Today the first Sunday school lesson’s scripture was: Jesus read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted” Luke: 4:18 (KJV). This lesson developed into the most important of the day as Mitch asked if we had ever been brokenhearted. Viney had earlier related to the class how he had been abandoned in his youth by his family. He went to the store, and when he returned home they had all left. Today he told us of a second tragedy in his life. He said one day the police arrived where he was working. He turned and noticed that one of the police officers was pointing him out, indicating to the other officer who was to be the recipient of the news. Viney knew then that something bad must have happened. The officer told him that his wife and two children had been killed in an automobile accident. This led Viney to have several nervous breakdowns. He recovered after “going to the mountain.” He lit a campfire on a mountain, and some people from a monastery further up the mountain noticed his campfire, went down, and invited him up to stay with them. He recovered his health cleaning “pity pots” (dirty pots) in the kitchen with a wire scrubber. They told him that job was especially effective for those feeling sorry for themselves. He said the hard work helped him. At the end of class as usual Mitch asked if anyone would like to have the closing prayer. When no one immediately responded, he asked Viney if he would have it. Viney said he couldn’t give a good prayer. Mitch said he didn’t ask for a good prayer, he had asked if he wanted to pray. Viney then closed Sunday school with a short prayer from the heart.
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