Learning lessons through suffering—that’s a great skill. Robert Hamilton’s poem reads:
I walked a mile with pleasure
she chattered all the way.
But left me none the wiser
for all she had to say.
I walked a mile with sorrow,
and ne’er a word said she.
But oh, the things I learned from her
when sorrow walked with me.
Says it well, doesn’t it? No one wants sorrow. Certainly no one prays for it. But, you can fight it, or you can learn from it. Sooner or later, sorrow comes to call on everyone. It’s just part of life.
Congregations experience tough times too. Churches can resent that, or they can determine to make difficult times learning experiences. I say the latter option is the better of the two.
I am grateful that I continue to hear how positively readers are responding to my latest book entitled The Sermon Sucking Black Hole—Why You Can’t Remember on Monday What Your Minister Preached on Sunday. This book is available at Amazon.com by clicking here.
In this book, I offer some solid tips to the people sitting in the congregation to help them remember what their pastor has said from the pulpit.
You will find a variety of other helpful resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.
