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Five Words That Will Make a Difference

Richard HughesAs I entered the chapel, I heard the most extraordinary music coming from the piano that sits near the chapel’s stage. But what compelled my attention as much as the music was the pianist’s face — the sheer joy and delight that his face expressed with every note he played.

The musician was Charles Wayne Baxter, a Black pastor who supplemented a small income from his church by serving as a security guard at Sci-Tech High School where he also directed the Sci-Tech Gospel Choir.

Baxter’s choir had been scheduled to perform that night, but the snow was so deep that only the pastor and a couple of his students had managed to travel to Messiah College.

I introduced myself to him when the program was over and told him how much I had enjoyed his music, but that I had especially enjoyed watching the joy that radiated from his face as he played those great gospel songs.

And then, for some reason — I can’t explain why — I asked, “Would you be willing to have breakfast with me one of these days?”

“Why, sure,” he said, and when we met on the appointed morning, a marvelous friendship was born.

He often claims that I have been his teacher. From my perspective, just the reverse is true. For every time we meet, he teaches me fresh and vibrant lessons about the meaning of the Christian faith, especially about forgiveness and compassion.

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