Uncle Horace is my Dad’s youngest brother in a family of eleven children. Not particularly a religious family; their grandparents came over on the boat from England. We had lots of Aunt’s and Uncle’s but Uncle Horace was our favorite and was always around our house doing something or other, fixing this or that. He was an excellent carpenter and visited our family several times a month.

Dad and my Uncle would sit around and hash over good times, bad times, and everything in-between while consuming many bottles of beer.

I moved with my teacher husband from Pennsylvania to Maryland. Several years passed and I’d take the kids to see their grandparents every so often and visit with Uncle Horace and Aunt Evelyn.

Mom was listening to Uncle Horace talking with my Dad. She then asked him, “Horace why do you swear so much?”

I do remember he was a believer in nothing and every other word out of his mouth was a swear word.

He looked at Mom very startled, annoyed and agitated and said, “What do you mean swear! I’ve never taken the Lord’s name in vain in my entire life. I don’t use vulgar words!” He actually became insulted over her comment.

I know some people use vulgar words like regular words. What they say does not seem to make any impression on their brain, just comes out their mouth with little or no thought behind it. He was a non-believer and used the Lord’s name all the time just not in a good way.

* * *

It was an early Thursday afternoon; I received a call from my Mom. “Your Uncle Horace is in the hospital scheduled for lymph node surgery the next morning.”

I was a firm believer in the power of prayer and healing. I decided make the three-hour drive and take my two youngest children along. My Mom and Dad had an extra room and we were always welcome for a visit anytime.

It was after five when I finally got on the road. It was snowing and seemed extra dark for some reason, making the drive a little more hazardous for me. I then packed what we needed for a short two-day visit. Starting on a long trip this late at night was not my usual thing to do, but something inside of me said I had to arrive before his surgery.

It was after eight when I drove into my parent’s driveway in Garden City, Pennsylvania. I gave the kid’s a snack and left my Dad as the official babysitter. Mom and I drove to the hospital. We were the only visitors so far that evening.

I brought along my “Good News for Modern Man” pocket Bible with me. The one I marked up with locations of favorite healing verses. The Lord told me years ago, it doesn’t matter what translation we use, those words still contain all the power we need for change and growth in our lives.

I read a couple short verses from Luke 4:38-39. “Jesus left the synagogue and went to Simon’s home. Simon’s mother–in-law was sick with a high fever, and they spoke to Jesus about her. He went and stood at her bedside, and gave a command to the fever. The fever left her, and she got up at once and began to wait on them.”

Uncle Horace said he was to go into surgery tomorrow morning. We chatted for a few more minutes, I said a brief prayer and then we left.

Two weeks later I received a call from my Mom. “Did you hear what happened to your Uncle Horace?”

Oh no, he passed away and now we have a funeral to attend. “When did he die?” I said.

Mom started laughing.

“That’s a strange response to death,” I thought to myself.

“No, no,” she said, “You don’t understand, he didn’t die!”

She then told me the story of what actually happened.

When I read him the healing scriptures from the Bible in the hospital, “He believed immediately!”

The next morning the doctor’s took second set of x-rays before his surgery and could not find any cancer. This was astounding! The news of his healing went through the hospital like a wild fire.

My Uncle Horace life changed dramatically. He joined the Methodist Church where my Aunt Evelyn had been a member for years and became a well-loved deacon. The minister of the church told me that he was his right-hand man.

If ever a life was completely changed by the 'Power in the Written Word,' this was it!

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Scripture: Good News for Modern Man, Thomas Nelson, Inc. 1972

Graduate - Baptist Institute for Christian Workers, Bryn Mawr, PA; NRI McGraw-Hill Center for Writing, Washington, D.C. Studied only Wesley Seminary, D.C. & Asbury Theological Seminary, Orlando, FL (2 yrs). Completed on-line course Jewish Seminary, N.Y. Past student - The Christian Writers Guild.