S ometimes the stories of real life are even more difficult to com prehend than those made up by the best fiction writers. A woman in her late 40’s came to me who said she was a Christian and very active in a certain church. To her great dis appointment, however, the pastor had become involved with one of the women. It was an unfortunate scan dal and brought disgrace upon the church. She in turn felt quite bitter about the pastor because of her bur den for the work. Then another pas tor came along. It hardly seems pos sible, and yet this was her story. His wife drank. She would sneak a drink of liquor every once in a while. Somehow my client found out about it. She took it upon herself to be friend the pastor’s wife. Once more her concern was for the testimony of the church. There had been one scan dal and another would be too much. This was her reason for befriending the woman. Occasionally, the pastor’s wife would call upon the woman and ask her to come and get her from some bar. She would, of course, ob lige. Sometimes she would park out in front of the bar and wait for long periods of time until she came out. During these periods she would brood over her affairs and troubles. She brooded about the first pastor, she brooded about this pastor’s wife. There was another thing which oc curred to her. You know, you sit and start sorting over all the mor bid things of your life and you can certainly find enough to keep you busy. That is, you can if you choose to live that kind of a defeated life. She also reminded herself of the fact that the sister she lived with (they were both unmarried), was a domin ating, bossy, stubborn soul. “Life is
very tough,” she thought as she sat sorting over her miseries. Paul ad vises every believer, “Finally breth ren, whatsoever t h i n g s are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatso ever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.” But this was not true with this woman. She would rather dwell on the morbid things. Her ministry was to wait for a ruined life, and it was a reluctant ministry. “Why do I have to do this?” she reasoned. “If she would have behaved herself, I’d be home.” Finally one night she said to her self, “Why should I sit out in this car all by myself? I guess I’ll go in and have a drink, too.” When she did, she learned something: a couple of drinks can make life look much better. There are a lot of people who have found this out. They invest a good deal of money trying to find some temporary peace. It is only for a short time, but it is there. They are willing to suffer a big head tomorrow for a little re lief today. My client discovered, to her surprise, that a few drinks and she would think a little more kindly of the pastor that had gone, and this woman, and her sister. As a result she struck up this unfortunate rela tionship which went on for quite sometime. Understand, she was still busy in the church, but feeling more miserable all the time. It was with this backdrop that she came to see me. Here was a woman with a heart filled with strife. This woman wasn’t all wrong. She had some basis for what she was feeling and thinking. It is a tragic thing when a minister lets you down, isn’t it? (It is a tragic thing when your own sister pushes 17
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