Preface

Sunday Meetin’ Time Down South is somewhat a travel guide along life’s pathways with detours and stops along the way. It is a lighthearted look into deep and complex issues, antidotes on life and religion and satire about the same. And while it may not teach you right or wrong, it is a background look into the life of a former missionary and the inner workings of his heart and the pouring out of the spirit he receives from those he encounters. Told in a simplistic way, it is an easy read and perhaps tells the story of life in its gentler forms. The form it took in a far less complicated state than it is now. It is a book about yesteryear. Within these pages you will learn of the many and varied souls I have met, their significance to the impression which they left upon me. As I ministered to some, you will learn of my life. Consequently, more often than not, they ministered to me. It is not meant to be a judgement of them or their ideals, but a simple look into their lives and mine. You will learn of the friends I have made and the dirt roads I have traveled to get where I was going. You will see inside the diminutive whitewashed country churches where we worshiped and the dreams of those who called them home.

It is a cornucopia of practices they and I either practiced or instituted, the common sense used, the nourishment fed and the talents shared. It is a story that needs to be told, and one you may find fascinating. It is a compilation of the ideas and ideals sought and the sins sinned, hopefully not so much as the sins of the father, such as are found in the Old Testament, which were visited upon the souls of the children. Mistakes some of us made…sure, but hopefully not befallen to our children. Perhaps we, just as those before us, continue to strive for success and perfection in this life as we move on and upward as the Apostle Paul stated when he wrote, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Phillipans 4:13) and use whatever we have available as a salve for the sins of the soul. It is about the hopes, the dreams and the ambitions used to get us along on this journey we call life. I share them all with you now and hope you will be better off by having looked into our lives. And, if that is the case, I am Blessed. I trust you will be also.

Bert E. Brooks