A Certain Man Had Two Sons . . .

by Reverend Jesse Halsey

A certain man had two sons. And that man was a minister. Now the elder boy said unto his father, “Fain would I follow in thy steps, O my father.” And the father answered and said, “It is a hard road, my son, and uphill.” “Not with thy example before me, my father,” answered the elder. And it came to pass that some moons after that the younger took his journey also to a (or as some judge, the) school of the prophets and there prepared himself for his father’s profession.

And in the course of the seasons he too stood in his own pulpit. And his father and his brother were beside him. And they did there publicly instruct him in the way and in the ordering of his life and in the manner of his ministering.

So it came to pass by night that after the multitude had departed from the place of meeting that the three sat together in the fragrance of the weed and in the presence of good books and communed. And the younger said unto his father, “It was thy word, my father, and thine example in Godliness that compelled me to the ministry of the Word and hath ever constrained me to the following of our Lord.” And the elder brother said, “Amen.”

And the father said, “My reward is with me and His waybefore me.”