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Dockery keeps his faith after the tornado
Published February 9, 2008
God bless the Pisgah woman who was killed in Tuesday’s storm that hit the Jackson County area.
And bless God that that wasn’t worse than it was.
No significant damage was reported in our coverage areas of Marshall and south DeKalb counties.
We were all fortunate — many have rightfully said blessed by God — in that regard. More than 50 people died Tuesday in storms and tornadoes from that system that swept the South.
But have you seen photos of the damage incurred in Jackson, Tenn., and particularly at Union University there?
I’m personally touched by the damage there. A dear and longtime friend, David Dockery, is president of Union University.
And while there was severe damage in many towns and cities Tuesday night, the destruction at Union University was particularly bad.
This Baptist-affiliated university has just under 3,400 students, and is routinely listed as one of the best private educational institutional and bargains in the United States.
Dockery, whom I affectionally call Doc since our days together as basketball managers at the University of Alabama in the early 1970s, has been UU’s president since 1996.
At times I call him Dr. Dockery. His Ph.D. is in theology and he is a devout Christian minister. I still have the Bible he gave me more than 35 years ago.
He’s made incredible strides there, growing that school in every measurable way — enrollment, courses of study, professors with advanced degrees, fundraising efforts, endowments, etc.
He should be particularly proud of the growth in the campus itself. Numerous new structures have grown out of the campus due to Doc’s abilities to rally support for the school he loves.
Thus, Doc’s heart must be broken, on one hand. The structures on UU’s campus received over $40 million in damage in Tuesday’s storms.
Incredibly, tornadoes inflicted serious but lesser damages in 2001 and 2002 to his campus.
And yet he still sings God’s praises, as well he should. There have no serious injuries in any of these events.
That is miraculous in the last one. All of Union’s residence halls received major damage, trapping numerous students in the rubble. That no one died was indeed an act of God.
Thursday, Dockery released a statement saying, “I’ve gone through several emotions from the first moment I saw the devastation, to hearing the cries from the students under the rubble, to seeing how in the world are we going to be able to coordinate these efforts Tuesday night, which were just a jumble sort of things,” Dockery said. “Now, nearly 40 hours later, I’m in a state of great hopefulness.
“While this is an incredible tragedy, the opportunities on the other side are quite hopeful. We’re thankful for God’s providence that has helped us through and we’re trusting in God to guide us as we move forward,” he said.
I continue to admire Doc’s faith and leadership skills and, more than anything, his abiding faith in God.
We can all learn a lesson from him, can’t we?
[Ben Shurett is publisher of The Sand Mountain Reporter. His e-mail address is ben.shurett(at)sandmountainreporter.com.]
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