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The Rising

–Short Stories, Poetry, Storytelling, And Photography

The Ghost Rider Series – Chapter Four

The morning fog was coming in from the marshes, heavy, thick, and limited visibility on the back road to the old church.  After another night dreaming deeply of Peter sitting by Heaven’s Gate smiling and shaking his head, telling me I still had work to do, I knew I had to have coffee and work so I could shake the night from my mind.

It was difficult riding down the narrow dirt road, the truck bouncing and the fog laying low, so it was hard to see the trees just a few feet off the side of the road.  I could hear the preacher hammering and cutting boards.  I finally made the clearing and was surprised to see scaffolding rising from the front of the church.  Blake was already there sitting with the preacher and between the two the steeple was rising higher and higher as they added boards.

I grabbed the thermos of hot coffee and met them at the tent where the sketch of the steeple was spread on a table made of sawhorses and plywood.  I asked the preacher what his name was, and he said, “John, they used to call me Deacon John and now most folks call me preacher.” We heard people coming down the road, dozens with hammers, saws, mallets, paint, and everything needed to raise the steeple high in the sky.

The day grew long, the work hard, the fellowship inspiring and the spirit touching all of us.  People were bringing food, the choir stood near the graveyard and sang, people pulled out guitars, fiddles, and snare drums.  The crowd swelled and became a congregation of hope, the hope that come Sunday they would have a service here near the Glynn Marsh. Their steeple would reach high, and the church bells would ring loudly calling all to hear the preacher, a single soul believing that he could raise the steeple, and indeed he did.

I slowly headed toward my truck, thanking people along the way for helping.  My day over and a joy filled my heart, my hope tonight would be to keep Heaven’s Gate out of my dreams as I still had more to do.

Read more: 

The Lost Highways | BIZCATALYST 360°

Heaven’s Gate | BIZCATALYST 360°

The Steeple | BIZCATALYST 360°

 

Larry Tyler
Larry Tyler
Awaken the possibilities … then unleash them. After 55 years of successful retail management, I have returned to my passion of writing. I write Poetry, Storytelling, and Short Stories. As a child, I grew up on front porch storytelling. I would sit and listen to my Dad and his brothers tell these great stories that were captivating, and I always wanted to hear more. I wanted to experience the things they talked about. I started writing at a young age and reading everything I could get my hands on. At twelve years old I started a storytelling group and several of my friends became writers or poets. At 16 I hopped box cars and worked the tobacco fields, orange groves, picked cotton, and spent many nights around a campfire listing to life stories. Someone once asked me why I wrote. It consumes an amazing amount of time and I assure you it is not going to make me rich. I write so that my children can touch and feel my words telling of the ones that came before us and the stories they told me. These are the chronicles of our family and even though they come from my childhood memories and are deeply rooted in a child’s remembrance at least they may feel what it was like in the time before them and cherish the things the elders left behind. I am a Columnist & Featured Contributor, BIZCATALYST360 and I have The Writers Café, a group on LinkedIn that features Poets, Writers, Artists, Photographers, and Musicians . On Facebook I have two groups and one page; Dirt Road Storytelling, From Abandoned To Rescue Dogs And Cats, and About Life, Love And Living. As writers, it is true that we honestly do not know what we hold within us until we unleash it. When our words inspire others only then will inspiration return to the writer. I will spend my twilight years in search of the next story, the next poem, and the next image. I will take the time to enjoy my Wife, our Dogs, and Cats, and our amazing new home and I will always find the time to walk down a dirt road I truly hope is that I never have to read another book on Leadership, be on a conference call or see another plan o gram as these were the tool for what I did in life and not about who I am.

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