I picked up a book at a Vintage fair just before Christmas. It was a slim little volume, written by Bud Robinson, who was born in 1860 into a family of seven children, all living in a tiny, windowless, dirt-floored log cabin in the hills of Tennessee. His father was a mean drunkard who owned a still and sold whiskey like everyone else in those hills.
But this young boy would see his mother pray, dance, and sing songs of praise in the woods when she thought no one was looking. That was her worship as there was no church or school for miles. The Civil War came and went before Bud was old enough to shoot a gun, and he didn’t learn to read until he was 30—at a seminary. Oh, and he stuttered.
I’ll skip the man’s tumultuous holy conversion. Suffice it to say it was one of those things that you’ll never hear of today. Said Bud, “This great salvation is knowable, enjoyable, and livable, but not explainable.” But, this autobiography, is not just about the man: It is a stark education about how people lived, loved, sacrificed, and found joy in dire poverty 150 years ago.
Bud became a Methodist preacher. In his first four years of ministry, he made a total of $16. He would travel days to preach. He kept a log, and each year would have prayed in hundreds of homes, and preached as many sermons. He traveled on a little donkey. If no one invited him home after a service, he would go without food, sleep under a tree, and preach again the next day. Then he’d return home to plow, plant crops, and care for his widowed mother and younger siblings.
I wonder how many of our pastors and priests today would choose the pulpit if they had to sacrifice every possible comfort? But we who sit in the pews are no different. As I read this book, I was warm and comfortable in my bed, with soft sheets, a down comforter, and an electric lamp within arm’s reach.
This man would study the Bible by moonlight, lying on the ground at night, because work filled his days, and there was no money for candles or lamp oil. I find this book to be nothing short of a challenge: Who are we and what are we made of? To what lengths would we go to spread the Word and care for others if we had to sacrifice virtually every comfort and resource we had?
After a little digging, I found out that Pastor Robinson was a bigger deal than his humble little book revealed. This uneducated country boy is estimated to have traveled more than two million miles, preached more than thirty thousand sermons, and personally converted more than 100,000 people.
Are we as strong today? Are we as willing? As dedicated to our faith?
God, I hope so,
Nancy
Read more about the man here.
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