Ye Olde Ice Cream Parlour

[rgill]

Please excuse me. I'm not a frequent visitor to this board, just looking for unused threads to post a stream on consciousness. Feel free to ignore.

 

[rgill]

I suppose I wouldn't be too surprised to find out that MLK Jr did not believe in virgin birth, or had at least entertained the idea. I was floored to discover that my grandfather held this belief.

 

[rgill]

He was a UCC minister trained at Eden Theological Seminary, now seemingly one of the hotbeds of liberal theology.

 

[rgill]

That surpirsed me to no end since grandpa seem a fairly strict, somewhat traditional fellow of German upbringing.

 

[rgill]

When I vistited him in small-town central MO the one thing I remember as a kid was that, during one service on Sunday, the doors were open to the early Summer breeze. In walked a dog off the street, up the aisle past the whole congregation and up onto the podium, where it layed down next to my Grandfather.

 

[rgill]

He was in the middle of a sermon. He paused and then said, "doesn't it say in the scripture, preach the gospel unto every living creature?"

That really impressed me. I was maybe 8 years old.

 

[rgill]

I was driving West on rt 70 across the country one Summer. I passed the exit to that little town where my grandfather preached so long ago.

 

[rgill]

I decided to visit the church. It was still there.

 

[rgill]

After my Grandfather died, the little town had never been happy with anyone else.

One by one, pastors came and went.

 

[rgill]

Many years passed. Finally, pastor Mary arrived. Even after more than 38 years I think, my grandfather is still spoken of. Why did they like this man so much? I came to find that pastor Mary, when she arrived, tried to learn all she could about this man.

 

[rgill]

She even visited his grave to pray and meditate when times were hard.

Of all the things most remembered of my Grandfather by the towns people was one thing: he wore no shoes, especially when he was in the garden.

 

[rgill]

He was close to the earth and he liked to feel it beneath his feet.

 

[rgill]

Pastor Mary follows in his footsteps now ... without shoes ... and the town is happy.

 

[rgill]

Sorry for the multiple posts. I'll quit. Hope you enjoyed the story.

Richard

 

[CaDan]

*dusts off the sad soda fountains*

*cleans the nasty junk out of the cooler*

*mops the floor*

*puts out a new sign*

[SIZE=+2]OPEN FOR BUSINESS​

[/SIZE]

 

[Swart]

What does the new sign read?

 

[drstevej]

,

 

[Crazy Liz]

I could use an ice cream right now.

What flavors are on the menu today?

 

[Heartbreaker]

ooh, how about triple chocolate chocolate chip?

and can i get double double scoops?

 

[Rev Wayne]

What does the new sign read?

I know this wasn't the intended meaning of the question, but I noticed on my way in, a banner on the top left that I THOUGHT said:

"No Doors Are Closed Here. . .Step into the Fight."

And I thought, "How appropriate!"

But then I noticed the "l" wasn't crossed.