Remember the revivals they used to have around these parts back
when we were growing up?
I sure do. Back in those days, most churches had at least one
revival each summer, usually in either July or August. We’re not
talking just one night revivals, either - some of these revivals
ran for at least three or four nights, and sometimes even
longer.
The preachers who did these revivals were typically from some of
the other churches in the area. Doing these services gave them a
chance to preach at other locations, and it also gave them the
chance to experience new congregations. Sometimes churches would
be so impressed with a revival preacher that they’d ultimately
ask him to become their pastor. I think, for the preachers,
revivals were a great thing.
For those of us in the congregation, revivals were a mixed
blessing. First, they had them for at least three or four
consecutive nights, and you had to attend each night. That meant
three or more consecutive nights of church services that lasted
two to three hours each night. No matter how you look at it,
that’s an awful lot, even for the most devout among us. Compound
that with the fact that it was summer, typically eighty plus
degrees outside, and you were miserable. And don’t even ask me
about the mosquitoes and gnats. With all the perfume and
aftershave that we had wafting around in the church, we might as
well have put up signs for them and announced that open season
had been declared. I came home with so many red splotches
sometimes that I resembled a human pimple.
The most memorable revival for me was one I attended back around
‘65. It was held at the Juliette Methodist Church, and the
preacher was a guy out of Griffin named the Reverend Sam Krate,
or something like that. I remember sitting next to Tommy
Cochran, and Tommy called him, “the Reverend Sour Kraut.” I
thought that was pretty funny, so that’s how I remember him to
this day.
The Reverend Kraut was a good preacher, and he could talk a blue
streak. The only problem was, the more crowd reaction he got,
the longer he talked. On this particular night he’d gone for a
good two hours, and still hadn’t finished. I was gettin’ pretty
frustrated.
Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one. Ed Jr. was seated to my
right, and my mom was sittin’ just right of him. He’d grimaced
the entire night, and I could tell that he was getting restless.
The Reverend Kraut started talkin’ about Genesis, and this was
the final straw for Ed Jr. He leaned over and whispered, “Noah
could’ve loaded up his ark in the time Reverend Kraut has taken
tonight. Boy, get puny for me, quick.”
I wasn’t real sure what he was talking about. “Puny?” I asked.
“Yeah. Cough a little. I have a plan.”
I figured he was my dad, so I didn’t question him. I proceeded
to cough, then I faked a sneeze that was pretty realistic. After
that, Ed Jr. leaned over and whispered something to my mom.
Then, he looked over at me and muttered,
“Keep lookin’ puny til we get out to the car. Let’s go.”
With that, we all got up and left. On his way out, Ed Jr.
informed the usher that, “...the boy is catchin‘ cold, I gotta
take him home and doctor on him.” With that, we all escaped the
Reverend Kraut, the mosquitoes, and that damp, hot air.
We all rushed home and took cold baths. Ed Jr. finished his
right after I did, and walked in the kitchen. I was already
there, looking for a snack. Ed Jr. walked right up to me, and
said something that was pretty profound,
“Son, revivals are good, but this was just too damn long. Four
straight nights of the Reverend Kraut. You’re gonna find when
you get older that there are lots of good things in the world -
preachin’, religion, good fried chicken, and more. But remember
this - anything, no matter how good it is, can be bad when you
get too much of it. That’s what happened tonight, I’ve had too
much religion for one evening, and my system is out of balance.”
I asked, “Dad, how do you get it back in balance?”
“Son, I think visitin’ Homer Chambliss’ store tomorrow evening
will do that. An hour there, and I‘ll feel like myself again.”
I came away from that understanding what Ed Jr. meant. We’re all
meant to have some balance in our lives, and you can get too
much of anything, even real good things. Maybe that’s why I
still think about those old revivals now - the lessons learned
there were powerful, although you really paid a price for having
learned them...
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