Just A Closer Stumble: Great Uncle Ned

Great Uncle Ned

Great Uncle Ned was the life of the party! He never missed an opportunity to have a good time. It wasn’t hard to believe that he was the one on top of the church roof in his long flannel underwear.

It all started when the church voted to get a new steeple. The committee couldn’t decided on what style to get. Aunt Mammie thought we should have a simple lookin’ steeple like the one we had. Then Rosealee ‘n Huey raised their voices in support for a tall, slender steeple with a light that flicked on n’ off that could be seen for miles n’ miles, like a lighthouse beacon. They felt like it would show their great faith in the Lord.

Well, Aunt Sophie was beside herself n’ stood up n’ said, “That‘s just tacky”! After a while, everybody was talkin’ over everybody else n’ nobody heard anybody. All at once, we heard “Amazing Grace”. It was Mama on the piano. One by one we all joined in singin’. By the time that song was over it wasn’t ‘bout the steeple. Folks realized the style of the steeple wasn’t what was important, it was God’s grace!

Great Uncle Ned had been quiet all this time, which was unusual for him. He still wasn’t convinced. Even though he hadn’t said it, he was really hankerin’ for a steeple with a light on it. To prove the impact of how a light on top of the church would look, he decided to sneak out that night ‘n duct tape a great big ole’ flash light to the top of the steeple. He didn’t want to wake up his wife, so he slipped out in his long flannel underwear for fear of makin’ noise if he put on his overalls.

The people across the road from the church happen to look out of their window ‘n saw the light on top of the church ‘n called the Sheriff. The sirens woke up everybody in the community. They all gathered at the church to see what was goin’ on. When the Sheriff shinned his spotlight toward the steeple, it caught Great Uncle Ned in his long flannel drawers in the glare. He threw up his hands ‘n invited everybody up to join him. After the laughter had died down, Great Uncle Ned took the flash light off the steeple ‘n climbed down off the roof. He went over to the preacher ‘n said to him, “Preacher, I guess we don’t need a light on the steeple after all. The light shines from within us.”