The Turning Word

Sometimes you have to speak

I was talking with a friend and colleague who is a United Methodist pastor.

The subject came to sermons, and what length a sermon might best be.

He told me of a visit to the abbey of Gethsemane in Kentucky. It’s perhaps most famous as Thomas Merton’s monastic community.

While a Methodist he was on retreat there. During one of the services he noticed how a brother took the pulpit to share a word. My friend found the message compelling and leaned in to listen more closely. And then abruptly, he ended. It felt as if the brother stopped mid-sentence.