Everyone
enjoys a good story. We have whole industries that revolve around the ability
of an author to create a compelling series of events that can enrapt an
audience and captivate the imagination.
If you want
to see another person’s eyes light up, ask them to tell one of their stories. You may have heard it before (perhaps a dozen
times), but the twinkle and delight is real.
When I was younger, I used to spend countless hours in the car riding
through the countryside with my Granny.
Inevitably, she would persuade one of her friends, or just a person who
needed to get out of the house, a ride with us.
We would “go to gallivant.” That meant that it was a roaming trip down one road and back
another to a destination that had not yet been determined. One day we took my piano teacher, Miss Mary Lou
Couch, to gallivant. On the way, Granny
asked if Mary Lou would like something to drink. The affirmative response led
to Granny wheeling into the first Seven Eleven.
With Mary Lou waiting in the car, Granny bought the largest Big Gulp
that she could find. Mary Lou was delighted! She laughed and rolled and
recounted the story over and over until the day that she died.
We all have
our stories, and I have enjoyed learning a few of those here at Main
Street. I still delight in seeing the
twinkle appear in people’s eyes when they begin a personal or family favorite.
Let us also
remember that each of us is called to tell another story – an old, old story.
The story of a love that would not be kept away by sin. The story of a love
that conquered death on our behalf. Let us grow comfortable with the old, old
story of Jesus and his love. In this
way, when people ask where we find our hope, when they ask for the source of
our joy, we can say, with a twinkle in our eyes, “Sit down for a minute, and
let me tell you a story.”
Grace and Peace,
Pastor James
