Читать книгу Sun Rays - Joshua Livingston - Страница 12

The Hymn Book: A Blumhardt Tale

Young Bobby was tired of church. Day in and day out, Pastor Blumhardt would go on and on about Jesus and his kingdom. Then everybody would sing songs and then Pastor Blumhardt would talk some more.

Now, it wasn’t that the boy didn’t like the good Pastor. In fact, he loved him like a father. His whole family had moved to Bad Boll, a spiritual retreat center, because they trusted Jesus and felt secure in Blumhardt’s vision of God’s kingdom.

But young Bobby was easily bored and as young boys often do, he craved all the attention he could get. However, Pastor Blumhardt did not tolerate it when anyone thought of himself before the common good of all.

So, even though he knew he would receive a good row, he decided to test the good Pastor. He needed to know how much he really cared.

Late one evening, long after everyone in the house had gone to bed, young Bobby snuck out into the common meeting room and grabbed one of the worship hymn books, took it out to the hen house and threw in down in the hay. He also took some of Pastor Blumhardt’s papers and soaked them in the wash basin. And for good measure, he let the rooster loose in the meeting hall.

When the cock crowed, the women of the house were immediately worked up into a wild frenzy. Bobby hid in one of the closets peering through a peephole, doing everything he could to keep from laughing out loud.

One of the women found Pastor Blumhardt in his study and squealed, “Pastor! The boy has done it again! This time he put a hymnal in the hen house and now it’s filthy!”

Pastor couldn’t help but chuckle. Of course he did not approve of rebellion, but he saw right into the heart of the young boy, as well as the frustrated woman.

“Dear lady, let it go, already! You’ll give yourself a stroke trying to hold on to the many things of this world. Besides that, deep down, the absurdity of it tickles you pink! Let yourself smile, for once! Please, take a breath and go put the book back in the hen house.”

The woman did as she was instructed and shortly afterward, the entire household gathered together for a joyful communal breakfast. Bobby, expecting the worst, was completely disarmed when he sat down and not a word was spoken of his foolish pranks. From then on, he found better ways to get the Pastor’s attention.