211207 Sentinel, THIS OOZED OUT OF MY BRAIN THIS MORNING

I am no preacher, so don't think that's what I am trying to be here.

As I read this post that came to me as I had breakfast this morning, parts of it sound like something a preacher might think or say and parts a preacher would never say.

This is a true story that and it is not intended to influence anyone. I am simply relaying my thoughts this morning.
I was having my breakfast when this memory came to mind. My dad was a regular church goer long ago and a believer in God as was my grandfather. I always went to church with grandpa because he got to church on time, where dad was always late getting there. Mom quit going because she had grandma to take care of and by the time grandma passed away, mom had babies to take care of so she never went to church then or ever after.

This was my dad in the early seventies.

Dad lost his faith sometime after I left home, not that my leaving had anything to do with that. Even after he stopped going to church he always said grace in silence before a meal for the rest of his life. When we had all of the kids at home, dad wanted them to know how to say grace before meals. He would pick one or another to say the blessing. None of them would say the prayer out loud even though they were quite vocal about everything else. They would sit like a stone statue and wait. After each one declined, dad would look at me and then I would say grace. Once I left home, I never said grace for decades and I too left church, or as I say, “Church left me.”

For some unknown reason since Joyce has passed, I’ve begun to say grace before my meals again. I have no idea why. Maybe it’s because the Lord and I have gotten closer together since then. I will never go to church again, but I still believe and follow what Jesus said: “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men … but when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen.” I believe that a man can be a good Christian and not be a church goer.