Thursday and El Tap

The plan was perfect... maybe too perfect.
There are few things in this life like being a part of a book. You can write it, proof-read it, design it, or, inspire it. What you do, really doesn't matter, because the day you first touch it, the day you feel it, the day you first see something you were a part of creating, is a day you never forget.
Maybe it's because a book is permanence. A book will exist somewhere, long after you and everyone living today is gone. It may be in some dusty alcove of the Library of Congress or in Aunt Gladys' Great-Granddaughter's third cousin's house, but it will be somewhere. And you will have been a part of it.
The plan was perfect... maybe too perfect.
The proof copy of The Priest and The Parson was shipped out of Charleston, SC Saturday. A snail with a bad foot could make it to Wilson by Thursday. But guess what?
The plan was perfect... maybe too perfect.
Everyone involved received a daily email update. The emails were designed that the last would fall on the same Thursday... today. The last of the story follows. Everyone is going to be at El Tap. The Parson and the Bishop, The real Life Priest and Parson, the inspirations for the book, would be there. Guess what, barring a miracle, won't be there? The book.
Maybe the first time they will hold the book won't be until next Thursday, maybe they won't read the dedication until then, maybe. But, they can see the Kindle version of the book at  http://www.amazon.com/The-Priest-Parson-ebook/dp/B0094RJC9A/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1346918780&sr=8-6&keywords=Dan+Weatherington and they can read the dedication, "-Dedicated to a real Priest and a real Parson, two real friends, who change lives for the better every day-"

When spring came to Camp Eden, something new entered the picture. A couple of the young people who lived in the camp were taking instructions in agriculture at the local community college and made it their project to plant seeds and plants around the camp. During the winter, the areas of bare earth and spindly plants throughout the camp were an eyesore, but come spring, the plants turned green and the bare spots exploded with color. Camp Eden truly became a ‘Garden of Eden’.
Davy and Danny enjoyed sitting on the front porch and taking in the kaleidoscope of color that surrounded them. The grass had been mowed that afternoon and the smell of the ‘new mown hay’ and sight of colors around them was unbelievable.
Danny had gone inside to answer the phone and came back out carrying two glasses of iced tea. “Some lawyer called and wants to meet with us.”
“About what?”
“Who knows? I told him to come on over. He’ll be here soon.”
As the sun was setting over the camp, a pair of headlights came through the front gate. “My guess is that’s going to be our visitor,” said Danny.
“But, when the car stopped, not one person got out, but three.”
From the very first, it was obvious the three men’s business was serious. Not a single smile graced any of their faces as Danny led them into his cabin.
An older man introduced two younger fellows as Pastor Mitchell and Pastor Reid. He then introduced himself as Lawrence King, attorney for the two.
“I am here to represent Reverend Mitchell an Reverend Reid in the negotiations–“
”Negotiations?” Popped Davy. “What kind of negotiations? We aren’t trying to buy anything and we certainly have nothing to sell.”
“Negotiations don’t necessarily only involve buying and selling,” said King as he pulled out a small tape recorder.
“Whoa,” said Danny as he held up his hand. “This is getting creepy. Why the tape recorder?”
“It’s to protect my clients,” said King. “I don’t know how you’re going to react to what my clients are about to tell you. I don’t know if you are going to want to put them in jail, or how much money you’re going to want.”
Davy looked at Danny, neither had any idea what was going on.
The attorney pressed a button on the recorder and looked at Mitchell. “Go ahead and tell them what you did.”
The young preacher shuffled in his seat, then began. “A little over a year ago, Mark and I,” he looked at Reid, “Mark and I came here to your church. We had no idea what a Baptist Episcopal church was, but we had both just gotten our churches and were looking around to see how others did what they do and decided to come here.”
Both Danny and Davy nodded.
“What we saw, well, it was like nothing either of us had ever seen before. It was wonderful. It was unbelievable. I’ll never forget it, it was about Jesus throwing the money changers out of the temple.” He looked at Danny. “You even picked up a table and threw it across the altar. Money flew everywhere. I’ll never forget it. I had probably read that verse a hundred times, but until you threw that table across the front of the church and that money showered down on the altar and on the people, that was all it was. . . a verse.”
Danny looked at Davy. They smiled. They remembered the service well.
“Then, Pastor Tate, you got up and gave that unbelievable sermon. It was, well, like I said, unbelievable. The way you traced doing the wrong things in God’s house and brought it around to doing the wrong things in my house and in your house. I can almost remember it word for word. It was wonderful Then, the way you two asked for questions. Not one bit of fear in your eyes. You stopped the service and asked for questions. We could not believe it.”
“No,” said Davy, “we don’t stop the service to ask for questions. The questions are a part of our service, a big part.”
King motioned for Mitchell to continue.
“We both left feeling closer to God than either of us had ever felt before. Then,” Mitchell looked down. “We came back many times and with a tape recorder and recorded your services.”
Danny shook his hand in front of him. “You can stop your tape recorder. We hear the click, click of recorders going on and off during all our services. We don’t even pay any attention to it any more.”
“There’s more,” said King. He looked at Mitchell, “Go on.”
“We absolutely love your services, we love the way you do them and. . .” Mitchell looked at King. King nodded. “We copied them. We copied them and we created more using your format. We have people packing our churches. The people love it.”
King held up his hand for Mitchell to stop. “I have checked copyright law and it appears–“
Danny reached over and picked up King’s recorder and said into the machine, “Our sermons and services are not copyrighted and Reverend Mitchell and Reverend Reid have our full permission to record the services and use our format and the recordings in any manner they see fit.” Danny looked at King. “Does that make you feel better?”
King took the recorder from Danny’s hand and laid it back on the table. “There’s more.”
Danny looked at Davy.
King nodded for Mitchell to continue.
“Barry, pardon me, Reverend Reid, and I both use your service structure exclusively. Like I say, we love it and our churches are growing by leaps and bounds.”
“That’s great,” said both Danny and Davy. “And both your churches are growing?”
Mitchell looked at King.
King nodded and Mitchell continued. “We have. . .”
“You have three?” asked Davy excitedly.
King eyed Mitchell. Mitchell exhaled and quickly blurted out, “We have seven.”
Davy looked at Danny. They were both in shock.
Davy looked at Mitchell. “You have seven churches all using our format?”
Mitchell nodded.
“How is it we never heard of them?” asked Davy.
“We’re two counties away, but still, I’m surprised you didn’t hear about them.”
Davy looked at Mitchell, “We didn’t, and now we do have a problem.” King moved his recorder closer to Davy.
“A problem?”
“Yes,” said Davy. “Those two counties between us. Those folks are missing out on some good churchin’.
Davy paused for a second, looked at Danny, and became suddenly silent. There were tears in Danny's eyes. At that moment, Davy felt a something slide down his cheek. He knew that Danny was realizing the same thing he was. The two of them had reached their goal. The two of them had accomplished their destiny.
Davy reached over and pressed the ‘stop’ button on King’s recorder. “And, as for you two, there are some fine preachers you need to meet. You need to meet Bubba and Billy-Bob, and Dominick and ...”

Wednesday

The next morning, Danny barged into Davy’s cabin. “Have you got some gas in that heap of yours?”
“It amazes me, you have a perfectly good car of your own. But when you want to go somewhere, anywhere, you feel a burning need to insult my car and ride in it.”
“The question still stands, have you got any gas in that heap of yours?”
“Yes, I assume you want to go somewhere.”
“If you can break away from catering to these rich people.”
“You mean like the ones here at Camp Eden?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve made some calls.”
“Yes.”
That evening, Danny had just set down the phone when Davy came in the front door of his cabin.
“Front porch?” asked Davy.
“Nope, got people coming.”
“Who I think it is?”
“Yes. I think it’s going to work out beautifully.”
Davy smiled.
In a few minutes, a car pulled up to the front of Danny’s cabin. Davy stood and said, “Want some drinks?”
“If you don’t mind.”
Liza and Ben knocked on the door and Danny invited them in. “Come in folks and have a seat.”
“You two are so kind. And I do hope we did okay Sunday. There’s no way we would ever want to disappoint–“
Davy stood and took Liza’s Coke out of her hand. She looked confused. “Just being safe,” he said, “I do hate to clean these things up.”
"Pardon me?” she asked as Danny stood and handed her something. She looked. It was a set of keys and a checkbook.
Liza’s shoulders dropped. She showed the keys and the checkbook to Ben. “You two just know no end to generosity, but Ben and I got a car and Ben keeps it running. We don’t need no car. And a checkbook? We ain’t got no money for a checkbook, but thank you any–“
”The keys won’t fit a car. They’re to a building, a building on Lacy Street, The Lacy Street Mission, we bought it this afternoon.”
If it is possible for a black woman to turn white, Liza Sparrow did it at that moment. Then, she began shaking and passed out on the couch. Ben went to her and began patting her face. In a moment she revived and Davy told her to open the checkbook. When she did, she read Lacy St. Mission - Rev. Ben and Rev. Liza Sparrow. She smiled and said, “This is real nice, but it’s wrong, Ben, he’s a reverend, but I ain’t no reverend. I ain’t nothin’.”
“Sorry, bad mistake, Miss Liza, you tell her Father Danny.”
“Pastor Danny’s right, you are a reverend, a reverend in the Baptist Episcopal Church.”
“Once more she stood, once more she shook and once more she collapsed on the couch. And, once more Ben came and patted her face. “Ain’t no big thing,” he said, “Liza don’t take too good to good news, I guess cause she ain’t never seen that much of it.”
In a few moments, Liza shook her head and rubbed her face. “I know you two must think I is a sight, but you two... you two...”
“That’s alright Miss Liza, and there’s five thousand dollars in the account. It’s for the mission.”
Again she stood and again she collapsed. Ben moved toward her and Davy waved him back. “Let her sleep,” he said, “It’s been a big day for her.”
Then, Ben sat and began crying. “Liza will be alright, Ben.” said Danny.”
“Oh, it ain’t Liza. Liza, she’ll be fine, but you two, you two just don’t know.”
“Tell us, Reverend Ben.”
“That place, that mission house on Lacy street, it was Liza’s whole life. She loved them people. The poorer they was, the worse off they was, the more Liza loved ‘em. Then they closed the mission and Liza and me was like the others, homeless and hungry. Some good people we once helped took us in a and gave us a little house. We was making it, but all we was really doing was waitin’ to be with the Lord. Two old folks just sittin’ and waitin’. Then one Sunday somebody invited us here, to your church. We is black folks. We been church people all our lives, but neither of us never seen nothin’ like you and Preacher Davy put on. Won’t none of that straighten up or go to Hell stuff. You and Preacher Davy made us feel good. God won’t some mean man. God was good. We loved the way you two did the scripture and the sermons, and them questions... them wonderful questions. That night, that very first night, me and Liza started doin' them scriptures and that sermon jus’ like you and Preacher Davy done. Then we made up questions and answered them. We did it every night. Some people watched television, we did scripture and sermons and questions. It was fun, you saw us Sunday, we was having fun! A many a night, we watched the sun rise up. We had spent the whole night churchin’ You gave two old people a reason to live. The Lord, he’s jus’ gonna’ have to wait. And then, tonight, I just don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything, Brother Ben, just rest.”
In a moment, Ben and Liza were both asleep on the couch. Davy pulled a quilt off a chair and gently covered the two. He and Danny slipped out onto the front porch.
“There’s two happy people in there,” said Davy.
“Yes, did we just get rid of a gang in Greenwood Village?”
“I don’t know, maybe we just ended an extortion racket in Chinatown.”
“Feels about the same, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, Father Danny, about the same.”

And, Tuesday Comes

The months passed and each of the churches reached new highs. Davy and Danny had several churches offered to them, but unless they had people ready and able to lead a church, they passed. With one exception, Lacy Street.
One Sunday after the service at Camp Eden, two people lingered in the pews. As Danny and Davy were leaving, something drew them to the two people. They approached the man and woman and thanked them for coming. The woman looked at Danny and asked, “We’ve heard of the miracles you and Pastor Davy are doing, would you ever consider taking a woman preacher? A woman preacher and her preacher husband? An old woman preacher and her old preacher husband?”
It was obvious to Danny that she was talking about herself and the man in the pew beside her, so Danny played along. “Why? Do you know someone like that?”
“You’re looking at them.” the lady said with confidence.
“As far as a woman, that’s not a problem, as far as old, I guess we’ll all be there some day. The only problem may be that we do things a bit different than in most churches.”
“Father Danny, we know how you do things. We’ve been to every one of your churches. We know how you do it. My question was, would you ever consider taking on a woman preacher and her preacher husband?”
Danny had seen the couple at the churches just like the lady had said. He and Davy had seen them frequently enough to name them. They called them “The Sparrows” because the small black couple reminded them of sparrows. Like the birds, they stayed together and sort of flitted back and forth.
Danny looked at the woman and then at Davy. “My question would be can you do it our way?”
“As good or better than you can,” she said with the same confidence.
“Can you do it next week?”
“Where?”
“Here.”
“We would be awful scared here, Father Danny, we’ve never preached in front of rich folks like these before. We always preached at the soup kitchens and the places for the homeless. We never preached in a fine church like this. We never preached to rich people.” Danny looked at Davy. In all their time at Camp Eden, neither had ever considered the poor working people here “rich”.
“What are your names?” asked Danny.
“My name is Liza and this here is Ben.”
“Good to finally meet you, Liza, Ben. I didn’t catch your last name.”
“It’s ‘cause I didn’t pitch it, Father. Our last name is Sparrow.”
Danny heard Davy say “Jesus Christ” to himself.
“Well, Miss Liza, the offer is open. You and Mr. Ben do the service here next week if you want. Pastor Davy and I live right here and we will be delighted to help you.”
“Don’t need no help. You two just come next Sunday and park your butts in the seats. You’ll see.”
Danny and Davy excused themselves and left. “You did the right thing, you know that, don’t you?” said Davy.
“I think I did too. Besides, if she slips up, you and I will be right there to back them up. Still, Camp Eden, rich folks?”
“I know.”
Come the following Sunday, Saint Davy’s and Saint Danny’s Baptist Episcopal Church was packed with people sitting outside. Danny had a speaker system installed so those who could not get in could hear the service. On nice days, some people preferred to spread a blanket on the lawn and enjoy the outside. This was one of those days and blankets and people surrounded the church.
When eleven o’clock came, Ben Sparrow stood and led the Lord’s prayer. Ben moved to the pulpit as Liza began. “In the Book of Luke, Jesus said ‘Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. In the Book of Matthew, Jesus said Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Are there any questions?”
“A man in the congregation stood and asked “Isn’t the a lot of difference between the two? What did Jesus actually mean?”
Davy leaned over to Danny and whispered, “That was it? That was all of the scripture reading?”
Danny just shrugged his shoulders as Liza stretched her hand toward Ben who said, “Did the two men, Matthew and Luke hear something different here? Did Matthew hear Jesus say one thing and Luke hear him say another? I think not.” Ben stretched his hand back toward Liza.
“In the Book of Luke, Jesus said ‘Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. In the Book of Matthew, Jesus said Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Are there any questions?”
Liza again stretched her hand toward Ben.
“What does it mean to be poor?” questioned Ben. “Does it mean you have no gas for your fine automobile or does it mean you have no bread for your child? The man who has a fine car can sell his car and buy gas, then he faces a problem, what good is the gas without an automobile? The man who cannot feed his child has only one problem, to feed his child.”
Ben stretched out his hand to Liza.
“In the Book of Luke, Jesus said ‘Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. In the Book of Matthew, Jesus said Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Are there any questions?”
When there were none, Liza stretched out her hand toward Ben.
“Matthew heard Jesus say the words “Poor in Spirit”. Now, doesn’t this stir up a whole new kettle of fish? The man who sells his fine automobile to buy gas, has him some gas, but what good is it? He can’t eat it. I guess he could drink it but it would make him sick. He doesn’t want to do that. Now the man who can’t feed his child, is he the one who’s poor in spirit. If’n he is, he got real problems. He got a child he can’t feed and he needs some feedin’ hisself. Cause if’n he’s poor in spirit, he needs help real quick. Jesus said that man’ll go to Heaven, but that man and his child need help now.”
Ben stretched his hand toward Liza.
“In the Book of Luke, Jesus said ‘Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. In the Book of Matthew, Jesus said Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Are there any questions?”
Like everyone else in the congregation, Danny and Davy sat slack-jawed and not believing what they were seeing. There ws not a sound to be heard except Liza, Ben and the person asking an occasional question.
One man timidly raised his hand. “Which man was Jesus talking to?”
Liza’s hand went toward Ben.
“Now, that Brother, is a darn good question and I can’t rightly tell you. I’m old, but I ain’t that old and I won’t there, but let’s look at it. That mnan who sold his automobile and bought some gas, I figure he can trade that gas for maybe a loaf or two of bread, but that ain’t the same man. That man won’t poor in the first place, he had that fine automobile, no he won’t poor. And now he has him some bread, but that bread ain’t doin’ that man with the hungry child one bit of good, and it sure as everything holy ain’t doin’ the man who’s poor in spirit nothin’ cause them first two men, they is poor, but it’s a different kind of poor. There’s belly hurtin’ poor and there’s soul starvin’ poor. Them first two men, they is belly hurtin’ poor. Somebody, somewhere, gonna’ come along and throw out a half-eat samwhich or some half-eat pie, or somethin’ and them fellas what is belly hurtin’ poor gonna’ be fine for a while, but that fella who’s soul spirit poor, all the samwhiches in the world ain’t gonna’ do him no good.”
Ben stretched his hand toward Liza.
“In the Book of Luke, Jesus said ‘Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. In the Book of Matthew, Jesus said Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Are there any questions?”
For the next full hour, Liza and Ben went back and forth. Every question that was asked was answered by Ben to perfection. After Ben had responded to the asked question, his hand was stretched toward Liza. Without hesitation, Liza would repeat the two scriptures.
Danny looked around the congregation. There was a smile on every face. When there were no more questions, Liza moved toward Ben and Ben toward Liza and Ben held his hands together and said, “No, My Brothers and Sisters. There is no shame in being poor. Great men and women have been poor. The baby Jesus’ folks was so poor they had to birth him in a stable and Jesus was so poor they buried him in a grave somebody else done give him. It won’t even his grave. But, bein’ poor in spirit, that’s another thing altogether. There is other people out there, find those people. I can promise you they just as happy to help build up your spirit as you is to have them do it.”
There was absolute silence in the church for a moment until one person began clapping his hands. Almost immediately someone else joined in. In a few seconds, everyone else stood and was clapping.
Danny and Davy both stood and joined in. “Isn’t this what you call a standing ovation?” smiled Davy.
“Yes,” answered Danny, “A well deserved standing ovation.”
After everyone had moved outside, Liza and Ben Sparrow moved to the pews and took a seat. Shortly thereafter Davy and Danny came out and joined them.
“Quite a service,” said Danny, “You two were good.”
“I told you so,” smiled Liza.
“Yes ma’am, that you did. And, you were right.”
“Thank you, and thank you for the opportunity.”
“You two are the ones who should be thanked.”
Liza squeezed Ben’s hand.
“You didn’t mind doing it for the rich people?”
“Not really, but I believe we still like being around our own.”
“And what is your own?” asked Danny.
“We like doing for those who can’t do for themselves,” said Liza with a straight face.
Danny looked at Davy. How many times had they said those exact same words?
“You enjoy working with the homeless, the soup kitchens?”
“I believe that is where God has called us, or at least I thought so.”
“Why did you change your mind?”
“Oh, we didn’t. We were in a fine place down on Lacy Street. It was a nice place. Had a kitchen, a playroom for the children and a nice room you could put beds in. It was a nice place, a safe place.”
“What happened?”
“Don’t know. One day the Bishop came in said they didn’t have no money. Locked the doors right then. Ben, me and twenty folks was out on the street.”
Danny took Liza and Ben’s hands and held them. “Would you honor us by joining us outside for lunch?”
Outside, Liza and Ben received the same reception that began inside. Handshakes, hugs and some kisses.

The Week Begns

The following Sunday came and it was time for Davy and Danny to do the service at Jones Chapel. Danny was almost giddy in anticipation. “What’s with you?” asked Davy. “You’re like a kid at Christmas.”
“Because this will be our first true test. Up to now, at  least half the people have been former Catholics or Episcopalians or something that wasn’t so Bible oriented. These people will be one hundred percent country Baptists. They don’t know anything else but the Bible. And the big thing is that they believe they know it better than anyone else.”
“But, you know they don’t.”
“Yes, we know they don’t, but they don’t know they don’t. It is going to be interesting.”
Davy and Danny were welcomed into the church and Reverend Wright went out of his way to make them feel right at home. When it came time to begin, Danny made the announcement that the service would last longer than usual and that if anyone needed to leave, please do so.
Danny did the scripture portion of the service just as it had been done before. The questions that followed were similar to the ones that had been asked before except for one. An older lady stood and said, “I assume today’s communion will have real wine. Is that correct?”
Danny responded, “Yes.”
The woman said, “I am sixty-six years old and alcohol has never touched my lips. I would not choose for it to touch my lips now.”
“Yes ma’am, that is perfectly alright and it is entirely up to you. And anyone who had rather not take the wine, please do as you wish. But, I might remind you, that Jesus drank wine as a part of every meal. And, wine was served at the Last Supper. Also, in the Bible, wine is a symbol of something good. Still, the choice is yours.”
People began looking around at each other and there was a slight murmur in the congregation. Yet, when Danny and Davy passed out communion, every person in the church took the bread and wine. The sixty-six year old woman dipped her piece of bread in the cup, pulled it out, smiled at Danny and said, “Just as Jesus would have done,” then put it in her mouth.
Danny watched as the lady made a face at the taste of the wine. “It’s an acquired taste,” he smiled.
After the communion, a lady raised her hand. “Was this the kind of bread Jesus would have eaten?” she asked.
“We tried to research and believe this is similar to what they had at that time,” responded Danny.
“No Wonder bread?” smiled a man.
“No Wonder bread.” answered Danny with a broad smile.
Davy then gave his sermon and every eye was pasted on him. After the sermon, more questions were asked, good questions. And when the service was over, outside, the questions and comments continued. Several questions, many comments, began with “I didn’t know.”
As Davy and Danny left the church, Danny asked, “What do you think?”
“Honestly, I believe they were one of the most receptive congregations we have ever had.”
“I agree. I will tell you that I was sweating bullets when that woman asked about the wine. One man stood up in the back and I assumed he was going after the tar and feathers, but he only adjusted the heat.”
“I feel good about what happened today,” said Danny.
“I do too,” agreed Davy, “I feel really good.”

That evening, Danny and Davy were going over plans for the next week when there was a knock on the door. Danny answered. It was Reverend Wright. Oh God, thought Davy, now the truth comes out.
“Guys, my phone has not stopped ringing all afternoon,” said the Reverend.
Now comes the tar and feathers, thought Davy, but then he noticed the Reverend was smiling.
“The people loved it!” he shouted.
Davy, half out of relief, half out of joy, shouted, “The people loved it.”
Danny, not wanting to be left out, shouted, “The people loved it.”
The three preachers grabbed each other’s hands and stood smiling at each other. Then, the smile fell from Wright’s face.
“What is it, Reverend?” asked Danny.
“Can you. . . can you teach me how to do it?” he asked.
“Preacher Davy, you think we can teach this Baptist preacher how to do it our way?” grinned Danny.
“You know, Father Danny, I believe we can. You got a Bible, Reverend Wright?”
“You know I do,” answered the Reverend. “I got a Bible, I got a fine Bible.”
“Good,” said Danny, “Then you’ve already got the textbook.”
The man’s grin was unbelievable.
“I doubt you people paid any attention,” said Wright, “but with all the scriptures and questions and sermonizing and questions, we were in church over two hours, almost three. Some people ain’t going to cotton to that. They may not be back, but you know, if God ain’t worth but an hour a week, he ain’t much of a God is he?”
“Yes, Reverend Wright, I believe you will do just fine.

The Final Sunday

For the next two weeks Danny and Davy would look forward to what was to come at Jones Chapel. But, the day after Reverend Wright and Deacon Palmer visited. A man knocked on Danny’s door.
“Do I have the pleasure of addressing Father West?” asked the man.
“Yes.”
The man then introduced himself as Pastor Watson from Third Street Church of God. Danny welcomed him in.
“Sir, I have heard you try to help churches in trouble. Is this true?”
“We have, on occasion, but first, what kind of trouble?”
“We’re a poor church. We’ve never really been big. But our membership is declining to the point we just can’t keep going.”
“And, how can we help?” asked Danny.
“We own the building. It’s paid for. And we’d like to sell it. I know you’ve bought other churches.”
Just then Davy walked in and Danny introduced Watson and gave him a rundown about what was said.
“Will you be having services this Sunday?” asked Davy.
The man said that they would.
“If Father West agrees, we will be there. Eleven o’clock?”
The man seemed surprised but said they would be welcome and left.
“What was all that about?” asked Danny.
“We’ve got two more guys ready for their own church.”
“Andy and Clark?”
“Right, Andy and Clark. Besides, you and I have made fun of the Holiness for thirty years, it’s probably past time that we see what goes on for real.”
“Okay, we’ll do it, but there’s something about what happened in the last five minutes that’s just not right.”
“What? The man? The church? What he wants?”
“I don’t know, there’s just something.”
“You’re being paranoid. We’ll go Sunday. If we like the place, we’ll listen to what they want to say and go from there okay?”
Danny slowly exhaled and said, “Okay.”
Sunday came and Davy and Danny headed into town. “Strange,” said Danny, “I’ve never heard of Third Street Church of God.”
“Neither have I,” said Davy, “But, then again, is there any reason we should? I’m sure it’s one of the store front churches. The old part of town is full of them.”
“Yea, I had a guy in the congregation at St. Egbert’s who was in real estate. He said the last step of a building before the wrecking ball is a church. There was a lot to that. Somebody buys or rents a building on the cheap, calls himself a preacher and if he can get a half-decent following, he can live off it. That’s why there’s so many of them.”
“Don’t talk too quick. The Methodist Church was just before the wrecking ball and Billie-Bob and Bubba have made it into a fantastic place.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen here,” said Danny as he pointed to what appeared to be an old movie theater with “Third Street Church of God” on the marque.
“Who knows? We’ve never gone into a storefront before. Let’s give it a chance. Open mind, open mind.”
“You’re right. . . open mind.”
The two parked and walked into what had once been the lobby of the old theater. Though the majority of the former fittings still remained, everything appeared to have been freshly washed and cleaned. Other people were walking in and a couple stopped and smiled at the two visitors. Danny and Davy joined the others as they walked inside. In front, there was a stage with a pulpit and some musical instruments. At a few minutes to eleven, four people came out and began playing. Though Danny and Davy weren’t accustomed to drums and a guitar, the music was upbeat and pleasant. As they played, people continued to file into the theater. Then, Pastor Watson walked up onto the stage. “Today, we’re going to have church.”
The people, who by now amounted to well over forty, erupted into a fervent “Halaluah”.
Watson shouted louder, “Today, we’re going to have church.”
The people responded with an even louder “Halaluah”
“Today, we ARE going to have church” shouted Watson at the top of his lungs.
The people began shouting. They seemed to begin vibrating.
“I told my wife that we won’t be finished with church until God gives us a miracle!”
“Yes,” shouted the people.
“I’m looking for that miracle.”
“Yes, Preacher, Yes.”
“The miracle is coming!”
“Yes, Preacher, Yes, it’s coming.”
The next fifteen minutes of the service consisted of Watson shouting about going to church and, expecting a miracle. Davy pulled on Danny’s sleeve and Danny leaned in to hear him. “Is the son-of-a-bitch ever going to say anything?” Davy whispered. “All he’s doing is shouting the same things over and over.”
“Yea, but look at these people, they’re all in a lather. Look at ‘em they’re shaking, and what in God’s name are they saying?”
“I guess, this is what they call speaking in tongues.”
Just then, a slight breeze opened the curtain behind the pulpit. “Speaking in tongues my ass,” said Danny.
“What?”
“Just wait.”
In a few minutes, Watson calmed down and asked one of the people to lead them in a prayer. The very second the man began, everybody began praying their own prayer trying to outtalk the others. It was a clutter of voices. “I hope God can understand that,” whispered Davy. “I know I can’t.”
“God hasn’t got a thing to do with it,” said Danny.
“Wha–“
”Just wait.”
Eventually, calm came to the theater and the people began filing out. Watson stepped down from the pulpit and joined Davy and Danny. Perspiration ran down his face in streams. “Now, that was a blessed service,” said Watson. “I could feel the Holy Spirit beside me in this place. I’m going to miss it.”
“Are you going somewhere?” asked Davy.
“Yes, God has spoken to me and told me that you two are going to buy this church.”
“Really?” said Danny. “Did God say how much we’re going to pay for it?”
“As a matter of fact, it seems he mentioned a number. I believe it was one hundred thousand dollars. Yes, that’s what he said, one hundred thousand dollars.”
“Whew,” breathed out Danny. “I’m sure glad God was into creation and all that holy stuff, because he’s not worth a damn at real estate.”
“Good Lord, Preacher, what you’re saying is blasphemy. God created the land, all the land.”
“This is true, Pastor Watson, God may have created it, but somebody else bought this parcel from the city in a tax sale six weeks ago. That person paid six hundred dollars for it and now you’re wanting a hundred thousand. If God told you we were going to pay that for it, not only is God a bad real estate man, God is a fool.” Danny stood up and shouted, “Is God a fool, Reverend Green, or do you just believe we are the fools?”
“Reverend Green?” questioned Davy. “What has Rever–“
”A breeze blew the curtain apart and I saw him standing in the back. This is a set-up, Davy. Look at the signs. They’re all freshly painted. And those people, I’ve never heard anyone speak in tongues before, but I have all ideas if they’re talking to God it’s not going to be just gibberish and jumping up and down.”
The curtain parted and Green walked out. “Very astute, Father West, very astute.”
“One question, Reverend Green?” asked Danny, “Why? We paid you a fair price for Green Valley Baptist Church. Why?”
“A fair price? A fair price? Have you seen that place lately? It’s packed every Sunday. You’ll get ten times what you paid for that place the first year.”
“Is that how you measure the success of a church, Rererend? By how much money it brings in? No wonder it failed, but the church didn’t fail you. You failed the church. The church isn’t what brings in people. Those guys who are there now would have crowds on an ice flow. You know why, Reverend?”
Green stood there in shock.
“Because they don’t take from the people like you did, they give something to the people. And, by the way, Reverend, one of your people said something in tongues.”
“Tongues, they can’t speak in tongues.”
“I don’t know, what he said made perfectly good sense to me. At least it sure did help us here.”
Green gave a confused look.
“What it sounded like he said was, “Trust in God, but also check with the Register of Deeds.”

Countdown to the End

Word of the little church in the migrant labor camp had been circulating through the Christian community for some time. Mathematics being what it is, every member that Camp Eden, the old Methodist Church or, now, Green Valley Church picked up, some other church lost. As more churches lost members to the strange new church that encouraged people to ask questions, more churches became concerned with loss of membership. Each week, there were several people “visiting” from other churches. To Danny and Davy they were obvious. They asked too many questions, not after the scripture reading or the sermon, but after church and questions were always about the “mechanics” of the church, not theology. Yet, Danny and Davy welcomed them. If what was being done at Camp Eden was bringing people to God, they were more than willing to share their new way of conducting services. They were elated.
Danny had been away and when he returned he noticed a strange car in front of Davy’s cabin. He paid it little mind, but as he headed for his cabin, he heard a whistle. It was Davy and he was motioning Danny to come over.
“Father Danny West, this is Reverend Wright and Deacon Palmer from Jones Chapel Baptist Church.”
Danny shook the men’s hands as Davy pointed to the chairs. Davy offered everyone a Coke and after they were settled, Davy began. “Reverend Wright and Deacon Palmer have visited both here and Green Valley. And, they have some interesting questions. Reverend, if you don’t mind.”
“Please, first, it’s Tom and Bill. And as Davy said, we have visited two of your churches and find what you are doing just absolutely fascinating.”
“Good,” smiled Danny. “Then, what are your questions?”
“To be honest with you, Father West–“
”Please, Danny.”
“Okay Danny, your question and answer period. I have seen enough of your services to know the questions aren’t planned. You don’t know what’s coming. You don’t know what questions will be asked.”
“That’s right.”
“This may come out wrong, and I’m not poor mouthing, but I’m assuming both of you went to seminary.”
Danny nodded.
“I didn’t, and I... I. . . what if a question is asked that I just can’t answer?”
“I’m going to ask you a stupid question, Tom. So what?”
The man’s expression went blank.
“What if someone asks you a question you can’t answer, so what? There’s not one thing wrong with saying you don’t know and you will look for the answer and get back to the person. Carry a small pad with you and get their name and phone number. This will let them know that you feel their question is important, which it is, and you’ll get back with them. You cannot believe how much the people appreciate it. A few weeks back, someone asked what happened to Joseph after Jesus’ childhood. I had absolutely no idea. But I told the man I would look it up and see what I could find. There was next to nothing. I phoned the man and told him. Then, the next week, I told the congregation about the question and what I had found. The man has been back every week since.”
“So, it has happened?”
“Oh yes, not often, but it does happen. It’s no big deal.”
“I didn’t know, not being seminary educated–“
”Tom, most of the questions can be answered by anyone half-knowing their bible stories and little common logic. The seminary doesn’t give you all the answers. Don’t worry about it.”
“I just didn’t want to look stupid in front of–“
”Tom, don’t worry, if you do it enough, you will.”
Reverend Wright smiled and looked relieved.
“Now, what else have you got?”
“I was told, but I find it hard to believe that it’s true, that the first time you started the question and answer thing, one of you told the congregation that it would take a bit longer than usual and if they had something to do, leave when they needed to. That’s not true, is it.”
“Yes, I made the announcement in English, Davy did it in Spanish. We also try to repeat it ever few weeks. It makes people more comfortable. It is true.”
“And people don’t walk out early?”
“Occasionally someone has to, but it’s not been a problem.”
“I just don’t–“
”Tom, I guess you could say that in a way we copy the black churches. The blacks honor their God. They worship their God. Most people want to give God the minimum amount of time they feel they can get by with. We don’t have anything for those people. There’s plenty of churches out there that are glad to have them, let them have them.”
“So, you don’t go out looking for members?”
“No, never have. If we have ever have to, we have failed and we’ll fold our tent.”
Reverend Wright looked shocked and looked at Davy. “Is he serious?”
“He’s dead serious,” said Davy.
Wright looked at Deacon Palmer. Neither man said a word. Both were in shock.
“You don’t do Thursday night visitations?”
“No, there’s no reason. Reverend Wright, ours is a little bit different. We try to teach people a little something about their Bible and try to explain it in a way they probably haven’t seen before. We encourage questions and answers. Above all, there’s no rush.”
“May I ask, what’s the difference between what you do and Sunday school?”
“You mean that thing where someone who doesn’t want to do it get’s up in front of a class to go over something he’s spent five minutes reading and hoping the forty-five minutes will hurry up and end?”
 Wright looked at Deacon Palmer. They smiled at each other.
 “Reverend Wright, our services are planned. The scripture reading could almost win an Academy Award. We try to make it come alive. We try to make it real. Our sermon coordinates with the scripture. It’s not a ‘If you don’t do this you’re going to hell’. It’s a ‘this will make God feel good, this will make you feel good’. When they leave our church, we don’t care if they have put the first penny in the collection, we don’t want them to fear God and his wrath, we want them to love God and wrap themselves in his glory.”
Both Wright and Palmer stared at Danny.
“What would happen if we announced that next week we would be conducting a new form of service and that it would go well past the normal hour? Well, hour and twenty minutes. We do have the altar calls.”
“You would have about half of your people not show up.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“But, if you announce that next week you will be having a new form of service. That the subject would be a certain Bible scripture and they need to read it and bring a question about the scripture or the Bible or Jesus and it would be answered. And, this is very important, announce that there will be no altar calls. If you do, you will give the half that does show up the best service Jones chapel has ever had.”
“No altar calls?”
“No altar calls.”
“I’ll be honest, I would still be scared of answering the questions.”
“What if Davy and I did the service for you?”
“Wright turned white as a sheet and looked at Palmer.”
“You would do that for us?” Wright said in disbelief. “Why?”
“Why not?” asked Danny. “Can you make the announcement next week?”
“If you will come.”
Danny looked at Davy for a moment then said, “Make the announcement.”
The two men from Jones Chapel Baptist Church were all over themselves thanking Danny and Davy. They shook hands and smiled and made every conceivable motion to let them know how much they appreciated what the two were willing to do. The thank you’s and accolades continued well until Wright and Palmer returned to their car.
After the two visitors left, Davy looked at Danny. “What do you think?”
“I think we can help.”
“For some reason, I do too.”
“It’ll be new territory for us,” said Danny.
“Yep.”
“It’s a country church.”
“Right.”
“A country Baptist church.”
“Right,” smiled Davy.
“They are going to be old-line Baptists.”
“Right again. We knew that when Wright hesitated on the altar calls.”
“They’re going to be Bible thumping, foot washing Baptists.”
“I have no idea how they’re going to take to a used Episcopalian and well, you’ll be okay. You’re a Baptist.”
“I hope so, but they’re country and you know what we used to say about Rednecks?”
“What? That all Baptists aren’t Rednecks, but that all Rednecks are Baptist. You still remember that?”
“It’s only haunted me for about fifteen years.”
“Oh.”
“Any thoughts on what you want to do?”
“Have you still got your notes on the Lord’s supper?” asked Danny with a smile.
“I don’t need them. As far as I’m concerned it was our best service ever. I know it by heart. But, yes, I have my notes.”
“You figure they have communion at Jones Chapel?”
“I assume they do. I’m sure it’s grape juice and a cracker, but I imagine they have communion.”
“Think they’re ready for a real communion?”
“With real wine and flatbread? Absolutely not.”
“Good, let’s do it.”

Coming Along

Chapter 10 -

Davy was awakened by the sound of one of the rocking chairs on his front porch. It wasn’t unusual for one of the children from the camp to get into one of the rockers, but it was five o’clock in the morning. The children were asleep long ago. Davy pulled aside the window shade. It was Danny sitting in the chair. Davy threw on his robe and went out onto the porch.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yea, I was about to wake you up.”
“What’s on your mind?”
“I guess it’s the same things that may have concerned Martin Luther, and John Calvin and what was the name of that Anglican priest who started the Baptist faith?”
“John Smythe.”
“Yea, John Smythe.”
“They’re all people who began new Christian denominations.”
“Aren’t you putting yourself up on a pretty high level?”
“Not really, but I believe it’s us.”
“Oh, us, okay,” said Davy, “but if I remember my history correctly. Those people didn’t set out to start new denominations, they just wanted to correct what was already there.”
“I believe you’re right and I want to ask you a question.”
“Shoot,” said Davy.
“What is the Baptist Episcopal church trying to do?”
Davy hesitated, then replied, “Trying to do the same thing, trying to correct what is already there.”
“What we have right now is good. Heck, I’d almost say perfect, but one day, a Green or a Hamm or somebody is going to come along and try to change the whole thing.”
“You’re right. For greed or his ego, probably for greed.”
“We can’t let that happen.”
“No, but doesn’t that open a catch-22?”
“You mean a bunch of rules to protect what we’ve got that actually creates something worse than what we had?”
“I can’t think of a better way of putting it.”
“That’s why you’re out here at five o’clock in the morning?”
“I was going to wake you up, but I just decided to sit for a while before I do. At first, it seemed simple. We just keep on doing what we’re doing.”
“Then you figured in human nature and it was no longer simple, right?”
“Right.”
“Obviously, you’ve been up most of the night thinking about this.”
“Yes, several nights. Many nights.”
“Okay,” said Davy, “Let me piece it together. Make up a bunch of rules and it becomes like the Episcopal Church or, God forbid, the Catholic Church. Don’t have any rules and it becomes like the Baptist Church and we lose what we’ve gained.”
“I guess you’ve got it. No rules and how long is it going to be before everything will have to be done in an hour? And, when that happens–“
”We’re back to where we started, right?”
“Right.”
“Really, this is a pretty stupid thing for us to discuss. There shouldn’t be a time limit on God.”
“Maybe not, but there is. If it makes you feel better, we didn’t create it.”
“No, and Luther didn’t start the corruption in the Catholic Church, or your man Smythe begin infant baptism. Do you think that made them feel any better?”
In the dark, Davy saw the slight outline of Danny’s smile. “How do we answer the questions in church sometimes, ‘I don’t know, I wasn’t there’.”
“Right now, what we have is new. What happens when the people have heard the same thing before? Are they going to want to listen to it all over again?”
“I don’t know. The Catholic mass has been the same for well over a thousand years. The Episcopal and Lutheran, nearly five hundred. They’re almost the exact same every time, yet, people still come. Bringing it back to the bare truth, the black churches are packed every Sunday and you can’t tell me they haven’t heard the same sermon before.”
“This is true. There’s no such thing as a brand new sermon.”
“Then why are they there?”
“I would hope they are there wanting to spend some time thinking about their creator. Isn’t that the crux of it?”
“I guess so, because if they’re there for entertainment, we’re way behind.”
 Once again, Davy saw the outline of Danny’s smile. “What is it?”
"I was just thinking. What you just said may be nothing short of brilliant.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why do people go to see the Hamms and those television preachers?”
“Because it’s a show, a well-coordinated show. It’s entertainment.”
“That’s what I was thinking. They take emotion to a new high.”
In the dark, Danny couldn’t see Davy, but he was nodding.
“What are we offering then?”
“I would say a form of completeness. We describe what is in the Bible and in the sermon, we make it come alive. It’s complete. Remember when we saw Hamm steal those services from us? Billy-Bob and Bubba and I wanted to sue him, but you said no.”
“I never said no.”
“No, you said nothing. Why?”
“You want to know th truth?”
“Certainly.”
“Because even if a crook like Hamm accidently brings someone to God, that’s one more person who has been brought to God.”
“Doesn’t that answer your question then? We’re going to have crooks. They’ve been in every religion and faith since religion began. So what? We do what’s right and if we do it well enough, we’ll be okay and the Baptist Episcopal Church will survive. We lead by example, not written order.”
At that very moment, the sun broke over Saint David’s and Saint Daniel’s Baptist Episcopal Church. A bright beam illuminated the front of the church and the steeple. Danny looked at Davy. “I believe the boss is letting us know he agrees.”

El Tap day

Danny looked at Davy and for a moment he was quiet. He was in thought. Then he said, “The way I’m taking this, you are entirely wrong. Let’s look at this thing in a different way. When we were ordained, it was like getting a driver’s license. My license came with a map. It told me where to drive, when and how. It’s called the Book of Common Prayer and it’s been hanging around for the last five hundred years. Yours, on the other hand, let’s you drive anywhere. You can drive fast, you can drive slow. You can drive anywhere you want to go. It also allows you to drive like a damn idiot or like someone with sense. You can run people over or you can take them where they need to go. Davy, it’s up to you.”
“I just guess I don’t want it to be up to me. I do like the Catholic ‘that’s the way it is’ with the catechisms and missals. I like your Book of Common Prayer. At least you have a roadmap. The Baptist churches are all different. Some believe one thing, some believe another. The ‘saved’ thing. . .”
Danny nodded.
“Some Baptists believe that, some don’t. It’s confusing, Danny. I think that beyond immersion and the Bible being the word of God, it’s anybody’s call. Every Baptist church is different. I don’t like that. Like I said, at least you have a roadmap.”
Danny nodded then smiled. “I believe it was in a wheat field not to far from here not too long ago that some fella said something about someone changed the world when they sailed west.”
Davy looked up and smiled.
“Davy, I’m sure those guys wanted a roadmap too, but all their roadmaps led to the east.”
Davy nodded. “Yes, I guess they did.
Danny stood. “Come with me a second,” he said.
Davy followed Danny out the front door to the chapel. Danny stood by the sign in the front and pointed at the chapel. “Davy, they gave us this chapel because of something we did for the people here. It wasn’t for preaching or ritual or any of that God stuff. It was just for something we did. But come Sunday morning, this little chapel will have people standing outside wanting to get in. They’ll be people out here sitting in lawn chairs. And, it won’t be because we removed a selfish farmer from their lives or got rid of some gang-bangers. It will be because we are giving them God. The church uptown will be packed. Green Valley, a church you couldn’t pay people to come in a few weeks ago will be full. Okay, so maybe you did make a few people feel guilty. So what? That’s history. You said it yourself. If you think making people feel guilty is crappy preaching, there’s not one damn reason to do it. If people want to feel guilty, if that’s how they measure good preaching, those places are a dime a dozen. They can find those places, they can wallow in it, but it won’t be here, okay?”
Davy wiped the tears from his eyes. “Okay.” As they turned to walk away, Danny noticed the first five words on the sign. “Saint Davy’s and Saint Danny’s” and thought to himself, All we can do is try.

Tomorrow... El Tap

“Danny, I don’t want to ever give another sermon designed to make people feel guilty. If that’s what people call a good sermon, I pray to God I never give another good sermon.”
“That’s simple, don’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you don’t want to give another sermon that makes people feel guilty, then don’t. Last time I checked, we didn’t have anyone telling us what we had to do or say.”
Davy looked at Danny. The stress he was experiencing was obvious. “I just–“
”I know. I know.”

It would be a couple of days before Davy and Danny would talk again. But, on the third morning, Danny opened his door and Davy stood there holding a McDonald’s bag. “I’m cooking breakfast,” he smiled.
“Good, come on in. No, better still, sit down on the porch and I’ll get the coffee pot.”
As they rocked, Danny sensed a change in Davy, a good change. His feeling was verified when Davy said, “Thank you for listening the other day. I was really down. I needed to talk and I don’t know anyone who would understand as well as you.”
“You know I’m there any time you need me. And, to be honest, I really didn’t understand what you were going through. Yes, some of your sermons were the guilt stuff–“
”Only some?”
“Yes, only some. But, I assumed when you went Baptist, you accepted that was the way it was and were willing to live with it.”
“No, it’s hard to explain. You still do what we both did when we were children, and I don’t blame you. You have no reason to see it any other way.”
“I really have no idea what you’re talking about. All I know is we grew up Catholic. You changed to Baptist. I changed to Episcopal. For me, it was no big deal. I got rid of the Pope and changed a unbelievably massive hierarchy and set of rules for a difficult to imagine hierarchy but somewhat acceptable set of rules. And no, I didn’t understand what you were saying about the guilt for gold thing, not really. I have never given a sermon that would make anyone feel guilty. I wouldn’t know how, I never tried. There was no reason for it. The Episcopal Church was like the Catholic Church, the guilt was already there. It was built in. If you were Catholic, you automatically felt guilty about something. There was no reason for me to make someone feel worse.”
Davy halfway smiled at Danny. “Okay, obviously I have you confused.”
“Now, we have found something we can agree on.”
“I’ll try to explain. There are Baptists. Then there are Baptists. Then there are other Baptists.”
Danny puffed out a smile. “Oh God, had I known it was that simple–“
”No, wait a minute. If someone goes into a Catholic church today in Rome, Georgia, they’re going to see basically the same ritual and hear somewhere about the same sermon they would hear in Rome, Italy, or Istanbul or Montego Bay, Jamacia. There won’t be a hell of a lot of difference in the Episcopal Churches in the different cities. The languages may be different, but the gist of the thing is going to be pretty much the same, agreed?”
“Agreed, the ritual especially.”
“Okay now, so far, you’re with me?”
Danny nodded.
“Alright, if six different people walk into six different Baptist churches in the same exact town, they’re going to hear six entirely different sermons, see six different ways of doing things. Forget about Rome or Istanbul or Montego Bay. I’m talking about in the same city.”
Danny just looked at Davy.
“And, Danny, those sermons can range from something kind and gentle, like you would expect to hear in a Methodist church, to a damn snake charmer bellowing hellfire and brimstone at the top of his lungs.” Davy grinned, “Of course the snake charmers tend to keep to the mountains.”
Danny nodded, “Of course. But, that still doesn’t explain–“
”Be patient, I’m getting there.”
“My first exposure to the Baptists was in the Marines. There was a chaplain at Camp Lejune who was absolutely wonderful.”
“Let me guess,“ said Danny. “The kind, gentle Methodist type.”
“Exactly,” smiled Davy. “I fell in love with what he was doing, with what he said, with the way he related to the Marines in his congregation. I loved his one-on-one. I wanted to be just like him. For a long time, I was just like him, or I hope I was like him. To me, he was Baptist and I was Baptist. It was good.”
“Then came your step-father.”
Davy nodded.
“Danny, I never for a moment saw one bit of difference between my step-father and Captain Miller, the chaplain at Camp Lejune. The two opened their mouths and magic came out. I was actually jealous of them both. But I promise you that I did not see for one minute. No, for one second what my step-father was doing. Not until Reverend Green at Green Valley. I heard him and I was disgusted. He was using the Bible to make people feel guilty. And, what really got to me was that when I was listening to Green, I was also hearing my step-father.” Tears welled up in Davy’s eyes.
“And Danny, I was hearing some of my own sermons. My own damn sermons,” he shouted.
“Danny, I heard Green and I heard the lowest rung on the religious ladder, a bottom feeder, and Danny, I was hearing me.”

Tuesday

Danny shook his head and smiled. “What is the one thing we can’t control? We don’t try to control it, but what is there in our service we can’t control?”
Billy-Bob answered, “How many questions we’re asked.”
“Right,” shouted Danny as he pointed to Billy-Bob. “But, the big difference for us is that if we get another question or two, we answer it. No big deal. It costs us nothing. For Reverend Hamm, every minute he’s on the air cost him about a hundred and seventy dollars. That’s ten thousand dollars an hour and I promise you, Hamm didn’t get an extra ten thousand dollars in contributions for his extra hour tonight. I guarantee you, the bastard went in the hole. Way in the hole.”
“So, Danny, what do you think is going to happen next week?”
“My guess is the Hamm show will just be the Hamm show, just like always. The days of Hamm’s Baptist Episcopal show are over.”
The six were in awe the following week when Hamm was back to his regular format. There was no moving bible reading, no moving sermon, just business as usual complete with his advertisements for books, trinkets and other religious items. . . all for a love offering.
But before Hamm’s show ended, he came on the air sitting behind a desk. It seemed that an “unseen expense” had befallen his ministry and in order to survive on the air he was asking for additional contributions from his partners and supporters. His plea was complete with the sound of a choir in the background and lighting befitting his effort.
“You think he’s gone?” asked Davy.
“No, not hardly. They exposed Popoff and his wife for fraud thirty years ago and he’s back on TV peddling miracle water. Bakker was a crook. The whole world saw he was a crook. They sent him to prison and he’s back on television selling overpriced food and generators for the ‘end time’ to come. Swaggart admitted ‘He had sinned’. No, those people are like cockroaches. You just can’t get rid of them.”
“I wonder why?” said Davy thinking out loud.
“The two-edged sword.”
“Two-edged sword?”
“Yes, forgiveness. It is the blessing of Christianity. It is the curse of Christianity. It’s wonderful to forgive those who should be forgiven. It’s one of the greatest attributes man can posses. But, there are those who know its dangers and are more than willing to use it. The Jim Bakkers, the Peter Popoffs, the teenage child on drugs. They use forgiveness like a great violinist plays a Stradivarius. They have nothing to lose. Whatever they do, they’ll be forgiven, they know it, and they keep coming back for more.”
“Sad.”
“Yes, my friend,” said Danny, “it is sad.”
“Will he be back?”
“Who knows?”
Davy exhaled loudly. “I gave the deacons at Meredith Baptist my notice.”
Danny nodded but said nothing.
“You didn’t have to. Any of us would pick up the slack if you need help.”
“No. That’s not it.”
Danny expected more, but there was only silence.
“Okay, you want to tell me why you quit?” shouted Danny.
Davy looked Danny straight in the eye, said nothing, but only stared. Then, he asked a question. “Do you ever listen to what you say?”
“You mean in a sermon?”
“No, just what you say?”
“You’ve lost me.”
“When we were talking to Green the other night. If you’ll remember, I told him that I thought guilt for gold was a sleezebag way of doing things. I accused him of trying to use guilt to increase contributions.”
“Okay, I remember that.”
“I listened to what I had said, Danny. And that is what I was taught. That’s what my stepfather taught me. Oh, he never said making people guilty would boost contributions, but making people feel guilty was his measure of a good sermon, a good Baptist sermon, the ones I’m always praising. It’s guilt, Danny.”
“Don’t tell me about guilt. You and I were raised up in the mothership of guilt, the Catholic Church.”
“Right, and who owns more banks, companies and industries than anyone on the planet?”
“Let me guess, the Catholic Church.”
“Right, but I don’t care about that, they’ve had two thousand years to guilt people out of their money. What I care about is some people actually measure a good sermon by how guilty the thing makes you feel. Even if you have nothing to feel guilty about.”
“This is upsetting you, isn’t it?”
“Damn right it is. I don’t want to make people feel guilty. I want to make them feel good. People shouldn’t embrace God because they feel guilty or they fear Hell. They should embrace him because embracing him makes them feel good. You have repeatedly told me that my sermons were good. Were they good because they made you feel good or because they made you feel guilty?”
Danny said nothing at first, then he said, “Both.”
“Damn it, Danny, I was doing the same thing as that scumbag Green was doing and even the same things as that piece of trash Hamm. I listened to his sermons. They made you feel guilty.”
“They were designed to. It pumped up contributions.”
“What does the intent matter? A sermon designed to make people feel guilty is a sermon that makes people feel guilty regardless of the intent.”
“I think you’re overreacting.”
“You do? You think God wants people to come to him because they love their creator or because they fear going to hell? Which do you think?”
Danny did not respond.
“Making people feel guilty is crap, Danny. It’s a cheap way to increase collections. It’s sure as hell no way to bring people to God.”
“I’m not going to argue with you.”
“In a way, I wish you would. In a way, I wish you could.”
“Davy, I think what we have now is good. We don’t try to get people to God by threats or ‘if you don’t change, you’re going to Hell’.”
“We don’t, do we?”
“No we don’t.”

Moving Forward

That afternoon Danny and Davy were in their usual place rocking on Danny’s porch in the two white chairs.
“You ever feel proud,” asked Davy.
“Oh yes, I’m feeling it right now. Danny, we have a lot to be proud of.”
“Yes, but pride goeth before the fall.
“Proverbs or Shakespear?”
“Does it matter?”
“No, not really, but let’s enjoy it before we fall.”
“Okay, let’s.”
Just then the phone rang. Davy answered it. “That was Bubba. He said to turn the television to channel fourteen and hurry.”
“Channel fourteen, that’s one of those Christian channels,” said Danny as he punched the remote control. “Here it is.”
“The woman was confused by Jesus’s statement and noticed Jesus had nothing in which to draw water for his drink. When she mentioned this to Jesus he told her that if one drinks from the well, in time they would again be thirsty, but if one drinks from the well of God, they would never again thirst. When the woman confided in him that she believed the Messiah would someday come and reveal all, Jesus confided. . .”
“What is this?” asked Davy.
“I don’t know what the show is, but what’s being said is my exact words from when Billy-Bob and I did the service on the woman at the well, what, two months ago. I recognize it. That was my part.”
In a few minutes, when it was time for the sermon, a familiar face came onto the screen. It was Danny and Davy’s old friend Reverend Hamm.
“I am not believing this,” said Davy. “That low-bred scum. We wouldn’t do it for him, so he stole it.”
Danny said nothing.
They sat there and watched the rest of the telecast. Just as the show was finishing, Bubba came in followed by Billy-Bob. “What are we going to do?” shouted Billy-Bob.
“My suggestion is we sue the son-of-a-bitch,” said Davy.
For the next few minutes thoughts and suggestions were shouted back and forth. The whole time, Danny said nothing. When things quieted down Danny asked, “Are you all through?”
When no one said any more Danny began. “First, I don’t know if there’s any such thing as a copyright on a church service and neother do I care. Second, I don’t like Hamm or any of those television preachers. And third, wait three weeks. On the third week Hamm goes down.
The others shot looks back and forth at each other and at Danny. Danny smiled and said, “Three weeks. On the fourth week you will know.”
At first, all their pleas for an answer to what Danny was talking about went unanswered, until Danny said, “We’re going to play a little game amongst ourselves. We’re going to see how smart old Danny is.”
More looks around the room.
“Bubba, what is the high point of our service?”
Bubba shifted in his seat. “I would probably say the way we present the scripture, it’s almost theatric.”
“I agree,” said Davy.
“Okay, I agree too,” said Danny and what’s an important part of that scripture service?”
For a moment there was total silence until Billy-Bob shouted out, “The questions and answers.”
Danny looked at Davy. “This is a good guy you have here. Where did you find him?”
Billy-Bob grinned from ear to ear.
“Okay,” said Danny, “Next week we’ll all meet here and together we’ll watch Reverend Hamm make a fool of himself. And,” Danny made some mystical motions with his hands, “I will tell what will happen before it happens. I will show you my mysterious ability as a prophet. Now, since we’re all together, is there anything we need to talk about? Call Dominick and Gorge.”
What had begun as a shocking witness of Reverend Hamm ended as a party among the six Baptist Episcopal ministers lasting over three hours. Their discussions ranged from plans for upcoming services to a few off-color jokes.
Just as planned, a week later the six of them gathered at Danny’s cabin and as he was passing out the cold drinks, Danny announced. “Hamm’s not the only one who can plan out an event. Let’s try this on for size. Last week Billy-Bob said one of the important parts of our service is the question and answer part. Everybody agree?”
Everyone nodded.
“Okay, Hamm did not do this last week. Am I right?”
Again, they nodded.
Danny put his hand to his head like some eastern mystic, “Then, I predict that tonight, Reverend Hamm will have a question and answer session.”
The others looked confused. Danny said, “Just wait and see.”
Hamm’s show began in the usual way with the usual hymns and ads offering books and trinkets for a love offering. In a couple of minutes a man came on the screen. “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.”
Gorge suddenly turned white and he shouted something in Spanish.
“English, Gorge, English,” said Danny.
“Si. That is the story of Judas. Dominick and I did it here at Camp Eden a few weeks ago. How in the world?”
Danny reached over to a table by his chair, picked up something and clicked it. “Tape recorder, Gorge, I guarantee you that every one of or services have been recorded.”
When the story of Judas concluded, the presenter asked, “Now, are there any questions?” Every eye jumped to Danny. “How did you–“
”Just keep watching,” said Danny.
As nine o’clock approached, someone said, “They’re probably going to show the other half next week.” But as nine o’clock passed, Danny stood and said, “We got him now.” and clapped his hands together. Everyone looked at Danny who said, “Just watch.”
About nine-twenty, Hamm stood and gave his sermon. Word for word it was the same sermon Dominick had given several weeks before. Afterwards, Hamm asked if there were any questions. At ten o’clock the questions were still coming, but the screen went black and a commercial came on.
Davy looked toward Danny. “Okay, Mr. Prognosticator or prophet or whatever you want to call yourself, what’s going on?”

Saturday Special

Normally, there wouldn't be anything on Saturday, but good news! The book is finished! Even so, there is about two more weeks of reading remaining for you here. During that two weeks, the book will be edited and submitted. Hopefully, in two weeks it will present itself on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com and another dozen booksellers throughout the world. I received news today that my books are now available to the people of India. Gosh, I hope in my eleven books I didn't say anything bad about cows.
Have a nice Saturday,
Dan


After Green left, Davy settled down in one of Danny’s chairs. “You knew exactly how that was going to play out.”
“Sure I did.”
“How?”
“Those people had heard Green’s hellfire and brimstone tripe probably for years. But you know something? Eventually, people, any person, is going to say to himself, “You know, looking at all the terrible things going on in this world, maybe I’m not so bad after all.” At that point, all that Hellfire stuff becomes. . .  it becomes nothing. We gave them something upbeat. They liked it. Also, Green’s tithing scam had bled them dry.”
“I didn’t say anything about not believing in tithing in my sermon. How would they know?”
“No, you didn’t say anything about not believing in it in your sermon, but each one of them hugged me when they came out of Green Hill two weeks ago. When they did, I invited them again to Camp Eden.”
“Still, they–“
”Please come visit us at Camp Eden,” I asked each one, and then the three magic words.
“Magic words?”
I whispered, “We don’t tithe.”
“That is classic. That is beautiful, but still there was something more.”
“Yes, I didn’t know for sure until two weeks ago. Every one of the members of Green’s church came to Camp Eden. Then, the important part, they were all back again last Sunday.”
“So, you knew.”
“Oh yes.”
“Was your offer of eighty thousand low?”
“No, it was fair.”
“How would you know?”
“The tax value on the property is eighty-two eight.”
“You already checked it?”
“A week ago.”
“I cannot believe it, but have we got eighty thousand dollars?”
“Oh yes, and according to Mrs. Hernandez, a whole lot more.” Danny smiled. “I need for you to step out back with me.”
“Okay, what’s up?” asked Davy as they went out the back door of Danny’s cabin.
“A present for you.”
“A present?”
“Yes, a present,” said Danny as he lifted a canvas that was covering large carved object. It was a new sign with gold leaf lettering that said “Green Hill Baptist Episcopal Church”.
“You were certain.”
“I was certain,” Danny smiled. “You like?”
“I like.”
“Would you agree that Dominick and Gorge have their new church?”
“I believe they do, Good Father. I believe it will suit them well.”
The following Sunday, Green Hill Church was announced to the people of Camp Eden and Billy-Bob and Bubba’s Methodist Church. The following Sunday it was almost standing room only at Green Hill and Dominick and Gorge took to the church like the new opportunity it was.

Ready for Another Weekend

Davy and Danny did their last service at Green Hill and Davy’s sermon was one of his best. The twenty-two people in attendance all hugged Danny and Davy when the service was over. It appeared the brief time at Green Hill was now history. It appeared so until two weeks later. On Sunday afternoon, Reverend Green knocked on Danny’s door.
“Good afternoon, Reverend. Come in.”
“We need to talk.”
“Okay, do I need to call Pastor Tait?”
“I believe so.”
When Davy arrived and they were all seated, Green began. I didn’t have anybody in church today,” he said. “There was no one there last week either. I need you two to come back.”
“Reverend Green,” said Danny, “You didn’t approve of our way of doing things. You didn’t hesitate to tell us. You said we could do it our way, but each time we tried, you put your two cents into the service.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Your announcement reminding people about their tithes–“
”Gentlemen, we do have a budget and certain bills–“
”Save me the sermon, Pastor. Neither Reverend Davy or I believe in tithing. It’s nothing but guilt for gold.“
”It’s in the bible.”
“Pastor, neither of us believe in tithing, but even so. You seemed hell bound to add a few words onto our sermons.”
“I felt the people needed–“
”We wouldn’t be interested in going back. And, Pastor, we wish you all the best.”
“What good is an empty church? I need you people to come back. I’m begging you.”
“Reverend,” said Davy, “Can I be perfectly honest with you?”
“Please do.”
“Okay, but I am only speaking for me, not Danny or anyone else. Like you, I am a Baptist. But there are some things about the Baptist, and Pentecostal, way of doing things I feel are outdated and honestly, disgusting. And, I see them going away and want to cheer. One is your way of preaching. I don’t think thirty or forty minutes of threats cuts it. Like I say, I think it’s disgusting and, frankly, nauseating.”
“I don’t follow you. I don’t threaten–“
”Come on, Reverend, give me a break. A half hour of telling people they’re sinners and if they don’t change, they’re going to spend eternity in Hell? You don’t think that’s a threat?”
“Reverend Tait, some people call that good preaching. I’ve often been called an excellent preacher,” said Green red faced.
“That’s great, Reverend. Some people may call you a good preacher. I call you a liar.”
Green’s mouth fell wide open.
“I don’t know how many people you had in your congregation when it was at its best, but–“
”I’ll have you know there was over three hundred there each and every Sunday. Three hundred listening to the word.”
“Three hundred listening to your words, Reverend Green. But, where are they now?”
Green made no attempt to answer, but only looked off it the distance.
Davy continued. “All that hellfire and brimstone crap is disgusting. Think about the people in your congregation, or at least the ones that were in your congregation. What sins had they committed? They maybe what, squeezed through a yellow light? Took a few pencils from work? They were basically good people. You know they were good people, but you also knew they felt guilt for running that light and taking those pencils so you used that guilt. You gave them all them hellfire shit, and that’s what it is, Reverend, it’s pure shit. You gave them all that hellfire shit because that was the sign of a good preacher? Is that why you did it, Revered, or was it because it translated out well in the collection plate? Which one was it, Reverend? Or, was it both?”
“So, you think you can tell me what is a sin?” shouted Green.
“No, Reverend, but Christ died for our sins, isn’t that right?”
“Yes, it says so in the bible.”
“If that’s the case, Reverend, I truly find it hard to believe that when Christ was on that cross, with blood coming out of every wound, and that when the sins of mankind were going through his mind, that someone running a red light, or some man picking up a few pencils, or a kid taking a pack of chewing gum was what was what he was thinking.”
“So you know what Christ was thinking?”
“No, Reverend, but with all the murders throughout history, all the things that were stolen, all the horrors of mankind, I just can’t see how running a red light fit in.”
Green was silent for a time, then said, “Gentlemen, I need your help.”
 Danny looked at Davy then said, “Reverend, I can appreciate your situation, but we have–“
”Will you buy my church?” shouted Green out of the blue.
“Hmmm, Reverend. This is certainly unexpected. How much would you want for the church?”
“I believe it should be worth about two hundred thousand dollars.”
Danny looked at Davy. “Could we use Pastor Green’s church?”
“Yes, but two hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money.”
“I agree,” said Danny. “We’ll give you eighty thousand.”
“Eighty thousand,” shouted Green. “That church is worth–“
”Eighty thousand, take it or leave it.”
Green looked at Davy hoping for another option.
“Like the man said,” said Davy, “Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll take it.” said Green as he grabbed Danny’s hand to shake it.”

The Day of El Tap Tres Suave Poyo Tacos

As the months progressed, the Baptist Episcopal Church grew even larger. Besides Camp Eden and the Methodist Church in town, the pastors of two country churches approached Davy and Danny about showing them how the “new” church structure worked. Between Davy and Danny, Billy Bob and Bubba and Dominick and Gorge, they were well-equipped to give the little churches what they needed with the exception of one church, Green Hill Church about twenty miles outside of town.
Green Hill Church was the creation of Pastor Morris Green who called himself a Baptist minister, but never had any formal training. Davy and Danny had gone to Green Hill several times and given a service. The people seemed very responsive, the problem was not the congregation, the problem was Reverend Green.
“Okay, you’re the Baptist, and Green calls himself a Baptist, what do we need to do?” asked Danny.
“Danny, I can call myself an oak tree, but that doesn’t mean I can sprout leaves. To me, the man is an open book. He’s in it for the money. Just listen to his sermons. He tries to make every person in the congregation feel like crap. They’re all sinners and are doomed for hell,” shouted Davy. “Then, comes the collection plate. Salvation can be bought. You saw how he treated us. All the man is capable of dishing out is hellfire and brimstone. We don’t need that ‘you’re a sinner and you’re bound for hell’ crap. My suggestion is we bite the bullet on this one and leave Reverend Green to his own devices. The man’s a nut! He’s all but told us he doesn’t want our help. Why waste our time?”
“I don’t agree with you, Davy.”
“What do you mean you don’t agree? You heard his sermons. The man has one tune, change your ways or go to hell.”
“Oh, you’re right about that, the man is in it for the money. And his ‘repent’ stuff has got to be the lowest form of religion.  That and the seventy thousand dollar Cadillac he’s driving told me all I need to know the first time we saw him. No, that’s not what I mean.”
“Then what else is there?”
“The people. You saw their faces. When we explained that bible passage with feeling and detail and then followed it up with that killer sermon of yours, they were happy. They were really happy.”
“Hell Danny, I guess they were. If I had listened to his ‘you’re going to hell if you don’t change’ crap every week, I would have been happy too. I’ve seen it before. I sincerely doubt the man has ever read more than a few chapters of the bible. His sermon is always the same. It’s designed to make the people feel like shit and then try to buy their way out. Don’t you remember, he reminded them about their ‘tithes’? He’s got what, thirty, forty people in that church. I guess he is worried about their ‘tithes’. Somebody’s got to make the payment on that Cadillac. Damn. . . tithes, how low can you go?”
“Calm down, Dude. I’m not disagreeing with you on that. The man has taken religion to it’s lowest form. He’s only one step away from bringing in snakes. No, I don’t give a tinker’s damn about Green. But, I do care about the people.”
“Danny, Green came to us because his membership was falling off–“
”I know, Davy, and it will continue falling off as long as Green is there. But, he owns the church.”
“My suggestion is we pull the plug. We have too many good things going to worry about a bottom feeder like Green.”
“Okay, but you and I do one more service at Green Hill Church.”
“I don’t see why, but somehow I think you’re up to something.”
“Oh, I am. I’ll do the scripture, you do the sermon. And, in your sermon announce that it will be our last service at Green Hill and we invite the people to visit at Camp Eden and the Methodist Church.”
“That’s all?”
“That’s it.”

The Day Before El Tap

Chapter 9 -

It was late when Davy went to Danny’s and Davy knew Danny was having thoughts similar to what he was experiencing, because even as late as it was, Danny was outside in one of the white oak rocking chairs slowly moving back and forth.
“It’s getting too big, isn’t it?” Davy asked.
“Yep.”
“But it’s doing good.”
“Doing good, hell, it’s doing great.”
“You want to let’s find an elementary school and go back to punching bullies in the nose.”
“You know the answer to that as well as I do.”
“Yep, I know. It would be nice.”
“What’s wrong with us?”
“I don’t know, Davy. Every kid in seminary dreams of one day having a church with people lined up out the door begging to get in.”
“Yep, and we’ve got it, and don’t want it. We must be sick, really sick.”
“You remember how thankful those people at Greenwood Village were after we took care of that gang?”
“Oh yes, I think about it all the time.”
“You think about the party the night they gave us the church?”
“Obviously, you do too.”
“Oh yes, my God, oh yes.”
“Couldn’t we just slip away and –“
”No, Davy, I believe it’s gone too far. The church and all it stands for are too good, too big. I believe it is our destiny.”
“Destiny,” smiled Davy, “Who would have ever thought we would have a destiny?”
“Billy-Bob has two guys who want to join us.”
“Are they any good?”
“He says they are and Bubba agrees.”
“That’s good enough for me.”
“Me too,” agreed Davy. “You know, one day we are going to have to find a name for this new fangled faith, or religion, or whatever it is, did we ever decide which it is?”
“Not that I recall, and you’re right. We need to call it something and I’ve thought about it.”
“What did you come up with?”
“Not a thing. All the good names are taken.”
“Yep.”
“I don’t like Catholic, too much baggage there.”
“True, and Baptist has too many negatives.”
“I love ‘Church of God’ but that shouts uneducated and backwards and all that speaking in tongues crap.”
“True, besides, it’s taken. You got any drinks in the refrigerator?”
“Just stocked up. Go get you one.”
“Think I will,” said Davy as he stood and went inside.
When he came out, he popped the top on a can. “You know, Danny, what was the sweetest most innocent name you’ve ever seen on a church. I mean a name that was so innocent that it’s entirely pure.”
“I would have to say ‘Saint Davy’s and Saint Danny’s Baptist Episcopal Church’.”
“And I would agree. And, it’s grown what, a thousand fold since that night?”
“At least.”
“So if it works, don’t fix it.”
“Very true, but I’m not an Episcopal priest any more, I don’t guess. And I assume you are no longer a Baptist minister–“
”And you know something, Danny, I don’t give a damn. Bubba’s not a bishop any more, Billy-Bob and Dominick haven’t been ordained and I’m sure the new guys who talked to Billy-Bob aren’t ordained. That’s seven of us who aren’t anything. But you know something? Jesus had a dozen guys who weren’t anything. I think it was a pretty good example to follow.”
“Are you saying the Baptist Episcopal Church seems to be doing well?”
“No, Father Danny, I’m saying the Baptist Episcopal Church seems to be doing very well. And, as far as our titles, you were made a priest. I was made a minister. And if I recollect correctly, it was Father Daniel West, not Father Daniel West of the Episcopal church–“
”And it was Reverend David Tate,” said Danny, “Not Reverend Davy Tate of the Baptist church.”
“Right, Father West.”
“Right too, Reverend Tate.”
“I believe we’ve answered our question about our titles.”
“It does sound like it, Father West. The guys can call themselves whatever they like, whatever they’re comfortable with.”
“Sounds good to me. Reverend Billy-Bob of the Baptist Episcopal Church and Father Bubba of the same organization.”
“Is this a new milestone, Preacher Tate?”
Davy just smiled.
“I still wouldn’t mind busting a drug dealer or a pimp or two every now and then.”
“No, that certainly does have some appeal.”
“So, every now and then we’ll maybe bloody some bully’s nose?”
“Every now and then.”
“Should we buy a gun?” asked Davy.
“I don’t think so. The bullies are the ones with the guns. We don’t want to be bullies do we?”
“No. God gave us a brain. Let's use it.”

The Second Day of the Week

Billy-Bob broke the total silence when he asked if there were any questions. One man stood and said. “I don’t know if this is the right time or place or way to do this. This is my first time at a church like this. It won’t be my last. But, what I want to say is that my brother is here also, but he’s not sitting with me. We haven’t spoken in over thirty-years. Why he’s here, I don’t know, but what I want to say is I would love to forgive him and shake his hand, if he’ll let me.”
Another man across the church snapped to his feet with tears in his eyes and ran to the first man, grabbed his hand and hugged him. The entire church cheered and Billy-Bob ran to the two and held their hands high like a winning boxer.
Throughout the church, people stood, walked to other people and hugged them or shock their hands. Davy looked at Danny in amazement. The sight was hard to believe.

That night, Davy and Danny took a seat on Davy’s front porch.
“What we saw today was a miracle,” said Danny.
“Yes,” responded Davy, “Nothing less. Billy-Bob is good.”
“Just the fact that such a thing should happen. It was just wonderful.”
“I suppose you heard about Dominick and Gorge today.”
“No, something happen?”
“I would say so, they got a standing ovation.”
“A standing ovation? Davy, you and I have never gotten a standing ovation.”
Davy grinned. “Maybe they’re that much better than us.”
“God, that is great! And to be honest, I’m surprised that Billy-Bob didn’t get an ovation today.”
“I think he did,” said Davy. “All those people standing to hug each other and shake each other’s hands, what better ovation could somebody receive? And, I’ll be honest. You were good too.”

Monday Monday

Danny moved to his seat and Billy-Bob stepped to the pulpit. He silently looked over the people and began. “People are born with the ability to breathe. It is completely natural. It is not something we have to learn. The desire to eat and the desire for water are also completely natural. Had we been born on a desert island with no one else around, we would have these abilities. The ability to hate, on the other hand, is something we have to be taught. Someone, be it our parents, our siblings, someone, somebody has to teach us to hate. This is not new. I am certain that in cave-man times, people were taught to hate. One clan would hate another.”
“Hate was something very real in the time of Jesus. It was a fact of life. The Jews hated the Samarians. It was simple. If you were a good Jew, you didn’t associate with Samarians. You didn’t socialize with them. You didn’t do business with them. You certainly didn’t eat. . . or drink with them. Yet, not only did Jesus drink with this Samarian woman, she was the first that he told that he was the Messiah.”
“Right now, this very minute, there are people in this place, in this beautiful church, that you dislike. You notice I didn’t say hate, I said dislike. If there was someone in the congregation that you hated with the fervency that the Jews hated the Samarians, and, the Samarians hated the Jews, it would be simple. You wouldn’t be here today. You would refuse to sit in the same church with a Samarian, or if you were a Samarian, you would not sit in the same church with a Jew.”
Billy-Bob looked around the church smiling.
“Why do some of you look so surprised? This time in church is well known to be the most segregated hour in America. At this very moment, across America, people are sitting with people just like them. Much has changed since Jesus time, but this is not one of them. People are still more comfortable around their own.
“In a way it is almost humorous. I hear it all the time. Someone will say, ‘We have blacks in our church. We have six of them.’ In a way, they’re saying ‘Look at me, I’m a good Christian. I go to church with blacks.’ I believe if the good Christian heard this his response would be simple, ‘Hogwash’. The good Christian would know, that since you see those people as ‘different’, in your heart you are nothing but a bigot and hardly deserve to be called a ‘good Christian’.
“Later in the scripture, the disciples returned and questioned why Jesus would talk with a Samarian woman. Yes, Jesus’ disciples had hate and were amazed that Jesus, a Jew, would even speak to a Samarian. We can only imagine what they said to Jesus, ‘Come on, Jesus, let’s get out of here. These people are Samarians, we don’t want to be around them. We’re better than they are.’ What was Jesus’ response? Not words, but actions. He stayed two more days.”
“Doesn’t being a Christian mean something more than walking into a building once or twice a week and praying to Christ? Doesn’t it mean trying to be more like the example he set for us?”
Danny looked out at the congregation. The discomfort was obvious. Danny looked at Davy. He could see the small smile.
“When that person says he is a good Christian because he goes to church with six blacks, or Hispanics, or whites, or Italians, or whatever it is he doesn’t like. One must wonder how he would react if that number six suddenly changed to sixty. . . or even six hundred. Would he be there? We know the answer to that. It would have been easy for Jesus to say, ‘Look at me, I talked with a Samarian woman. I am a good person, admire me.’ It was a bit different when he stayed two days. Didn’t that say something entirely different? And, just a small hint. . . Those other people in your church. . . if you've counted them, you are a bigot.
“One time, a great preacher, a true man of God was delivering a sermon in a southern white church. I have no idea if he arranged it, or it happened on it’s own, but it doesn’t matter, because that day there was one lone little black girl sitting in the congregation. During his sermon he told the people to look in the direction of a person they hate. Every eye turned to the little black girl sitting alone near the front. Some even turned completely around in their seats to look at the little girl. Then, the preacher asked them to think. ‘Does this person they hate so intently feel love the same way they do? Does this person they hate love their family the same way they love their family?’ A few heads began to turn away from the little girl. The preacher asked, ‘did the one they hate feel fear the same way they do?’ more heads turned away. Finally, he asked, ‘Does that person want to be loved like you do?’ Suddenly, every head was facing forward. Not an eye was on the little girl. And, after church, the same people who had avoided, or entirely ignored, the little girl at the first of the service couldn’t get to her and welcome her quickly enough.”
Danny caught Davy mouthing “Whew”.
Billy-Bob continued. “Now I ask you to look toward that person that, I won’t say hate, I will say had rather not be around, and ask yourself if that person feels love the same way you do?” He was silent for a moment before he said, “Does that person love their family the same way you love your family?” After a pause, Billy-Bob said, “Does that person feel fear the same way you do?” Then, after a long pause, Billy-Bob asked, “Does that person want to be loved the same way you want be loved?”
In that huge church, not a sound could be heard except Billy-Bob’s soft footsteps as he moved away from the pulpit. Danny looked at Davy. Davy picked up a piece of paper and fanned himself. Danny nodded agreement with Davy.

The Weekend Comes

Come Sunday morning, there were over four hundred people assembled in the Methodist church. Danny had heard that Davy had been spreading the word about the service and encouraging people to bring their friends. As Danny and Billy-Bob were preparing for the service, someone came into the small room behind the altar. It was Davy.
“You ready?” inquired Davy with a broad smile.
“What are you doing here?” asked Danny with an equally broad smile.
“Seems Dominick and Gorge wanted to do Camp Eden this morning. So I found myself looking for a place to go.”
“Hmm, sounds mighty convenient to me,” smiled Danny.
“It does, doesn’t it?”
“You going to join us up front?”
“Not a chance. I’ll be in the pews with the rest of the people listening to you two.” Davy patted Billy-Bob on the shoulder and shook his hand.
Davy looked up at the clock. “Show time, guys. Give me a minute to get to my seat.”
Through the wall, Danny and Billy-Bob heard the organist begin. Danny looked at Billy-Bob. “You okay?”
“Both you and Pastor Davy will hear me today. I’ll be nervous.”
“You’ll be nervous? What about me? You’re the expert at the sermon, not me.”
Billy-Bob grinned at Danny. “We’ll both be fine.”
As the two headed through the door out onto the altar Danny thought to himself that Billy-Bob was right, they would be fine.
In a few minutes, Billy-Bob and Danny were seated by the altar and the organ fell silent. Danny stood. “Please stand and join me in the Lord’s Prayer.”
As the people were praying, Danny thought back to that morning so many months before when he and Davy did their first, what people were calling, “new” style service. He thought about two ministers trying something new and different, not just for the people, but for the ministers also. He looked at Davy seated in the second pew. Tears flowed down his cheeks. Danny knew that Davy was thinking of the same exact time. Davy looked up at Danny. The two smiled.
Danny announced the hymn and when it was finished, he walked to the center of the altar. “There was a time when Jesus’ travels required he pass through Samaria. Being weary, he sat at a well and when a Samarian woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus told the woman ‘Give me to drink’. The woman was shocked because Jesus was a Jew and as the woman said, ‘Jews have no dealings with the Samarians’. At that, Jesus replied that had the woman asked of God to drink the living waters, God would have given her to drink.
“The woman was confused by Jesus’s statement and noticed Jesus had nothing in which to draw water for his drink. When she mentioned this to Jesus he told her that if one drinks from the well, in time they would again be thirsty, but if one drinks from the well of God, they would never again thirst. When the woman confided in him that she believed the Messiah would someday come and reveal all, Jesus told her that he was the Messiah. After which she went into town and invited all to come meet the man and pray, which they did. When the disciples returned, they were shocked to see Jesus associating with Samarians, because the Jews learned from birth to despise the Samarians.”
Danny looked around the church and asked, “Are there any questions or thoughts?”
Over the past several months this time in the service had become extremely popular. Seldom was the time for questions shorter than a half-hour and often it went well beyond an hour. Today was no exception.  About two months before, three new questions began to be asked. The first was did the verse appear in all the four gospels. The second was since none of the ones who had written the gospels were present, how did they know? And the last question was ‘was there any proof that it actually happened’?
When the questions first appeared, Danny and Davy gave them little notice and answered them truthfully. The second time, they became concerned. But as the same questions were asked each week, surprisingly by different people, Danny and Davy decided to accept them and answer them as honestly as possible. Again, today was no exception. A young Hispanic man stood and asked if the story appeared in all four gospels. Danny answered, “No, this story only appears in the Gospel of John.”
Almost on cue, a blonde lady toward the back asked, “If no one was there except Jesus and the woman, how did John know what happened?”
Danny smiled and said, “I don’t know.”
Then, again seemingly on cue, an older gentleman on the front row asked, “Was there any proof that it actually happened?”
Once more Danny smiled and answered simply, “No”.
Then, an older woman seated near the center of the church stood and asked, “If there is no proof that something actually happened, why should we believe it?”
Just as Danny was about to field the question, he noticed Billy-Bob motion toward him and stand. “May I answer this, Father West?” he asked.
Danny nodded.
“The word that is proven here is faith. We talk about faith all the time, but what does it actually mean? The dictionary gives several definitions, but one definition is a belief in something for which there is no proof. At this point, we have to ask ourselves if we have faith. Do you have faith, Ma’am?”
The lady smiled and returned to her seat.