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3. Preaching
- University of Wisconsin Press
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II. Chapter 3 Preaching Plum Falls, New York July 1850 I ncrease Joseph's recovery was nothing less than miraculous. Not only did his ability to speak return, but his voice was now deeper and more powerful. Words seemed to flow off his lips like melt water from a spring thaw. Before his near fatal accident, he seldom spoke, now he never stopped. He gave orations to the horses as they worked the fields. He talked to the cows when he milked them. He spoke to the chickens when he gathered eggs. All of this was practice of course, for he knew he had been called to speak for a new religion. He was gathering the words, sorting out the ideas, arranging his thoughts as he spoke to the critters around the farm. He seldom mentioned his newly acquired gift to his parents, or even to his wife for fear they would not understand. He worried some that they might think the lightning affected his mind, seared some place where old traditions were stored, and long-standing beliefs were held. But he realized he already had these ideas before the lightning strike. Lightning gave The Travels of Increase Joseph 23 him a new voice and a resolve to stand up and speak out. In some mysterious way, the combination of the tonic and the lightning gave him the tools to express himself beyond anything he thought possible. He was building up courage to step into the bandstand in the village square at Plum Falls and begin his pilgrimage, to begin his crusade for a new way of thinking about God. He pulled on a pair of long black pants, slipped into a tattered black coat, and put on a wide-brimmed black hat that was his grandfather's. But something was missing. He had watched preachers, many of them. Each carried a Bible, which they waved when they spoke. He didn't want to wave a Bible. But he needed something. Something that looked theological . Something that would add religious authority to his appearance. In the back of a drawer in the bureau that stood in the dining room of their sparsely furnished farm home, he found a red book - owned by one of his ancestors. It was just the right size to fit in his back pocket. He told his wife that he was headed for Plum Falls for a couple hours and would be back shortly. He kissed his baby son on the cheek and he was off, walking confidently along the narrow road, his head high and his arms swinging. People in Plum Falls knew about his tragic accident , and how his hair had turned white. As he walked down Main Street, dodging the occasional horse and carriage, folks stared at him in wonder. Everyone knew of lightning that killed many cows and horses over the years, and farmers, too. Here was a survivor, walking down Main Street with no apparent injuries, except for a head of white hair [18.232.169.110] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 03:26 GMT) 24 Apps that touched his shoulders and contrasted with his black hat and black coat. People stepped aside as he passed; a few spoke, said "Howdy," but nothing more. They were mostly amazed to see him alive, even if he looked quite different than they remembered. Increase Joseph climbed the steps to the bandstand and looked out into the park. The sun had just set on this warm summer evening. Children were playing, chasing each other, laughing. A few women gathered on the park benches to rest or to wait while husbands visited the local saloon. A handful of men sat talking in one corner of the park while their wives shopped for groceries at the general store. In the distance, a dog barked. People in the park didn't seem to notice this figure in black standing in the bandstand, peering out from under a black hat. "Sisters and brothers," Increase Joseph intoned. One of the mothers sitting closest to the bandstand looked around for her little boy who was playing in the sand nearby. "Come here, Johnny," she said. "I stand before you on this beautiful evening to bring you a word from God." The woman with the little boy quickly got up from her bench, gathered up her packages, took the boy by the hand and hurried away. Increase Joseph continued. "We are destroying our land. How you ask? We are destroying our...