Dr. Barry Bailey tells...
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Dr. Barry Bailey tells that he once visited a couple who had expressed an interest in joining the church he served. As the conversation progressed, Dr. Bailey sensed a strange uneasiness. In a while, the woman turned to her husband and said, “I'm going to tell Dr. Bailey the truth about our family.” The husband appeared startled, but made no protest. “This is eating my heart out,” she said. “Although my husband and son live in the same house, they have not spoken to each other for seven years.” She pointed toward the hallway. “Just look at the hallway over there. It's an average-sized hall, but they pass each other in it several times a day, barely brush against each other, and never speak.”
The mother then explained that the son wanted to speak to his father and had tried numerous times, only to be ignored. Dr. Bailey turned to the man and asked, “What did you get angry about?” The reply was, “Oh, I don't know now; the incident was so trivial I hardly remember it. I swore I'd never speak to him again, and I'm a man of my word.” Dr. Bailey responded, “I'm going to tell you one thing; as long as you feel the way you do, you'll not join a church while I am minister.”
It took some time, but the pieces were put together again. Barry Bailey had served as a mediator, restoring a relationship that had been broken.
-- Powell
