Chapter 2: The Sin Diary

Early Days. The Denlinger family poses for a photo at the local Sears store. This photo was taken in 1976, shortly after eldest daughter Marcia had left to begin teaching school in Seymour, Missouri. (L-R: Marjorie, Magdalena, Timothy, Heidi, Steven, Richard, David, Earl, and Rose). Photo by Olan Mills

When I recall the church services of my childhood, I hear the sound of four-part congregational singing, a cappella hymns, rich and varied as the loamy black soil of my mother’s garden. I hear simple harmonies floating high and light, women’s voices cutting through the deep male rumble. I hear the middle voices filling in the spaces like water soaking into fresh-plowed earth.

The harmonies were enriched by the blend of close bloodlines, the lyrics flowing from what my tribe remembered as a bloodbath of persecution, beginning with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Oh, now I see the crimson wave,

The fountain deep and wide. 

Jesus my Lord, mighty to save,

Points to his wounded side.

Th…