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| George Buster Singleton |
(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator
George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere
in Time.” The column below, which was titled “A time for war, a time for peace,
a time for prayer” was originally published in the April 11, 1991 edition of
The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)
I see by the news that the school prayer controversy is once
again becoming a large issue. I don’t profess to be intelligent, but I think
this is a most ridiculous issue for our Supreme Court to consider.
I have felt for some time that I need to take a stand for
the very thing that has made this country what it is today. So now, I will get
on my stump and say my piece; if you feel like throwing something at me, please
throw something soft – like a balloon or a bowl of ice cream. Remember, I
bruise easily.
Let us go back in time to the start of the trouble in the
Middle East. As our friend Saddam Hussein was rattling his saber, we began to
see the need to muster our troops and make ready for possible deployment to the
sands of the Saudi desert. As the days passed, our president made this decision
and our sons and daughters were on their way. There seemed no way out, other
than direct war with Iraq and their idiot leader, Saddam.
As our troops were loading on board the large aircraft and
ocean-going battle wagons, the school prayer issue was on the back burner in
the highest court of the land. But guess what happened? There was no way that
one could turn on their television or radios or read a newspaper that the
words, “Pray for our troops” weren’t seen or heard. We were doing once again
what we had done in all four wars that I remember: We were calling on God to
once again protect us from harm. The school prayer issue would have to wait for
now; we needed God’s help.
Special prayers were held in all of our meetings; our
president requested prayer each time he made a public appearance. Even some of
the deadbeats in congress were asking for divine guidance. Everyone was afraid
that we would be forgotten in our quest for victory in the sands of the desert.
Even those who pushed the school prayer issue the hardest were bumping their
knees. Once again we proved that we are a two-faced nation.
What is wrong with allowing our youth to pray in school? Do
we want to use our greatest gift that this country has like a dose of medicine?
If, by chance, there is someone in our schools who doesn’t believe there is a
God, let them be allowed to leave the room during the time of prayer.
I have been many places during my lifetime. I have been a
part of several experiences that caused me to look to the heavens and ask for
strength and guidance. And not one time have I been turned down. Not one time.
There is no greater feeling on this earth than to travel alone to the top of
some high hill and raise your arms to the heavens and feel his strength flow
downward, refreshing both body and soul.
We have just finished and won the shortest war in our
history. Many of our sour-faced congressmen predicted that our casualty numbers
would be over 10,000. But they didn’t know who was on our side. We lose more
lives during a week’s time in some of our larger cities in homicides than we
did in the Middle East fighting.
Let us not deprive our youth from doing what all our
citizens should do. We are a God-fearing nation; there is no way that we could
have accomplished so much in so short a time had we not had the blessings of
our Lord.
As I get ready to step down from my stump, I will share with
you my secret. I will share with you my source of strength. When I find myself
in a tight place and know I cannot handle the situation alone, I know where to
look: Isaiah 40:31.
But they that wait
upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as
eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not be
faint.
If anyone who reads this has any doubts, make an effort to
witness a beautiful eagle, with outstretched wings, sailing across the heavens.
There is nothing more graceful and nothing more strengthening.
(Singleton, the author
of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of
79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born on Dec.
14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School, served in
the Korean War, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County
in June 1964 (some sources say 1961) and served as the administrator of the
Monroeville National Guard unit from 1964 to 1987. For years, Singleton’s
column “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a
lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life
magazine. Some of his earlier columns also appeared under the heading of
“Monroe County History: Did You Know?” He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in
Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are
available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County
Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week
for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work
and memory alive.)
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