Wonderful ladies, lost mind and truth

by David Shannon

The article which appeared in this space last week about the Apostle Paul as a preacher was given to me by the sweet Aline Spurlock. Her late husband Buford Spurlock had kept it in his Bible. He was greatly loved and is not forgotten. I apologize for the mistaken credit given of the source from last issue.

The above words refer to an instance of me confusing the source of an article. One Sunday Aline Spurlock handed me an article about the apostle Paul, written as if he were applying to a congregation for a job to preach. I thanked her, visited with her a moment, and placed the article in my pocket to read later. That Sunday night I cleaned out my pockets appreciating the article which Lil Tucker handed me. Now why did I do that? Why did I think to myself Lil Tucker gave me this article when it was Aline Spurlock who gave it to me? I don't know the answer. It may puzzle you, but it scares me! What is happening to my mind?
As you can imagine, Mrs. Aline was surprised to read in the bulletin that Mrs. Lil had handed me the very same article. Aline thought her late husband may have given Robert a copy of it along the way. So Mrs. Aline called Mrs. Lil. Of course, Mrs. Lil revealed that she hadn't given me the copy of the article, that I must have been mistaken. Then she said the words which revealed the fact she knew something of the work of a preacher. She said to Aline, "If you gave that to David after a service on Sunday he has so many folks talking to him, I'm sure he was just confused."
Both of these ladies visited with me by phone and graciously accepted my apology. Mrs. Lil's late husband Robert was not a full-time preacher, but did preach for various congregations as needs arose. I thought of the fact that when she learned of my mistake, she immediately identified how it might have happened, and she was correct.

This occurrence caused me to think about a few things;
Mrs. Aline and Mrs. Lil are jewels of Christian ladies.

We greatly appreciate it when someone knows a little bit about the shoes we wear each day. They are able to empathize.

It is easy to fill completely confident when we are completely wrong! Those times can serve as a reminder that we need a perfect standard. Truth is absolute. God's word is absolutely true!

"Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." Jn 17:17