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.But, beyond that, thechurch had been crucially important in his life in some fundamental ways,not only as a place in its own right but as a prism, a lens, through whichthe world was interpreted (much as noted in some of the quotes above).More than once, I entered AC s house to find him reading from a very106 Rooted in Placesmall book, no bigger than two or three postage stamps wide or high.Itwas a tiny Bible.AC read very slowly, but inevitably he would comment onthe passages at hand, drawing lessons from them and, in effect, saying thatmuch that was important about life could be drawn from this small book.For AC, the Bible was more than just a compilation of stories and weightymoral principles; indeed, it was a window to the world.Actually, it was notjust a window but the window, for the Bible had been the one book withwhich AC had developed familiarity early in life.AC s schooling had stoppedat age ten, at a time when he could neither read nor write.He had left schoolto work with his father.Where did he learn to read? I learned how to read from the Bible.I asked, in a dimwitted way,  In school? as though that would be thelogical place to learn to read.AC said,  No, suh.I didn t learn how to readin school.I learned how to read, sho  nuf, in Sunday school.I always likedto go to church.My habit was to be right there in the front and they d callon me to do certain things or say certain things.I learned by memorizin , cuz I couldn t read.When I d git up there, I prayed and asked God to helpme to learn how to read.I worked on learnin.I picked up the Bible ora book.The more I read, the more understandin come to me.I used tospell every word befo it come to me, but later on I got to where I couldspell the first letter or two and the rest of the word would come to me.Icould pronounce the word and keep on goin.It wasn t that hard for me.When I go to bed at night, I read an hour or two, readin the Bible.That smostly what I read now.When I do that, it just picks me up.These childrengo to school now, finish the tenth or eleventh grade.I give  em somethinto read and they ll be stumblin over that.Some of  em tell me that they don tlearn how to read in school no mo.I say  What? Seem like that s the mostimpotant thing you can learn in school.If you want to be frustrated, be some-place where you can t read nothin and everybody around you can.You rescared somebody is gonna call on you.I was thirty years old when I learnedto read.One of AC s daughters had told me this story, but its poignancy was en-hanced considerably in hearing it from him.As AC told me, I could see howimportant it had been for him when as a thirty-year-old man he had ac-tually learned to read.Hearing this was akin to hearing Helen Keller s storyabout the first time a deaf child learns to sign; as Keller reputedly said,  ItIn the Lord s House 107made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. AC s wistful way oftelling me about learning to read, and of his years of worrying as he sat inthe front of the church  scared somebody is gonna call on you, was one ofthe most moving experiences in all of my time with him.14Buildings Large and SmallThe church AC learned to read in is located an easy walk from hishome.Like nearly everything else in Yvonne, it is built along the highway,set back a hundred feet or so.And like much else in Yvonne, it looks a littletired.A sign in front conveys the church s name, Shiloh Baptist Church;sometimes biblical sayings or announcements about meetings or future ser-mons appear below.Most often, though, the sign conveys the church s nameand nothing else.The church looks like most churches.It is a one-story structure, with agood-sized sanctuary with front doors facing the highway.Abutted to oneside of the sanctuary is another large building, containing Sunday schoolclassrooms, a kitchen, and a large meeting hall (where church suppers areheld).The building is made of red brick, wood painted white, and gray cin-der blocks.Like all else in Yvonne, it sits on a perfectly flat piece of land;the parking area is unpaved and a few live oaks stand between the churchand neighboring residential houses.AC s relationship to his church is unusually personal he built it. All ofit, like the wiring and everything? I asked.AC said,  Aaron did that.I dideverything else.I laid every block, thirty-five hundred of  em! I tried to getmy sons to learn but they didn t like that part of the job.I had to lay everyblock.In that church down there, there s thirty-five hundred blocks andabout four thousand bricks.I did it all, includin puttin tile on the flo.I asked,  Where did the money come from? AC said,  Well, we d raisea little money here and there.I didn t get nothin for my work.EverythingI did was free.We d go to [a nearby city] if we d get a good deal.If I boughta couple hundred dollars worth of stuff, man in [a nearby city] would giveme a hundred fifty of other stuff.I asked, rather incredulously,  But it s a big church, none of the otherpeople in the church helped? AC said,  Well, I had two fellas for helpers,but they only helped when I was there.William did the wirin and plumbin.Robert would mix the mud for me most times when he was home.But most108 Rooted in Placetimes I d be workin in the mornin with no one but me and I d have to mixthe mud myself and tote and lay the blocks.I asked,  What about the kitchen? (in which I had eaten, that Saturday).AC said,  Yep, all of it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]