There was a short time when Dooley considered the possibility that he might be called to preach.
He never was that anxious to work on the small farm where he grew up and thought there must surely be a better way to make a living than that.
In addition to that he loved to eat and especially fried chicken. He was quick to notice how often pastor Jones got invited to people's houses for Sunday Dinner and how often there was a big platter of fried chicken on the table. But the real clincher almost came the night he had the big dream that seemed to last a long time.
He went to talk with Pastor Jones the next day about his possible calling.
He told about how he either had a dream or a vision and he didn’t know for sure which. In his dream or vision the night before he thought he saw two giant letters that almost covered the whole sky.
They were the letters GP, and it really got Dooley's attention.
He questioned the preacher about the possibility that those letters meant Go Preach. Now, Pastor Jones was a Godly man and he took all this very seriously as he questioned Dooley about the whole thing. Brother Jones pointed out that Dooley actually had a pretty poor record in church and Sunday school attendance for the past year and that he had been in a little trouble at school recently as well.. and added in the fact that Dooley had a tendency to shift his position on doctrine to fit more closely with the local church which had the next big supper coming up..
Pastor Jones just didn't want Dooley to make a mistake on this because it was such an important decision to make. He raised the possibility that the letters GP could have meant "go plow," since there was plowing that needed to be done at his place. Or, the preacher pointed out it was time to plant corn, perhaps the message there was "go plant".
Dooley quickly ruled out both of those possibilities. Finally Preacher Jones concluded.. Taking into account some of the little misconduct problems you have been having, I believe the message for you was "go pray".
Dooley thought things over for a while and remembered that he had eaten a very large "bait" of cornbread and pinto beans before he went to bed that night, and started to wonder if that had anything to do with his dream or vision.
Dooley decided to sleep on the problem and see if things would clear up any for him.. After another big meal of cornbread and beans he got in twelve hours of fitful sleep that night.
He arose bright and early the next morning (around nine) and made his way to the preacher's house. "It all came clear to me last night." he announced.
When I dreamed it all again it was actually GF I saw in the sky. Then I understood... So Billy Clyde and me are going fishing today... If God has called you to preach.. Then, preach, preacher, preach. If God has not called you to preach then plow, plant, pray, or go fishing. You sure don't need to be trying to preach.. you will do more harm than good if you do.