Rev. A. J. Ogden

My small home town of Woodville, MS, had a great attraction which to me was greater than any amusement park or Disney World I know of today. It was a simple real Drug Store with a soda fountain on one side. They are almost extinct today. At that famous fountain they made real milkshakes…all flavors. They charged ten cents for a big one and five cents for a small one. The rich town kids could buy one of those heavenly ice cream sandwiches which was out of this world. Only once in a while, perhaps twice a year, I had a cone.

I was not a Christian then, but I kind of thought Martins Drug Store was the nearest thing to Heaven on earth. Mother and I were very poor, so poor that the poor people thought we were the poorest, if you know what I mean. That magic corner appealed to me so much. I had dreams of being a soda jerk someday. My mouth watered for an ice cream cone, and I would just go in the store, stand and look at the wealthy kids indulging in the goodies at the soda fountain bar. I had dreams of the day when I could have money and be able to have more than two or three cones a year.

Now, I am not bitter about the poverty we experienced coming up. Trouble and hard times are mighty good teachers. We learn more in the valley than on the mountain. The God of the mountain is also God of our valleys. I cannot remember who wrote the following poem, but it tells this truth better than I ever could.

“I walked a mile with pleasure,

She chattered all the way.

But left me none the wiser

For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with sorrow,

Not a word she said to me.

But Oh, the things I learned from her

When sorrow walked with me.”

There are two ways a person can be rich. One way is to have a whole lot of things. The other way is to have very little and be content with what God has given. I think the latter is the easy way. Let the Lord settle it for us in I Timothy 6:6-8, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”