Home to Harmony by Philip Gulley

First published: Sisters, Oreg.: Multnomah, 2000

Genre(s): Novel

Subgenre(s): Humor

Core issue(s): Church; clerical life; daily living; friendship; Quakers

Principal characters

• Sam Gardner, the first-person narrator, pastor of Harmony Friends meeting
• Barbara Gardner, Sam’s long-suffering wife
• Dale Hinshaw, a conservative, cantankerous elder of the Friends meeting
• Uly Grant, Sam’s boyhood friend
• Brother Norman, head of the Choctaw Mission
• Bob Miles, Sr., the town’s ultraconservative activist
• Bob Miles, Jr., a frustrated editor of The Harmony Herald
• Ellis Hodge, a humble, genuine Christian
• Miriam Hodge, Ellis’s wife, the same
• Amanda, the Hodges’ niece
• Deena Morrison, a lawyer
• Wayne Fleming, a janitor
• Frank, a widower who becomes Sam’s protective secretary

Christian Themes

Sam Gardner’s experiences during his first year as pastor of the Harmony Friends meeting trigger flashbacks to his boyhood. Although he has been a pastor for twelve years after completing seminary, Sam learns about human existence only after unforeseen circumstances make him a spiritual guide among people he knew as a child. He chronicles the events of this year, blending humor and thoughtful reflection and always including his own shortcomings.

Several incidents are highly comic. Early in Sam’s tenure, Elder Dale Hinshaw hires Billy Bundle (the World’s Shortest Evangelist) to hold a revival. Formerly a wrestler known as the Mississippi Midget (though technically only a short man from the Bronx), Billy applies unusual showmanship techniques to preaching, but Sam sees the usual six people publicly repent, while Hinshaw calculates the high cost per soul.

More difficult than Hinshaw is Bob Miles, Sr. Displaced as newspaper editor by his son, Miles has become the town’s ultraconservative activist, berating the group regularly during services. The elders make him the Prayer Warrior, who must pray scripturally—that is, alone in the basement closet. They fail to realize that his loud prayers will boom through the heat ducts, louder than before. Sam must confront and admonish this elderly man, who angrily transfers to the Baptist Church, as he has done several times before.

Several incidents involve Sam’s gaffes. Repairing the church’s ancient freezer, he forgets to plug it back in and ruins the Women’s Friendly Circle’s prized chicken and noodles. Caught between Hinshaw’s objections and the women’s demands for a new toilet, Sam and his boyhood friend Uly Grant install the toilet late at night. Driving by, Hinshaw sees a light in the church building and uses his new cell phone to call the police.

Both Sam and Hinshaw are involved in the church bus fiasco. Venom (a rock group) abandon their worn-out bus at Harvey Muldock’s garage, suggesting to Hinshaw an inexpensive way to begin a bus ministry. When the bus keeps breaking down, Sam proposes giving it to Brother Norman’s Choctaw Mission, but the drive to Oklahoma takes them through St. Louis on the day slugger Mark McGwire breaks the one-season home run record. Thus, Sam, Hinshaw, and Harvey are seen on nationwide television, drinking beer at the game. No one will come to Oklahoma and drive them home, so Brother Norman has to help them return to Harmony, and Sam weighs the relative merits of McGwire’s work and Brother Norman’s.

Several other incidents blend humor and poignancy. Sam manages to surprise Barbara when his tenth anniversary present combines aluminum and diamonds. Frank, the church secretary, misunderstands the Iversons’ phone message, believes they have adopted Siamese twins, and quickly builds a double cradle for the “Chinese” twins; the Iversons soon become his second family. Ellis Hodge is the butt of some teenagers’ joke when he finds Vinny Toricelli’s swordfish in his pond several times, but the prank leads to Vinny’s reunion with his father. Sam’s family Thanksgiving with his brother almost results in a meal of cheeseless macaroni, wormy apples, and lettuce, but Sam’s mother intervenes, cooking a traditional dinner. More important to Sam, though, her comments show him that a person’s value transcends whatever label that individual chooses to assume.

Stories in the final (Winter) section reflect Sam’s increased maturity. The uproar about Jesus’ image in a quilt leads Sam to consider that people drive miles to see Jesus in a piece of cloth but never look for Him in their neighbors. When Jessie Peacock finds the winning ticket in her church bulletin but uses the presentation ceremony to “testify” against the state lottery, Sam realizes that winning and money are not the same, but he wonders if he would have been as principled. He admires Deena Morrison, who transforms her failing law office into the Legal Grounds Coffee Shop, serving civility and Harmony Blend coffee, but he regrets that shyness keeps Wayne Fleming from asking her out. Also in this section, Sam recognizes his instinct to hold on to memories. He keeps an old photograph of Pastor Taylor, who never managed to afford a new car, was about to receive one as a retirement gift, but ironically was hit by a car and killed. Sam also reflects on his feelings after he found his grandmother dead, especially his compulsion to keep everything she touched.

The central stories of this section, though, involve the Hodges, who have been Sam’s second parents. When Miriam needs surgery for breast cancer, both she and Ellis are frightened. These unsophisticated farmers—who venture to the city only to view Christmas lights displays from the safety of their truck—suddenly have to pack their meals in their luggage and spend several days in the city hospital. Once Miriam is cured, Ellis proposes that their next Christmas excursion include a celebratory hotel stay and meals in a nice restaurant. Later, the Hodges begin caring for their niece Amanda, whose National Spelling Bee victory fulfills the lifetime ambition of her teacher and thrills the entire town. When Ellis’s ne’er-do-well brother threatens to cut off access to Amanda, the Hodges spend their life savings and agree to pay five thousand dollars a year to gain full custody of her. To Sam, their action is the epitome of faith and self-sacrifice.

Christian Themes

Initially Sam preaches explicit sermons on “grace,” but he quickly recognizes implicit sermons on humility, courage, and love in the lives of the church members. For example, Brother Norman is neither intellectual nor charismatic, but he has dedicated his life to serving the Choctaw Nation. Sam believes he is a more effective evangelist than showmen such as Billy Bundle. Likewise, humble church workers like Frank do good works that contrast with the dominance of people like Elder Hinshaw.

Several church members display perseverance and personal courage. Bob Miles, Jr., suppresses his thwarted ambition to be a foreign correspondent and publishes a newspaper that chronicles the town’s events. Wayne Fleming, whose wife suddenly left him, remains at his janitorial job, devoting as much time as possible to his young son Adam. Uly Grant defeats his family curse of alcoholism, managing the local AA chapter. Shortly before his death, Wilbur Matthews overcomes a lifetime of humiliating illiteracy and, with the help of Miss Ruby (the librarian), learns to read the Bible during worship. Jessie Peacock tears up the lottery’s presentation check, lectures lottery officials on the evils of gambling, and refuses to be intimidated by the state’s threats of legal action.

Another significant theme is love and continuity, especially within the family. Each Saturday Dr. Neely, Harmony’s physician, places a new toy car on the grave of his young son. He and his wife sell Sam and Barbara their house at a low price because the Gardners promise not to remove the Neely children’s height marks. Sam remembers his grandfather’s attitude toward the early, accidental death of Sam’s uncle, and he thinks of his own reaction when he found his grandmother dead of a stroke. This sense of loss makes him more empathetic in dealing with Adam Fleming, whose misbehavior seems caused by his mother’s abandonment.

The positive side of family affection is seen among the Gardners. Sam’s parents obviously love both their sons, and that same kind of love is seen in Sam’s relationship with his wife and sons. The biblical command to love one another is also seen in the Hodge family, as Ellis and Miriam are devoted both to each other and to their niece Amanda. Their example is one reason Sam ends his account with discussions of the sustaining power of love, even when one adores someone from a distance, as Wayne does Deena. Love sees magnificence in the humble and lowly.

Sources for Further Study

Gulley, Philip. For Everything a Season: Simple Musings on Living Well. San Francisco: Harper, 2001. More humorous, poignant stories paralleling the seasons of life and the seasons of divine grace.

Gulley, Philip. Front Porch Tales. Sisters, Oreg.: Multnomah, 1997. The foreword by Paul Harvey, Jr., introduces Gulley’s collection of humorous, inspiring stories about small-town life.

Gulley, Philip. Hometown Tales: Recollections of Kindness, Peace, and Joy. Sisters, Oreg.: Multnomah, 1998. This sequel to Front Porch Tales presents a retrospective account of the same themes and character types seen in Home to Harmony.

Gulley, Philip. Life Goes On: A Harmony Novel. New York: HarperCollins, 2004. Comic misadventures of Harmony characters and Sam’s serious dilemma about resigning when opposition arises.