There is an adage claiming that “hurt people hurt people”. In other words, those who have had pain inflicted upon them, will in turn inflict hurt and pain upon others, usually starting with those nearest to them.
Art Linkletter, who passed away on May 26 at 97 years of age is a classic example of someone who experienced much pain in life.
Gordon Arthur Kelly was born to an unwed mother on July 17, 1912 in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. He was abandoned when he was only a few weeks old. Fulton John Linkletter, an itinerant Baptist minister and his wife Mary adopted him. When he was five years old, they moved to San Diego, California. Art graduated from high school at the age of 16. By that time, he was not very impressed by either the faith or the strong work ethic of his devout evangelical parents, so he left home. For the next few years, he rode the rails to many places and did any odd job he could find. Through an interesting series of events, he became the rich, famous and beloved TV personality that so many of us knew and appreciated.
Art and Lois, (his wife of nearly 75 years) experienced a series of tragedies and outlived three of their five children. First, their son-in-law, the husband of their oldest daughter, committed suicide. In 1969 their youngest daughter, Diane, died at 20 years of age when she jumped from a sixth floor apartment after allegedly suffering from after-effects of using LSD. In 1980, son Robert died in a car accident, and in 2007 another son, Jack, succumbed to lymphoma.
Following Diane’s tragic death, Art went through denial, disbelief and seriously questioned God. However, he did seek the counsel of Pat Robertson and others of the Christian faith and turned to God for help and understanding. He later said that until this tragedy, “I had been a cardboard Christian, just keeping form, but had forgotten my source of power”.
So, “hurt people may hurt people,” but this is not always so. In fact the same sun that hardens the clay also melts the ice; and the hardships and tragedies in life have the propensity to make us either bitter or better. Art Linkletter is a positive example of one who allowed the tragedies of life to make him better. Not only did he turn to God, but he reached out to positively influence others going through similar circumstances and crises.
“God is merciful and always gives us comfort. He comforts us when we are in trouble, so that we can share that same comfort with others…” (2 Corinthians 1:3, 4).
— Pastor Ross Helgeton is senior pastor at Erskine Evangelical Free Church