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Her Hat on a Nail

By Jack L. Holt

It was a warm lazy Sunday afternoon the first time I saw her. I was sitting on a pine plank church bench waiting for the services to begin when I looked out the front door and saw her walking across the churchyard. She shaded her eyes with a cardboard fan as she passed through sunny patches between huge oaks.

Beneath her hat white hair reflected the rays of the sun. Age gave dignity to her slow walk; she bore gracefully the burden of years. She steadied her walk with a knobby cane. At the church steps she paused, looked briefly across the nearby cotton fields, then firmly took the steps into the building.

She took in the whole congregation with one look and nodded to all. She put her cane and fan on a pew; removed her hat, walked to the wall and hung her hat on a nail.

I went over and introduced myself. She firmly shook my hand and said, "Well, preacher, I've come a long way to hear some good preaching."

I looked into a pair of young and dancing eyes that lit up a face wise with years, molded firm with character, and said, "Well, I've come a long ways to do some good preaching." She turned away chuckling, to find her pew. We were friends from then on.

I preached often at that place and many times I saw her hang her hat on a nail. We often repeated the saying "She came to hear good preaching; I came to give it."

Years skipped away and I went from there to other fields of labor. Sometime ago I returned to preach a week's meeting. The building was modernized; new faces filled the room. I sat in an unfamiliar factory made pew. I could see the churchyard only partially through a side window. The huge oaks still stood shading the men talking and waiting for the "bell song".

I caught myself looking for a familiar figure. But I knew she was gone. I looked at the new sheetrock wall . . . and the nail was pulled. In the chambers of imagery I could picture the past and see her hang her hat on the nail. I listened to a far away voice ..."I expect to hear some good preaching today", and I caught myself mumbling, "I came to give it" ...

I thought of her coming to the portals of glory: "Come in," said the Lord. Then motioning to a jasper wall he said, "Hang your hat on that golden nail". She nodded and said, "Lord I've come a long ways to find peace and rest." "I came to prepare it," He said.

Years have passed but the power and charm of a simple, warm child of God lingers. And when I think of people like her I thank God he has enriched my life, filling it with such "little incidents, dear people, and precious memories." May we all be wise to see the riches God has for His children.

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