We were quite taken by the sermon of Dr. Davis Chattell (the pastor of Brentwood United Methodist Church of Nashville, of which daughter Alex, son-in-law Phillip, and grandchildren Hutson and Ellie are members, and the man who had baptized Ellie — Elizabeth Anne Faucette — on the morning of Sept. 18, 2014).

The message was, in the program, called Lame (which, at first glance, had little to do with the subject at hand), But I read a little further and realized the sermon was to be given by a Rev. Brian Hicks.

Apparently, a ‘last minute’ change had been made, and Dr, Chappell had decided to give the message himself. It was obvious I had inspired the remarkable preacher (in fact, several times I noticed him glancing at me, and our gaze became locked). Remember, my wheelchair was in the first aisle at my beloved wife’s left hand,

“How many times,” he asked, as part of the sermon, “have we wondered why this dread disease has befallen us? We sometimes don’t even know its name or what to call it. All we know is that it reduces us to a shell of what we once were: vibrant, athletic. and responsive to any challenge that came our way. And we would always prevail.

“I will forever give the devil his due.” he said further, “when I feel that a good and Godly man is being used for ungodly purposes, such as in the case here. I know the case of which I speak, and nothing can be more unjust — as least in the eyes of the beholder — than the tired and tormented vison of the afflicted.”

And he went on and on. But I knew to whom he was talking. And at whom he was looking.

I was filled with pride that Alex and Phillip had found this man. I had tried to instill in all my kids a sense of Christian ‘right and wrong’ (I knew instinctively that the Deacon had years ago filled Phillip’s heart with a similar agenda — why had Alex married him in the first place? — although I was screwed up, they were, to my way of thinking, on the right track.)

If Dr. Chappell were to become a Hasidic rabbi or a Buddhist monk, Phillip, Alex, Hutson and Ellie would follow him to the ends of the earth.

And they would do so with their mother and father’s blessing.



Copyright©2014 by Robert A. Mills, all rights reserved; may not be published, nor re-written nor broadcast without the author’s permission