Ye Old Church
Author's Note:
I was given a
picture of an old abandoned church that needed major repairs. So I came up with
this tale.
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I am sure it's
past this hill and over the slope. I never would had thought that it will take
me twenty-five years to come back. It's been so long since I breathe in the air
here. It's so refreshing and it brings back memories of the past. There now,
and I should be seeing the top of it.
Oh, my God. What did happened? It's not the same. I was expecting the other and
now another spring before me. It can’t be, after all those years of being away
to come back to see it now. So different and yet so new.
I left it abandoned as the people who used to flock here. But they left me before
I did, as the call of the new town was greater. I had to abandon it then as
there was no flock of seeps to tend to. I left too after the great wind that
came. It tore off the hinges and locks, raised the planks, and widen the gaps.
But now, it's been rebuilt and it's painted anew to the new congregation who
has built a little community around it.
“Father Paris, welcome home. We rebuilt it after you left, about ten years ago.
The frame was still intact and we restored the inside. Welcome home to your parish
again, Father.”
I reached for the photo in my jacket and removed it. It has been my companion
for twenty-five years, and its edges are gone but the picture remained as clear
as it was taken on that day after the wind blew on my church. As it's in my belief,
nothing can sway me away from my foundation and all its needs is a pair of
hands to rebuild it again to its glory.
“Thank you, Father Hamish. But the church is now your care, and I am just revisiting
it. Let it not be abandoned as I did twenty-five years ago.” My tears are
blanketing my sight once again, but the words from the new and young pastor
make my heart grow fonder.
“Father Paris, you did not abandon the church. You carried it with you for
twenty-five years. I am just following instructions as given to me by God to
rebuild it again. In the pasture of God’s acre, we can share the works of God.
Be with me and let us rejoice in the Church; new or old for the love of all
that will comes to seek its shelter. And let no wind deter us from continuing
our works again. Amen.”
I do as you do, a
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