Gold Dot society has compassionate members
Mar. 27, 2008

The Society of the Gold Dot picked up some new members Thursday evening.

The Society of the which?

Darrell Brand will tell you all about it. The long-time teacher, coach and administrator - but now retired, sort of - in the Montezuma schools was the special guest on Mar. 27 at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting in the Presbyterian Family Center.

"Gold" is an acronym.

The "G" stands for goals. The "O" stands for oneness. "We have to work together," Brand said.

The "L" is for loyalty. And the "D" is for determination.

Brand has kept himself plenty busy since retiring from the Montezuma Schools. He is an assistant football coach at Central College. He still officiates at many ball games and track meets, and you'll still find him cutting lawns.

Brand had a knee replaced recently, "but the doctor said I'm pretty healthy for my age otherwise."

He said he is thankful for that, and encouraged the students to take care of themselves physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally.

"Make good decisions," he said. "Take care of your body. You only get one."

The dot in Gold Dot was a little cloth dot that Brand had passed out. "Put it on your watch . .or on your cell phone would be good," he said. "Somewhere where you'll see it and be reminded."

Compassion was the second major topic Brand talked about.

He recited a famous saying: "No one cares how much you know until you show how much you care," he said.

"We demonstrate our compassion by modeling," Brand said. "We learned from Jesus, who was a role model. We learned that we can make a difference."

But Brand said it's often an inconvenience to us to show compassion.

"Jesus had a tendency to go after people who were down and out," Brand said. "In Montezuma, we have people like that. But we have an advantage because in a small community we know so many people and we can help when we're needed," he said.

But, there is another problem.

"People today ask, 'what's in it for me?'" he said.

"To me," Brand said, "you win by doing what you're capable of doing. And if you do that, what more could anyone ask?"

"If you have compassion," Brand said, "you go out of the way to help. You ask questions. And you turn victims into victors."

Brand said the joy he felt as a teacher came when, "the light went on for a student - when he or she realized 'ah, that's what you mean.'"

"What can teens do to show compassion?" Brand asked.

The bloodmobile had visited the school the day before and many students had donated.

"That's a good way," Brand said. "Saying 'hi' to people in the morning is good," he said. "Peer mentoring is good. There's a need for small groups. And just a simple hug shows compassion," Brand said.

"Do people see you as compassionate?" Brand asked.

The group closed in prayer, then had some fun when Brand led them in a "Texas hug."

Huddle leader John Bushong introduced Brand, calling him a personal mentor from his school days until now. He said Brand began the Montezuma FCA huddle group in 1979. Bushong is in his seventh year of being the huddle leader.

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