And the Shofar Blew Read Online Free PDF Page B

think and pray before he called the other two elders.

CHAPTER 2
    S AMUEL WENT to the hospital the next day and spoke to Hank and Susanna Porter about Paul Hudson. Hank said he was relieved that the church was moving ahead and looking for someone to replace him. Their son would be in Centerville on Saturday. “He’s not taking no for an answer this time. He’s moving us to Oregon.”
    When Hank’s mouth trembled, Susanna put her hand over his and squeezed tenderly. “We’ve been talking about this for the last few years, dear. It’s time.”
    Hank nodded. “I’ll leave my library of books with the church.”
    Susanna looked at Samuel. “Most of the furniture will stay. We can’t use much. We’ll be moving into Robert’s granny unit. It’s one room with a kitchenette and a bathroom. Just our bedroom set, the nook table and chairs.” Susanna dabbed tears from her eyes. “How soon do we have to be out of the parsonage?”
    Samuel swallowed hard. “You stay as long as you need, Susanna.”
    Hank looked at Susanna. “I’m sorry to leave you alone to do it, but the sooner you can have things ready, my dear, the better.” He looked Samuel in the eye. “If you call this young man to Centerville, he and his wife are going to need a place to live.”
    A nurse came to the doorway. “It’s time for my patient to rest.” Samuel rose reluctantly, put his hand on Hank’s shoulder, stepped away, and bent to kiss Susanna’s cheek. He couldn’t speak past the lump in his throat.
    Samuel left the hospital, sat in his old DeSoto in the parking lot, and wept. Then he drove home and telephoned Otis Harrison and Hollis Sawyer.
    They met at the church on Wednesday night, and he presented them with copies of Paul Hudson’s resume. They were impressed. After a long prayer, they talked for two hours about the good old days of the church and what this young man might do. Samuel suggested they pray more before they decided. Otis said they would, and then he and Hollis discussed football, aches and pains, and the idiosyncrasies of their wives. Samuel suggested they adjourn and meet again in a few days.
    By the following week, they were convinced that Paul Hudson was the answer to their prayers and voted unanimously to call him and offer him the pulpit—providing the congregation agreed.
    The members of the church were notified by telephone of an important congregational meeting following the worship service Sunday morning. Thirty-seven people sat through Otis Harrison’s slides of the Holy Land. Twenty-one were still awake when he finished.
    Abby served coffee in the fellowship hall. Samuel read Paul Hudson’s resume. Someone said it was a pity there were no cookies to go with the coffee. It was suggested the congregation hear Paul Hudson preach before they made a decision. Otis announced the church didn’t have the money to send a round-trip airline ticket for an audition, and it was going to take a miracle to scrape together enough money to move the Hudsons, if they were lucky enough to get them. Which led to a discussion of Hank and Susanna and the parsonage and how they felt about someone being called to take Hank’s place.
    Someone asked why Hank wasn’t preaching and Susanna wasn’t in church. The news of Hank’s heart attack was repeated—louder. Someone said Susanna had been at Hank’s bedside from dawn to dark every day since the Tuesday Hank had collapsed in the corridor of the hospital.
    A member noticed a water stain on the ceiling and said the roof must need fixing, which led to another discussion about the repairs needed in the sanctuary, fellowship hall, and parsonage, which in turn led to a discussion of the lawn, the hedge, and the beetle or blight killing the tree on the corner. That led someone to the Medfly, past governors, the sharpshooter attacking California grapevines, droughts, blackouts, floods, and the downturn in the market, which led to rambling conversations about the Great Depression and