2006, August 16

When I first heard of Reverend Luff Johnson I swore I heard the 'Luff' as 'Love' in his name.  I have come to find out after all this time that it might as well have been 'Love Johnson', because this man is so full of love for people and for life that it would simply have made more sense.  Reverend Johnson is the Pastor of a small church in Glendora between Route 66 and Foothill Blvd on Lorraine.  Lorraine Baptist church sits about 250 people has about 4 classrooms and sits on maybe 4 acres of land in this order area of Glendora. 

By no means is this small church any resemblance to the massive Multi Media conglomerates that have began to riddle the land.  Built into industrial areas and built to spec along side our freeways.  Not this small local hometown church.  Most of the area surrounding it are single family residences, there's a local school just up the street from it.  Parking is in the rear and the thing that will stand out the most to me is Luff standing out on the lawn looking for me to pull up for our appointment.  But this is not how I came to meet him.

Luff performs services for us at Oakdale Memorial Park.  Over the past 3 years we have become closer and I have continued to have a strong curiosity for the calming and uplifting demeanor of this man.  Obviously as a pastor he is supposed to portray a strength and comforting demeanor but my experience with Pastors has not usually left me with that impression.  Families in grief, families of different faiths, and families of little or much faith all love Luff.  It's for this reason that he was one of the few religious people that I thought of wanting to talk to as I have been going through the difficulties in my life over the past year.  For this reason, now after returning to work for the last four months and struggling with my inner demons I decided it was time to sit down and have a conversation with this man.

Luff is a large figure, a burley man that stands about 6' tall with flowing gray hair that sits like an unruly cotton mop atop his strong featured face.  If it weren't for the ear to ear smile and the hint of love in his eye he might be quite intimidating on first impressions.  But his expression just invites you into his heart and he welcomes you into his life with the extension of his hand.

Walking into Lorraine Baptist Church is like walking into an old friends home.  There are no Cathedralesent ceilings or LCD flat panel TV's.  To the right are the restrooms as you walk in and to the left Reverend Johnson's office.  As you enter the sanctuary you are greeted by two sections of all too familiar wood bench pews on either side.  Each sat about 10 people and there couldn't be more than 12 on each side.  At the front a humble wood pulpit with 3 rows of risers behind it just enough room for the small choir.  The left had familiar frosted glass with some stained glass and up above the pulpit on the upper most wall, my minds eye distinctly remembers a large cross.

Luff Welcoming me into his home led me to a settee on the right hand side of the chapel, obviously set up for bible study.  It was much like a large living room with an older seventies style wrap around floral couch, some mismatched chairs of the similar era and a comforting brick fireplace.  I think it's the first church I've been in with a fireplace.

Luff Listened some and shared some stories a lot but mostly we had a conversation about where I've been and what is happening.  It started off with telling him I didn't know what I had hoped to get out of our conversation, only that I knew that there was some reason I needed to have the conversation with him.  He was appreciative and incredibly humble about the situation, and although he had no quick fix answer for my situation he did take the time to let me know that my feelings and concerns were normal and that this difficult period would pass..  I still don't know what I got out of the conversation other than an even greater respect for a faithful man that delivers his message through his love of people and of life than through dogmatic verse and typical religious canned messages.

To Luff, thank you, thank you.