Whittle Hall in the Winter

by Bruce Nutting

Title

Whittle Hall in the Winter

Artist

Bruce Nutting

Medium

Painting - Digital

Description

This painting of a building represents 6 of the most significant years of my life.

When I was in High School, my junior year, there was a classmate name David who always carried a big black Bible around with him in school. I did not know him but I had some questions I wanted to ask him because my mother was having some people over the house who talked about the Bible.

Well one day someone showed me who David was and I cut a class so I could talk to him during his lunch time. Some of the things he said amazed me. I wondered to myself, how could I be 16 years old and never had heard some of the things David was telling me.

Well I began having more and more questions and I started making the teachers worry about me because I was one of those nerds that never cut a class and I started cutting my classes just to talk to David during his free time.

Well in one of our conversations he invited me to his church. It was a Sunday evening and I liked the music and the preacher. But then all of a sudden I felt like David had betrayed me and told the preacher I was here. Of course, David had not done that. More and more I felt like I understood what the preacher was talking about and I started to feel like I was the only one there, even though the church could seat over 1200.

Well if you have not already guessed it, the preacher had an altar call. He asked if anyone felt like God was talking about them to come forward. I was scared spit-less. I felt like someone had nailed my feet to the floor. Then during the second verse of a famous altar call hymn, I did not know any of this stuff back then, David just said, "Bruce?" and I got up out of my seat and darted to the front of the church. At that time some 12 others did the same thing. Since I never was in a church like this before, I was really surprise when they asked me to go with the others to the prayer room. Well a man named Don and Dave went with me and Don talked to me about my need for a Savior and we prayed. Well I did not actually say anything I was too shy to speak. But I can truly tell you that on that evening in 1969 something, who I now know was God, changed me. The loneliness I felt before hand, being a nerd and not having many friends, just... went away. I was excited about that I was told Jesus did for me and I could not wait to get to school and tell everyone. I don't even remember anybody who rejected what I said and I am sure they just said, "get lost Nutting"! That's what they called me "Nutting" because that is my last name.

Ok so what does all of this have todo with this building? Well the preacher of the church was also the president of a college, which just happened to be in the next town over from where I lived. Well I began going with David to the church on what they call "youth night" and when I got a car I began driving myself. (My mom gave me an 1962 American Rambler for my 17th birthday.) As I progressed into my Senior year in High School it seemed like everyone was saying hello to me. Later I found out they were other Christians in the school who had heard about my conversion experience and my friends started coming to my house and then to my church. I am telling you about my Senior year because that was also the year I got a full scholarship to study computers because of my aptitude in a computer class elective that I had taken. Who would have known how far we would have gone in just 35 years when in High School I was learning on an old telex machine with the long rolls of tape with holes punched in them.

Well I went to the University and took all the usual classes with a few music electives for the fun of it. But it did not take long for me to realize that I was a Christian and I did not know a thing about what a Christian was nor did I know about anything in the Bible. Then day the preacher at the church said, "if you don't know anything about the Bible, there is a Bible College not far from here that I am the president of." Bam, it hit me right in the head. Why not go to the Bible School for a couple of years and then go back to the university and finish up my degree.

Well to make a long but very memorable story short, this building was called Whittle Hall and it was one of the buildings at Dr. Anderson's college. Dr. Anderson was the preacher of the church too. I studied Music and Bible and I stayed more then a couple of years as I am sure you might have guessed. After cramming four years of college into six, :-) I had to work full time and go to school part-time near the end, I got my degree and I spent the next 20 years of my life being a missionary to the country of Spain.

So when I see this painting which I painted from a photograph that one of the alumni had given me, I sit and look at it for a long time because many, many memories are attached to this building.

Blessings,
Bruce

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August 5th, 2013

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