By The Reverend Mrs. Silence DoGood
Dear Editor,
I am writing this letter to thank my congregation and the members of our Halo community who surprised me with an unexpected luncheon. I was invited to the Unity Grange Hall for a Sunday School Committee meeting but instead found a beautiful luncheon in my honor. The Unity Grange Hall is where we are temporarily holding our church service until our new church is built. But that day, it was a thanksgiving feast. The sign “Thank You” above the buffet table said it all.
Margaret Thistle gave the toast. She is the Vice Chair of the Sunday School Board and mother of three. “We thank you Silence for your outstanding leadership during the tragic burning of our former church and the building of our new glass chapel and round house. As we know both will soon be dedicated. All our hearts are with you.”
My husband Willie, whose arm was around my waist, leaned over and kissed me. My daughter Sarah with an H gave me hug. My son Toby was away.
The buffet had everyone’s homemade specialty. Deviled eggs, fried chicken, nut-studded cheese balls, quiches, spinach dip, macaroni and cheese, German style potato salad and a variety of home-made pies and breads. Dolly Anne Jermyn brought her famous soda bread which she makes year-round. It’s delicious with room temperature butter. Even Helen Baxter contributed; she made her not too sweet Raspberry and Ginger drink served over ice.
Many parishioners came up to my daughter to congratulate her on finishing her BA degree in ministry. I announced several weeks before that she was joining the ministry of The First Church of God’s Love as its Junior Minister. I used to refer to my daughter as Sarah with an H because she called herself that as a child. Now I must call her just Sarah.
That night, as I usually do, I sat alone in my dim lit parlor at the parsonage and thought about the events of the day. I felt happy that my congregation appreciates my work. I also reflected on the sermon that I gave about six weeks ago. It was about the necessity of saying thank you to those people who were kind or generous to us. So often in our fast-based culture that old-fashioned practice seems to have gone away. I wondered if my congregation thought that I was referring to them in my sermon. I wasn’t. I hope I didn’t shame them into thanking me.
What made me think of discussing “thank you” in the first place was a personal event that happened in my family. My sister-in-law is a woman who eagerly takes. My husband Willie and his sister had a close relationship growing up but over time her materialism interfered with her humanity. When Willie’s mother died, his sister was insensitively aggressive in “taking.” Willie didn’t interfere but had hoped that she would at least say thank you. She never did.
Although we don’t socialize with his sister, we received an invitation to his nephew’s graduation party at his sister’s house before he went to college. We didn’t want to go nor did we. But we thought that his nephew is a new beginning apart from his sister and that we should congratulate him. Willie and I sent him a $100 check. We never received a thank you for the gift.
A few weeks after entering college we received a text from Willie’s nephew saying that he is on the freshman golf team and he was tasked to raise $800 for supplies. Willie sent him a text saying that we had reached out to him when he graduated and sent him a gift. Willie added “your thank you note must have gotten lost in the mail.” His nephew texted and said that he was busy getting ready for college and failed to send a thank you.
We sent him $50 for his golf supplies and upon receipt he sent us a text thanking us for our generosity. A thank you sermon worked.
Amen.
The Reverend Mrs. Silence DoGood
Senior Pastor
Executive Director
President
Chairman
Choir Master (part-time)
The First Church of God’s Love
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