The gift of memory is wonderful. In a moment, we can recapture in vivid detail an event that happened years ago. When my friend, Jerry Morgan, once a professor at Collegedale Academy, called to tell me of the death of Frank Knittel, I instantly recaptured a memory of 30 years ago.
At that time, my husband was senior pastor at First-Centenary United Methodist Church and Knittel was president of Southern Missionary College (now Southern Adventist University). It was graduation time at the college. The evening, in my memory, was warm with a pleasant breeze blowing.
I was scheduled to speak at an evening graduation event at the college, and Frank and his wife, Helen, had invited my husband and me to have dinner in their home preceding the event. Aware of the fact that the diet of Adventists is somewhat different from some Protestants, I wondered what to expect.
It was one of the most delicious meals I have ever eaten. Their soy substitutes tasted amazingly like our meat, and the drink served with dessert was better than our coffee. For me, a coffee lover, that was quite an admission. In fact, the entire evening increased my already strong appreciation for Adventists — their deep spirituality, high academic standards and their worship on Saturday, which they believe is the original Sabbath.
In addition, there was the gracious hospitality of Helen and Frank Knittel. They had done their homework and were fully aware of our backgrounds. They knew where we both had been born and educated and where my husband had served as pastor and college president. They even knew about my most recent speaking engagements. We felt comfortable immediately.