A Copernican Revolution -LA Holmes

I wasn’t ready the first time it happened.   I was a (very) young youth pastor, ready to take on the world.   I had been teaching, preaching, and pastoring since I was 18.   Now I was newly married and ready to become a full fledged church staff person. Or at least a part time youth pastor.   My wife and I moved to a (very) small town of under 600 to lead these youth, and I was ready to start a revival. Before we left for summer camp, the music minister ( and local banker) told me that he needed to “put a bug in my ear about something.”   That something turned out to be about the way my wife and I were doing things.   There were some people that didn’t like they way we did things and they thought we should know better. So they talked to each other about it, and then finally someone talked to the music minister so that he would to talk to me.   I was completely caught off guard. My wife and I were severely hurt by the way these people gossiped and made accusation against us.  

Good neighbors are hard to come by, but I was lucky to have one in Jerry.   He lived next door to the parsonage when we moved in, and was quick to come over and introduce himself and his wife.   He loved to play golf, take care of his yard, and work in his garden.    Gardening was one of his big passions. He had a large spot cleared where he grew all the staples of a retiree’s garden, things like tomatoes, squash, okra, green beans, and more.   And he was always glad to share them with others.   Too many times to count he showed up at a door with a bag full of fresh picked items.   He shared at church, with all the neighbors, even with the nursing home. He put in the work, and let others enjoy the fruits (or vegetables) of his labor.   We had been neighbors for a few years when his wife got ill and passed away.   Jerry still did those things he loved to do, but when I talked to him it didn’t seem like his heart was in it as much.   Over time his health began to fail too