Maggie Thornton and Henry Fitzhugh Lee had talked about his abundant black hair and his styling of it … he was considering updating it because his growing resemblance with age to a certain uncle who had been a Confederate general was problematic to him … but he also recognized that the way he looked was attractive to his beloved, and did not want to just change it.
The widow Mrs. Thornton doubled down on her being swiftly and expeditiously remarried by what she said.
“I would welcome you in any style on the front, but if you could just leave the back alone … how would I find you in the Church in the Midst of Life otherwise?”
Captain Lee almost made her his wife that moment … the whole thought of her putting her eyes on and her hands through his hair that refused to retreat … occasionally when washing his hair he had a flash of intense arousal he had to quell at that thought.
But not this day … different environment, different thought processes. Maggie Thornton was gorgeous, but Captain Lee had traveled the world in the 27 years since his first wife's death, and only one woman in all that time had connected with his heart.
And here came Maggie, who came and sat down in the seat prepared for her before the 8:00 service. She knew nothing about the death and the funeral and the journey her fiance had taken (and Captain Lee did know he was going to have to start sharing things like that), but her smile and cheerful “Good morning, Harry!” did much to comfort his broken heart.
There was nothing of that “old socks” aroma around the spirituality of Maggie Thornton. She served in the Church in the Midst of Life with the battered women's ministry and the lunch box ministry, her amazing cooking and interpersonal skills forming a well-loved portion of the Christian love being shown to downtown Big Loft, from its greatest to its least who came through the door looking for her lasagna.
Mrs. Thornton went to the Church in the Midst of Life because of its active Christian orientation, every day of the week … she had grown up in a Catholic church (her maiden name was Milano, and she was ethnically Italian) with a strong service orientation along with seeing her family serving God through serving neighbors around her – not to earn merit as the Roman Catholic Church taught it, but because they had already been blessed so much and had so mach gratitude to God for it that they were happy to share. This was Mrs. Thornton's attitude, and it meant she fit right in at the Church the Midst of Life.
Mrs. Thornton had gotten Captain Lee back inside a church building for the first time in 27 years … early on, when he had begun to be interested in her, he had observed that she always went to early service, and so he had slipped in at the back and just observed.
Not that this was an average church building. Rev. Gordon and Rev. Baxter had asked for a building downtown to minister to the people there, and the Lord had given them an entire corner upon which a skyscraper had been taken down … a rather complex matter of bad construction and dozens of lawsuits … a long story that had led to the Church in the Midst of Life being on one of Big Loft's busiest downtown corners with something that looked more like an event center than a church, having events every day.
The main event? Christian worship, witness, fellowship, and outreach every day of the week from 6:00pm in the morning to 10:00pm at night. The services at 8:00 and 12:00 happened every day, and all other times various ministries were operating and people were available to meet with and show the love of God to all who came through. Captain Lee himself was made very much at home by the greeting and welcome he received, and the sermon from Rev. Baxter that day squared up with Scripture perfectly. So too the testimonies of the people going there to worship and to work, every day of the week.
Captain Lee still did not come out every Sunday, still preferring private and small worship settings outdoors when possible. “Creation is my cathedral,” he often said … but it was December, and it was cold, and Mrs. Thornton was very warm, and so was her church. A good sermon, good singing, and then some good time serving those who would come along later, beside her … it was just what he needed that day, to transition from his anguish of soul in losing a mentor.
Image by Andrea Schmidt from Pixabay
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