After waiting for a few minutes, Mr. Scarecrow knocks on the door a little loud.
After a few more minutes, Lady of the Tin pounds on the door seven times.
The Ol' Weary Spirit groans, 'Let's go folks. The big man must be on vacation again.'
'Knocking is useless, my friends. The mighty Pastor Scottie is by appointment only, ' A homeless man grins as he wobbles over to them..
'Oh, no. what are we going to do now?' Mr. Scarecrow plops onto the sidewalk.
'I will look up the number in my phone, call him and make an appointment.' Christa reaches in her basket for her phone. She types in the church's name and clicks on the phone. The phone rings for several rings before going to voice mail.
'It's busy.' Christa frowns and she hangs up the phone.
Mr. Scarecrow begins to cry.
'The homeless man laughs, 'Oh thee of little faith. You should just come back on Sunday morning. Those doors open at ten for their social gatherings. I have become quite an expert at sneaking in for the coffee and breakfast bar. But I always get caught sooner or later and escorted out.'
'That's horrible.' Christa frowns.
The homeless man chuckles, 'I am used to it. One time I got five different twenties and used them to get a hotel room. The shower was nice, but the bed. Oh how I love that bed. I give anything to sleep in one again.' The homeless man sighs.
The Lady of Tin gives the man a hundred dollar bill, 'enjoy a goodnight's sleep in a bed tonight.'
The homeless man struggles to speak as tears run down his cheeks, 'thank you, ma' am. You should stay for the service. I heard it was entertaining.''
The Lady of the Tin smiles, seeing a spark in his dull eyes, 'you are welcome.' As the homeless man leaves, she turns to her friends who, also, have weariness in their eyes, 'come along. This is simply a dely. I know a budget friendly hotel. We all could use some rest and this gives me time to locate my psychiatrist friend.'
The four friends travel to the hotel. After a time, the Lady of the Tin, locates her friend's phone number, she goes outside the room to call him.'
When she returns, it is her eyes that are now weary. She tells the Ol' Weary Spirit that her friend has relocated across the country. 'I am not giving up. I will find you someone, somehow.'
Two days later, the four go back to the church. They talk to several church members at the breakfast and one introduces them to Pastor Scottie's secretary. Christa explains their situations to her and she requests to speak to the pastor. The secretary urges them to come to his office after the service to schedule an appointment.
The four friends follow the crowd into the colosseum-like sanctuary. Mr. Scarecrow stops to point out super size screen in the center above a large stage. They search for seats through the thick crowds.
After they locate four seats and sit down, The Lady of the Tin whispers, 'He must be a good talker. People are flocking in by the hundredths.'
Soon, the light dim, strobes begin to flash across the stage, revealing smoke that has overtaken it. A loud boom, causes Ol' Weary Spirit to shriek, and hide under his seat, his covers his ears and begins mumbling. On the stage, a man in a red robe jumps out of the smoke and raises his hands to the sky, the smoke disappears. A choir dressed in winkle-free white robes begin to sing, perfect harmony. The crowd burst out in cheers, several stand up and begin to sing and lift their arms along with the choir. Mr. Scarecrow stand up along with Christa, both trying to blend in.
The Lady of the Tin lends over and whispers something in Christa's ear. She nods. Then, The lady of the Tin stands. She offers her hand to Ol' Weary Spirit and motions for him to follow her. Slowly, he removes one of his hands from his ear and grabs tightly onto hers. Like a child, he lends his head onto her shoulder and walk with her. The Lady of the Tin notices people glaring and staring at them as others whisper. She refuses to react and focuses on the exit.
Several minutes later, the man in the red robe motions for the choir to set. He approaches a large wooden podium with a cross carved in where he uses both his arms to direct the crowd's eyes to a man in a silk suit on the side of the stage.
'Beam us up, Scottie. Up to the presence of God!'
The audience repeats the line as they raise their arms and lifts their heads to heaven. The silk suited man with wavy black locks and a groomed face steps onto the stage. He shakes the hand of the man in the robe revealing his solid gold watch. The light reflect off of it blinding Christa.
Pastor Scottie shouts 'That was a great worship time for such an angel of the Heavens. Let's give our choir director, Peter Smith. an round of applause. A roar of amens and shouts burst out of the crowd until Paster Scottie motions for the crowd to stop. I am pump out for the sermon now. The Heavens are pleased and God is smiling down ready to pour his blessing out. If you receive them shout Hallelujah.
A thundering of Hallelujahs and shouts fill the air and Mr. Scarecrow rubs the back of his ears.
Paster Scottie offers a full mouth grin, 'Thank you, my brothers and sisters. Now, let's open our Bibles to Acts Chapter 8...'
Christa and Scarecrow follow suit.
After the sermon, they locate The Lady of the Tin and An Ol' Weary Spirit outside. They head back into the church and ask for directions to the office. A friendly woman shows them the way. They thank her after she guide them to a long line. For a hour, they wait until they are at the head of the line. Before them is a large velvet red curtain. A strange woman holding a clipboard huffs, 'Name please.'
'My name is Christa and this is Mr. Scarecrow.'
The woman search the board and frowns, ' I am not seeing your names on my list. Do you have an appointment.'
Pastor Scottie's secretary told us to come to his office to make an appointment. '
The woman lends towards Christa and whispers into her ear, 'If you make a sizable donation, we can squeeze you in, no appointment needed.'
'I only have ten dollars with me.' Mr. Scarecrow mumbles.
Christa searches her purse as Pastor Scottie loudly clear his throat frown behind the curtain, 'Vivian, is there a problem?'
'No, just a minute, sir.'
'I only have a twenty.' Christa sighs.
The woman rolls her, 'Look, Pastor Scottie is a worth three times that... per hour. '
'We cannot afford that!' Lady of the Tin says. 'Cannot you grant us a little grace.'
'Tell me, did you enjoy the worship service.'
Mr. Scarecrow scratch his , 'It was a little too loud for me.'
'Well, we have any member with hearing problems. So we must make accommodations for them as well.'
'Vivian, I haven't got all day!' Pastor Scottie grumbles from behind the curtain.
'Sorry, sir. Just taking care of a misunderstanding. God bless from your patience.'
Vivian forces a fake smile and points to a door across the hallway, 'If you wish to make an appointment you need to go knock on Betty's door. 'But I must warn you, Pastor Scottie is booked for over two weeks.'
'We haven't got that much time.' Christa says with tears in her eyes.
Vivian motions for the next person to go through the curtain without asking for her name. After, she tell Christa, 'Then, I suggest that you come back next Sunday and listen to the sermon. It will be about giving. Meanwhile, you should remember to give you titling. God blesses those who give.. Maybe when you do, you will receive rough money to meet one on one with Pastor Scottie.
'I have lost all faith in humanity! I am done!' Ol' Weary Spirit rumbles before storming toward the nearest exit.
'I am heart...heartbroken.' Mr. Scarecrow sniffs and rubs his nose before following Ol' Weary Spirit.
'Wow, someone should arrest you for fraud.' The Lady of the Tin roars before turns to follow Mr. Scarecrow.
'Whoever your god is, he is not the one spoken of in the Bible. That one would be ashamed to have you speaking in His name. But most of all, He would be saddened by the amount of lost people's faith you have destroyed, .' Christa huffs.
Vivian crosses her arms, 'Judgmental I see...you know what, Christa. I will take your twenty dollar in exchange for a bucket of holy water. You obviously need it.'
Christa squints, 'for what?'
'To melt away that witchy demon that is covering your soul.'
Before Christa can react, a man approaches Vivian with a young, attractive woman at his side. The man lends into Vivian's ear and grumbles something as the young woman runs off to a trash bin and throws up. Vivian shakes her head and mouths "not again". The man nods removing a handkerchief from his jacket to wipe the sweat off his forehead. Vivian ushers the young woman to the head of the line as the other person comes out of the curtain. So, she continues behind the curtain. After a minute, Vivian returns.
Christa shakes her head and starts to walk to towards the exit as Ol' Weary Spirit opens the door.
'Oh, no! I forgot to lock that door again. Stop!' Betty shouts, as a small lab pup darts inside, Betty cries and wobbles after the pup.
Vivian groan sand runs towards the puppy as well. 'Every Sunday for the past three months, someone opens the door and lets that dog in and he barks at everyone and at the curtain. Now, Pastor Scottie is going to be upset.'
Christa watches as the pup barks at the people in line. Some people nudge the pup away. Other pet it. Vivian tries to catch the pup and misses. The pup accidently bumps into a man causing him to drop his phone and expose him texting another woman.
Then the pup bumps into a woman who drops a watch. 'What are you doing with my watch? A man in front of her shouts.
Chaos break out and the crowd scatters. Vivian and Betty search frantically for the pup as the people leave in every direction. Christa see the puppy barking at the curtain. Suddenly, the pup jumps onto the curtain and pulls it down. The young woman gasps and a pamphlet flies out of her hands. Christa picks it up. Before, the young woman rips it out of her hand sees that it is for an abortion clinic and also she an envelope of money in the young woman other hand.
Christa stands there speechless and stares at a pro-life poster on the wall.
Pastor Scottie clears his throat and moves toward her with an envelope in his hand. Christa feels something rub against her leg. She looks down to see the pup. It stands on her leg and wags it tail. So, she picks the pup up.
Pastor Scottie hand move the envelope toward Christa, 'Please consider this a blessing for your discretion.'
Christa steps back as the pup barks at Pastor Scottie Bell, 'you people are sick. I will never take your dirty money.'
The young woman laughs, 'I told you that you would regret using me!' Then, she runs to the trash bin again to throw up.
Sweat pours down Pastor Scottie, 'But ma'am, this exposing my mistake will put people's souls at risk. Isn't doing God's work more important than exposing my sins?'
'You will have you day before Cod and that will be far worst than any judgment a person can give. So, I am not interested in your money nor do I have the time or energy to expose you.' The pup wags his tail and licks her cheek.
A dolled up older woman enters the room, 'what is going on, Scottie? and those is that woman?' pointing to Christa.
'Hello Mrs. Bell, how are you? Betty asks.
Vivian reaches for the pup, but Christa shakes her head no, 'I am taking her with me.'
Christa turns away and begin to walk away as Pastor Scottie lies to his wife.
In the background the young woman shouts, 'you jerk of the husband knocked me up and then wanted me to have an abortion to cover up his sin.'
Commotion breaks out as Christa approaches the door. The puppy whines and snuggles into Christa's chest, 'I know I am still angry, but it is very sad how people hurt each other.'
'Why are you carrying a puppy?' The Lady of the Tin asks.
'It's a long story... but this puppy showed me the truth..' Christa smiles as the puppy licks her face before jumping down.
The puppy runs over to Mr. Scarecrow and jumps up on his leg. Mr. Scarecrow pick the pup up and pets it. The puppy wags its tail and licks the Mr. Scarecrow causing him to break out in laughter, 'Thank you for helping me feeling better.' He whispers as the puppy jumps and rans over to the Lady of the Tin.
The puppy whiny as The Lady of the Tin. She shakes her head, 'i am not a dog person, sorry. The puppy whines and The Lady of Tin sighs, 'Fine, I will pet you, but no jumping in my arms.' She bends over and pets the puppy who gently licks her hand. She stops, her eye become wide and she stands up with her hand over her heart and smiles.
The puppy moves to Ol' Weary Spirit and sits in front of him panting. Ol' Weary Spirit stares at the puppy for several minutes. Then, suddenly, he smiles for the first time in front of his friends.
'Gracey, there you are!' a man, out of breathe, comes running up. The puppy turns his head and happily barks at the man.
'Is this your dog, sir ?' Mr. Scarecrow approaches the stranger.
'Yes, sorry, she is a free spirit. I thought she may be here. For a couple of months, she has been coming to this church. This time, I couldn't find her when I came by the first time. I guess she wondered inside again.'
'She was inside.' Christa says.
'Again.' The man shakes his head and smiles.' He looks at Mr. Scarecrow, ' I am Joseph Daniel Brown,' The man extents his hand.
'I go by Mr. Scarecrow,' He accepts his hand and turns, 'This is Christa.' she shakes Joseph's hand.
'You can call me. Lady of the Tin.' He smiles as the lady approaches him and he shakes her hand. ' Lady of the Tin pointing to the old man. 'That is Ol' Weary Spirit.' Joseph extends his hand, bu Ol' Weary Spirit leaves him hanging.
'You will have to excuse him. It has been an extra rough day for him.' Christa interjects
Joseph sees Gracie staring at the Ol' Weary Spirit with her tail wagging.
'Do you, I mean are you a veteran, sir?' Joseph asks.
The Ol' Weary Spirit turns his head with his brows tight, 'Yeah, how did you know that.'
'This is going to sound crazy, but Gracey has a strange ability to seek out vets who need help. I think she got it from her mother who find me when I was feeling hopeless. Although, I was never a solider. I got a billion dollar inherit when my parents died. I was only twenty-four at the time. Just graduated with a degree in psychology , but I was still young and stupid. I blew all of my money on women, trips, and car within a year. When the money was gone, so were the women and my so-called friends. I was depressed, so much so that I was on my way to jump off a bridge and end my life. On the way, I passed a boy giving away a box of yellow lad pups. One of the puppies barked at me, but i jogged passed. Funny cause when I reached the bridge , that pup ran in front of me. It blocked me and barked every time that I tried to move around him. Finally, I stop. She stood up on leg and begun to whine. Finally, I picked her up and she started licking my face. My feeling of hopelessness went away. I named her Agape and we were inseparable for then on. She lead me pass a house that was for sell. It was listed for five hundred thousand. I sighed. I wanted to buy it, but I had to sell my house, cars and boat to pay off my debts. I was broke. Oddly, the next day my father's attorney say that they had found another bank account my father had overseas. There was a little over five hundred thousand in it. I bought that house, but when I went to move in, there was a homeless man, named Patrick, sitting on the step. He told that God had told him that the new home owner was going to turn the house into a home for veterans like him who needed help getting back on their feet. At first, I was upset, but Agape sat in his lap and refuse to move. In my heart, I knew that money was a gift for God. I said it myself before I even met him. So, I opened my home to Patrick, got licensed to practice. My family's business finally settled a lawsuit that prevented me from selling the company, so I stole it for two million and was able to put that money into remodeling and vet programs. My first three residents were people with PTSD and two of them still work for me today helping others like them.
'Wow,' Mr. Scarecrow burst out. 'Lady of the Tin has been searching for a doctor. She thinks Ol' Weary Spirit has PTSD.'
'Thinks? PTSD needs to be diagnosed by doctor.' Joseph frowns.
'She is a doctor.'
'That is great! I just got a large grant to add on a medical clinic, but I am looking for doctor.'
The Lady of the Tin blushes, 'I was a pediatric surgeon. My license has been suspended until April of this next year. '
'Well, I still could use some advise on what equipment I should have...'
'I wish that I could help, but I am just a farmer.' Mr. Scarecrow says.
'You know what. We have tried for the last year to grow our own garden, but none of us have a green thumb. I would love if you would stop by and show us.' Joseph looks at his watch, 'Sorry, to run off, my friends, I must get going I am leading our church service tonight.'
'You have a church too?' Christa raises her brows.
Joseph nervous laughs and looks up at the large church behind him, 'well, it's not even close to a fancy building like this. We have it in a small room outside the mess hall. It is just a circle full of metal chairs and normal people talking about God and real life experiences. Serge plays piano and sings quite well. We share stories, pray and give hope to those who can't carry that for themselves yet.
'Sounds nice.' Mr. Scarecrow exhales.
The church program was Patrick's idea and it works great for us. 'Joseph look at Gracey who refuses to go. I come along Gracey.
'i...I...don't know about the church service, but...can I come to the house?' Ol' Weary Spirit says reaching for Gracey. She melts in his arms and licks his face
'Of course,' Joseph smiles, 'I think that is what Gracey was waiting for.' He looks at the others, 'You are all welcome to come, eat, and sleep for a night or week. We have two kinds of chili, one is vegetarian and the other three meat. Stuart is a stubborn grump of a man, but a great cookI promise won't make you attend our church service unless you want to. .
The four friends follow Joseph to his truck and go to the vet home. The house's veterans invites Ol' Weary Spirit in with open arms. The others set down to a meal with the vets and enjoy some good conversation. After Joseph introduces Mr. Scarecrow to Stuart as the farmer, the two men talk about the garden and they begin to make plans. Lady of the Tin draws a crowd after they learn that she is a doctor. She has to explain her situation, but still offers to give them advice until her license is renewed. Christa attends the church services and make a few friends of her own.
Later that evening, Christa settles into a quiet seat by the fireplace and props up her religious red slippers still on her sore feet. Gracey walks over to Christa's feet. where she removes her religious slippers and places them next to her basket. Next, Gracey places her nose into the basket and nudges Christa's Bible. Christa smiles, 'Do you want me to read it?'
Gracey's tail begin to wag. Smiling, Christa grabs the book and Gracey jumps into her lap and lays down. Christa opens the Bible up and begin to read. Soon, her eyes release tears. The pressure in her head lightens, slowly the storm fades away. Gracey looks up at her and grins knowing that she had finally realizes the Map was always meant to lead her into a relationship and give her a source to maintain that relationship. It was never about wearing the religious slippers or walking perfectly on that road. Christa smiles back seeing that Gracey, amazing grace, was and is the key to understand the map.
Today it is sad that so many churches in America are more concerned with entertainment . That focus on bringing people in the building and filling seats more than they are about filling people hearts and heads with Biblical truths. They promote Earthly culture and wants to bring people inside the wall instead of walking amongst the poorest to see what people in this world's needs truly are. Many services have become about the power of the showmanship than about the power in the story of Jesus.
For me, it is very upsetting that many pastor believe Earthly possessions are a sign of God's approval. They wear expensive suit, gold jewelry, make church into stadiums, offer coffee bars and hiring professional singers for their choirs. Many become so lost in the money that they forget the message. They preach about what is right and wrong; however, they fail to check their own hearts in the process. This is where they lose so many people. Fakeness shows. Yes, they are just people who are locked into a vessel of flesh as well as everyone else. However, the world is watching. Critics watch only to point out their sins, others to see if their words line up with their actions. And like it or not, the devil is watching for material to fill his darts of shame with.
In my heart, I know that God can use anything to bring people into his presence. He wants to meet people where they are. If they love coffee, then that is a way to connect with him. If they love music; then a choir is a way to connect with them. So, I am not saying all of these things are wrong. I am saying that we must be careful how and to what degree we use them to connect with outsiders. We can use up all our energy, time and resources in alluring people in that we leave no energy or time for the Holy Spirit to work.
We must remember that some people who come to church want to escape the world. They have been hurt by lust (worldly forms of love), greed and many other things. They are searching for another or different path. They want answers or solutions to their problems not to be remind of their shortcomings. They long for hope, faith and love that is not conditional
.
It is easy to think that church is a place we go on Sundays. For many years, I got lost thinking church was a place we go. I grew up with several bad experiences in varies church buildings. People of those places claimed to be of God hurt me physically, emotionally and spiritually. I allowed the Devil to use religious leaders to convince me that church is not for me.
The truth that God taught me that the church building is not the church God intended for it to be. Under the curtain of the building, are people. God's true church. I believe that we do not have to regular attend a building to go to church. Like Christa in the story, we may struggle to found a place to fit in, but if we stop to look around we can see the people around us are what we have been searching for all along. The people that God places in our lives. Our church maybe our family, friends, co workers or people within the building we call church. Over time, our church may change, people will exit our lives, but we also have to leave room for new people to join it.
People cover their sins with curtains. In other words, we conceal sins. No one is perfect. But as represents of Jesus, we need to be accountable for our mistakes. I believe, it is how we act or deal with our sins that determines our witness. It is also how we live overall. Each person in a church determines whether they live by the flesh or in the Spirit. People who live by the flesh ,even those who claim to be a man or woman of God, Jesus gives time to address own sins.
Time after time, like Gracey, Jesus tries to get our attention, so we will turn to him in our troubles instead of relying on religious leaders. This is very important because religious leaders are still people. They have flesh and sin like anyone else. Jesus seek them out to and give them chances to get back to walking in the Spirit. However, if we or they do not take his warnings, Jesus may let the curtains be opened. Out of love, he may let those poisons be exposed so we have to address them. He does not like to. It makes him sad, but it is sometimes the only way for him to get people attention.
Jesus is the symbol of amazing grace. When other people cause us to lose faith in humanity, break our hearts, angry or confuse us, Jesus shows himself in many form. In this story, he was represented by the puppy Gracey. She comforted Christa and Mr. Scarecrow by acknowledge their hurt at the expense of others. She also knows what to do to show The Lady of the Tin and Ol' Weary Spirit that she knows them and loved them too.
There are times when Jesus will lead us connect us with others. These are reasons like to carry out God's purpose, be the bridge between them, or to show them or us what a true Christian is. There are also reasons that are beyond my understanding that serve his unseen big picture.
In the end of the story, Gracey removes Christa's religious slippers. She is releasing her from the burden of religious perfectionism. That act shows her that she is saved not by walking perfectly on the religious road or by what she does, whether by the power of grace given to us through Jesus. Gracey show the importance of reading the Bible by nudging the book in Christa' s basket. But she does not leave her to read it for herself, no Gracie joins her to reveal to her the true key. Christa learns what the key is to decoding the Bible is and that is grace. When we have grace we receive the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that we discern God's word and direction for our live. Through it, we find inner peace and gather strength to keep going because we learn who God is. For example, His ability to relief the pressure from life's circumstance so we can prevent or fight any psych-clone from controlling our future.
In conclusion, we all take different roads in this life. Most of get lost at least once. During that period of time, we may find friends. Friends like Mr. Scarecrow who we can count on because they always hang in there. Friends like The Lady of the Tin who tell it like it is and protect us from deceitful people. Friends like Ol' Weary Spirit who teach us to practice empathy and to remind us to give grace to those who need it.
I also want to add that each person has a path in life. A path that may follow the ways of the world, a path that may follow the ways of God or a path that does a lot of zigzagging between. I don't believe your eternal future is based on what road you take in life. It is whether about where you are going. Just like with GPS, the destination is always the goal. You must know Jesus and accept (key word) him as you Lord and savior, if you want to live in God's presence forever. I heard somewhere, "God doesn't care as much where you have been, as he cares where you are going." There is nothing wrong with going to a building or online (during Covid-19) every Sunday. Furthermore, you should try to live by the word of God and that means studying the Bible. Just don't forget the power of the Holy Spirit to help guide you through it.
No matter how many times I clicks my heels together, those red religious slippers are not going to get me home. Only grace, the amazing grace of Jesus, opens the doors to my forever home. I will take His Spirit with me through my end into my forever home. Cause there is no place like Heaven , no home like it when God calls me home.
Comentários