The Rolex Watch

I was about eight or nine and didn't know the value of a Rolex watch. It was just my Pawpaw's watch and I admired it. "Do you have a will?" I asked him, and everyone in the room laughed.

By the time Pawpaw passed I was in my 20s. After his funeral we met back at the house, where all the grandkids got something of his to keep. My brother and some of my cousins got a gun. I don’t recall what the others got. But everyone knew what I was getting. They had all known for years. It was a Rolex watch - Pawpaw's retirement watch for 35 years of service at Halliburton. It had that cool Halliburton logo on the face of it, and it was made of GOLD! Not being a man of means, that watch was my most valuable possession. I took good care of it and wore it with pride. A gold Rolex held on with a three dollar twist-o-flex band.

I'd love to show you my gold Rolex watch with the Halliburton logo but it was stolen...sort of. See, a preacher came to town and I went out to hear him preach. But that night he yielded his pulpit to another preacher that had blown in with "a word from God" for this particular crowd on this particular night. Seems the first preacher (the one I went to hear) was building a big nice headquarters for his evangelistic association, and it was expensive. So the second preacher preached a message about giving out of your lack and seeing God bless you abundantly. The sermon was specifically titled "Sewing in Famine", and it was an emotional and moving message. Then they passed the buckets. I didn't have any money to give and I so wanted to sew in my famine. I pulled off my gold Rolex watch with the Halliburton logo on it... and dropped it in the bucket.

But I said the watch was stolen, didn't I. And in a sense it was. See, I found out later that this preacher I went out to hear had yielded his pulpit to that second preacher in town after town to preach that same message to that particular crowd on that particular night, of course followed by the ceremonial passing of the buckets. Did they steal my watch or did they present me with the opportunity to sew a seed that would produce abundance? There’s an old saying - "The proof of the pudding is in the eating". And that pudding didn't eat! In fact, instead of blessings I seemed to be "watch-cursed". It was years before I could even get a watch to run for more than a few months. And now, over 30 years later that sense of loss still hasn't passed.

So what is the lesson to be learned? Don't be stupid.

And if you’re reading this and you happen to be a preacher with a big nice headquarters and a gold Rolex watch with the Halliburton logo laying in a box somewhere, can I have my twist-o-flex band back?


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