Bill Dow’s Life-Saving Story

by

Practicing Faith

Special to United Methodist Insight | June 19, 2025

I have been telling “vision” and “angel” stories in churches around the state this spring. As a one-shot guest preacher my sermons consist mostly of stories, something I did not do as much of back in the day when I was preaching every Sunday in the same pulpit. 

Still, people in the churches I served would probably tell you that I told a lot of stories. And there is good reason for that. Stories are remembered long after the rest of the sermon is forgotten.

The right story, told at the right time, can make a saving difference. Stories work in our unconscious minds slowly, over time, gradually mixing with our own ideas and memories, healing our spirits as we absorb their truths. Stories help us to know things about ourselves, our relationships with others, the nature of the universe and our creator that we could not discover in any other way. Stories stick. Good stories are transforming, life-saving sometimes.

I heard my good friend, Bill Dow, of Mauston, Wisconsin, tell a personal story in a sermon a few years back that has stuck with me and is still working on my soul. Bill said,

“This cross I wear was crafted by a man who was like a father to me … when I really needed one. He was a shop teacher at our high school back in the day when it was called Industrial Arts. His was the metals shop. He also sang bass in our church choir and when I turned 14, the minimum age for the adult choir, he taught me about the joy of living in the back row. I love him to this day, even though he’s moved on to the heavenly choir.

“To give you an idea of his influence, I enrolled at Illinois Wesleyan University as a business major only to learn that I wasn’t a businessman. The only good thing that happened there was meeting my wife, Ruby. I came home after three semesters, disappointed and clueless. While moping in the back row, Stu suggested I try the University of Wisconsin – Stout. Long story short, I graduated with honors and became – wait for it – a high school metals shop teacher - having never once taken a shop class in high school.

“It happened while I was at Stout. My mother forewarned me. Stu had a mid-life crisis and left his wife, Phyllis, for another woman. When I came home for a weekend and went to church, there he was, sitting in the second row with an attractive woman and her son. He was smiling like a proud peacock, and I was thunderstruck. The whole church was thunderstruck, paralyzed and in shock.

“Just after the announcements, Phyllis came in and sat in the back row all by herself. She didn’t look angry. She looked hurt … deeply hurt. She left during the last hymn. I’ll never forget the look on her face. My mom said it was like that every Sunday.

“And then came the amazing news that somehow, they were back together. There are questions you don’t ask … and answers you don’t need to know.

“‘Phillip says to Jesus, in John’s Gospel, ‘… show us the Father and we will be satisfied.’ When I read that verse, the image of Phyllis sitting in the back row of that church immediately comes to mind as a valid image of how God might appear.

“How is it that we want to encapsulate God into a centralized being like some kind of superhero? Why are we resistant to the gospel theme of indwelling? Maybe it has to do with self-image. Jesus does not take credit for the message or the miracles of his ministry. He credits the Father who dwells within … a matter of believing that the Father is in Him, and Jesus is in the Father. And then Jesus shares with His followers that I am in you, and you are in me.”

Bill then points back the cross his friend made for him as a way of understanding the mystery of God working in us. It is an object lesson that helps bring the story home.

“This cross I wear is made of steel. The two pieces are welded together. The weld itself is stronger than the steel. The ends are heated to a cherry red color and then forged with hammer and anvil to form the flair. And then the whole assembly is heated to a dull red color and bronze coated with a flux that cleans and wets the surface. As the bronze melts, it flows towards the source of the heat which is the torch held by the crafters hand. As the piece is allowed to cool, the bronze solidifies and protects the steel from corrosion.

“This technical description can also be heard as a metaphor for citizenship in heaven. Impurities in the bronze formed by the environment when the bronze is added might point toward the human environment full of character and complexity. No two are alike. Yet the impurities are perfected by what happens on the cross of Jesus when he transitions from Jesus of Nazareth to Jesus the Christ, so the likes of you and me might live with possibility, hope, and influence … giving glory to God.”

Bill Dow of Mauston, WI, is a retired United Methodist licensed local pastor with, as he says, “too many unfinished projects on the table.” He preaches from time to time as a guest worship leader. While no longer flying full-scale private airplanes, he now flies radio controlled model airplanes and has become proficient at gluing them back together.

John Sumwalt is a retired pastor and the author of “Vision Stories: True Accounts of Visions, Angels & Healing Miracles.” johnsumwalt@gmail.com.