Just As He Was

If you accept the Rev. Billy Graham's view of the way the world is, most of his first experiences in the life to come are going to be greeting people who are going to thank him for words he said that convinced them to accept it as well. Graham passed today at the age of 99.

Although there were wrinkles -- such as audiotapes that captured anti-Semitic remarks made with President Richard Nixon and a dustup with Harry Truman, the first president he ever met -- Graham's career was notable for a lack of personal or financial scandal. He made the decision early on to accept a regular salary only from his organization's crusades, rather than any percentage of the donations. The BGEA books were always open for inspection. And like other members of the original core leadership of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, he was never alone with a woman other than his wife. When William Martin was writing his 1992 biography of Graham, A Prophet With Honor, Graham's staff and friends were told to give him whatever access he sought. Martin's statement on Graham's passing says Graham "was not a perfect man, but he was an uncommonly good one."

During a season of scandal among well-known clergy folks, the sardonic Christian musician Terry Taylor wrote "Billy Graham," a song his band the Swirling Eddies included on their album Outdoor Elvis. Uncharacteristically sentimental, Taylor and his bandmates sang:

I don't know about those other guys
There's something in the back of their eyes
But Billy, you're the man who don't use sleight of hand
Ain't wearing no disguise
I love you, Billy

I love the simple things you say
And you never seem to get in the way
No one is quite like you
Compassionate and true
"Just as I am," I say
I love you, Billy

Although many many reunions are doubtless involved in Graham's passing from this life to the next, Graham himself said he would have a question for his Lord regarding the incredible career and reach he had been able to accomplish: "Why me, Lord?" That he would ask it of the great blessings he'd been given is a large part of the answer and perhaps one of the things many of us, both in his line of work and elsewhere, could take as a lesson.