The First Column
Thursday Nov 9th 2006

"We welcome Stuart Revercomb to the Main Street family of newspapers. Stuart is a Writer and Christian Educator whose previous work includes five years as an on-line columnist for Landmark Communications where his weekly work insisted that, "God has a much better sense of humor than we give him credit for . . ."

 Stuart will continue to offer thought -provoking and inspirational human interest columns with the goal of helping us all slow down to "smell the roses."  His book, "Whispering Loud and Clear” published by Xulon Press is available at local book stores and on-line sellers including Barnes and Noble and Amazon.Com.”

What’s Up With “This End Up?”

“Not much . . . and you?”

Starting a new column series with the now near famous opening to Michael Feldman’s NPR radio show, “Whad’ya Know,” seems appropriate enough as it hints at two very important aspects of weekly column writing.

Sometimes there just isn’t much going on.

And at the end of the day, staying connected with you is a big part of the whole process.

Having composed over 180 columns between 1999 and 2005 I have often been asked, “How in the world do you come up with all those ideas?” It’s a very good question that has a very simple answer.

I don’t.

If I thought I’d have to come up with a new and historically novel idea every week I’d surely wither under the pressure and race off to the smallest town in Arkansas by the fifth deadline. The long and short of it is that as a weekly columnist you’d better be prepared to write about your shoelace if that’s all you’ve got.

But before you go running off thinking, “my lord, they’ve hired a guy who is going to write about his shoe laces,” please note that it’s never happened! I wrote about our cat once and our dogs several times, but never my shoe laces. (The comparative value of cats and shoe laces not withstanding.)

Typically I write about life, which seems enough of a wide open subject, but in particular, life where it really matters – having to do with family, faith, friends and fishing. (Not necessarily in that order.) Perhaps I should have called it “4F.” But since that’s a code for being somehow unfit for military service, perhaps “This End Up” is more on target. (Not that at 45 years of age I’m not as 4F as 4F can be, but that’s a column for another day . . .)

“This End Up,” is meant to imply that the words you find here will be all about lifting up that which is good and true and real and genuine, and well . . . all that is meant to be celebrated as part of the miraculous and wondrous dance that is life in this old world. Which, when you think about it, is very much what Main Street Newspapers has always been about and why their community newspapers are so successful in making such a difference in the lives of their readers.

In lieu of rabidly focusing on all that is “the lowest side” of American culture -  a never ending stream of  reports meant to shock readers and define news as inherently bad – Main Street focuses upon the real news of the community with an eye for those positive events that help form and shape and define who we really are. Not that the tough story isn’t covered when present, but sensationalizing the random foul crime is simply not what they are about and never will be. They, and this column, will continually seek to “lift up that which is good” and in doing so hopefully reflect the words of some guy named Paul who, almost 2000 years ago suggested that dwelling on what is “pure and lovely and admirable and praise worthy,” might be a good idea.

If my words, not entirely unlike the prophet, can occasionally make you laugh and cry and think about some eternal truth in a way you haven’t before then I shall consider this column a resounding success. And if we have our own share of good times along the way then all the better . . .

Here’s to the unknown and therefore infinitely intriguing territory ahead .

I look forward to the journey!

 

- Stuart