It had been a hard year of ministry and I was feeling discouraged. So I went to an older, wiser veteran pastor seeking Godly wisdom. This is what he told me: If you get stuck holding the bedpan, carry it like a queen.

Bryant Kirkland had spent over fifty years as pastor to congregations of a variety of sizes and locations. When I was in seminary he taught my preaching courses, and continued to be my mentor till his quiet death on Easter a few years ago. I loved going to Bryant for counsel because he had such a gift for offering wisdom that was truly spiritual—precisely because it never sounded spiritual. He reminded me of the way Jesus made a theological point by cursing fig trees, eating with sinners, or presenting over a hundred gallons of wine as a wedding present. Jesus would have certainly used Bryant's line about bedpans if they had been around in the first century.

When one of his daughters was born, Bryant was impressed by the quality of the nurses who cared for his wife and ...