The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-24
'"BleSt Be The Tie"

"A contrac' is a contrac'. even
 when you make it with Godi You
 hired me to do the work of God. l done done it and you-all ain't done
 me right.
 You know I ain't been satisfied just to preach to you, to hymn at you and to pray at you. I've done that, but where else have l failed you? I've gone into the homes and up and down the streets of this town hepin' the best I knew how. I've tended the sick, I've sat up with the dead, I've put my arms around erring men and sinful sisters and--"an awful moments pause and then-"no, not around the sisters"
 Poor Charley Hawkins! If only he had been quick-witted enough not to correct his slip it would have passed unnoticed Ills indictment of his peo pie, begun in the language of the pulpit, and continued in the vernac- ular, may have been crude, but it had been effective. There is dig nity about the fearless, unashamed truth which all men must respect, even while they bitterly resent it. But the very height Cf the dignity made the descent into the ridiculous fatal. The little church rocked with
 
 His round face flushed, but his eyes flashed and he did not give an inch. Drawing himself to his full height and folding his arms across his chest, he cried, Laugh. damn you, laugh. l tell you truths which ought to blister your brows with shame and you laugh. Father in Heaven and in Juniper, Tex. they laugh. l turn from them tC Thee. Let us pray" But before the prayer could be ut tered, up tottered a malicious little figure, wearing the rusty black coat and the yellowed white ties of a superann,,ated minister. stop. Let us not pray. The altar of the Lord has been profaned by an oath. In all my many years as a faithful minister of His holy church, never did T."
 Charley Hawkins raised his hand calmly. q am the pastor of this church l invite Brother Provine to come forward. It has been some time since the congregation has heard its old pastors voice in the pulpit"
 Brother Provine did not need to be urged, nor was his malevolence abated. It was plain that he was the
 mouth piece of those recaleitrants
 
 Hawkins clerical path so thorny.
 "Brethern and sisters" chortled the ex-minister, this is indeed a pain full moment. In all my fifty years of service in the church, never did 1 hear such blasphemy uttered as we have heard at this casrosanct altar of the Lord upon this blessed Sab bath morning. l praise God that in my ministry in His name, l did not serve for the leaves and fishes, but with humble and a contrite heart. "
 There was a great deal more of this language not necessary tC re peat here. In the midst of 1t, n young man entered the church. his head held very erect. but his weak, loose face appearing to sag into his collar. His glassy eyes blinked rather frequently. but he walked with preternatural straightness down to the pew directly in front of the pulpit The man in the pulpit writhed and reddened, faltered, but recovered and resumed with an ad- ded acridty. '1t is with no bitter ness of heart that I am led to de
 nc unce the servant of God who de- famed Gods temple. It is a duty I must perform. The ark of the cove nant has been polluted A leader of Gods people attired in the garments of sin instead of sanctity Chere Brother Sommons cleared his throat di isapprovingly). ascends the holy of htlies and casts his broken rod of faith into the face of Jehovah. Then do l, as the elder brother of this church, pick up the broken rod and denounce the--a, the-a-'
 Good Brother Provine had lashed himself into a fine fury and fancied that he had carried his hearers with him, as perhaps he had. But as he