From Beatrice

The day after Daddy died I got a strong summary impression of his life as I was thinking about him.  It’s summed up in the last half of Matthew 10:16  “Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” That was Daddy’s personality, his legacy.

Daddy was wise as a serpent.  In his various positions, Daddy was privy to a whole lot of information.  Daddy was a principal of a high school that served a town of more than 10,000.  Daddy was a church, community and civic leader, initially for the black community of Dothan, Ashford, Houston County, and southeast Alabama, but eventually for whole communities in the state of Alabama.  So, people would just tell him things.  Or he would just see things and circumstances as he went about his day. Or people would come to him like to the Supreme Court to resolve disputes.  Or he and mama would discuss hard things, sometimes behind closed doors, but sometimes right in front of me, their little boy.  So he usually knew who was a closet alcoholic, or who had a crippling mental illness, but were highly visible, and were trying to maintain what appeared to be normal function.  He often knew who was secretly sleeping with whom; who had a grudge against someone they worked with, worked for, or supervised; who loved and adored him, and; who wanted him off the scene.

Daddy was wise as a serpent.  Make no mistake, Daddy was a very confident man.  He knew his strengths.  One thing he would state confidently and matter-of-factly to family members and buddies sitting around his table.  “I understand human behavior.”  Daddy had sifted through all of his trials and tribulations from working through personal, organizational, and political disputes, problem employees, racial reconciliation, you name it.  From that, Daddy achieved Solomon-like, baby-chopping wisdom-- gold wisdom nuggets that he often used to provoke people to the right behavior.  He let all the dross and the sand from his past go back to the dust.  He removed the impurities.  He mined only those gold nuggets of wisdom.  He put them in a vault.  When he needed to, he opened the vault to retrieve a nugget.  I got a lot of nuggets from Daddy.  Many of you did too, I’m sure.  Some of the nuggets are memorable sayings, just like Solomon.  His grandchildren, cousins, nephews and nieces rehearse a nice-sized list of Daddy’s sayings, nuggets to help us navigate life.  Here’s one:  “I don't know where, we’re going, but I don’t think we’ll like it when we get there.”  Is that something you can use today?  There are more.  “I’m doing 100.”  “We just need to love each other.  That’s what Christ taught.” “We are too focused on thangs and not on people.” “I really don’t need much.  Somebody could just give me a pallet to sleep on and I would be happy.”  I’m just happy to be happy.”  

But just as important, Daddy was as harmless as a dove.  People would tell him, “Mr. Smith, you are just such a nice man.”  I don’t understand how you are always so nice.”  Daddy’s reputation garnered him positions and invitations all the time.  He couldn’t always accept.  But by the time he finished declining, the person inviting him felt so loved on, it was just like he accepted.  Daddy would tell them how important they or their cause was, and tell them that he loved and appreciated them, going back over past details of their life or past interactions with them that he found uplifting and inspiring.  And Daddy did not gossip, no matter how much he knew.  He actually cut people off who started gossiping.  “Ok, let’s talk about something else…well that’s too bad, but we don’t need to dwell on that.”  An alcoholic that Daddy touched felt loved on, and when Daddy left them, nobody would know any more about their problems than before.  The person who wanted him off the scene would never guess that he knew about that.  Disputes with Daddy were resolved with a clean slate afterward.  

So, Daddy became a pied piper.  People, princes and paupers, felt safe around him.  The gravitated toward that safety.  They wanted to be loved on wisely, and they were sure they were gonna get it when they mingled with Daddy.  He had a presence when he walked into the room.  Dignity, strength, beauty, confidence, no fear, no malice, no pent-up anger, and a strong willingness to listen first before speaking.  Hmmm….is that what Jesus taught?

Daddy would want us to figure out how to be like him as he followed Christ.  I never heard him sort of brag that way like Paul did in the Bible, but he lived that way.  Before Daddy fell in love with the song “Total Praise,” he often sang his favorite solo, “If I can help somebody.” Can we? I pray so.  And by the way, I think living this way is impossible if you don’t have Christ.  I pray you do.

As the oldest Great-Grandchild of Wallace L. Smith, I was constantly told how I had big shoes to fill. As a child I did not appreciate just what that meant, but thankfully at the age of thirty, I do now. I remember back in December of 2012 when he made his way to Washington, DC to see the White House while the Obamas were still in it and I got to take a picture with him and my Howard University degree in hand. He was brimming with pride and told me to never stop learning. This is just one of many lessons that I will carry the rest of my life.