Dear Jimmy,
I wish you could see our garden! I guess we've had just the right amount of rain because we've got an abundance. This morning I gathered a dishpan full of green beans and enough okra to fry up for your uncle Orley's supper. Now, his okra's got to be fried in cornmeal or flour, don't you know. He can't stand boiled okra ‘cause he says its so slick it slides down his throat before he has a chance to swaller. He says he once ate a whole pot of boiled okra without swallerin' a bite. Afterward his stomach kept sayin' it was full but his head kept sayin' he hadn't had supper yet. Course, Orley's been known to exaggerate a might now and again, as you know.
Well, Jimmy, Orley is on a mission this mornin'. He's taken a grocery sack full of sweet corn over to ol' Macey Harris and while he's there he intends to sit a spell and try to find out what's been stuck in his craw. I don't know what's got into him these days, but he has been as ill-tempered as a fourth-grade boy at a Tupperware party. What's worse, he's been downright bull-headed with Brother Bobby, our pastor down at Bluebell Baptist.
For the longest kinda time we just let it go, figurin' the pastor wouldn't take things personal. I could say we thought that bein' a man of God he wouldn't be bothered none by the old man's contrariness. But the plain truth of it is we just didn't think at all.
Well, everything came to a head last week in the deacons' meetin' when Brother Macey was against every suggestion the pastor made. After the meetin' Brother Bobby was real quiet like and Orley stayed back after the others went home to see if the pastor was alright.
That's when Brother Bobby opened up and told Orley how discouraged he was. He told your Uncle that when he came to be our pastor he had such hopes for Bluebell Baptist. But over the years his dreams have died. He felt like they had been poisoned one by one by what he called a “toxic attitude” in the church. He told Orley that he's about ready to try to find another church and then he confessed that at times he is so depressed that he thinks about leaving the ministry altogether.
“It's bad enough to have somebody be against everything” said our preacher. “But the worst of it is that everybody lets him get by with it. Nobody challenges him. What's the use of trying anymore?” He said that it seemed like all the church wanted was somebody to preach nice little short sermons and visit the sick. Somebody who would not make waves and not try anything new. Well that shook up your Uncle pretty bad. He told me about it when he got home and we sat up half the night talkin'.
Why, if Brother Bobby quit tryin' to come up with new ministries it would be the worst thing in the world for Bluebell Baptist! Still, neither of us could blame him for bein' so discouraged. You know, as Uncle Orley and I talked that night for the first time we put ourselves in the pastor's place. It must be awful discouragin' to work hard on a sermon that you believe the Lord wants you to deliver and then have somebody sleep through it or even worse, to criticize it. I've had to think about how hard it is to inspire people who are sometimes hard-hearted and often hard-headed. I don't suppose it's realistic to think that every sermon is gonna cause glory to come down, but our preacher does a right good job, considerin'.
Orley and I watch the Braves most nights, but not even our favorite player, Chipper Jones, hits a home run every time he comes to bat. Why, if he gets a hit one time in every three he gets to bat his team is really happy with him. Not only that, when he strikes out his teammates pat him on the back and encourage him. I wonder if Bluebell Baptist couldn't learn a thing or two from the Braves?
I remembered one of my daily Bible readin's from a month or so ago. I couldn't remember chapter and verse, so I looked it up. Hebrews 13:17. “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
Now, considerin' everything the Bible teaches about how we are to each other, I don't think it means that church members are to automatically do everything the pastor says. That would make us the pastor's slaves. But one thing is clear to me. We are to respect Brother Bobby and listen carefully to what he says.We are to encourage him all we can ‘cause if he gets discouraged and depressed and feels like quittin' we'll all be worse off.
I've heard of some preachers who demand that church people do everything they say. Usually preachers like that don't stay long in these parts. Fortunately, Brother Bobby isn't like that. We can trust him. He loves us. We know that.
Orley and I have decided it's time we became cheerleaders for our pastor. It's good for the church to keep him excited about ministry. We've made a list of things we are going to do to encourage him. If you think it would be helpful, I'd be happy to share it with you.
Well, it's time for the mailman and Orley still isn't back, so I'll close and put this is the box. I can hardly wait to hear about his conversation with ol' Brother Macey.
We're still waiting for you to come see us.
As always, Aunt Ida