Christmas in My Soul, Vol. 1 - Joe L. Wheeler - Hardcover

Why The Minister Did Not Resign Author Unknown One of the first Christmas stories I can remember my mother reciting--almost all were by memory--is this one. My mother puts all of herself into her recitations: laughing in hilarious passages and crying in moving ones. This is one of her tearjerkers: to the best of my knowledge, she never got through this Hatfield-McCoyish tale dry-eyed. Neither did her audiences. He waited until she put the baby down, then he met her in the middle of the room and said it. "I shall do it next Sabbath, Rebekah." "O Julius, not NEXT Sabbath!" she cried out in dismay. "Why, next Sabbath is Christmas, Julius!" Julius Taft's smooth-shaven lips curled into a smile. "Well, why not, little woman? It would be a new way to celebrate Christmas. Everyone likes a 'new way.' The holly and the carols are so old!" "Julius!" "Forgive me, dear; but my heart is bitter. I cannot bear it any longer. I shall do it next week, Rebekah." "But afterward, Julius?" The mother's eyes wandered to the row of little chairs against the wall, each with its neatly folded little clothes. There were three little chairs and the baby's crib. Afterward, what about those? They argued mutely against this thing. "Afterward, I'll dig ditches to earn bread for the babies--don't worry, little mother!" He laughed unsteadily. Then he drew her down with him on the sofa. "Let's have it out, dear. I've borne it alone as long as I can." "Alone!" she scolded softly. "Julius Taft, you know I've been bearing it with you!" "I know it, dear; but we've both kept still. Now let's talk it out. It's no use beating about the bush, Rebekah, I've got it to do." "O Julius, if we could only peacemake!" she wailed. "But we can't--not even the minister's little peacemaker wife. They won't let us do it--they'd rather wrangle." She put her hand across his lips to stifle the ugly word; but she knew it applied. "They don't realize, Julius. If Mrs. Cain and Mrs. Drinkwater would only realize! They influence all the rest. Everyone would make up, if they would. They're the ones to peacemake, Julius." "Yes, but Drinkwaters and Cains won't 'peacemake'--you can't make oil and water unite. There was a grudge between them three generations ago, and it's descending. I can't see any way out of it." "But on Christmas, Julius! 'Peace on earth, good will to men,'" Rebekah Taft murmured softly. The minister sighed heavily. "There isn't any 'peace, good will' in the Saxon church, Rebekah. "It won't be any special service. It will be just like all the other services, only the minister will resign." "But he will preach a Christmas sermon, Julius? Tell me he will!" pleaded the minister's little peacemaker wife. "Yes, dear, he will preach a Christmas sermon to please his little wife." They sat quite silent awhile. The sleeping baby nestled and threw out a small pink and white hand aimlessly. The clock on the painted mantel said, "Bedtime, bedtime, bedtime!" with monotonous repetition. They were both very tired, but they still sat side by side on the hard little sofa, thinking the same sorrowful thoughts. It was the wife who first broke the silence. "Dear, there are so many things to think about," she whispered. He smiled down at her from his superior height. "Four things," he counted on his fingers. "Katie, Julius Junior, Hop-o'-My-Thumb, and the baby!" "Yes, I meant the children. If you--" Julius Taft was big and broad-shouldered. He drew himself up and faced her. His lean, good face was the face of a man who woulWheeler, Joe L. is the author of 'Christmas in My Soul, Vol. 1 - Joe L. Wheeler - Hardcover' with ISBN 9780385498593 and ISBN 0385498594.