Today I salute John Wesley, Frances Asbury and the circuit riding Methodist preachers in our past. Having recently returned from Tattnall County Camp Meeting I have a new appreciation for our hardy Methodist forebears. I preached eight times in seven days at the camp meeting and came home absolutely worn out, even though I am in great physical health and love the privilege of preaching.

I could suggest a number of reasons for my weariness, but you probably aren't interested. Suffice it to say my appreciation for our Methodist circuit riding preachers has risen immensely. Wesley, Asbury and others would ride or walk miles through the wilderness on horseback or foot to get to the next preaching site. They would do this day after day, week after week, year after year. Asbury had the reputation of having traversed more miles through our nation than any person alive and I suspect the same could be said about Wesley, who also took a number of treacherous boat trips to Ireland and back to offer a saving word about Christ.

Wesley, Asbury and others would have preached eight sermons in the space of two days, sometimes even one day, riding through sleet, hail, heat, storm to reach their appointed destination. One of the most interesting Methodist books I've read, John Wesley and His Horse, documented these trips. When Wesley grew too frail to ride a horse - somewhere in his 80s - he switched to a carriage. (He had no children to take away the reins of his horse, but somehow made the transition.) It was Asbury, finally a frail old man, who preached his very last sermon to an impromptu crowd gathered beneath the second story window of his host's home. The next morning they found him in his bed, having died during the night.

I have not taken the time to double check these stories, so my recollections may be slightly fuzzy, especially on Asbury's last sermon. But I'm reasonably sure I'm correct on this; the definitive Asbury biography is on my bookshelf waiting to be read. At any rate this I know: Methodists have always been a determined band of faithful Christians, insistent on taking the good news about the new life of Jesus Christ to a world very much on the brink of disaster. I hope that DNA is still a dominant Methodist trait!

In the meantime, keep our leaders in Washington in our prayers and remember that name calling and accusations may be temporarily satisfying but really have no place in our vocabulary. Every Senator and Representative, not to mention our President and Vice President have been duly elected. They represent somebody's legitimate point of view. To demonize any of tour leaders is to demonize the electorate. Be wary of either party trying to marginalize the other party by suggesting they are on the fringe. It's a worn out tactic that, sadly, is often still effective.

I'll see you Sunday...bring a friend!

Creede Hinshaw