Thursday, 6 March 2014

Byron Rempel, Truth Is Naked

When the pastor’s daughter was hit by a car and killed, the pastor and his wife were hit even harder by her absence. His wife shut herself in the house, and the pastor found himself unable to help other people in need.

I had a few lingering problems with pastors, the same way I have problems with columnists and politicians and coaches. I thought it very easy to say one thing and do another. I had a deep suspicion of the power of positive thinking since my incident with the wall; it was usually just the crust on the toast. But I had a grudging respect for this pastor, who quit his job and took up long-distance truck driving instead, and whose wife accompanied him on the trips down long and straight highways. He had probably given comfort and advice to his flock before when there was a death in the family, and probably drew from a good stock of reassurances. And when it happened to him and his wife and nobody could give them comfort, they saw they were human. Somehow, I could see the same thing happening to me.

From “Dudley’s Magical Time Traveling Disease,” in Truth Is Naked All Others Pay Cash by Byron Rempel.