His Daughter Said, part 1

Nobody around me checked the time, and neither did I.

[Note: Friend, colleague, and unappointed mentor, The Rev. Dr. R. Paul Sims, died Sunday, June 3rd. His service was Monday, June 11, and it was a powerful combination of liturgical correctness and, well, we had church. Several elements of from that time bear repeating here. For example:]

We’d all sung.

The choir and the pipe organ had moved the back wall of the sanctuary a bit with their power.

Traditional United Methodist liturgy had been employed to say what we couldn’t otherwise formulate.

Two preachers and a Rotary Club President had all three already spoken.

Then the Order of Worship indicated “Message from Family” by “Carol Sims – Daughter.”

She hit a grand slam home run!

Carol had us laughing and crying as we simultaneously celebrated and missed Paul Sims.

Noting his insistence on punctuality and that this had become a well-over-an-hour service, his daughter said,

“Dad,

I’m the last one

at the microphone,

and

you

didn’t live a

59-minute life.”

What an image! May the same be said of you and me.