Shelburne faith column: Sullen speaker hard to forget
One night last winter when I was clicking through TV channels looking for a good way to waste a nocturnal hour, up popped an old rerun of one of the most prolific crime shows. And there, staring me in the eye, was one of the few television characters I have ever met personally.
Years ago, this always unhappy man (who shall remain un-named for obvious reasons), came to our city to speak at an annual fundraising banquet. To draw a crowd, each year we booked some nationally known celebrity as our speaker, and it worked. Year after year we overflowed the venue with generous donors who came to enjoy a face-to face evening with some famous person.
That year I drew the short straw and got assigned to introduce our surly speaker. This meant I spent the first half of the evening dining right beside him, and it soon became apparent to me that this guy was not a happy camper.
I never did know why our featured guest was so out of sorts. Had the airline lost his luggage, or had his wife just read his pedigree, or did he have a hemorrhoid howling? Whatever had messed up his Post Toasties had done a number on the man. I don’t think I heard him say one pleasant word, nor did I see him smile a single time all evening long. It was obvious that our visitor was not glad to be in our town or at that event. He was there for one reason only: the outlandish fee we were paying him.
All of this happened a long time ago, so I’m pretty sure that this famous scowler is pushing up daisies now, and nothing I’ve said here is mud I want to sling at him. But he remains a frequently recalled example of the kind of person I don’t want to be. I do not want people I meet to recall me as a sullen, unhappy, grumpy soul.
“Rejoice in the Lord and be glad,” is one of the commands most often repeated in our Bibles. Our God intends for us to be like the people in Solomon’s day, “joyful and glad in heart for the good things the Lord has done.”
The Bible observes that a glad heart puts a smile on our face. Is this how your family and friends see you?
Gene Shelburne is pastor emeritus of the Anna Street Church of Christ, 2310 Anna Street, Amarillo, Texas. Contact him at GeneShel@aol.com, or get his books and magazines at www.christianappeal.com. His column has run on the Faith page for more than three decades.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Shelburne faith column: Sullen speaker hard to forget
