Bringing Joy to Others
A fellow by the name of Ronnie Hammond passed away last week. He was 60 years of age.
The name Ronnie Hammond may not be familiar to many of us, but the band in which he performed certainly should be familiar to those who are around my age and a few years older and younger. Ronnie Hammond was the lead singer of the southern rock band the Atlanta Rhythm Section.
As a teen-ager growing up in Georgia during the mid and late seventies the Atlanta Rhythm Section was a part of the background music of my life. I remember going to see them in concert once at the Macon Coliseum. They were a part of a show with the Charlie Daniels Band. I remember that on this occasion all seating was General Admission there were no chairs placed on the floor of the Coliseum.
That was fine. My companion and I found a couple of good seats in the stands near the stage. What wasn’t fine was the crowd on the floor of the Coliseum decided that it would be great fun to shoot bottle rockets off in the Coliseum and direct them at the people sitting in the stands. It’s rather hard to enjoy the Atlanta Rhythm Section and Charlie Daniels and duck bottle rockets at the same time.
Yet, on this night I was able to overcome that and did enjoy the show. Ronnie Hammond put on a great show for the crowd in his home town. Yes, even though the band was called the Atlanta Rhythm Section its lead singer was from Macon.
In fact, Ronnie Hammond grew up just a couple of blocks down the street from me in the same Macon neighborhood.
Ronnie was about ten years older than I so he and I were never best friends or anything like that but our families were friends and we attended the same church. In fact, I am quite certain my mother taught Ronnie in Sunday School for a couple of years.
Ronnie had a brother who coached high school football. He and I stood on opposite sidelines a few times when I was in the field of coaching and education. Ronnie’s mother and my mother both lived in the same retirement home in their later years.
Ronnie loved to sing and was a very giving caring person. His later years had some rough spots to be sure. Fame can sometimes be a fleeting thing and when it leaves it often leaves the once famous struggling to find their place in the world.
Yet, that is not what I will remember about Ronnie. What I will remember was the joy he brought to many through his music. I will remember the joy that he had when he was performing for a crowd. Whenever, I hear the song “Doraville,” or “Love is Kinda Crazy,” I will remember one who gave his best for the enjoyment of others. When I think of Ronnie I will remember the good times of my youth and the music that resonated with those good times.
The Bible describes heaven in many ways. I just have a wonderful vision of heaven for Ronnie. I see him playing to a full house with the Good Lord tapping his foot along with the band. Perhaps Ronnie described his own vision of heaven when he sang:
Lovin’ the life were livin’
Playin’ that Georgia rhythm.
Nothin’ else ever made me feel this fine.
Ronnie’s music certainly made many feel fine. Whatever our thoughts about an afterlife might be there is one thing that is certain. Ronnie will live on through the music that he wrote, the albums he recorded and the performances that he gave.
When I reflect on that fact it leads me to ask an important question of myself. What am I doing in this life that will live on after I have departed this earth? How many lives am I touching? What am I doing that will cause me to be remembered? Will the memories that I leave behind cause folks to smile?
I offer these are questions that we all should ask of ourselves. We are only given one chance at life and we are called to make the most of it.
So it is today I remember a singer who brought joy to my life and the lives of others. He did it doing what he loved doing. For one to be able to say that they brought joy to others doing what they loved means they have experienced one of life’s greatest blessings.