Page 67 of Share with Me

Chapter Twenty-Two

On Sunday morning, it wasn’t lost on Brinley that Seaside Chapel was constructed to look like a little country church by the sea, complete with a cross on top of the steeple and a garden out in the back, a photographer’s paradise with a meandering boardwalk leading to a pavilion and the beach where Seaside Chapel had conducted many weddings in the years the church had been in existence.

For some reason Aunt Ella wanted to get to the church service early. Reluctantly, Brinley pulled into the parking lot, thinking the entire time that she had had too much church this weekend. Yet she was happy that Aunt Ella was pleased she had obliged her. The church website didn’t say how long the service would last, only when it began: 11:00 a.m.

The front entrance of the church was easy to find, unlike the Fellowship Hall tucked away in a separate building adjacent to the church. God must be smiling down on them because when Brinley coasted to the front entrance, greeters pointed her toward an empty parking spot markedVisitorright around the fountain, close enough for Aunt Ella to walk in.Score!

The oblique morning sun came into the sanctuary through the open French doors. The sunlight rested where the ushers seated them in the last row. They would have sat closer to the front if not for Aunt Ella’s complaining about the long walk down the aisle. When Aunt Ella spent a considerable time looking around, Brinley realized that the reason her great-aunt had wanted to sit in the back was to spot a certain someone inside the church.

Might it be a certain elderly gentleman with the dashing walking stick?

The pipe organ began to play a medley of Christmas carols as the congregation filled up the pews flanked by stained-glass windows that looked older than the church, and painted French doors here and there. Between doors and windows were fresh wreaths with simple red ribbons reminding everyone that Christmas was still around the corner.

Next to her, Aunt Ella’s face brightened considerably.

“Saw him?” Brinley asked.

“He’s over there.” Badly applied pinkish nail polish was splattered on Aunt Ella’s nails as she pointed with tremulous fingers.

Ha! What did I say?

Brinley couldn’t see anyone she recognized, but she peered anyway.

That pleased Aunt Ella to no end. “I hope he sayshelloto me after the service.”

“If not, we’ll go find him.” Brinley hid her grin in the bulletin.

The program listed all the hymns they were going to sing this morning plus special music by ensembles and trios and the choir and such. She recognized many Christmas hymns she had sung since childhood and around the fireplace at Christmas time with Grandpa Brooks. Too bad she never knew Grandma Brooks. She had passed away when Dad was young.

The welcome message and announcements dispensed with, the platform cleared for an ensemble.

A string quintet!

Brinley’s heart skipped a beat when she saw Ivan McMillan among the violinists and viola players. A cellist and harpist were in chairs and Brinley could only see the tops of their heads from where she was sitting. The church floor sloped to the front, so even the back pews could see the people on the platform, but not by much. With Ivan being tall, he was hard to miss.

“O Holy Night” resonated throughout the entire sanctuary.

Pretty good acoustics in this little place.

Aunt Ella was singing along with the instrumental arrangement of the Christmas carol. Pretty soon, Brinley was joining in, humming the nineteenth-century hymn.

His law is love and His gospel is peace…

The tune was still ringing in Brinley’s ears later on in the service when Pastor Tom Gonzalez stepped up to the podium to deliver his sermon. First thing he did was to ask everyone to turn to John 3:17. Brinley found it on her iPhone. It was the verse after John 3:16, which Yun had shared with her on Friday.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

She followed the words as Pastor Gonzalez read John 3:17 with his expected pastoral gravity.

“‘For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.’ If you miss anything else I say this morning, don’t miss what God says.”

When the sermon finished and everyone stood up to sing another Christmas carol, Brinley was still thinking of one phrase that Pastor Gonzalez had repeated in his sermon.

Not condemnation, but salvation.

She recalled what Yun had said about Grandpa Brooks.

If he had believed in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, he is in heaven today.

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