When I was a teenager at First Methodist Church in Tupelo, we hadn’t yet merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church becoming United Methodists in the process, I experienced my first realization of how standing up and taking a stand can make a huge difference, not just in your own life, but in the lives of all you come into contact with.

George Maynard, Sr. was Mayor of Tupelo and a member of our church. In those days we held church conferences on occasion after the Sunday evening services. And I will never forget the many times during the discussion about issues and changes when Mr. Maynard would stand up from where he always sat over on the east side down near the front and address the congregation. He always spoke from his heart and he was always right. At least what he said always ended the discussion. It usually took the form of reminding everyone of the principles taught by Jesus and how whatever we were discussing did not follow those principles. All these years later I still remember what happened when George Maynard, Sr. stood up.

The next big example of standing up that I can remember was when Rosa Parks actually refused to stand up and move to the back of the bus. I cannot imagine the courage it took to take that stand by remaining seated where she felt she had a right to sit as a human being on public transportation. That was on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, AL. I was only 15 years old, but we had TV and I remember the coverage and the controversy this action caused. She truly deserves her place in history.

Most everyone who lives in Tupelo knows about George McLean, who owned the Daily Journal until his death in 1983. Mr. McLean was famous for standing up for what was right. I remember one Rotary Club meeting in the old Hotel Tupelo when the speaker was praising states rights and lambasting the federal government, like a lot of folks seem to be doing today. George McLean would have none of it and he stood up and interrupted the man mid-sentence and told him in no uncertain terms that the people of Tupelo did not want to hear what he had to say and that he was wrong about what he was saying. The speaker sat down and the meeting quickly adjourned. If you were there that day you remember it to this day, and you know that Mr. McLean was right, and that he had more courage than all the rest of us combined.

In 1978 and 1979 I was president of the CDF, the Community Development Foundation and it was during this time that Tupelo had its only real racial strife over the treatment of black prisoners in the Tupelo Jail. Skip Robinson from Holly Springs came to town and conducted marches on Main Street demanding that the officers be fired. It was also during this time that I had to preside at the annual CDF meeting held in the old Natchez Trace Hall of Fame. I decided to make a statement about what I felt the situation called for, and to ask the audience to stand up in support if they agreed with my statement. But I told no one in advance, and had no idea if they would agree with me or not. When I got to the end of my statement the whole hall stood in agreement. With the community solidly behind doing what was right the conflict quickly died out. Tupelo stood up, and we’ve done it many other times.

What Matters Most ….. Stand up for what you believe, but also measure what you believe, not by public opinion or profit, but by what is right in everyone’s eyes. By what benefits the whole of society and what tries to involve everyone in the process of change that is sometimes necessary to do the right thing.