Before I began my sermon I
read my resignation, to take effect at the discretion
of the trustees. Then, as it was presumably my
last chance to tell the people and the place what I
thought of them, I spent an hour and a half in fer-
vidly doing so. In my study of English I had ac-
quired a fairly large vocabulary. I think I used it
all that morning--certainly I tried to. If ever an
erring congregation and community saw themselves
as they really were, mine did on that occasion. I
was heartsick, discouraged, and full of resentment
and indignation, which until then had been pent
up. Under the arraignment my people writhed
and squirmed. I ended:
``What I am saying hurts you, but in your hearts
you know you deserve every word of it. It is high
time you saw yourselves as you are--a disgrace to
the religion you profess and to the community you
live in.''
I was not sure the congregation would let me
finish, but it did. My hearers seemed torn by
conflicting sentiments, in which anger and curios-
ity led opposing sides. Many of them left the
church in a white fury, but others--more than I had
expected--remained to speak to me and assure me
of their sympathy. Once on the streets, different
groups formed and mingled, and all day the little
town rocked with arguments for and against ``the gal.''
Night brought another surprisingly large attend-
ance. I expected more trouble, and I faced it with
difficulty, for I was very tired.
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