College Mentors (5)
It Was Plain From Spain
As I moved into my junior year, most of my basic courses were behind me, and I was now able to concentrate on the things I really wanted to study in my college career. In those two years I was mentored by several different professors who left a lasting impression on me.
One of these was Dr. Carl Spain. Dr. Spain had served as the pulpit minister for a large congregation in Houston, Texas before coming to Abilene Christian, first as an instructor and eventually as full professor.
When I think of the spiritually minded people I have known, Carl Spain is always on my list. He wasn’t a dry academician. He was a man who gave you something for your heart. He regarded our relationship with Jesus as an intimate, life changing experience. His enthusiasm for God was contagious. The students who enrolled in his classes usually went away feeling inspired.
He was also quick witted. Once we had a snow storm, and one of the students brought a snow ball into class. The minute Dr. Spain walked into the classroom, the student let go of the snowball and caught him squarely in the head. Dr. Spain simply started down the row shaking hands with each class member. When he came to the guy with the cold hands, he said, “Now, stand up and tell this class you didn’t throw that snowball.” The student protested that it was a trick question.
My most memorable experience with him came during graduate school. I enrolled in his course in Christian Ethics. During that fall he prepared a presentation to be delivered at the next lectureship program. The title of the lecture was “Modern Challenges to Christian Morals.” His presentation was really a synopsis of what we heard in the classroom through the entire semester. He traced the philosophical currents that held sway in the academic community prior to that time, and demonstrated how they had been influenced by secularists who had no respect for God. They, in turn, had influenced Hitler and the Third Reich.
Then he switched to the racial issue, which was a hot potato at that time. At that moment in history Abilene Christian College was a segregated institution. A black minister working with one of the Churches of Christ in Abilene was denied the privilege of enrolling in the school to take Bible for credit. He went across town to McMurry, a Methodist school, and was accepted. In his presentation Dr. Spain pointed this out, and criticized the school for remaining segregated because of the fear that integration might result in loss of revenues from potential contributors. He lamented the fact that the school was being held captive by those who had been influenced by the same philosophy that enabled Hitler to rise. You can read the entire lecture at
http://www.mun.ca/rels/restmov/texts/race/haymes15.html
The next morning it was front page news in newspapers throughout Texas. Dr. Spain was threatened and insulted, and was challenged to debate the issue, but he stood his ground. The next Monday, he shared his feelings about all that with us. Within 2 years ACC was integrated. Within 15 years, the man, who had been denied the privilege of studying the Bible, was a featured speaker at the lectureship. I will never forget having a “ringside” seat for one of the most momentous events in Texas religious history.
The last time I saw Dr. Spain, he was retired. I asked him if he was doing any writing. He said that he was not, and I expressed my disappointment. Then he told me that his wife had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and that he was taking care of her. A short time after that he was diagnosed with cancer himself, and actually preceded his wife in death. Carl Spain will always be one of my heroes.
As I moved into my junior year, most of my basic courses were behind me, and I was now able to concentrate on the things I really wanted to study in my college career. In those two years I was mentored by several different professors who left a lasting impression on me.
One of these was Dr. Carl Spain. Dr. Spain had served as the pulpit minister for a large congregation in Houston, Texas before coming to Abilene Christian, first as an instructor and eventually as full professor.
When I think of the spiritually minded people I have known, Carl Spain is always on my list. He wasn’t a dry academician. He was a man who gave you something for your heart. He regarded our relationship with Jesus as an intimate, life changing experience. His enthusiasm for God was contagious. The students who enrolled in his classes usually went away feeling inspired.
He was also quick witted. Once we had a snow storm, and one of the students brought a snow ball into class. The minute Dr. Spain walked into the classroom, the student let go of the snowball and caught him squarely in the head. Dr. Spain simply started down the row shaking hands with each class member. When he came to the guy with the cold hands, he said, “Now, stand up and tell this class you didn’t throw that snowball.” The student protested that it was a trick question.
My most memorable experience with him came during graduate school. I enrolled in his course in Christian Ethics. During that fall he prepared a presentation to be delivered at the next lectureship program. The title of the lecture was “Modern Challenges to Christian Morals.” His presentation was really a synopsis of what we heard in the classroom through the entire semester. He traced the philosophical currents that held sway in the academic community prior to that time, and demonstrated how they had been influenced by secularists who had no respect for God. They, in turn, had influenced Hitler and the Third Reich.
Then he switched to the racial issue, which was a hot potato at that time. At that moment in history Abilene Christian College was a segregated institution. A black minister working with one of the Churches of Christ in Abilene was denied the privilege of enrolling in the school to take Bible for credit. He went across town to McMurry, a Methodist school, and was accepted. In his presentation Dr. Spain pointed this out, and criticized the school for remaining segregated because of the fear that integration might result in loss of revenues from potential contributors. He lamented the fact that the school was being held captive by those who had been influenced by the same philosophy that enabled Hitler to rise. You can read the entire lecture at
http://www.mun.ca/rels/restmov/texts/race/haymes15.html
The next morning it was front page news in newspapers throughout Texas. Dr. Spain was threatened and insulted, and was challenged to debate the issue, but he stood his ground. The next Monday, he shared his feelings about all that with us. Within 2 years ACC was integrated. Within 15 years, the man, who had been denied the privilege of studying the Bible, was a featured speaker at the lectureship. I will never forget having a “ringside” seat for one of the most momentous events in Texas religious history.
The last time I saw Dr. Spain, he was retired. I asked him if he was doing any writing. He said that he was not, and I expressed my disappointment. Then he told me that his wife had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and that he was taking care of her. A short time after that he was diagnosed with cancer himself, and actually preceded his wife in death. Carl Spain will always be one of my heroes.
posted by Norman @ 3:07 PM
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