Harley Hogues Mountain Read online

Mama thinking sure someone had died or something.

  “Nothings wrong Harley, God done moved your mountain!”

  “But it's still standing there where it's always been, are you sure you are alright Mama? Did you hit your head or something?”

  “Harley, the coal-mining company man just gave us a check for two thousand dollars to strip mine your mountain, they said it would be level as this here house we are in.”

  “ I told you Mama, it says right in the good book that if I believe my mountain would be moved.”

  “Now I got too….”

  “I know Harley; you got to go back to the woods until the Lord gives you that girl for a wife, but son, you have done about wore them woods out ain’t you?”

  “Mama, I can pray out there in the woods. It's all peaceful like out there.”

  So the next morning Harley lit out for the woods again. He built up a fire and God heard his lonely heart, although Harley just sat there and stared into the fire.

  Well, the upshot of that was that Harley missed church, the next day being Sunday and all he cleanly forgot about it.

  The good pastor missed Harley sitting up front and hanging on to every word he said, so thinking his daughter might like to ride with him; he headed down to Harley's house to see what was the matter.

  Him and Rose Ann come to the front door and knocked. “Mrs. Hogue, is Harley home?”

  “We come to see if he could attend Sunday evening service tonight.”

  As soon as Mama Hogue laid eyes on Rose Ann, she exclaimed, “You wait right here.” Harleys Mama went to the back door and screamed, “Harley; you can come home now, the Lord done got you a wife!”

  Soon Harley come bursting through the back door, and as soon as he laid eyes on Rose and Rose Ann laid eyes on him; it was all over but the trading.

  Just about the time June kissed the leaves over the crawdad hole Mr. Harley Hogue and Miss Rose Ann Templeton were married, pastor Templeton and Mama Hogue residing over the ceremony.

  They settled down to business in Mama’s house, for the time being, because Harley's mountain was not quite level yet, there were a couple hundred feet to go, the Lord working at his own pace.

  Harley had a brand-new life and a brand-new wife, and his mind turned to building a church on the land the coal company had almost leveled.

  That was when, I am sorry to inform you, disaster struck in the form of a copper head snake.

  Harley was down at the truck patch digging post holes for a new fence. He squatted down to finish clearing the dirt out of the hole with his hands when a nearby copper head snake, who didn’t take kindly to his territory being invaded, reached out and bit Harley on his neck.

  Mama and Rose Ann had caught a ride with the mail truck to Louisville, and so nobody was to home except Harley and the chickens.

  Harley got as far as the house and collapsed on the living room floor and that’s where Mama and Rose Ann found him.

  He was barely breathing; Rose Ann screamed so loud the chickens roosted early, but Mama, being Mama, her mind steadied after the shock of seeing her boy laying there with his face and neck all swollen out of shape.

  She thought about them woods Harley was so fond of and the miracles a resultant factor.

  “Rose Ann, you stay here with Harley; I got to go to them woods to pray.”

  “But Mama, what am I gonna do? I think my Harley is dying!” then she started wailing again enough to give any coon hound pause.

  “Child! Listen to me now, we ain’t never going to get him to the hospital in time so save him. You bathe his face with cold well water while I go and pray now, you hear me?”

  “Yes Mama.”

  Mama didn’t know if the cold water helped much, but it would give Rose Ann something to do for her Harley, so while Rose Ann inundated Harley with cold well water, Mama took off to the woods.

  She found Harley's camp and knelt down to pray, and you could have heard her a mile away. The Holy Spirit got hold of her, and she went jumping around the camp clapping her hands, and I do believe the folks in Louisville inquired of each other about what was all the racket.

  The result of that was that mama prayed herself clean out and when she got back to the cabin, Harley was sitting up taking sips of water from Rose Ann’s loving hand.

  The upshot of that was after Mama seen this, the Holy Spirit took hold again, and she ran around the room shouting and clapping her hands and praising God to beat the band.

  That caused Rose Ann to get a dose, and the both of them got started.

  “Wha hooooo, praise you Jesus!” “Thank you Jesus! Hallelujah!" It rang around the clearing like somebody had stuck their head in a bucket.

  The swelling had gone clean out of Harley’s neck and a few hours later he went back and finished the post hole.

  Harley Hogue’s Mountain was leveled; he built a house and preached in his own church for many years, and that’s the story of Harley Hogue’s mountain.

  Now the point of this story is very simple. Folks have all kinds of mountains facing them, and though it may look straight up, it may look impossible and hopeless. Just believe in

  God and he will move that mountain.

  The end

  Matthew 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.