A Brave Man,

[Lloyd Miller]

I have an uncle that lives his life in a place called Cole, Mississippi. Lee Vernon Harris is his name and he is the local Pastor there in Cole. He has held that position for almost thirty years. He's buried the dead, built or rebuilt the local Church a time or two, raised his own family and remained fairly content there in a town of about sixteen thousand people. He's a Southern Baptist. Hellfire and brimstone has been a common theme many a humid Sunday there to an exuberant crowd. Now, out of the population of sixteen thousand, about forty-five hundred are actually members of this church. Out of those, probably twenty-five hundred or so attend regularly. Now, that is huge. Keep in mind this is southern Mississippi, folks are mostly poor, mostly black, and very God-fearing. Reverend Harris is very well respected and loved in this community. That has been the case for a very long time. He knows damn near every body in town by first name, knows the birth dates of their children and has sat at the dinner table a time or two with just damn near everyone in town.
Uncle Vern, as we call him, is a very, very, sharp guy. I mean that he is more intelligent than you might first expect. He has always read everything he could get his hands on and has continued to educate himself on the ways of the world all his life. He and I are pretty close. We have always kept in touch and exchanged news and ideas because, well frankly, we respect each other's smarts. About eight years ago, I had talked him into getting himself a personal computer for his home and hooking himself into the world wide web. He was hooked almost from the start. He could not believe the amount of information that is right at your fingertips, right in the privacy of his own little home in Cole, Mississippi. We have been able to communicate almost daily ever since. He has always enjoyed sharing with me some little tidbit of knowledge that he would pick up and I would always do the same.
About three and a half years ago, I got a strange message from him. He had found a website dedicated to the Science of Evolution. Although, of course he was familiar with the "theory of evolution," he had never read in depth about all the scientific facts surrounding it. I remember him saying just in passing that it was so compelling that he almost questioned his own faith. That was three and a half years ago and I thought little of it after that. he didn't speak of it again and I never asked. That is, until just last February.
Uncle Vern invited me down to Cole for a visit. I am one who loves to up and run and he knows it, so away I went. Seems Uncle Vern never stopped studying Darwin's Theory, He went on to study Cosmic Evolution, the Big Bang Theory, and many other related sciences. He had called me down to Mississippi to tell me that he no longer believed in GOD! Here he is, a lifelong servant of the word. A preacher in a small bible belt town. His faith had left him, completely. He had continued to do his job as long as his heart would allow him. He perform marriages and funerals. He still read the sermons all the way up until he was sure. When I arrived in Cole, his assistants had been performing these tasks for just about three weeks. He wanted to tell me, then make an announcement to his congregation.
(must stop here and finish later today, stay with this story, it's amazing)
There he stood, right up at the pulpit looking out with a kind of nervous smile. The music stopped and uncle Vern spoke into the microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, today I stand before you for what will have to be the last time. I have been fortunate enough to have obtained some information that will prevent me from continuing to deliver the Sunday sermon." He paused. Many of the people watching him looked confused, perhaps concerned. They were in no way prepared for the his next words. I was a bit frightened, but also having a difficult time suppressing a laugh. "I have found out, my fellow citizens of this fine community, that there is no God! I have been wrong, horribly wrong, and I must be moving on." He then walked down from the pulpit, exchanged a few glances, and left the building.
I sat kinda stunned for a minute, watching people react. Nobody got really overexcited, they just kinda whispered to each other. I believe I saw and heard a few folks send up some prayers for my uncle. I will never be that brave, I thought, then I too, left the building.