Rotary Club Speech

by Larrywomack.com

May 18, 1995

Pulaski Tennessee Rotary Club Speech 

Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today.  I’m aware of the great work that you, of the Pulaski, Tennessee, Rotary Club perform for this community.  It is an honor to be here.

For the past several years, I’ve gone about the countryside telling folks about an encounter I had many years ago.  I was fortunate to be there when the decision was announced to create people.

Every time I recount the experience, it feels strange.  Strange to have been there and to be here today telling about it.  When I say I was there, I don’t mean like some Shirley McLaine-ish reincarnation, I mean I was there—me, Larry Womack.

Let me start by saying that He wasn’t as old as most religionists paint Him—literally and figuratively.  He looked a lot like a doctor, ego and all, but with a pleasing manner.  He was very articulate and His words were well chosen; simple word that even I, in my naiveté’ and ignorance of the subject, could understand.  He was tall, but He was sitting down the whole time.

Just about every time I’m telling what I saw and heard, some woman will ask me, “What was He wearing?”

Though my mind was more on what He was saying, my recollection is that He was dressed like Orson Wells dressed in that modern version of Hamlet that played on Broadway many years ago.  The same way all those Baldwin boys, who are movie actors dress—sort of a more conservative version of what rappers wear:  blousy grayish-black shirt and black baggy double pleated slacks.  The slacks, however, were at the waist and belted.  About the only thing that most guess right about his appearance were the Birkenstocks.  In fact the sandals were the only thing about him I didn’t like, but that’s another story.

I don’t remember how I got there.  I was just there.  We, being five or six in number, were sitting in a room without decoration, but it didn’t seem bleak or bare. It actually had a cheeriness to it.  We were sitting in wooden folding chairs that were scattered about.  His chair was the same.

I didn’t know the others.  We weren’t speaking, but we had pleasant looks on our faces and made casual eye contact with one another without shyness or embarrassment.

He’d occasionally look at his watch, as if He was expecting someone. No one else showed up.  He started with, “I guess we can go ahead and get started.”  We all turned our chairs toward Him, shuffling and making scraping noises on the concrete floor.  I think we were in a basement.  The room was cool with a sweet musty fragrance.

“I want to thank you all for being here,” He said in a forceful, yet pleasant voice.  “This is a special day for me.  I’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking about what I want to do.  I came to the conclusion several days ago that I was going to create a world of people.  But it’s taken me up to now to get a picture in my mind of just how I wanted to do it and what it might look like.  Once I finish giving you an overview, you will be free to ask questions—questions to clarify your understanding, not about the wisdom of my actions.  I guess you could call ‘em ‘why’ questions, instead of ‘what’ questions.  I won’t be able to answer all your ‘why’ questions because I haven’t been at this long enough to know all the whys myself.  Sometimes my answer may just be ‘why not?’

“People need people.  I don’t mean that in a lyrical sense.  Interaction is essential to life at any level.  Without interaction there is no life.  You may ask, ‘Is there life after interaction?’

“Yes, there is.  Before one can live without interaction, however, one has to have experienced it. So my first act of creation is going to be people.  In fact, my only act of creation is going to be people.”

I think a lot of you here today are surprised to find out that He didn’t create all the other stuff like mountains, trees, snail darters, and dinosaurs.  During the question-and-answer period, He told us that those other things just happened.  He said the same for floods, tornadoes, and other pestilences.  They just happen.

“Damn!” He said, reacting to a question from one of the group. “As much as I like people, you think I’d let that bad stuff happen if I had some control over it?  What kind of guy do you think I am?”

Maybe this is a good time to clear up that gender thing.  He is a man-like figure.  He didn’t look unisex or homosexual.  He wasn’t wearing earrings or anything like that.  He was a guy, a regular guy with a guy-type ego and guy-like confidence.  Your mamma would like Him; your sister, your brother, your aunt, even your dad and your uncle would be comfortable around him.

If he played on the softball team, he’d probably play first base, not a hotshot third baseman or shortstop, or the pitcher or the catcher, but first base.  He’d probably bat fifth.  This would be a men’s team, not one of those “let’s have three girls on each team as a handicap” leagues.

One of those at the meeting asked him how many people he was going to create.  He said it was a good question, which appeared to me as a cop-out because he really hadn’t decided yet just how many people he wanted to make.  Even in the vagueness of his answer, it seemed to me he hadn’t planned to make more than several dozen.  Time has obviously proven my interpretation to be wrong.

“People,” he explained, “need to be useful.  In order to be useful, it is important that little people be dependent on big people.  So when the little people get to be big people, they’ll know how to grow the next batch of little people and so on.”

I wish I had been able to take notes.  It’s tough to separate what I learned in that room and what I’ve picked up since then.  But I’m positive about His plan to make people and how important he felt interaction was to the continuity of his creation.  The only time he seemed to get a little testy was when I asked him why he was doing this.

He paused, looked at me very sternly, and said, “Why not?”  Everyone else snickered at my embarrassment.

A young woman of what later appeared to me to be Eastern descent (sort of like that female war correspondent on CNN) wanted to know if our presence was of any particular importance to the process.  He said that it wouldn’t be much fun to create something if no one knew about it in advance.  Our being there was not so much to be able to give Him His due as to ensure His enjoyment of the creation process.

“It’s not like I’m some sort of deity or something,” He said.  “It’s just that this is something I want to do and I happen to have the resources to do it.  Let’s don’t make a big thing out of this.  Once it’s done it’s done.  I want everyone to go on about his or her business just like I’m not even there.  I’m not looking for temples, ceremonies, and expositions.  I want fun and games!  I want everyone to have a good time.  If they get that interaction part right, it will work.”

It’s hard for me to say how long it’s been since I attended that meeting.  In some ways it seems like only yesterday.  In other ways, like millennia.  Every time I talk about this, someone usually asks, “What about Jesus?”

As far as I know (remember I spent only about forty-five minutes in that room), Jesus wasn’t a part of it . . . at that time.  Later, maybe there was another meeting where I wasn’t invited; one where He told everybody He was going to create Jesus.  I just don’t know.  My opinion, however, from what I’ve read and heard about Jesus, is that Jesus did a great job on the interaction part of the plan.  I believe we could all learn a lot from Jesus.

Another question I’m usually asked about my experience is about the bible, or THE HOLY BIBLE as many refer to it.  He didn’t mention a bible.  Again, maybe he didn’t have time or hadn’t thought of documenting the progress of his creation at that time.  I do know, however, that when I was in that room, what He said made sense and was as clear as a crystal bell; no parable; no ambiguity; or metaphorical pontifications.  It was basically that “I’m going to make some people who, if they interact with one another, will have a good time.”  There was no conversation about “the bosom of Abraham,” Lot’s wife, a big flood, Jesus, or “being washed in the blood of the lamb.”  It was all pretty much straightforward with a few question and answers.  All those other trappings came later, allegedly to clear things up.

We’ve got about ten minutes left and if you’d like, I’ll try to answer any questions you might have.  Yes sir, what’s your question?

“Did He say anything about angels?”

“No.  But personally I like the idea of angels or beings you can go to for favors, as I call them.   Having met Him, I would never ask Him for a favor because favors are not what He does.  He creates or created people and figured out that if people would interact they’d have a good time.  Lord only knows, that’s enough to expect from anyone.  To go and ask for a personal favor seems somewhat ungrateful to me.

Since I’ve never seen or heard an angel, I’m much more comfortable asking one for favors because it’s hard to tell whether or not an angel grants the favor.  I think the mystery of not knowing why something did or didn’t happen the way I wanted it to is part of the fun He was talking about.  If you went around talking to yourself about these things, other people would think you were crazy.  If you converse with angels, however, that’s considered a sane thing to do.  Your question, sir?

“What about using musical instruments in church?”

Well, to tell you the truth, He didn’t mention church.  He did say He didn’t want temples, ceremonies, and expositions.  It would seem to me that He was not interested in setting up some kind of deification for Himself, but He didn’t say you couldn’t celebrate life any way you want to.  If church, with or without instrumental music, brings you joy, I doubt if He’d be against it, as long as it wasn’t designed as some kind of butt-kissing endeavor. Personally, church to me was always a great place to interact.  It’s just I could never find many people at any one church, who were there for the same reasons I was.  Another question?

“What do you think is going to happen next?”

I’m going to get back in my car and drive to Nashville.  It will take me about an hour.  When I get home, I’ll make a few calls and make some entries in my journal.  Then I’ll , find someone with whom to play tennis, play tennis, go back home, read the paper and have a glass of wine with my wife.  I’ll watch TV while she fixes supper, eat supper, read some chapters in a book, and go to bed.  Then, according to the mood of the moment, go to sleep or interact with another human being, like I was told you’re supposed to do in that meeting long ago.  Thank you for allowing me to speak to you today.    (Light Applause)