Caudillo's Corner - April 2008

It was too late. There was no going back in time. A sin of omission. I was a freshman in high school. My pastor for the previous five years had announced that he was leaving for another ministry. Our church had a retreat day at our local church camp to celebrate his ministry. I was busy helping with the preschool children during some of the adult gatherings, and visiting with my friends in between. Lloyd, one of our youth group leaders, gathered some of us students together. “If Pastor Al has meant anything to you, today would be a good time to tell him. Don’t let him leave without expressing your appreciation to him and to his wife.” “Yeah,” I thought to myself. “ I will. I will do it…later.” I got busy corralling the 3 year olds, time flew by and the next thing I knew I was in a van heading down the mountain. “I’ll talk to Pastor Al at church tomorrow morning,” I thought to myself. “It’s his last Sunday.”

It was his last Sunday—the Rev. Allen Brown died early that Sunday morning of a massive heart attack. Needless to say, it was a shock to all of us. Oh, how I regretted not telling him how much he meant to me! It was a very dramatic lesson for a 15 year old. It made a huge impression on me.

Since then I have tried to “keep short accounts” with people—to stay current with loved ones especially. All too often we allow little things to accumulate into bigger barriers that cut off communication and harm our relationship. Is there someone with whom you need to be reconciled? Do we simply assume that we have all the time in the world, or that others just intuitively know how we feel about them? How much better for Pastor Al and for me, had I told him personally how much he meant to me, rather than speaking up at his memorial service!