“Ring! Ring!”
“Hello.”
“Hello, Parson. This is Mildred Sullivan.”
“Hi, Mildred, how are you this good day.”
“I’m doing okay, I guess, Parson, for someone my age.”
“Good, Mildred. What can I do for you?”
“Now, Parson,” said Mildred after she cleared her throat, “I’m not one of those who’s always trying to stop progress in the church, but I wanted to ask you about some of the songs we’re singing.”
The parson smiled to himself, “Well, Mildred, what song did you have in mind.”
“It’s not that I have a particular one in mind, well, I guess that’s not quite so, you know, we’ve been singing that extra little song every Sunday for a while, and it’s, well, I know you call it a ‘praise song’ but well, it’s, it’s just not very familiar to some of us.”
“That’s why we sing each new one four or five weeks in a row, Mildred. We want everyone to have plenty of time to learn them.”
“Do you mind if I ask who picks out those songs?”
“No, I don’t mind.”
There was silence.
More silence.
“Parson?”
“Yes, Mildred?”
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“Who picks out the songs?”
“I do.”
“You pick them out by yourself?”
“I do. I listen to several songs on a recording, and if they are songs I think I could sing I pick them. You know, Mildred, if I can sing it you can.”
“Who assigned you to pick out the songs, Parson?”
“I did.”
“You did what?”
“I assigned myself to pick out the songs.”
“Do you think if more people were involved in picking out the songs we would get songs that more people could sing?”
“I don’t know. I suppose that’s a possibility.”
“Would you consider having a committee to pick out the songs?”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“I have enough committee meetings now. And when they are over more than likely I’m the one that has to do the work anyway. Mildred, I can’t get a committee to decide whether or not we should support a particular mission project without someone getting their shorts in a wad. I sure don’t want to have a committee picking out songs.”
“Parson, that’s just not like you. That sounds so autocratic. With more input the process would be democratic.”
“Mildred, I really thank you for your interest. And I thank you for the way you are learning these songs. But you need to know that the selection of the songs is not an exercise in democracy.”
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A song picking committee? OH! NOOOO! The title made me grin. Thanks. :-)
Posted by: SingingOwl | July 23, 2009 at 08:34 AM
I have been reading your "stories" for about 3 months and just have to tell you, I love them! Are your sermons done with storytelling?
Posted by: Brenda | July 23, 2009 at 10:26 AM