Why Grandma Cairns stopped going to church.

When I was a boy, my Grandma Cairns (Geneva Cairns, née Bauer) never went to church. She stayed home and made a big Sunday dinner. I ate many of those and they were something only grandmas can do. Once upon a time, she'd gone to the evening service, but that stopped many years ago.

We asked as children why Grandma didn’t go to church, and for years the answer was simply the one I gave above.

We learned as young adults that at some point in the past, before I was born, a pastor at Bethel Baptist Church in Erie said some Christians are like certain flowers that only bloom at night.

Well, Grandma thought he was speaking to her (and he may very well have been) and she stopped going entirely. Grandpa still went, every Sunday, but Grandma stayed home. She was still a sincere Christian, read through the bible every year with Grandpa, but wouldn’t let the old slight pass.

Of course, sometimes our response to a slight becomes more problematic than the offense itself, and that may have been the case with Grandma.

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This is my recollection. If anyone recalls differently, I’d love to be corrected.

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I suspect Grandma was compared to one of these:

10 Lovely Flowers Which Bloom Only At Night >

[2013-12-19]

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