First Words He Heard Was Of Love

For fifty-seven years, Steve Henning of Huntley, Illinois, could not hear music, laughter, or human speech. Even though he lived a full life, he still longed to hear the voices of those he loved.

In the winter of 2001, he learned of a surgical procedure that would allow sound waves to bypass the nonfunctioning part of his ear and travel directly to the auditory nerve. On January 30, he was operated on. Because the implanted device could not be activated until the swelling in the ear decreased, doctors and Steve didn’t know for six weeks if the operation was successful.

Finally, the six weeks was up. As Steve waited nervously, the audiologist programmed the cochlear implant. Then he invited Steve’s wife to say something. Pat Henning leaned toward her husband and gently said, “I love you.” Able to hear for the first time in six decades, Steve’s face broke into a smile. The first words he heard were of love.

 — Greg Asimakoupoulos, “Hearing God’s Word of Love,” PreachingToday.com

Must Forgive

Vivian Malone, a young black woman, enrolled as a student at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 1963. Federal troops helped ensure her entrance into the school, but Governor George Wallace tried to block her way. He made a dramatic stand in the school's doorway, physically carrying out his inaugural vow of "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever." When he failed, Malone became the first African-American student ever to graduate from the University of Alabama.

Years later, Governor Wallace was taken in his wheelchair to Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, where he asked black people to forgive him for his racism, bigotry, and specifically his ill-treatment of Vivian Malone. He asked Malone for forgiveness. Malone said she had forgiven the governor years before.

"He said he did what he felt needed to be done at that point in time, but he would not do that today," she later recalled. "I spoke of forgiveness."

When asked why she had done that, Malone said, “I’m a Christian, and I grew up in the church. I was taught that we are all equal in the eyes of God. I was also taught that you forgive people, no matter what. And that was why I had to do it. I didn’t feel as if I had a choice.”

Malone Jones (her married name) died in 2005 at the age of 63.

 — “Transition — Vivian Malone Jones,” 
Newsweek (October 24, 2005)