Good Morning Church! If you don’t like what you are doing make what you are doing enjoyable!

LaVern Vivio
Jul 30, 2017 · 7 min read

That is a small sampling of the philosophical, intellectual and insightful narrative I get while kicked back in the dentist chair.

When I stumbled across Park Plaza Dentistry here in Springfield a few years ago (I had a dental emergency and was blown away by this place!) Dr. Richard Faquin. was running a one man or one dentist show but over the last couple of years Dr. Adam Veitschegger or Dr. V as he is known to his patients and colleagues has joined the ranks.

He is actually responsible for this mornings opening quote.

Lately I have jumped from Dr. Faquin’s chair to Dr. V’s.

Some dentist like Dr. V now do implants and he is prepping me for a couple later this year.

But as I have spent time in his chair I have gotten to know this Renaissance Man a bit better.

Intelligent and insightful — interesting and honest — he studied engineering before dentistry — has served in mission clinics in Guatemala — he is an outdoors man — still a newlywed — and just an all around nice guy.

I find myself wanting to take notes as he works on my teeth and talks about politics, faith or the many hobbies and skills he has developed over the years. And since he spent so much time in the world of academia he has a lot to say about the process we have set aside to train professionals in this country as well.

A few weeks ago he shared a story with me that took place just after he completed his studies for Dentistry.

He had just been awarded his DDS credentials and as he enjoyed a celebratory dinner with his former classmates he said he was struck at the attitude from some of those sitting around the table.

He said the conversations they were having centered around what kind of car they wanted to buy now that they had ‘made it.’

And one of those present had already made a big purchase!

He said, “I don’t get that. As I listened to these guys talk about what they were going to do now that they were finished I wanted to say — we haven’t finished anything — we are just getting started!”

He went on to add this little gem of wisdom; (I made him stop working on me for a moment so I could write it down.) He said, “An education doesn’t teach you to really do anything unless you go to a trade school — and that is what an internship in any profession is — it’s a trade school — but academia doesn’t teach you that — academia doesn’t really teach you to do anything — it teaches you to think — and to realize when you don’t know how to do something or you don’t have the knowledge to do something and how to figure out how to do it.”

I know! Right? Brilliant! And he’s a great dentist too!

But don’t think this newbie has the market cornered when it comes to dental chair wisdom.

The patriarch of Park Plaza Dentistry Dr. Richard Faquin was the first to fascinate me with his chairside banter and extraordinary skills.

You see Dr Faquin grew up in Memphis during The Civil Rights Movement. He vividly remembers there being special days for black citizens to visit the city attractions and the many other restrictions that were placed upon the black population that called Memphis home prior to 1968. (His early life experiences with such blatant racism and cruelty most likely played a role in the many years he spent working with Eastern Shore Rural Health a non profit healthcare provider and was awarded the unsung hero award by the Virginia Healthcare Foundation in 2002.)

Dr. Faquin is pictured here with his reasons for returning to Tennessee; His daughter and granddaughters!

Sitting in his chair is often an eyewitness account into a monumental time in history.

Dr Faquin’s father was actually the judge that succeeded Judge W. Preston Battle — The Judge who presided over the sentencing of James Earl Ray after his confession in the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.

After his sentencing Ray had filed a petition to withdrawal his guilty plea but Judge Battle died of a heart attack just 5 days after the petition was filed and never offered a ruling. Dr Faquin’s father, Judge Arthur C. Faquin Jr denied the petition but Ray continued to challenge the ruling until his death in prison in 1998.

So why did I pick today of all days to tell you about my dentist?

I suppose it has to do with the last couple of weeks of headlines.

News that almost always seems to carry a hidden agenda.

Arguments on social media over everything from healthcare, gender issues to racism.

And none of it feels like truth.

These days it seems I get more truth sitting in the dentist chair than I do from those who promise to keep me informed.

But still how does any off this qualify as a spiritual message for my Sunday sermon post?

Simply this — TRUTH MATTERS — it stands alone — it doesn’t have to be defended — doesn’t have to be argued — truth is just simply the truth.

How easy would it have been for Dr. V to have had the same attitude as some his former classmates and colleagues and forget that his education had really just begun.

And wouldn’t Dr. Faquin’s memories of Memphis from his childhood be so much sweeter if he chose to remember and reminisce only about the good times instead of the ugly truth?

As Christians we should be in constant pursuit of truth — not just in spiritual matters but in anything that could one day threaten our religious liberties.

Many will say there is no chance freedom of faith will ever come under real assault but look around; it already has.

And as I sit in the dentist chair listening to the thoughts of these two men I am reminded that I am not alone.

Even though the headlines and hot trending topics seem to tell a different story — there are still more of us than them — more of us that believe we are still a Christian nation that has been extraordinarily blessed by the GOD we serve.

I wish more of us could be like my dentists and just be honest and bold with one another — set our agendas aside and simply speak truth.

I have written several times about one of my favorite volunteers at our church;

Timothy Martin describes himself as a street minister but with all he does to help so many I often wonder if he is really one of the Angels we are told we entertain unaware.

This past week as we discussed the news of the day Tim quoted James 3:16: For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

He said, “It’s no surprise what we see in this ole world because this world is fallen — we just have to not fall down the well with it.”

“All this yelling back and forth and chaos is just that confusion and strife we were warned about and we were told — we were warned that evil is behind it all.”

He said, “you’d think we would have leaned that by now and stop all this bickering and division.”

Then he quoted Mark 3:25: If a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And he said “That’s another thing you would think we would have learned by now — we have to be united — not just in the church stuff but in the country too.”

He said, “We have to be united on the things that matter — that we can do something about — and get this country back on track.”

As those words were coming out of his mouth I immediately thought about the warnings recorded from history by our founders against the political party system and their predications of how it would destroy us from within.

And I thought of how Christ also warned against division.

And I wondered if we could ever heal the fractures that have been driven so deep within our souls.

Then it occurred to me — maybe the key to finding our unity again is to find a common cause to focus on rather than constantly looking at the conflicts and disagreements we have (that will most likely never be resolved) so many things in this life would be better off if we would just agree to disagree and move on.

But if we could find a banner to unite under — a true cause to fight for — a truth to defend — could we again find ourselves united — under GOD?

In the world of politics — the Convention of States may just be that banner we have been looking for;

But in the world of faith the answer is even easier — it’s been there all along;

The SALVATION — the TRUTH — the blessed name of JESUS.

God Bless!

LaVern Vivio

July 30, 2017

    LaVern Vivio

    Written by

    Christian wife and mother of four boys. Career long Broadcaster, speaker and author. http://lavernvivio.com

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