Parson to Person
#8 - An ongoing 'imaginative/non-fictional' series.
My conversation with the Dukes continued for quite a while. We moved point by point through the email that they had sent me. It occurred to me that in speaking to Robin I listened more and offered less in the way of answers. Yet with the Dukes answers seemed to come very easily and clearly to me. I was pretty happy with the answers I gave them, but I was sure that they weren’t satisfied.
A letter that arrived a few days later addressed to the Board of Elders confirmed my suspicions. It began, “We regret to inform you that we will be leaving Covenant”. Included in the letter were their concerns – everything that we had spoken about – in bullet points. I had to laugh as I read, “the Pastor evidently believes that it’s okay to use sexually suggestive language to make the Word of God culturally relevant”. How they twisted that out of our conversation I’ll never know.
Sunday came and the Dukes did not come to church.
Quite a pleasant surprise, Robin did. She looked uncomfortable as she arrived, but recognizing a number of folks that were customers at the diner she appeared to relax. When Sarah and our girls arrived they asked her to sit with our family. Our youngest Abby pretty much attached herself to Robin. After all, Robin is the lady who gets the cook to sneak a few chocolate chips into her pancakes at the diner.
I found myself taking in the entire service through Robin’s eyes and ears. As our song leader spoke of God’s sovereignty, I wondered if Robin understood. As he introduced a song as having come from Psalm 25, I wondered if she knew what a Psalm was. During the prayer time I wondered if she was uncomfortable. And when it was time for my sermon I found myself thinking through my words as I spoke them, as I hadn’t ever done before. I pretty much decided, as the service drew to a close, that Robin would have been bored, confused and desiring to run for the parking lot the moment I said ‘Amen’.
Again, to my surprise, nothing like that happened. I noticed Robin talking to many people. I overheard – let me be honest, I eavesdropped to hear – her talking with Sarah about how much she liked the music and how different the experience of hearing so many people sing was for her. Staying for coffee and sharing, she was one of the last to leave.
“Brian, this was a wonderful experience for me. It was not at all what I expected. There are a couple of questions that I have about the service. Do you suppose I can drop you an email or something?”
“Sure”, I replied. “Or perhaps we can chat at the diner.”
“I’ll send you an email”, she concluded.
My conversation with the Dukes continued for quite a while. We moved point by point through the email that they had sent me. It occurred to me that in speaking to Robin I listened more and offered less in the way of answers. Yet with the Dukes answers seemed to come very easily and clearly to me. I was pretty happy with the answers I gave them, but I was sure that they weren’t satisfied.
A letter that arrived a few days later addressed to the Board of Elders confirmed my suspicions. It began, “We regret to inform you that we will be leaving Covenant”. Included in the letter were their concerns – everything that we had spoken about – in bullet points. I had to laugh as I read, “the Pastor evidently believes that it’s okay to use sexually suggestive language to make the Word of God culturally relevant”. How they twisted that out of our conversation I’ll never know.
Sunday came and the Dukes did not come to church.
Quite a pleasant surprise, Robin did. She looked uncomfortable as she arrived, but recognizing a number of folks that were customers at the diner she appeared to relax. When Sarah and our girls arrived they asked her to sit with our family. Our youngest Abby pretty much attached herself to Robin. After all, Robin is the lady who gets the cook to sneak a few chocolate chips into her pancakes at the diner.
I found myself taking in the entire service through Robin’s eyes and ears. As our song leader spoke of God’s sovereignty, I wondered if Robin understood. As he introduced a song as having come from Psalm 25, I wondered if she knew what a Psalm was. During the prayer time I wondered if she was uncomfortable. And when it was time for my sermon I found myself thinking through my words as I spoke them, as I hadn’t ever done before. I pretty much decided, as the service drew to a close, that Robin would have been bored, confused and desiring to run for the parking lot the moment I said ‘Amen’.
Again, to my surprise, nothing like that happened. I noticed Robin talking to many people. I overheard – let me be honest, I eavesdropped to hear – her talking with Sarah about how much she liked the music and how different the experience of hearing so many people sing was for her. Staying for coffee and sharing, she was one of the last to leave.
“Brian, this was a wonderful experience for me. It was not at all what I expected. There are a couple of questions that I have about the service. Do you suppose I can drop you an email or something?”
“Sure”, I replied. “Or perhaps we can chat at the diner.”
“I’ll send you an email”, she concluded.
2 Comments:
You have a knack for ending with a clincher...
waiting for more...
I really enjoy reading these. :)
LA
By Lisa Andreasen, at 12/21/2005 9:28 PM
I'm with you, Lisa...
Darin, I'm moved by these... this is what I want God to do in me, in us as a body.
D--
By Higher Up, Further In, at 12/21/2005 11:49 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home