Tuesday, March 24, 2009

lessons from the pastor...

we were eatin' breakfast and talkin'.
i commented on yo tilling our neighbor's garden.
'that's a big deal you did it, yo. is this
the first year he couldn't?'

the man is 82 years old.

oh no, yo told me.
he COULD do it if he wanted to, he's
just too busy.

i laughed.

and then yo said 'his handshake is so strong,
it almost hurts me to shake his hand.'

wow.

i looked at the guys and shook my head.

what is it? i know his diet isn't healthy.
it's that southern fried cooking stuff....
what makes this man just keep goin' and
goin' like he does???

i think it's just the man loves god.
he's a minister.
but he's not just a minister.
the man loves god in every cell of his being.
i mean that.

he will tear up when he's talking of the
goodness of the lord.

now....i don't care what your beliefs are...
HIS are what matter here.

they keep him going and going and going and
going.

once yo came up quietly behind him and said
he was worried about scaring him.
oh no. don't worry.
he can't be scared, he told yo.

and you know what???
i don't think he can be.

i have NEVER met anyone like this.
ever darn cell in his body holds his faith.

josh is convinced the man holds magical
powers because of it. i mean, he's convinced.

i was thinking about it today.

what does every cell in my body believe???

seems like that may be something worth taking
a look at.....

it certainly seems to be working magic for
this man.

1 comment:

selkie said...

I enjoyed this ... becuase it reminds me of my mum - who just turned 84 in February. She is an Irish Catholic firecracker. She waears her hair long to her waist, pulled back in a ponytail, she gets on her bike when the weather permits and cycles to mass every morning, she belts back scotch and soda, smokes like a chimney (saying with every cig she is goign to quit 'next week') and has a heart as big as the universe. She goes to see her "old ladies" (who are older than her) and brings them the host and hommmade scones and she nad her friend try to go somehwere new (like Prague, Turks and Chaicos, Budapest) every year - even though she has no money ....

and she, like the pastor, lives, breathes and believes in god with every breath and fibre of her being. She chats to him, includes him in all her decisions and credits him with her zest for life and her continued belief in the world.

I wish I could believe like that.