Susie Shirley smiles as she signs her book for a customer at the Great Southern National Bank in Quitman, Mississippi
What better way to spend a beautiful, bright, sunny day than meeting a few beautiful, bright, and sunny people, each an author with some words of wisdom and stories to share. It was just such a day on August 3, 2009, at the Great Southern National Bank in Quitman, Mississippi. Four area writers were present to meet the public and sign copies of their books: Susie Shirley, Diana Risher, Cathy Suitor Riley, and Jimmy C. (Shorty) Mosley, Sr.
Susie Shirley of Shubuta is the only lady I've ever met who was married in the front seat of a 1952 two-door Chevy. Now I've met a number of lovely girls and lassies in my life who have been deflowered in the back seats of Chevys, Fords, and even Cadillacs, but usually the gents have been chased off by shotgun waving and hollering Dads long before the altar. Yet Susie tells of how she hooked her a loving truck driving lad to whom she was happily married, "fifty years, one month, and six days!" Now that's a devoted wife, keeping count of the days she had been married like that. Most wives probably stop counting after the first little one comes along and there are diapers to change. But not Susie, she kept a tally of every day she was in God's grace, blessed with a loving husband. Now many years later, her husband gone to that great "Heavenly Home," Susie spills out her heart in 192 pages of memories and reflections. The cover of her novella of inspirations is adorned by Michael Angelo's The Last Supper, given A Little Bit Of A Lot Of Things is in its own way Susie's gift to her children, grandchildren, and everyone who has been touched by her life.
Susie told me, "I'm thankful that I belong to Jesus Christ ... and that if there were one thing I could do it would be to bring people to Jesus Christ." Thus she has related inspirational stories, tales and yarns from her life, giving insight, always mindful of being one of God's messengers. So if you are wondering what tales this lady married in a 1952 Chevy has to tell, drop her a line and buy her book. Send $15.00 plus $3.00 s/h to:
Susie Shirley
P.O. Box 323
Shubuta, MS 39360
Don't forget to politely ask that she autograph your copy as she did mine, "Dear friend in Jesus God bless you as you read this book!"
Sitting next to Susie Shirley was Jimmy C. (Shorty) Mosley, Sr., author of They Call Me Shorty And I Am A Dwarf. Now I don't know about you, but to many people those would be fighting words. If you are a person who happens to be short or small in statue, you certainly don't want anyone to be calling you a "dwarf." At least I would not want to be referred to in a derogatory manner based upon my physical appearance. At 4' 7" Mr. Mosley certainly did not seem to be a dwarf to me. In fact, he appeared very tall sitting there with his four books displayed upon easels pointed as pyramids, towering to the sky. Holding a copy of A Bitch Called Katrina in his hands, Shorty appeared more like a mythical Greecian God than a dwarf. On the cover of his other book, They Call Me Shorty And I Am A Dwarf, he is standing in front of one of those eighteen wheelers like he use to drive. Yet learning Shorty had logged over 1-million miles through the back two-lane roads of Alabama and Mississippi, never having been in an accident, this is no dwarfish achievement! It is quite a remarkable achievement, indeed, one of those miracles that is perhaps a sign God was watching over Shorty as he drove along those highways and byways.
In that staged book cover photo of Shorty standing in front of a truck, he looks somewhat like he's about to be made road kill, but he certainly stands tall in my book. I had a most loved brother who was killed when struck by a truck driven on those very roads Shorty safely navigated for so many years. So Shorty, I think your nickname may be a misnomer. This gentleman certainly is not short on words, wit or the example he sets for other truck drivers everywhere!
Shorty began writing as a young lad; his first poem/song was inspired by Elvis Presley and he has been jotting down muse ever since. However, Shorty did not publish his first book, Growing Up In Rural Clarke County, Mississippi, which has sold over 1,500 copies, until 2005. Since then he has published three more books: a collection of Poems, Odes, Epics, Myths, Sonnets and Their Impressions, A Bitch Called Katrina, and They Call Me Shorty And I Am A Dwarf.
Shorty's philosophy of life is, "No matter how the cards are dealt to you, make the best of it. Don't throw that hand away. Try to make a winning hand out of it." Clearly Shorty has done exactly that through his writings and is currently working upon his first children's book. Indeed, I'd say that whatever set of circumstances or situations brought Shorty to pen his tales, he has played his cards pretty damn well! If not a royal flush, he certainly is holding four aces with those books he has written!
I also spoke with Cathy Suitor Riley, author of My Journey with Breast Cancer and God's Miracles That Sustained Me. Ms. Riley is a breast cancer survivor; she tells how her faith in God enabled her to endure chemotherapy, radiation treatments, and all the trials and tribulations that one encounters when they have breast cancer. Her story is one of enduring faith and triumph. When I asked Mr. Riley what one message would she like to convey to people, she replied, "That you are never alone when you face a trial in this world because God, your best friend, will carry you through anything. All things are possible with God!"
Ms. Riley also wanted me to let everyone know that she enjoys speaking with church groups and sharing her story with anyone who may benefit or be in need of some spiritual inspiration, that she is available anytime to come and talk and that she really believes her message is one which may help others.
Sometimes in this life we have the great pleasure of encountering those who are of an angelic nature and certainly would have wings if we only had the eyes to see the glory of God shining bright and aglow. As one who is somewhat of an expert when it comes to searching for creatures which glow, and who has started his an on-line ministry, I sensed a light about Cathy, which is why I told her about my experience as a child. I was also a survivor and an a young toddler became very ill and had what I would later realize was an after life type experience. Yet growing up I referred to this experience as a Dream of Great Whiteness. What happened is that I contacted pneumonia and went into coma. All the doctors and all kings men (military personnel and medical staff at the hospital in Bremerhaven, Germany, where this happened) tried to me back together and bring me back to life, but nothing worked. They tried new drugs and medications, but I given up for dead. My parents, though, still believed, and because a priest could not be found, a Catholic nun came to my bedside and prayed. She laid a St. Christopher upon my pillow next to me. It was not long after this that I came out of coma! It was as a miracle for by all accounts I should have died and all that has been my life sense should never have happened.
In telling Cathy about this experience, which I have told few others, I somehow knew she could understand. Most people these days just do not believe in miracles. And how do you tell someone that you remember what can only be described as a Dream of Great Whiteness; that you were touched by God and given this life, in answer to a prayer that might never have been prayed were it not for a nun who came to the bedside of a dying child and spoke to God? People just discount such tales as fantasy, delusion, as utterly impossible ... or even worse, just " a coincidence." But there was some quality which seemed to shine about Cathy that perhaps I was able to see because of my own experience, so I shared my Dream of Great Whiteness with her.
When Cathy told me:
"God turned my trial into a blessing, as he so often does for us. Since journeying through cancer my ministry ministry has come about ... it is the highlight of my life to stand before others and praise God for all he has done and to try to encourage others and give them hope. It is important to me that others see that even though my cancer carried a poor prognosis and doctors really didn't think I would be alive today -- God carried me when I couldn't carry myself and he made the journey an easy one -- and yes, I am still alive today spreading God's word every chance I get."
This confirmed the glow I felt when in her presence, that there are angels among us, each getting our wings and coming to have hearts which glow ... yet unto those able to see what perhaps only the mind's eye and heart can see and know. It is perhaps only a light some can see and sense, an angelic aura carried about which shines and may be seen or known only by those attuned to that presence which Cathy radiates both in her writings and with every word she speaks. It was indeed as in seeing a firefly flash, a miracle of living light and life, just to be in Cathy's presence ... though others might never see the light, surely it is shining in Cathy.
I'm sure Cathy's next book, God's Grace Is Sufficient, will similarly shine that light I sensed in her presence.
I was most interested in Diana Risher's idea that, "The Bible story of salvation begins and ends with a tree," given that in Genesis it is the Tree of Knowledge from which Adam is given fruit by Eve, thus gaining knowledge of good vs. evil, that thus through this original sin humanity, "Will not have access to the Tree of Eternal Life until the end." That is, as in Revelation it is the leaves of the tree which are for the healing of the nations.
Diana Risher impressed me as a Biblical scholar who has touched the lives of many and who will certainly bring light and love to the lives of many more who read The Trees of the Bible Speak to Us Today: A Bible Study. She has also authored but God: Words of Encouragement, which is a collection of inspirational devotionals, based upon, "The importance of the two-word phrase, but God," used on occasion by her former pastor, Ray Bobo. According to Diana Risher, "Those two little words can completely change the whole scene from what man is experiencing to what God can do."
Indeed, what better way to spend a beautiful, bright, sunny day than meeting a few beautiful, bright and sunny people, each a beam of sunshine in their own way. When I told Diana Risher that if people gave medals or trophies to her for helping to teach and inspire, that she would have a trophy case full of rewards, she humbly gave all the credit to God, saying that she was only the channel.
True, all inspirational writers, whether they write about God's love, give guidance through Biblical stories, devotionals, sermons, choral hymnals, or share their life experiences and how their faith has played a vital role in their lives, each on has earned their angel's wings, has made a bell ring, been rewarded with that ultimate of medals and trophies, the key to heaven and eternal life. It is, you see, all the love we give, all the goodness, mercy, and our heart felt reflections, which are as angel's wings which we earn here on earth. Every book in print, every word writ and sermon spoke, if in reflection of God's love and intended to bring a bit of light, to share a bit of love, it is all as a bell ringing as another angel gets their wings.
Each of these four authors has in their own way been touched by God and done the best they could with the cards dealt to them. If you read their words and listen you may just hear that bell ring, for behind all is that fifth author, the Lord Almighty, and we are but as his angel's getting our wings.