βββββ ; β do you ever mean the things you say ? β SENT BY @uplus003f &&. FOR β¦
the final notes of the organ had long since surrendered themselves to silence . what lingered instead was the quieter ritual that always followed : warm hands clasped between his own , gentle smiles exchanged beneath coloured panes of stained glass , small conversations about ; grandchildren , doctor's appointments , burnt roasts and answered prayers . jud had stood for as long as anyone wished to speak , never rushing the elderly widow who simply wanted company , nor the little boy determined to show him the missing tooth he'd lost that morning . eventuallyββone by oneββthe doors sighed open and shut behind the congregation until only the hush of an empty church remained . dust drifted lazily through shafts of afternoon light , and somewhere high above , old timber settled with a familiar creak .
he gathered the abandoned hymn sheets into a neat stack almost absent mindedly βββββ ... pausing only when the unmistakable sound of measured footsteps echoed back through the nave . there was no surprise in finding one person still lingering . there almost always was . someone carrying a β question β too heavy to ask in front of others . someone waiting until the silence felt safe enough to speak β¦ thatβs what he expected , at least .
lifting his head , jud found ed standing where the last of the sunlight reached across the stone floor . he offered the man the same soft smile he'd given every soul that had crossed the threshold that morning , patient enough to let the quiet settle before words claimed it .
β ... i try to . β the answer arrived without haste , his brow knitting ever so slightly as though he'd taken the question far more seriously than it had perhaps been intended ( ? ) his gaze never wavered from ed's . β sometimes i don't say the right thing . sometimes i realise afterwards i should've listened longer instead of speaking at all β¦ β a faint breath escaped him ; not quite a laugh , not quite a sigh . β but if i stand up there and tell people about hope , or forgiveness , or grace ... i'd rather stumble trying to mean every word than become very good at saying things i don't believe . β
then , as if by divine revelation or β¦ a strange gut instinct , a pang of realisation hit the back of his neck . β is this your first time , visiting us hereβββββ to ourΒ lady of perpetual graceΒ . β
