Sam Hays
Sam Hays’ Journey Since ’62: “Trust
the Process!”
1963-7:
Lutheran seminary student; NAACP worker in
1967-76:
Parish pastor in
1976-88:
Pastor in established Michigan church; member of Sanctuary Movement through
Michigan Interchurch Committee on Central American Human Rights; state chair of
Michigan Interchurch Committee on Abortion Rights; discovery of Liberation
Theology; divorced; Sam met clown shaman (Floodlight) who almost died from giardia, recovered; Sam and Floodlight married; merged
family of two daughters each; Sam went back to school for teaching
certification; left full-time ministry.
1988-1998:
Sam, Detroit Public School English teacher; Yeshiva Gedolah
of Greater Detroit English teacher; ESL teacher at Japanese companies; finished
masters in English; discovered one daughter had substance abuse problem; first
grandchild; another daughter graduated from University of Michigan; U of M
daughter discovered ovarian cancer; after extended treatment, recovered;
youngest daughter stood up for Jewish friend by keying Skinhead’s car, some
trouble.
1999-Present: Same daughter moves to Ft. Wayne, marries,
has three children: Sam 1999- 2004 part-time pastor for church of elderly;
part-time instructor along with Floodlight
(Sam -English, Floodlight-Anthropology) at Schoolcraft College; daughter
with substance abuse issue hits bottom, now maybe on the ascent; oldest
daughter going with same man for twenty years, not yet ready for the big “M”;
Sam, cancer surgery, open-heart surgery; Floodlight, emphysema; both work on
International Institute activities at Schoolcraft College. They will LIVE until
they drop!
Key
Wisdom that Shaman Floodlight has taught Sam: “ If we
are going down the drain, we might learn something…. Trust the process!”
[Editor’s note: Sam asks that you
look at the Schoolcraft website:
http://www.schoolcraft.edu/scii/?p=cs]
shays@schoolcraft.edu