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158
Adventures in Contentment
·
David Grayson
78
By
some
instinct
the
preacher
chose
his
readings
mostly
from
the
Old
Testament--those
splendid,
marching
passages,
full
of
oriental
imagery.
As
he
read
there
would
creep
into
his
voice
a
certain
resonance
that
lifted
him
and
his
calling
suddenly
above
his
gray
surroundings.
How
vividly
I
recall
his
reading
of
the
twenty-third
Psalm--a
particular
reading.
I
suppose
I
had
heard
the
passage
many
times
before,
but
upon
this
certain
morning----
Shall
I
ever
forget?
The
windows
were
open,
for
it
was
May,
and
a
boy
could
look
out
on
the
hillside
and
see
with
longing
eyes
the
inviting
grass
and
trees.
A
soft
wind
blew
in
across
the
church;
it
was
full
of
the
very
essence
of
spring.
I
smell
it
yet.
On
the
pulpit
stood
a
bunch
of
crocuses
crowded
into
a
vase:
some
Mary's
offering.
An
old
man
named
Johnson
who
sat
near
us
was
already
beginning
to
breathe
heavily,
preparatory
to
sinking
into
his
regular
Sunday
snore.
Then
those
words
from
the
preacher,
bringing
me
suddenly--how
shall
I
express
it?--out
of
some
formless
void,
to
intense
consciousness--a
miracle
of
creation:
"Yea
though
I
walk
through
the
valley
of
the
shadow
of
death,
I
will
fear
no
evil:
for
thou
art
with
me;
thy
rod
and
thy
staff
they
comfort
me."
Well,
I
saw
the
way
to
the
place
of
death
that
morning;
far
more
vividly
I
saw
it
than
any
natural
scene
I
know:
and
myself
walking
therein.
I
shall
know
it
again
when
I
come
to
pass
that
way;
the
tall,
dark,
rocky
cliffs,
the
shadowy
path
within,
the
overhanging
dark
branches,
even
the
whitened
dead
bones
by
the
way--and
as
one
of
the
vivid
phantasms
of
boyhood--cloaked
figures
I
saw,
lurking
mysteriously
in
deep
recesses,
fearsome
for
their
very
silence.
And
yet
I
with
magic
rod
and
staff
walking
within--boldly,
fearing
no
evil,
full
of
faith,
hope,
courage,
love,
invoking
images
of
terror
but
for
the
joy
of
braving
them.
Ah,
tow-headed
boy,
shall
I
tread
as
lightly
that
dread
pathway
when
I
come
to
it?
Shall
I,
like
you,
fear
no
evil!
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