The Scarlet Letter

The eloquent voice, which had moved the souls of the audience like waves on the sea, finally grew quiet. For a moment all was silent, as though prophecy had just been spoken. And then there was a murmur, a half-stifled clamor. The listeners, as if waking from a spell, returned to themselves with a mix of awe and wonder still weighing heavily upon them. After another moment, the crowd began to pour out of the church. Now that the sermon was over they needed fresh air, something to support the physical life they were reentering. They needed relief from the atmosphere of flame and deep perfume that the minister’s words had created.

Once in the open air, the crowd burst into speech, filling the street and the marketplace with their praise of the minister. They could not rest until they had told each other about what had happened, which everyone already knew better than anyone could say. They all agreed that no one had ever spoken with such wisdom and great holiness as their minister had that day. Inspiration, they felt, had never filled human speech as much as it had filled his. It was as though the Holy Spirit had descended upon him, possessed him, and lifted him above the words written on the page. It filled him with ideas that must have been as marvelous to him as they were to his audience. His subject had been the relationship between God and human communities, with especial attention paid to the communities of New England founded in the wilderness. As he drew toward his conclusion, something like a prophetic spirit had come to him, bending him to its purpose just as it had used the old prophets of Israel. Only the Jewish prophets had predicted judgment and ruin for their country, but their minister spoke of the glorious destiny awaiting the newly gathered community of God. Yet throughout the whole sermon, there had been an undertone of deep sadness. It could only be interpreted as the natural regret of a man about to die. Yes, their minister, whom they loved so dearly— and who loved them so much that he could not depart for Heaven without a sigh—sensed that his death was approaching and that he would soon leave them in tears. The idea that the minister’s time on earth would be short made the sermon’s effect even stronger. It was as though an angel on his way to Heaven had shaken his bright wings over the people for a moment, sending a shower of golden truths down upon them.