As a repentant politician, I often look at my legislative career with deep regret, grieving over the many times I allowed pride and political constraints to hold my conscience at bay. But when I recently learned that the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission had finally broken through and began licensing dispensaries, I rejoiced because the news rekindled memories of the legislative session of 2014, when my conscience broke free for a little while.
In October 2013, I’d been a member of the Alabama Legislature for over 10 years when I began reading Malcolm Gladwell’s freshly published David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants. The book illustrates how the defeat of the heavily armed giant warrior by a simple shepherd boy was not an upset at all, but a setup.
As I dwelt on the story of David and Goliath from a fresh perspective during the days and weeks that followed, my entire life replayed itself in the theater in my mind. With 20/20 hindsight, I could see the powerful work of an Unseen Hand clearer to me than ever before.
Realizing that I had been continually set up as one of those misfit underdogs with a shepherd’s heart, destined to battle giants ever since my troubled youth, caused me to rethink everything I thought I knew about myself and my faith.
The Bible says, “Be not conformed, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
The world of politics where I lived constantly demanded conformity, but during the weeks that followed, I became increasingly aware of the powerful presence that had been renewing my mind and transforming my soul. As my faith surged and my vision of Christ came into focus, I became less adept at conforming to the demands of the political world and increasingly aware of my responsibility as a shepherd in the spiritual kingdom.
Mixing faith and politics is a tricky thing, but as the 2014 election-year legislative session began, I assumed the spiritual position of shepherd to a flock of families with children suffering from debilitating and deadly seizures.
To be honest, I often felt like I’d lost my mind while shepherding Carly’s Law through the political process and grappling with political giants. I may have. Until then, guidance from the Spirit of the Lord had almost always seemed to be a nudge here and a whisper there in response to prayer, contemplation and/or request of some sort. But this was something very different. It took over my mind and drove me like a rented mule on behalf of those suffering children and their families.
Throughout that 2014 Legislative Session, I witnessed and experienced the glory and the power of the Lord as it melted hearts and changed minds with truth and grace. There were brief moments when the Statehouse seemed like a holy place as we came together in one mind and one accord to unanimously pass Carly’s Law, designating $1 million a year to the UAB Neurology Department for research on the medical efficacy of cannabis.
But unbeknownst to me at the time, it was only the beginning of a long, arduous journey that would continue long after my escape from the political world.
I hope nobody gets the impression my repentance has brought sadness. Nothing could be further from the truth. My sin caused the sadness; repentance has set me free. This tired, worn-out shepherd may have grown too old to fight giants and wolves, but I am still eager to help train young shepherds in the fine art of battling giants with what I have found to be the most powerful weapon in the world of spiritual warfare: truth and love.
Not truth or love, truth and love.
You can’t have one without the other, the sling and stone of spiritual warfare. The stone is truth; the sling is love. It has been my only useful spiritual weapon in this world full of giants, lions, bears, and wolves. But it’s the only spiritual weapon I’ve needed.
I am grateful to be living a wonderful life surrounded by love and music in a deeply troubled land. Though my health seems excellent, I know I’ve entered the home stretch of what has been a remarkable journey, guided by an ever-present Unseen Hand. It led me through nearly 50 years of public service and is apparently leading me toward a good finish. I have lived the 23rd Psalm and am now enjoying the “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” phase of life.
I’m not sure what’s next for me, but I don’t really need to know. All I need to know is to be ready and willing when the owner of the flock needs the services of an old, worn-out shepherd.
