Frank Morris was about ten years older than me and grew up just a few miles from where my family lived in Todd County, Kentucky. He and his folks attended church at a congregation my dad helped to establish in Pembroke. His dad, Roy, is one of my favorite men in the memory of my childhood years. He let me ride with him on his old “Poppin’ Johnny” tractor and offered me water from his glass jug on a sweltering day in August. I took him up on that offer only once; Mr. Roy’s water came from a sulfur well and the water tasted exactly like it smelled. He laughed as I turned away and spewed my mouthful out onto the fescue under the tree. Then he grinned, “Aw, Harold, it just takes a little gettin’ used to.”

It’s hard to get used to something you always avoid and actually returning good for evil is something most of us avoid. Frank Morris is a bit different from most of us.

Years after that Todd County farm, Frank had married. He and his wife had a son who was around twenty-two years old. He was killed by a drunk driver who was about the same age as their son.

Instead of responding with the anger and retaliation most people would display in those circumstances, Frank and his wife went in the opposite direction. They began to visit the other young man in jail. After his conviction, they continued visiting him. After his release, they welcomed him into their home. Baffled by their forgiveness and love, he found himself comforted by the very ones he expected to hate him.

In regard to others who were baffled by the Morris’ response, Frank said simply, “We already lost our son. Hating the person who killed him would not bring him back. This young man needed our love. We gave it to him and we have been blessed more than he has.”

I’m not suggesting that losing a child or any other loved one is something anyone can ever get used to. What I’m saying is that returning good for evil is something that we can do and that the more often we do it, the more natural it becomes to us.

Even if it seems a little bit like drinking sulfur water at first.

H. Arnett

9/5/11