Amusing and inspiring stories from the coal mines of Kentucky to miracles in the city.
Roy Harold Cantrell holds a doctorate in Ministry and Philosophy. He is a licensed Pastoral Counselor and is board certified in alcohol and substance abuse therapy as well as in integrated marriage, family and temperament therapy. He and his wife Ina Kaye, pastor City Gate Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They have two children and five grandchildren.
Hope Floats
By Dr. Roy H. Cantrell
Written 6/16/05 at Destin, Florida
Hope is the wind beneath faith's wings
A force that is odorless, tasteless and never seen
Yet it is found in everyone's dreams
Hope and faith both conceived by God
But as different as two entities can be
Hope being what is envisioned And faith what is not seen.
Hope is that inner pull toward heaven
That makes its home on cloud nine
One glimmer of its radiant grandeur
changes circumstances In a moment of time.
Hope is what faith clings to When substance is no where to be seen
Therefore, when faith and hope unite together
The two blend like the fragrance of spring.
Faith is more the anchor Holding its host to the ground Whereas hope is the air in a balloon That lifts it heaven bound.
Faith needs hope and hope needs faith Like two oars on a boat When faith fails or falters Hope floats!
My purpose in writing Scars and Stripes is to raise awareness of the importance of working through one's pains. I have waited for over a half of a century to tell my story. I needed this time to work through the process of making peace with my own painful past so that I can guide others down the path of healing.
I realize there is a danger in looking back to the past. Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14, " ... this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus:'
On the other hand, I believe there is value in seeing your life in retrospect. It can help, and many time force, you to move beyond the bondage and codependency of those past years and bring you to the place where you are able to give God the glory. A glance backward should only be a temporary phase in the process of healing so that you are then able to press onward toward the future.
Years ago I heard a story that has stuck with me through its analogy. There was a little boy with a bad temper who flew off in a rage at the slightest provocation. His father wanted to help him learn the danger of his actions. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him to hammer a nail in the barn every time he lost his temper.
The very first day the boy drove 37 nails into the boards of the barn. With each passing day, the number grew less and less. Finally, the day came when the boy did not lose his temper at all. No nails had to be driven into the barn's walls. He was very excited and ran to tell his father of his progress.
His father instructed him that since he had reached this point, he could now pull the nails out one by one for each day he was able to control his temper. The days passed, and finally the young boy was able to report that the nails were gone.
The father took him by the hand and led him to the barn. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the barn. The barn will never be the same. When you say things in anger, those words leave a scar, just as the nails have in the barn. You can say 'I'm sorry' but the wounds will still be there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one".
As I remember this story, I think of the carpenter who lived 2000 years ago in a little town called Nazareth who could plane the soul smooth, fill up the emotional holes of unmet needs, unhealed hurts and unresolved issues with the cement of His grace, and so paint us with the Crimson Blood of Calvary, that someone meeting us in heaven would never know that we had any scars at all. His name is Jesus.
He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
Praise the Lord!
Roy H. Cantrell,
Ph.D.
What Experts Are Saying
THE POIGNANTLY TRUE STORIES In Scars and Stripes illuminate Dr. Cantrell's childhood experience at the hand of an alcoholic father and lend touching anecdotal evidence to the damage alcoholism can inflict upon families. As a psychologist, I have seen the effects of alcoholism on families and Dr. Cantrell's
stories paint an accurate portrait of the devastation that can occur.
HE WRITES WITH INSIGHT, TENDERNESS, AND GENTLE HUMOR. The reader will be entranced by these endearing tales of a boy's heartache due to his father's alcoholism. Dr. Cantrell also shares powerful stories of his faith in God and how this faith helped him come to terms with the pain he endured as a child. Throughout the book, the reader will be deeply moved and uplifted. This book is a treasure of stories to be read again
and again!
IT GIVES ME GREAT PLEASURE for the opportunity to endorse Scars and Stripes. The true stories are the embodiment of Roy's childhood experiences at the hand of an alcoholic father and a praying mother whose faith in God helped a family survive the scourge of alcoholism. The reader will be amused and amazed at the life-altering stories.
One would almost certainly agree that alcoholism rarely leaves the family without some measure of pain. As a medical doctor of more than 34 years, and having been involved every day with the effects of alcoholism and alcoholism recovery, I can attest first hand to the devastation on families. You really need to read this book if you want to learn how you can survive as an adult child of an alcoholic.
The book has been written with intelligence, insight, wit and humor at times. I think you will scarcely want to put it down once you start reading.
Ira B. Potter, M.D.
DR. CANTRELL'S BOOK SCARS AND STRIPES IS A "MUST" to read. It is encouraging and uplifting. His stories are "Apples of Gold'. We highly recommend this book for our counselors to read for their own personal growth. We also believe that it is an excellent book for counselees to read in order to assist them as they work through the counseling process.
Drs. Richard and Phyllis Arno
Founders of National Christian
Counselors Association Sarasota, Florida
