Amazing Grace

From the Archives: Winter 2011

Written by Carl Clawson

I grew up in Greenville, S.C. where my father was Director of Planning and Construction at Furman University. From the Furman campus where I spent my summers working on building and grounds, the mountains of the Blue Ridge were clearly visible. I always looked forward to being in the mountains where I could hunt, fish and hike.

Wild Man Searching for Purpose

After graduation from high school, I attended the University of Georgia. It was during my years at Georgia that I first came to Banner Elk. My first ski trip to Beech Mountain led to a job there in 1968. Shortly thereafter I heard about Sugar Mountain.

Sugar had not yet opened for their first season, but I stopped by their office, introduced myself and was offered a job. For the next two ski seasons, I worked at Sugar along with some buddies from UGA. These were exciting times and I was living by my nickname, “Wild Man.” Somehow I managed to graduate from college but had no idea what to do next.

The sixties had been turbulent and my philosophy was to try anything once and if it felt good, try it again. By trying to fill up my life with the next best thing to come along did not leave me fulfilled. I knew there was something missing, but I had no idea what that was.

After spending some time in Colorado, I returned to Greenville, SC without much to do. Many of my old buddies had gotten married or moved away and I began spending time with my younger brother and some of his friends. They were involved with Young Life, a Christian ministry geared towards high school kids. It didn’t take me long to realize a profound difference in the way they were living their life and the way I had been living mine.

Clear Vision, New Path

Late one night my brother asked me what I thought about Jesus Christ. The best answer I could come up with was that he was a “good man” which provoked laughter from my brother and led to a knock-down, drag-out argument over the Bible. I had never read the Bible but was convinced it was a bunch of fairy tales that no one with any sense believed.

My arguments against faith seemed far more substantial that his for it. After all, I was the older brother.

But suddenly something happened.

While continuing to belittle my brother, the Lord appeared to me in a vision and showed me the direction my life was going. I was at the beach and, as I walked out into the ocean, the water got deeper and deeper until I was up to my neck. At this point, the Lord, who stood by the shore, spoke to me and said “You can continue as you are going or you can turn around and come to me.” It was years later that I read Psalm 69:1, “Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.”

My decision was immediate. I came to the Lord. However, I did not let on to my brother what was happening to me and we continued to argue into the night. Finally my brother said “Why don’t you give the Lord a try?” Still trying to play it cool, I responded by saying, “I’ll try anything once.”

That night I asked Jesus to be my Savior and Lord.

Today I live in the mountains I’ve always loved with my wife, Susan, and her parents who live across the street from us. I have two married daughters—Annie and her husband, Jessup, who work in Boone with Wine to Water, and Jill and her husband, Craig. Jill works with Young Life of the High Country and Craig is the Athletic Director at Lees McRae College. They have my only grandson, Elijah, who is just like me.

I have been blessed to be a pastor of the Banner Elk Christian Fellowship for the past 30 plus years. As the psalmist says, “You have made known the path of life; You fill me with joy in Your presence and with eternal pleasure at your right hand.” (Psalm 16:11) Give the Lord a try... indeed!