Monday, February 29
Shake
the Preacher’s Hand
Do
not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I
will uphold you with my victorious right hand.—Isaiah
41:10
The church of my youth was
the basement of a Catholic school.
There were pews, an organ, and a preacher. Sitting in the pew I felt God and goodness,
love and acceptance. During the
preacher’s sermons I sometimes squirmed but they did keep me on the straight
and narrow. The organ was small which
was fine because few people sang anyway.
I thought of Sunday as the
refreshing start to the week. Monday-Friday was packed with school, work,
and chores. If we weren’t cleaning the
house, Saturdays were a play day with time to go to the library and hang out
with friends. Sundays were about church
and family with chicken dinners, fishing, and reading the Sunday paper.
Craig Morgan captures some
of these themes in his song, “That’s What I love About Sunday.” He talks about cane poles, cutting coupons,
naps, walks and church. The refrain is what
grabs me;
That’s
what I love about Sunday,
Sing
along as the choir sways,
Every
verse of Amazing Grace,
And
then we shake the preacher’s hand.
As
a kid I wanted to sing at church and I wanted to thank the priest for his
sermon. Unfortunately, few people sang
so I mumbled and as the first closing notes played on the organ the priest
disappeared into his dressing room. So
we all left in a hurry, exiting to cars that would scatter us into the rest of
Sunday. Which is why now, on Sundays, I
love belting out a closing hymn and the highlight that starts my week is
shaking a preacher’s hand as I leave Trinity.
Jody Pritzl
No comments:
Post a Comment