I Domino!

I Domino!

All the people will [say], “Amen.”

Deuteronomy 27:15

When I was a young man, we lived on a working farm in East Texas. And when I say “we,” I am talking about my four brothers, my dad, and my bachelor uncle. My mom had died when I was about twelve years old and I had no sisters, so all the men and boys did what we called “batching” together.

In the summertime, while we worked hard in the fields by day, we also went to church meetings a lot at night. In those days, traveling preachers would come through the country and hold two- or three-week gospel meetings. We would build a brush arbor, carry the pews from inside the church building outside where it was cooler, and listen to the preacher every night.

During the week, old Brother Harvey and some of the other older men in the small community would spend a lot of time at the general store, where they would sit around drinking sodas, slapping flies, telling stories, and playing dominoes.

One night they asked Brother Harvey to lead the opening prayer. I was happy, because he was known for his long prayers and I could close my tired eyes and get in a little catnap before he said amen. True to form, Brother Harvey prayed on and on, praising the Lord for most things under the sun and asking him for everything else.

That particular night, Brother Harvey’s prayer went on so long I got my nap over with and woke up. Something funny was going on. Brother Harvey was stuttering around and could not seem to find the words he needed. Everyone in the old arbor was starting to squirm and whisper.

Finally, in total frustration, unable to think of the word amen, Brother Harvey blurted out, “I domino!”

—Clyde Shrode

Dear Lord, thank you for hearing our prayers, even when we don’t always express them very well. We know your Spirit hears our hearts and translates our longings into the words you want to hear. Amen.