four davids

The 4 David’s.

I have three good friends whose names are David. We go to church together, we sit in bible classes together, we are on boards and committees together, we even do volunteer work together at times, but rarely all 4 at any one time. And, to make it more interesting, my oldest grandson is David!

I could write a lot about each of them; one a former pastor and now a book editor; one an engineer who used to manage projects for the Army; another former pastor and now an adventurer who drove his jeep to Nicaragua this fall, and me.

This summer I spent 4 months doing the lead work on a serious remodel of the front of our church. At one point or other all Davids worked on that project. One day our pastor stood up in church: “If your name is David, you worked on the church this week,” he chuckled.

The pastor/editor is quiet, and studious. A serious scholar. He is also the youngest of this batch of davids, in his mid 50’s, but he worked his way through seminary laying carpet. He is a good guy.

The Engineer I have known the longest, maybe 30 years. His daughter and one of mine were close friends in high school. I knew David’s brother when I lived in Washington state, then there was that name thing. We have grown very close.

But the wondering David is my very special friend. In our little group he is David and I am Dave. We lead a study group together, we hike together, camp together and enjoy each other’s company.

We guys don’t do well with close male friends. We tend to miss that part of our lives. This David was in the hospital once, and I took him flowers. “When was the last time a guy brought you flowers?” I asked. “Never.”

Right now, I think of David 3, the rest of are here in Idaho. He is in central america right now. He and his family have lived in Bolivia, Kenya, Belize and the US in their married life. David’s dad was an electrician and david apprenticed as a plumber and he is a certified aircraft mechanic.

The big shots of the world like to think it is their genius that keeps the world going, but reality is that the maintenance people, the ones that fix things, keep it all running. Bad maintenance and the best factory grinds to a stop, good maintenance and the big shots look good.

David has spent a life making others look good.

This fall, there was a project in Nicaragua to put in wells in one of the most backward of the villages. David went to help on that project. He got there in that Jeep I mentioned a bit ago. His travel companion is a concert organist. They are both having a great time, I know.

Before he began this trip, he asked me if I would like to go with him. I answered: “Of course.” I couldn’t for a lot of reasons including my friend Alz, but it was a good thought. We would have had a great time.

Be careful David and make it back safely. I miss you.