Chemistry was a bear, but the professor a blessing

Published: Saturday, March 14, 2015 at 10:37 PM.

When people want to get away from the daily grind, the old routine, workaday world, they tend to have a place they can go to escape. A place where they are just plain happy to be. For me, that place is Belmont Abbey. I began my relationship with Belmont Abbey in the fall of 1984 when I enrolled as a freshman. Upon my arrival, I really had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. What I knew mostly was, I didnt want to go to college. But the Old Man said I was going and, as he could whip me pretty soundly in those days, I went. Id considered only two choices for colleges UNCC and Belmont Abbey. I chose Belmont Abbey because it was the closest college to my front door. With such stellar forethought to my educational career, I had no idea what to choose for a major. I was an emergency medical technician at the time, so I figured, what the heck. I was already doctoring people in the back of an ambulance, so Id just major in pre-med. There was just one problem though. I couldnt do math then. So when I had to take Algebra I, Trigonometry I and Calculus I all at the same time, I suddenly found myself running smack into the wall. That coupled with the fact I had to take Chemistry I. I had briefly looked forward to taking it because Id had a pretty awesome chemistry set when I was a kid and could make a variety of mixtures, all of which could blow a stump slap up out of the ground. But to my horror, this type of chemistry class only produced explosions on my report card because it had more math in it than the other three classes combined! So like the Titanic, I hit that iceberg head on and began sinking hard by the bow. And even worse than that, I was informed that the next year, Id have to take Chemistry II, the very thought of which turned me white with fear. That classroom was next to ours and Id walked by it every day that semester and had seen what went on in there. The professor, Father Arthur Pendleton, O.S.B., was the Bear Bryant and Knute Rockne of chemistry professors combined. He was TOUGH. Id peep in that room every day in horror as I gazed upon my fellow students feverishly sweating over their test tubes while Father Arthur whirled around the room like whirling dervish on acid. The counsel I received from those poor students went something like this: You think you have it hard now, wait till you get in there with him! The bad news is, I didnt make it through Chemistry I. I was walking out with my professor the last day before spring break in 1985 when he engaged me in conversation and offered me a great gift. He said, Mr. Melton, if youll withdraw from my class, Ill indicate you were passing when you did. The truth, of course, is I was not. So I took his gift and ran like a rabbit. The good news is, ultimately I got to know Father Arthur outside of the classroom and was amazed to find this this terror of the laboratory is actually one of the finest and most congenial men of God Ive ever met. Father Arthur has one of those wonderful sunny dispositions that is so bright and shiny that when you visit with him even on the coldest of days, you walk away warmed and happy for having been in his glowing presence. And at 85, Father Arthur has a boyish twinkle in his eye and a smile and beaming countenance that can light up any room and anyone he happens to meet. This past week, I bumped into him after Mass and Father Arthur once again displayed his trademark enthusiasm as he explained how to handle becoming distracted in church. He said all you have to do is think about the wonderful miracle of Christs actual presence. A simple concept he explained with a zeal that allowed me to experience this very miracle even during our conversation. I may have escaped Father Arthurs classroom, but Ive been blessed with his friendship. My sentiments toward him and all the monks at Belmont Abbey are best expressed by St. Paul in the opening of his letter to Philemon, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. W.S. Bill Melton Jr. is a Southern writer, humorist and good ol boy. You can contact him at wsmelton@wsmelton.com or 704-616-3931.

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Chemistry was a bear, but the professor a blessing