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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 1960)
GOD IS AT HOWIE IN OUR HOUSE The popular television personality about "the realest member of his fa 3y BUD COLLYfER as fold to ji CoWf Between emceeing the popular television shows, "Beat the Clock" and "To Tell the Truth" Clayton "Bud" Collyer finds time to act as superintendent o Sunday school at the First Presbyterian ChurSh in Greenwich, Conn. Bud started out to be an at torney, but the acting success of his sister, June Collyer, and his mother, Caroline Collyer, drew him into the entertainment world. This year Re celebrates his 50th birthday and his silrer jubfee in show business. From the time our children were very satdSL, they knew that there was Someody Else ita tnr family. They couldn't see Him. They couldn't tarn His hand. They learned early that when tfaey sjutfte to Him. He had His own ways of answering. But as they grew older, we helped fham nat&at stand that His answers brought them tfntenbwent. Knowing that He was genuinely iMtwestefl in aS they did quickened their own iwfcerests. ?ir warmth of having Him near gave tbem strOngfik. To help our children enjoy a riear ftitfS df ligion than you get by taking God r fhe SaAjtetft only and bottling Him up for the rest tff Sie wesk. we talked naturally with them about (heir Maker till He became part of everythirtg fcej thought, said, did, and ate not one day a wejuft Rut seven. Soon God became as familiar and welcome at our house as anybody's "Uncle Joe." 'ffrffrout dis respect, the children felt they CL-oaM fcnus Sua flreu prafaioms or just let Hn knew how things were gomg fceeaase they liked Him. Talking with God was the form that prayer took art rtwr Coilyers. We never asked a child, "Did you say your prayers?" We always said, "Did you talk to God?" We never heard their prayers, either. Instead, we a& talked to God together. f this day, sih- children and Pat, Cynthia, and Micbeei are now pretty much grown-up think of God as "the reatest" member of our family, who ought to be in en everything, and is. For them, re ttgnn has become the fresh and healthy way of life that real religion should be. The.re is only one way to make God a member of your family. You have to ask Him in. In my esse it took no special effort to ask God in because teng before I had a family, my feelings absut God wore intensely personal. He was never . just a name to me, a remote power beyond the stars-. Ha was real-, near at hand, part of my daily H& -the biggest part Or so I thought, with the ooag oeHfidenee of youth, till in His own way God sfeowBSl m trow much He cared, 1 was 17 years old at the time, a high-school seahrr about to take a final history examination that ras vital to my getting into college. As I put my books m my locker, I asked God to help me m to pass fhe examination but just to keep my 4ts about me. not to panic. He must have heard ma, t drought bitterly when I saw the questions. Bud bos taught all his children, Cynthia (left), Pat, and Michael, to make God a daily companion. for while I could answer the first two, I didn't know beans about the last four- but I didn't panic At the end of the halfway period, still stumped, i decided to go back and at least polish the two answers I knew. As I worked to improve the sec ' end one, I suddenly saw a clue to the third. Then, with an eerie feeling, I found in the third a clue to the fourth, and so on down the line. Afterward a classmate remarked what a tough examination it was and asked how I had fared. With a shaky laugh, I started to say, "Well, by a lucky hunch . . ." Then it hit me. As soon as I found privacy, I went down on my knees. "I'm sorry, God," I told Him. "What else can I say? You gave me the help I asked for. You spoke to me in Your own way. And just because You didn't do it with angels or in a burning bush, but instead worked through my own mind, I almost failed to see it." With his help. I have not failed since. In 25 years of show business, I have talked inti mately with God in my dressing room every time I went on to play "Superman" or to emcee quiz programs like "Beat the Clock" and "To Tell the Truth." I have confided to Him my hopes for the show, and He, in turn, has not failed me. I might add that I never leave the studio without making rt a point to thank Him sincerely on my knees. My wife Marian and I share the view that God has His place in business, too, so we take Him with us to contract negotiations and such. We feel that He not only knows more about everything, but His kind and loving Fatherhood of us all helps do away with friction. Do I ever have doubts? Thanks to the God who is always "at home" in our house, I can honestly say, "Never." Nor has Marian. Jfor have the chil dren. We believe with all our hearts that the fam ily which approaches God in the way I've been talking about as a family insures itself against doubts and fears. Let me sum up: 1. If you make God a very real member of your family by inviting Him in daily, 2. If you make Him part of every single thing you do during every waking hour, 3. If in your prayers you talk to God as if He were right there with you (for He is), 4. If in every situation you apply God's opinion before your own by asking Him what He wants you to do yon can't lose. You will find that your whole life will be differ ent Everything you do will be more meaningful. Your joys will be more thrilling, your fun keener. Your contentment will last Your grief will be easier to bear. Don't take my word for it See Matthew 6:33: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you." COVER.: The lovely and talented Bartfea?' t&ttts oStf the focal point for Ernest Gcng's lwt& photo. Ann and Mary of Lebanon. Fa., &afg! taken to the ice as naturally ducks to water. Read "Ttoins with Talent" (page 8). IEONARO S. DAVIDOW' Wfrt and PkUMrr WALTER' C DREYFUS Via President TATRICK E OtOURKE AdrrrtUi,, Director Send oil advertising communications to fcimtj Weekly. IS N. Michigan Avo Chicago 1, Ilk Address alt communications about editorial features to EStjiiJ Weekly. 60 E. 56th St.. Mow York 22, M. V. . S I960; FAMILY WEEKLY MAGAZINE, INC, 153 N. December , i960 Hoard of Editors I ERNEST V. HEYN Edilor-m-TAir BEN KARTMAN ExrrMire Editor ROBERT HTZGIBBON Managua Editor MARGARET BELL Fratnrr Editor PHILLIP OYKSTRA Art Director MELANIE DE PROFT Food I ditor jJjbOHscoll. John Hochmonn. Jerry Klein. Harold London, ""or M,ll. Jack Ryan; Peer Oppeaheirner. Hollywood. Michigan A,.., Chicago I. 111. All rights reserved.
