Why God?

Surprise Visit It was pouring down rain with wind blowing as hard as it could as I stood at the main gate to Pease AFB in New Hampshire in 1962. I was a buck sergeant in the air police (three stripes) when a long pink Cadillac limo pulled up to me. The driver’s window went down, and the man inside called me over and asked to speak to our base commander. I laughed and said, “And who, may I ask, are you?” He smiled a big smile and said that he was with the guy in the back, so I walked back to see who that might be. Then that window went down and a voice said, “Could you tell the base commander that the king is here?” I laughed and asked which king that might be. As his hand came out the window and took mine, I saw who it was … It was Elvis! The King of Rock and Roll. For the next twenty or so minutes, he explained how he had promised to do a show at our base but could never find the time. He thought he might fulfill his oblation to our base commander by doing one tonight if that was all right in the middle of a raging thunderstorm. I looked behind the limo and saw a long line of cars and trucks waiting to enter. Security on our base was always set at maximum, and we had SAC inspectors always trying to penetrate our facility, so having Elvis at the main gate could be a real test. This might not be Elvis and I wasn’t going to take any chances, so I made two phone calls. One was to security headquarters and the second was to the base commander’s office. In a flash it seemed like half the base was at my side. With a New England spring storm booming its own beat, hundreds of people were running around preparing to do a show in a few hours. The show would be at six o’clock and it was already one o’clock. That didn’t give them much time to make the show happen, but they did. The king had his own security people, but he asked if the guy on the main gate could hear his show, and they allowed me to attend. I went in early and got there just when they were taking a break from their rehearsal. Our base had supplied drinks and sandwiches. Elvis stood at center stage and asked openly who was a Christian and whether they could pray over the food. To my own surprise my hand went up and Elvis said, “Go at it, sergeant !” I prayed but suddenly realized I should have kept my hand down, because I knew very little about praying. Elvis laughed and gave me a hug … and then, still laughing, said, “You’re not the only one that has trouble praying.” I guess I didn’t do so well. The show went till midnight, and most of the base was there. The storm grew stronger. The next day I thought it would be all over the TV and newspapers what had happened the night before, but not a word was written about it. It was as if it had never happened. When I think about famous people, I have to remember they are just like you and me (with better looks, talents, and more money) but beyond that, we all need Jesus or we’ll be forever separated from our loving God.