Illustration from The Circuit Rider: A Tale of the Heroic Age by Edward Eggleston, depicting a Methodist circuit rider. 1906 – Public domain
When writing a book, I, as do all writers, need to keep the focus on the main story and not slide off into side scenes. Sometimes I see these scenes when I’m editing and sometimes my editor points them out. The scenes and paragraphs of extra information aren’t bad, just not necessary to the story. I don’t want a reader to get bogged down in extra scenes that take away from the push of the story. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like the scenes and extra sentences that I felt deepened the revelation of character or setting. In fact, I like them so much that sometimes I copy them as I edit them out to share later.
These scenes are all about Gordon Covington, who was a circuit riding preacher in the Appalachian Mountains before he established his mission church in Sourwood. If you’ve read The Song of Sourwood Mountain, you’ve already met Gordon and I hope liked him. Gordon was a dedicated preacher with a gentle, loving heart for his congregation. That didn’t mean that some of that congregation didn’t cause him problems at times. One who did was a strong mountain man named Cleo Rayburn who didn’t appreciate a “brought-in” preacher coming in to perhaps steal his own place of leadership and influence over the people of Sourwood.
Here are some of the scenes I cut that mention Gordon and Cleo. Most of them took place or were remembered by Gordon during a church service or shortly thereafter.
Before the school started he would find a way to take Mira back to see Aunt Stella. She knew all about being a preacher’s wife in the Kentucky hill country. Pastor Haskell had blessed Gordon many times since he had come to Sourwood with his wisdom. Were he beside Gordon today, he would be sure to counsel him to remember love, peace, and gentleness when he talked to Cleo after church.
~~
While a few came forward to kneel at the altar bench to pray, no one came to surrender their life to the Lord. Gordon always felt a little let down when no one was saved after he preached as though he hadn’t picked the right words to share the wondrous gift of the Lord’s love. But he could only try to sow the seed. The Lord was the one to open the minds of those listening.
~~
The door closed behind Mira as she left the church and silence surrounded him and Cleo. Gordon usually liked the quiet that fell over the church building after the people left. Most Sundays he lingered a few moments to let that peaceful stillness soak into his spirit. Then he would pray for those who had coveted his prayers and for those who had not. Now, he didn’t feel that peace. Without bending his head, he prayed for a peaceful response to whatever problem Cleo intended to cause for him.
~~
Gordon hadn’t been able to win over Cleo Rayburn’s oldest boy either. Connor liked to play when Gordon got a baseball game going, but he would do anything to keep from losing. He tripped runners or shoved them off bases. He even tried to scoot the rocks they used for bases farther apart for the opposing team and closer for his team.
When Gordon told Connor he couldn’t play if he didn’t abide by the rules, Cleo had shown up with his gun at the next ballgame. Fair play had nothing to do with why he was there. He aimed to make sure Gordon didn’t give his boy any trouble. Gordon felt a target on his back the whole game. Even without the gun, Cleo could make short work of Gordon. Like Gordon, he was tall, but instead of slim as a post, he was built solid and strong. A hurricane wind couldn’t blow him off course or make him change his mind.
At the ballgame that day the Lord must have put a shield around Gordon. When the word got around about Cleo’s behavior, some of the other men or maybe Miss Nicey Jane must have talked Cleo down. To Gordon’s profound relief, the man didn’t show up with his boys after that, and some of the older boys put a stop to the worst of Connor’s antics during their games.
Few preachers are able to win over everyone in a community. Gordon was the same, but he was a good character to get to know as I wrote about him sharing the Gospel with the people in Sourwood.
While I took these scenes out, I was able to share other scenes of Gordon sharing his beliefs. I liked how he helped Ada June, my young orphan girl, realize that she was loved and valued as a child of God as we all are. Here is one of the scenes that didn’t get cut and stayed in the story. Because of her tragic past, Ada June struggled to say anything aloud to anyone.
The preacher said she’d have to talk to the teacher whenever he brought one to Sourwood.
When she told him she wasn’t sure she could, he told her to ask Jesus for help. He said she didn’t have to talk out loud to Jesus, that he heard her whether she spoke the words or not. Jesus knowing what was going on in her head whether she let it out of her mouth or not was sort of scary.
Even though she didn’t admit that out loud, Preacher Gordon seemed to know anyway. He had smiled at her. “Don’t you let that worry you. Nothing you ever think can change how the Lord loves you.”
Gordon was one of the first to find a way to get Ada June to talk to him.
If you’ve met Gordon in my story, what did you like best about him? If you are just now meeting him through my words here, what kind of man do you think he might be?