Infinitesimal

| Words and Photography By Ervin Elzie |

Life is full of coincidences, synchronicities and “wow” moments—situations and interactions that catch us off guard, regardless of if they were hoped for or unexpected. The “phenomenons” that result in the rumination of the odds of it all. It’s an interesting speculation that never seems to have an appropriate answer, as it walks the fine line of the possible and impossible. A realm that’s all too familiar for Rick Hagans, an Auburn and Opelika native from Society Hill, Alabama. 

Rick Hagans, 61 years old, is a multi-faceted man. He’s a teacher, the pastor of Harvest Evangelism and a social worker who is known for taking the initiative when faced with moments of adversity. And through his work he’s made a positive impact on many people's lives, including the man that described their encounter as infinitesimal. The man was on his way to take his own life, a decision conjured by an underlying cause that he believed was noble until he came across Rick and his son, Winchester. It was during their trek across New England when Rick and his son crossed paths with him. Curious about Rick’s journey, he inquired and decided to help them by offering a ride to the nearest town. Most of the conversation transpired during their trip, a 25-mile and 30-minute ride from where they were. It was enough time for the two to learn the man was a preacher on a mission, one that involved him taking his own life. The man felt responsible for his friend’s suicide and was driven by guilt but soon learned Rick was a pastor and someone that could relate to his pain, as he lost a close friend to suicide as well—Rick’s roomate from bible school. 

“I said ‘What's the odds that you'd pick up a preacher?’" Rick remembered. “He said, ‘Infinitesimal.’ I don't hear that word a lot, so I remember. And so we just talked. ‘Please don't kill yourself. It's not-’, I said, ‘I promise, it's not your fault.’”'Bout time he took us back, it was about 30 minutes to drive 25 miles. And I said, ‘You gonna kill yourself?"’ and he said, "’No, there's something to this.’”

What started out as a coincidence ended as a miracle. The decisions Rick made, forged by his own experiences, made a huge impact on the preacher’s life that day. This story emphasizes the sonder of it all—the realization that everyone has a life as complex as one's own. The series of events and experiences in our lives that serve as the foundation of our character—or “our story”, as Rick would say.

Story Telling

Storytelling is a ritual with a history that spans across multiple cultures and is expressed through mediums such as oral narrative, art and dance. It is often used as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and to instill moral values. Through fables, legends, folktales and stories that inspire our imagination, we gain the understanding and meaning of human existence through remembrance and enactment. History would cease to exist without the stories that comprise it, as it gives us our collective sense of identity and belonging.

“I like sharing the stories one-on-one,” Rick said. “My family's culture, Irish and American Indian. The culture of storytellers. I said, ‘Really, when it comes right down to it, I'm a storyteller.’ That's what Jesus was, only all his stories are true. But I love sharing that and then I encourage other people. Share your story, don't let it get away. So I love them young people because you're the future. Trap these stories while you can.”

“Through fables, legends, folktales and stories that inspire our imagination, we gain the understanding and meaning of human existence through remembrance and enactment.”

Rick has an openness to the world alongside his initiative to lend a hand. He’s humble and aware that he is human, yet never discouraged when it comes to making a positive change. It’s a consistent theme within his stories, a reminder that refocuses the perspective of human interaction from the image of perfection to a view that’s aligned with the humanity of who we are as people. That said, the odds of the profound opportunities presented to Rick and the decisions that led to them were infinitesimal. The only difference was that the odds relied not on the act of waiting but the act of doing. Being the “change” that you'd want to see, regardless of whether that “change” is big or small. Leaving a lasting impression and story that'll stand the test of time.

Society Hill

One day in Society Hill, a nine-year-old boy decided to make the executive decision to pack up and leave for the big city known as New York. With a bag packed with grits, a frying pan, bible and clean underwear, he walked 13 miles from Society Hill to the neighboring town of Opelika. He left no trace of his absence other than the note that read "Hey, I'll be in touch with ya. I'm going to New York City to preach to the world,” on the window used for his escape. 

Unfortunately, he was later caught by the chief of police, a family friend, as he was attempting to hop a freight train with “God's called me to preach” being his only explanation. A mission inspired by the call of god and the stories he heard of preachers going into the world. Rick would become one of those stories himself 35 years later, preaching to more than 8,000 people on the platform of the biggest church in New York City right on Broadway. With a talkative nature at his core, this was just one of the many elements that shaped who Rick has become. The things that resonated with the child known for being in constant trouble later developed into wanting to help people get out of trouble.

“When other kids would bring home puppies, I would bring home homeless people,” Rick said. “I would just roam Auburn and Opelika on my bicycle when I was a kid, or walking around, and if I found somebody hungry, I'd bring them home and my mom would cook something for them. We didn't have much, but there was always enough to go around.”

It’s as if the seed of helping others was planted and nurtured within Rick at a young age, which later grew into a wonderful garden of good—moments shared with those that dared cross his path. These moments included saving a man from freezing to death in Alaska, receiving the opportunity to carry the Olympic torch barefoot through Montgomery in 1996, feeding thousands who were without a family or food during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, founding the safe space known as Harvest Evangelism, converting a trash dump into the orphanage known as the House of Love and Mercy and conjuring the decision to walk across all 50 states within the U.S.

Forrest Gump

The decision sprouted from an idea he had three decades ago while passing out toys in Reynosa, Mexico. A little boy approached him with a yellow Tonka truck and a simple request that involved exchanging the boy’s truck for a pair of shoes as they were both standing in a garbage dump full of broken glass bottles and rusty tins. This situation allowed Rick to see the bigger picture. He asked himself, “How many kids would give up toys for shoes at Christmas?”

Unfortunately, he was at the right place but at the wrong time, as it was the last day of their outreach. He didn’t have shoes nor money to give the little boy and his community, but he did give him his word. 

“I told him ‘I don't have any shoes to give you,’” Rick remembered. “It was the last day of our outreach, I didn't have any money to give him the boy either, but I said I'll give you my word. And so, I'll tell people ‘How far would you go to keep your word?’”

That said, he took it upon himself to save money from his paychecks as a teacher. Fortunately, he reached his big break later that year during his service in Birmingham, Alabama, when he asked the members if they'd donate a shoe for each mile he walked across the state—east to west. He was able to up the ante from one to 10 shoes per mile if he were to do the journey barefoot in dedication to his “little buddy” in Reynosa, Mexico. The first year, on July the fourth, he began his journey with the goal of 300 pairs of shoes. From Phoenix City to the Chattanooga River, he walked barefooted. Greeted by the press, CNN and ESPN, he was able to complete the trip, raising 60,000 shoes total. With an 18-wheeler full of shoes, it was enough for the community of Reynosa as well as the organizations that were helping the communities of southern Mexico. The next year he began his second journey from north to south Alabama, moving on to Georgia the following year. The journey of walking across states became more of an addiction, to the point he began his newfound reputation as “The Walking Preacher, the Forest Gump of the church.”

“Now I’ve walked across 40 states,” Rick said. “Little bitty states like Rhode Island and great big states like Texas and Alaska. And I always raise shoes, always hitch hike every day so I love meeting people outside of the church. And I've got 10 states left to finish, and the best I can tell nobody ever walked all 50 states in America. I’ll be the first person to walk all 50 states, and I pray the Lord will help me.”