Peace Came
Stories
Object:
Contents
A Story to Live By: "Peace Came"
Sharing Visions: "Overcome with Amazement" by Jean Hodge
Good Stories: "The Birth of the Song 'Precious Lord'" by Thomas A. Dorsey
Scrap Pile: "The Dying Woman Didn't Die"
New Book Released
Dear StoryShare Friends,
When I was collecting stories for the first book in the Vision series and I came to this week's Gospel text about Jesus raising a little girl from the dead, I thought that I would never be able to a find a "really happened" story about someone raising the dead. Then I heard about Jean Hodge. Jean is the widow of a pastor who was well known for praying over a man who had been pronounced dead. The man revived and lived for over a week. The medical staff members at the hospital were dumbfounded. They had witnessed the impossible. There was no explaining it away. The man had been clearly dead. Many people came to Christ as a result of witnessing this miracle.
Do you know any "really happened" miracle stories? Send them to us at jsumwalt@naspa.net.
John Sumwalt
A Story to Live By
Peace Came
Elaine Emeth was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She said her body, mind, and spirit rattled with fear and grief. She begged God for answers. "How can I live my life not knowing if I can trust my body?"
And then she had a dream of a huge, magnificent horse, and a terrifying ride ... almost flying through woods, over mountains, and through valleys unable to see ...
She began to remember that the horse knew the path, had traveled it safely many times before. She began to trust ... and gradually entered communion with the dream animal. She understood that it was Christ, she said, "our minds linked. I knew his thoughts and he knew mine -- and I experienced joy in the ride, in the oneness. Peace came without my being able to see."
-- from Weavings magazine, Winter, 2002
Sharing Visions
Overcome with Amazement
by Jean Hodge
... he said to them, "Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!" And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement.
Mark 5:39b-42
Pastor Tom Hodge was about to leave his office to go home for supper when he received word that one of his members was in the hospital and was not expected to live. He called his wife, Jean, to tell her he was going to be late, and set out for the hospital. When he arrived he found the man's family crying and embracing each other in the corridor outside the room. The doctor had just announced to them that their loved one had died.
Pastor Hodge asked if he could go into the room. There were several more members of the family gathered around the bed. He said to them, "Any of you who don't know the Lord, you leave this room." Then he went over to the bed, laid his hands on the man, and prayed. The man opened his eyes and looked up. The family was elated and the hospital staff were amazed.
The man lived for about a week before he became ill again. This time the Lord took him home for good. But in that week of extra life he received the Lord as his personal savior. And many who witnessed this miracle also gave their lives to Christ.
On another occasion a couple came to Pastor Hodge with a baby that was not expected to live. The child had a bowel obstruction for which nothing could be done in those days. The pastor took the baby in his arms and prayed for healing. The couple called later with great excitement to report that the child's bowels had moved and he would be all right.
Tom Hodge served Assembly of God churches for over fifty years in West Bend, Hartford, and Mather, Wisconsin, and in Ishpeming, Michigan. He died in 1998. His wife, Mrs. Jean Hodge, is over ninety and now lives in a retirement home near West Bend. Jean tells how her husband has sometimes appeared to her in bed at night. She said, "One night he came to me, put his hand on my shoulder, and when I went to put my hand on his hand, and his hand slipped away. I just couldn't get over it because he was right there, and he smiled at me. He was comforting me. I felt so elated. It was just so wonderful. I know he is with the Lord."
Good Stories
The Birth of the Song "Precious Lord, Take My Hand"
by Thomas A. Dorsey
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
Psalm 130:1-2
Back in 1932 I was 32 years old and a fairly new husband. My wife, Nettie, and I were living in a little apartment on Chicago's south side. One hot August afternoon I had to go to St. Louis, where I was to be the featured soloist at a large revival meeting.
I didn't want to go. Nettie was in the last month of pregnancy with our first child. But a lot of people were expecting me in St. Louis. I kissed Nettie good-bye, clattered downstairs to our Model A, and, in a fresh Lake Michigan breeze, chugged out of Chicago on Route 66.
However, outside the city, I discovered that in my anxiety at leaving, I had forgotten my music case. I wheeled around and headed back. I found Nettie sleeping peacefully. I hesitated by her bed; something was strongly telling me to stay. But eager to get on my way, and not wanting to disturb Nettie, I shrugged off the feeling and quietly slipped out of the room with my music.
The next night, in the steaming St. Louis heat, the crowd called on me to sing again and again. When I finally sat down, a messenger boy ran up with a Western Union telegram. I ripped open the envelope.
Pasted on the yellow sheet were the words "YOUR WIFE JUST DIED."
People were happily singing and clapping around me, but I could hardly keep from crying out. I rushed to a phone and called home. All I could hear on the other end was "Nettie is dead. Nettie is dead."
When I got back, I learned that Nettie had given birth to a boy. I swung between grief and joy. Yet that night, the baby died. I buried Nettie and our little boy together, in the same casket. Then I fell apart.
For days I closeted myself. I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn't want to serve Him any more or write gospel songs. I just wanted to go back to that jazz world I once knew so well. But then, as I hunched alone in that dark apartment those first sad days, I thought back to the afternoon I went to St. Louis. Something kept telling me to stay with Nettie.
Was that something God? Oh, if I had paid more attention to Him that day, I would have stayed and been with Nettie when she died. From that moment on I vowed to listen more closely to Him. But still I was lost in grief.
Everyone was kind to me, especially a friend, Professor Frye, who seemed to know what I needed. On the following Saturday evening he took me up to a neighborhood music school. It was quiet; the late evening sun crept through the curtained windows. I sat down at the piano, and my hands began to browse over the keys.
Something happened to me then. I felt at peace. I felt as though I could reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody, one into my head -- it just seemed to fall into place:
Precious Lord, take my hand,
Lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn,
Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the light,
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.
As the Lord gave me these words and melody, He also healed my spirit. I learned that when we are in our deepest grief, when we feel farthest from God, this is when He is closest, and when we are most open to His restoring power. And so I go on living for God willingly and joyfully, until that day comes when He will take me and gently lead me home.
Thomas A. Dorsey is probably the seminal figure in the creation of the black gospel music genre -- and should NOT be confused with the popular big band leader. A prolific and versatile composer whose material shifted easily from energetic hard gospel to gossamer hymns, Dorsey penned many of the best-known songs in the gospel canon, and he was also a pioneering force in the renowned Chicago gospel community, where he helped launch the careers of legends including Mahalia Jackson and Sallie Martin. Dorsey had a moderately successful career during the 1920s as a jazz and blues musician, but by 1930 he renounced secular music to devote all of his talents to the church circuit. During the 1930s, Dorsey's songs became enormously popular, not only among black churchgoers but also among white Southerners; by 1939, even the leading white gospel publishers were anthologizing his music. That year, he composed "Peace in the Valley"; although written for Mahalia Jackson, its greatest success was in the white market -- both Elvis Presley and Red Foley, among others, scored major hits with the song. Dorsey remained among the most revered figures in spiritual music until his death on January 23, 1993. If you ever get a chance to see the mid-1980s documentary Say Amen, Somebody, you should do so -- it's a wonderfully joyful celebration of traditional black gospel music, and one of the film's central figures is a vital, octogenarian Thomas Dorsey.
Click here for a more detailed account of Dorsey's career:
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/artistbio.asp?userid=2TS3SUIC2H&c...
Scrap Pile
The Dying Woman Didn't Die
Heather Murray Elkins, in her wonderful book Worshiping Women: Re-Forming God's People For Praise (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), tells of a time when she was a new pastor and she hadn't even begun to unpack the boxes in the parsonage living room when a phone call came from the hospital. Someone's mother is in intensive care in critical condition. The 80-year-old woman "... belongs but does not attend church, and has children who are Roman Catholic." She is a small woman, Heather writes, "... and made smaller by the tubes, trays, and screens. I say her name again, then start the Lord's Prayer. Her lips move, but no sound. I name her again and ask if she wants communion. I read the slight pressure of her fingers as assent and begin to prepare her 'Last Supper.'"
When she is finished serving the woman Heather goes to find her family, only to discover that they are angry with her for giving the sacrament to their mother. Soon the word was out all over the community and Heather says, "I had, depending on the source, either committed a mortal sin or performed a miracle. The woman whom I had led to the bedside table had never walked to an altar in the memory of the community. What I assumed would stir old memories had broken the habits of a lifetime of restraint. To some... I had force-fed a dying woman and threatened her salvation. To others, I had offered their beloved friend and mother the bread of life. To the inscrutable will and whimsy of God belonged the verdict. The dying woman didn't die. She recovers. She recovers her appetite and then her energy. She returns home and then returns to church. She refuses to use the handicapped entrance, preferring to go hand over hand up the steep stairs. She sits in the notoriously empty front pew, close, very close to the table. Whatever crippling sense of unworthiness she has suffered is gone. Whatever has divided her from the body of Christ has disappeared. She believes, as few do, in the real presence of Christ." (pp. 68-70)
**********************************************
New Book Released
I am happy to report that the second volume in the vision series, Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences [link to 0-7880-1970-8], is now available from CSS Publishing Company. You can see what the book looks like by going to the home page of the CSS website (http://www.csspub.com/). Then click on the cover of the book to get more information.
The 85 contributing authors include the Canadian writer Ralph Milton, author of Julian's Cell; singers Kerri Sherwood, Cheryl Kirking, and Lee Domann; professor Linda J. Vogel of Garrett-Evangelical Seminary; and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the movie The Sound of Music. Rosmarie also has a wonderful story in Vision Stories [link to 0-7880-1896-5].
I did a Sharing Visions [link to 0-7880-1970-8] signing last month for CSS at the annual Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit in suburban Chicago. There were bookstore owners there from all over the United States and Canada. Many people were excited about the book and glad to see that there was a second volume. I heard several wonderful vision stories from booksellers as I walked around and talked to people before the signing. Those stories will be in the third volume, which will be released next May. If you have any stories to share of your personal experience of the holy, please send them to jsumwalt@naspa.net.
Praise For Sharing Visions
Bishop Richard Wilke, creator of the Disciple Bible Study series, writes: "I am rejoicing as I read the testimonies in Sharing Visions. What an inspiration! I recall my father, an unemotional man, telling me that his mother (who had died some years before) appeared to him in a dream and gave him counsel on a difficult decision he was wrestling with."
To learn more about John and Jo Sumwalt, visit their church website: http://www.waumc.org/. Click on "staff" for bios and photos.
StoryShare, June 29, 2003, issue.
Copyright 2003 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
A Story to Live By: "Peace Came"
Sharing Visions: "Overcome with Amazement" by Jean Hodge
Good Stories: "The Birth of the Song 'Precious Lord'" by Thomas A. Dorsey
Scrap Pile: "The Dying Woman Didn't Die"
New Book Released
Dear StoryShare Friends,
When I was collecting stories for the first book in the Vision series and I came to this week's Gospel text about Jesus raising a little girl from the dead, I thought that I would never be able to a find a "really happened" story about someone raising the dead. Then I heard about Jean Hodge. Jean is the widow of a pastor who was well known for praying over a man who had been pronounced dead. The man revived and lived for over a week. The medical staff members at the hospital were dumbfounded. They had witnessed the impossible. There was no explaining it away. The man had been clearly dead. Many people came to Christ as a result of witnessing this miracle.
Do you know any "really happened" miracle stories? Send them to us at jsumwalt@naspa.net.
John Sumwalt
A Story to Live By
Peace Came
Elaine Emeth was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She said her body, mind, and spirit rattled with fear and grief. She begged God for answers. "How can I live my life not knowing if I can trust my body?"
And then she had a dream of a huge, magnificent horse, and a terrifying ride ... almost flying through woods, over mountains, and through valleys unable to see ...
She began to remember that the horse knew the path, had traveled it safely many times before. She began to trust ... and gradually entered communion with the dream animal. She understood that it was Christ, she said, "our minds linked. I knew his thoughts and he knew mine -- and I experienced joy in the ride, in the oneness. Peace came without my being able to see."
-- from Weavings magazine, Winter, 2002
Sharing Visions
Overcome with Amazement
by Jean Hodge
... he said to them, "Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!" And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement.
Mark 5:39b-42
Pastor Tom Hodge was about to leave his office to go home for supper when he received word that one of his members was in the hospital and was not expected to live. He called his wife, Jean, to tell her he was going to be late, and set out for the hospital. When he arrived he found the man's family crying and embracing each other in the corridor outside the room. The doctor had just announced to them that their loved one had died.
Pastor Hodge asked if he could go into the room. There were several more members of the family gathered around the bed. He said to them, "Any of you who don't know the Lord, you leave this room." Then he went over to the bed, laid his hands on the man, and prayed. The man opened his eyes and looked up. The family was elated and the hospital staff were amazed.
The man lived for about a week before he became ill again. This time the Lord took him home for good. But in that week of extra life he received the Lord as his personal savior. And many who witnessed this miracle also gave their lives to Christ.
On another occasion a couple came to Pastor Hodge with a baby that was not expected to live. The child had a bowel obstruction for which nothing could be done in those days. The pastor took the baby in his arms and prayed for healing. The couple called later with great excitement to report that the child's bowels had moved and he would be all right.
Tom Hodge served Assembly of God churches for over fifty years in West Bend, Hartford, and Mather, Wisconsin, and in Ishpeming, Michigan. He died in 1998. His wife, Mrs. Jean Hodge, is over ninety and now lives in a retirement home near West Bend. Jean tells how her husband has sometimes appeared to her in bed at night. She said, "One night he came to me, put his hand on my shoulder, and when I went to put my hand on his hand, and his hand slipped away. I just couldn't get over it because he was right there, and he smiled at me. He was comforting me. I felt so elated. It was just so wonderful. I know he is with the Lord."
Good Stories
The Birth of the Song "Precious Lord, Take My Hand"
by Thomas A. Dorsey
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
Psalm 130:1-2
Back in 1932 I was 32 years old and a fairly new husband. My wife, Nettie, and I were living in a little apartment on Chicago's south side. One hot August afternoon I had to go to St. Louis, where I was to be the featured soloist at a large revival meeting.
I didn't want to go. Nettie was in the last month of pregnancy with our first child. But a lot of people were expecting me in St. Louis. I kissed Nettie good-bye, clattered downstairs to our Model A, and, in a fresh Lake Michigan breeze, chugged out of Chicago on Route 66.
However, outside the city, I discovered that in my anxiety at leaving, I had forgotten my music case. I wheeled around and headed back. I found Nettie sleeping peacefully. I hesitated by her bed; something was strongly telling me to stay. But eager to get on my way, and not wanting to disturb Nettie, I shrugged off the feeling and quietly slipped out of the room with my music.
The next night, in the steaming St. Louis heat, the crowd called on me to sing again and again. When I finally sat down, a messenger boy ran up with a Western Union telegram. I ripped open the envelope.
Pasted on the yellow sheet were the words "YOUR WIFE JUST DIED."
People were happily singing and clapping around me, but I could hardly keep from crying out. I rushed to a phone and called home. All I could hear on the other end was "Nettie is dead. Nettie is dead."
When I got back, I learned that Nettie had given birth to a boy. I swung between grief and joy. Yet that night, the baby died. I buried Nettie and our little boy together, in the same casket. Then I fell apart.
For days I closeted myself. I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn't want to serve Him any more or write gospel songs. I just wanted to go back to that jazz world I once knew so well. But then, as I hunched alone in that dark apartment those first sad days, I thought back to the afternoon I went to St. Louis. Something kept telling me to stay with Nettie.
Was that something God? Oh, if I had paid more attention to Him that day, I would have stayed and been with Nettie when she died. From that moment on I vowed to listen more closely to Him. But still I was lost in grief.
Everyone was kind to me, especially a friend, Professor Frye, who seemed to know what I needed. On the following Saturday evening he took me up to a neighborhood music school. It was quiet; the late evening sun crept through the curtained windows. I sat down at the piano, and my hands began to browse over the keys.
Something happened to me then. I felt at peace. I felt as though I could reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody, one into my head -- it just seemed to fall into place:
Precious Lord, take my hand,
Lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn,
Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the light,
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.
As the Lord gave me these words and melody, He also healed my spirit. I learned that when we are in our deepest grief, when we feel farthest from God, this is when He is closest, and when we are most open to His restoring power. And so I go on living for God willingly and joyfully, until that day comes when He will take me and gently lead me home.
Thomas A. Dorsey is probably the seminal figure in the creation of the black gospel music genre -- and should NOT be confused with the popular big band leader. A prolific and versatile composer whose material shifted easily from energetic hard gospel to gossamer hymns, Dorsey penned many of the best-known songs in the gospel canon, and he was also a pioneering force in the renowned Chicago gospel community, where he helped launch the careers of legends including Mahalia Jackson and Sallie Martin. Dorsey had a moderately successful career during the 1920s as a jazz and blues musician, but by 1930 he renounced secular music to devote all of his talents to the church circuit. During the 1930s, Dorsey's songs became enormously popular, not only among black churchgoers but also among white Southerners; by 1939, even the leading white gospel publishers were anthologizing his music. That year, he composed "Peace in the Valley"; although written for Mahalia Jackson, its greatest success was in the white market -- both Elvis Presley and Red Foley, among others, scored major hits with the song. Dorsey remained among the most revered figures in spiritual music until his death on January 23, 1993. If you ever get a chance to see the mid-1980s documentary Say Amen, Somebody, you should do so -- it's a wonderfully joyful celebration of traditional black gospel music, and one of the film's central figures is a vital, octogenarian Thomas Dorsey.
Click here for a more detailed account of Dorsey's career:
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/artistbio.asp?userid=2TS3SUIC2H&c...
Scrap Pile
The Dying Woman Didn't Die
Heather Murray Elkins, in her wonderful book Worshiping Women: Re-Forming God's People For Praise (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), tells of a time when she was a new pastor and she hadn't even begun to unpack the boxes in the parsonage living room when a phone call came from the hospital. Someone's mother is in intensive care in critical condition. The 80-year-old woman "... belongs but does not attend church, and has children who are Roman Catholic." She is a small woman, Heather writes, "... and made smaller by the tubes, trays, and screens. I say her name again, then start the Lord's Prayer. Her lips move, but no sound. I name her again and ask if she wants communion. I read the slight pressure of her fingers as assent and begin to prepare her 'Last Supper.'"
When she is finished serving the woman Heather goes to find her family, only to discover that they are angry with her for giving the sacrament to their mother. Soon the word was out all over the community and Heather says, "I had, depending on the source, either committed a mortal sin or performed a miracle. The woman whom I had led to the bedside table had never walked to an altar in the memory of the community. What I assumed would stir old memories had broken the habits of a lifetime of restraint. To some... I had force-fed a dying woman and threatened her salvation. To others, I had offered their beloved friend and mother the bread of life. To the inscrutable will and whimsy of God belonged the verdict. The dying woman didn't die. She recovers. She recovers her appetite and then her energy. She returns home and then returns to church. She refuses to use the handicapped entrance, preferring to go hand over hand up the steep stairs. She sits in the notoriously empty front pew, close, very close to the table. Whatever crippling sense of unworthiness she has suffered is gone. Whatever has divided her from the body of Christ has disappeared. She believes, as few do, in the real presence of Christ." (pp. 68-70)
**********************************************
New Book Released
I am happy to report that the second volume in the vision series, Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences [link to 0-7880-1970-8], is now available from CSS Publishing Company. You can see what the book looks like by going to the home page of the CSS website (http://www.csspub.com/). Then click on the cover of the book to get more information.
The 85 contributing authors include the Canadian writer Ralph Milton, author of Julian's Cell; singers Kerri Sherwood, Cheryl Kirking, and Lee Domann; professor Linda J. Vogel of Garrett-Evangelical Seminary; and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the movie The Sound of Music. Rosmarie also has a wonderful story in Vision Stories [link to 0-7880-1896-5].
I did a Sharing Visions [link to 0-7880-1970-8] signing last month for CSS at the annual Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit in suburban Chicago. There were bookstore owners there from all over the United States and Canada. Many people were excited about the book and glad to see that there was a second volume. I heard several wonderful vision stories from booksellers as I walked around and talked to people before the signing. Those stories will be in the third volume, which will be released next May. If you have any stories to share of your personal experience of the holy, please send them to jsumwalt@naspa.net.
Praise For Sharing Visions
Bishop Richard Wilke, creator of the Disciple Bible Study series, writes: "I am rejoicing as I read the testimonies in Sharing Visions. What an inspiration! I recall my father, an unemotional man, telling me that his mother (who had died some years before) appeared to him in a dream and gave him counsel on a difficult decision he was wrestling with."
To learn more about John and Jo Sumwalt, visit their church website: http://www.waumc.org/. Click on "staff" for bios and photos.
StoryShare, June 29, 2003, issue.
Copyright 2003 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
