The Skunk and the Preacher

What a way to start a Monday. A writer friend of mine shared this story with me about his grandfather:

My grandfather was sort of a mentor for young preachers from a nearby seminary that came to area churches to hone their pulpit skills when area pastors were on vacation or taking leave due to illness.

My grandfather had taken a new preacher to a little country church for services. It was summer and the church had no air conditioning so all of the doors and windows were open. Everything was going fine and the young preacher was doing well until in walked a skunk. The skunk paraded right down the aisle towards the pulpit. The young preacher noticed the skunk. He cautiously looked around the church for reactions from the congregation.

To his surprise no one else seemed to even notice the skunk. Uneasily the preacher decided to ignore the skunk and keep preaching. The skunk kept on moving toward the front of the church. The preacher managed to continue focused on preaching until the skunk reached the platform and headed for the pulpit. The young preacher scanned the audience for some sort of reaction. Surely, he thought, someone in the congregation had noticed the skunk.

The audience appeared attentive but yet oblivious to the dilemma of the young preacher. The skunk moved closer to the preacher. Finally, the time for action had arrived and the preacher decided he had to do something. He vaulted over the pulpit and ran out the back door.

Once outside he took a few moments to catch his breath as he waited for others to follow. Several minutes passed and no one else came out of the church. He decided to check out the situation. Cautiously he approached the door and peaked inside. What he saw amazed him, the congregation was still seated as if nothing had happened.

Finally, one of the deacons walked out of the church holding the skunk. By this time the young preacher was extremely nervous and very confused. The deacon looked at the preacher holding up the skunk and said, "I guess we should have told you about the neighbor's pet skunk. He occasionally comes to vist."