Once Upon a Time...

April 23, 2023

Reflections From the Heart of Allan Redenius
Once upon a time…..  Whenever a story begins with those words, my imagination races ahead of the words I’m about to read.  My mind is full of excitement, just waiting in anticipation of what is about to unfold.  Too, those four words, “Once upon a time,” if I’m telling a story, give me just enough time to make up a tale, some true, some just a figment of my imagination.  Here’s a couple of examples.
 
Once upon a time, there lived across the street an elderly, crotchety, scary kind of a woman.  Always with a look of scorn on her face.  Not the kind of woman with whom you begin a casual conversation.  Rumor was that at one time, she chased her husband with a pitchfork.  I never did see him.  Either he ran away, or maybe, just maybe, she caught up with him.
 
Once upon a time, at the town dump, there was a caretaker of all the refuse.  Upon arrival, he pointed the way to dispose your containers.  Garbage over here, tin here, aluminum over there, iron someplace else.  One day, he had to move a trailer.  He climbed aboard his John Deere B with a hand clutch and backed up to the trailer.  The trailer tongue resting on the draw bar, now where was the steel pin so the trailer could be moved?  The steel pin to join the tractor and trailer was nowhere in sight.  Reasoning that the trailer only needed to be moved a few feet, the fellow stuck his index finger in the hole on the trailer tongue and through the draw bar of the tractor.  Now, with the other hand, he engaged the hand clutch.  Needless to say, the caretaker of the city dump could no longer point to where he wanted your refuse placed!
 
Once upon a time, in the dark of night, I went to feed our dog out in the barn.  (We rented a farmhouse out in the country.)  Poncho was our dog’s name.  As I reached down to retrieve his feeding pan, there was a scurry close by.  Maybe I better turn on the light.  The light chased away the darkness but not the RAT!  A big mane about him, razor sharp, menacing teeth, and a tail long enough to sweep you off your feet.  I froze and began to back away.  To the house I ran.  Back now to see if that lion was still there.  Only this time, a shot gun in my hand.  The lion looked with his evil eye and gritted his teeth one last time. BOOM!  The saga was over.  Victory was mine.  The lion lay dead.  The dog laughed.  The story lives on.
 
Now you are wondering if any of these stories can possibly be true.  I love telling stories.  Especially those that begin with…Once upon a time… 😊

Bringing a smile to your face,
Pastor Allan
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