THE LIFE OF REVEREND ROBERT WESLEY ANDREWS
This is a day that we all expected but did not plan for. The one person who planned for it all his life, however, was Bob himself. He was a Reverend, the most irreverent one we will ever meet, a man of faith, at one with his beliefs and his actions, and his words. Everyone knows he devoted his life to the struggle for justice for the Palestinians especially, and at one time he needed protection from the FBI because they feared for his life. But he also marched with Martin Luther King in the 60s and fought for racial justice in Delaware. In the 70s he was a pastor to students in Indonesia, and later was close to the directive of the Sandinistas. In short there was never a revolution he didn’t love.
Today my thoughts go to those who lived closest to Bob, to Cristiano, Bob’s adoptive son whom he met on a trip to Brazil and who has been with him for 26 years, and to Joaquin, his faithful gardener on this estate for 16 years. Bob’s last wishes, as expressed to several of us, were to secure the future of these two men and provide for Joaquin’s ongoing education.
It is interesting to hear Cristiano and Joaquin’s own words, about the end of Bob’s life. Cristiano thinks that once Bob saw that he got a job and could earn a living, Bob was at peace to die. And Joaquin says he will miss Bob because he was always happy, alegre, and that gave him strength on the job. Both men said that Bob was joking until the end, which Flora confirmed on her visit the very day he died. Who could ask for more for a friend than that he had a sense of humor til the end?’
We will all remember our lengthy phone conversations with Bob, and all that we learned from his great accumulation of knowledge and wisdom. He said that a good Christian holds the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in the other. On humanity, he would say that we are a fallen race but Christ has saved us and we can call on that salvation.
On dress occasions, you would see Bob with a plain golden cross around his neck. It was a sign of victory to him – it did not have a bloody, crucified Christ on it. “Why don’t Christians emphasize the resurrection of Christ and His triumph that we can follow?” and you could picture him gesturing excitedly at the other end of the phone.
In his great intellectual quests, he had many heroes. First there was Jeremiah, who said “Why do they say, Peace, peace, when there is no peace?” Bob always urged us on to work for justice and then peace would follow.
Bob gave new meaning to the word outspoken. Another favorite quote of his was from Pastor Martin Niemoeller who wrote of the Nazi times.
“First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and the Socialists and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist or a Socialist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Another of his favorites was Bishop Helder Camara of Brazil who said, “When I give to the poor they say I am a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they say I am a communist.”
Bob will not be forgotten easily. We can commit to our memory of Bob by continuing his fight for the Palestinians, whose situation gets worse every day, every day.
Dr. Sasa, Palestinian in exile since 1947, living in Costa Rica, shared this important power point presentation on the up to date reality of living in the occupied territories. It deserves viewing by all countries, politicians, universities and religions interested in justice for Palestinians. Put out by the United Nations, it is in Spanish, but will be understandable because of its clear graphics.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By6ZejklHR5BTklGd0VnVlB4enc/view
In a different facet of his personality that we will all miss, he was a playful and outrageous soul. One example – one day on this property, he was sitting in the afternoon sun, with a whiskey in his hand and several down the hatch by then, and his refined mother said to him, “Robert, don’t you think you’ve have had enough to drink?” So he looked up at her with that cat smile of his, behind the whiskers, and said, “Yes, mother,” and went right on drinking.
In closing, some beautiful, beautiful words of Schopenhauer speak to us today, as we try to console ourselves.
“Mourn not for him too long that he is gone, but rejoice that he ever was.”
Ann Marie Saidy