Grace Thomas died a number years ago. She had lived a good life and was buried out of the First Baptist Church of Decatur, Georgia. You probably don’t recognize her name, and there’s no particular reason that you should.
She was the fifth child of a street car operator and his wife in Birmingham, Alabama. As a young woman, she fell in love with a man from Georgia, married him, and moved to Atlanta. In order to support the family, she became a clerk typist at the state capital. She worked full time as a clerk and full time as a mother. However, through her job, she became interested in the law, and enrolled in night law school at a nearby college. Eventually, she became a lawyer—and in 1954, she absolutely stunned her family by announcing that she was going to run for the governor of Georgia.
That year there were nine candidates, but only one real issue … the integration of the public schools. Eight of the candidates—all men—urged the citizens of Georgia to take a stand against the government and defy the law of the land. Only one candidate—Grace—said that she thought the law was fair and just, and that we ought to join together to support it. Her campaign slogan was: “Say Grace at the polls.” Unfortunately, not many people did. She ran ninth.
In 1962 she stunned her family once more by announcing that she was running again. This time the stakes were much higher. She began to receive death threats as she moved around the state, and her family started traveling with her for protection. One day she went to Lewisville, Georgia, to give a speech. The centerpiece of the town was an old slave market, where people were bought and sold as commodities. Grace chose that slave market as the place to give her speech, and a hostile crowd of farmers and merchants gathered around to hear her.
She began her speech this way: “This has passed away, and the new has come.” She went on to urge Georgians of all races and colors to join together in harmony and justice. In the middle of her speech, somebody yelled from the back of the crowd, “Are you a communist?”
“No,” she said.
“Then where did you get all of those radical ideas?”
She thought for a minute, and then she pointed to the steeple of a nearby church. “I got them over there in Sunday School,” said Grace Thomas.
Now, some folks will tell you that Sunday School really isn’t all that important in the raising of a child. It’s just a time to keep them occupied with cute stories and fun activities, before the worship service actually begins. But I beg to differ. I believe that Sunday School is a place where we can learn truths that will change the world!
She was the fifth child of a street car operator and his wife in Birmingham, Alabama. As a young woman, she fell in love with a man from Georgia, married him, and moved to Atlanta. In order to support the family, she became a clerk typist at the state capital. She worked full time as a clerk and full time as a mother. However, through her job, she became interested in the law, and enrolled in night law school at a nearby college. Eventually, she became a lawyer—and in 1954, she absolutely stunned her family by announcing that she was going to run for the governor of Georgia.
That year there were nine candidates, but only one real issue … the integration of the public schools. Eight of the candidates—all men—urged the citizens of Georgia to take a stand against the government and defy the law of the land. Only one candidate—Grace—said that she thought the law was fair and just, and that we ought to join together to support it. Her campaign slogan was: “Say Grace at the polls.” Unfortunately, not many people did. She ran ninth.
In 1962 she stunned her family once more by announcing that she was running again. This time the stakes were much higher. She began to receive death threats as she moved around the state, and her family started traveling with her for protection. One day she went to Lewisville, Georgia, to give a speech. The centerpiece of the town was an old slave market, where people were bought and sold as commodities. Grace chose that slave market as the place to give her speech, and a hostile crowd of farmers and merchants gathered around to hear her.
She began her speech this way: “This has passed away, and the new has come.” She went on to urge Georgians of all races and colors to join together in harmony and justice. In the middle of her speech, somebody yelled from the back of the crowd, “Are you a communist?”
“No,” she said.
“Then where did you get all of those radical ideas?”
She thought for a minute, and then she pointed to the steeple of a nearby church. “I got them over there in Sunday School,” said Grace Thomas.
Now, some folks will tell you that Sunday School really isn’t all that important in the raising of a child. It’s just a time to keep them occupied with cute stories and fun activities, before the worship service actually begins. But I beg to differ. I believe that Sunday School is a place where we can learn truths that will change the world!
posted by Dr. Robert Crilley at
7:00 PM
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