. Don Jones, who spoke on Sunday, was the perfect person to speak to a bunch of "real seniors." His years working with retirees at Windsor Park Manor certainly prepared him to speak appropriately to our group. "We will be one in Heaven, what a great reunion that will be! Now, though we may be frail, our hearts are strong in God." "God orders the steps AND stops of each of us, and we can STILL make a difference, whether we have twenty five more years, ten more, or only one. God still considers us worth more than the animals, the birds, or the flowers of the field. Though we may be limited, we can be thankful we've made it thus far. We are still stewards of our gifts." This last idea has been such a motivator in my life that I know it must have been emphasized at Wheaton (though many of us went to that school in order to utilize our gifts), and taken to heart by me and most of my class mates. Undoubtedly, this is one reason there were so many outstanding citizens who graduated from Wheaton College in 1952.

A silent remembering of the many in our class who are no longer with us was a way to honor them on May 12 - now we offer this tribute, not only to them, but also to the many graduates who are still making a difference in this life -

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father thro' Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He hath done.

And for these great things, these great people, and this great school
We are thankful.



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