Preaching Sanity

Jessie's Story.

Preaching Sanity

I could feel the eyes of the congregation on me.

I knew what they were thinking.

She doesn’t belong here.

I wouldn’t have argued with anyone who said it aloud. Still, as we passed by rows and rows of silent, unmoving people, I couldn’t help but feel like I would rather be anywhere but here.

Avoiding the strange eyes, I stared straight ahead at the person who got me into all of this. I could picture him grinning now, collecting his earnings of the bet he won. A simple game of checkers meant an hour of hell for me if I lost, and three shots for him if he lost.

I watched Devin’s family carefully as they pulled out a thin wooden bench from underneath the chairs, and I copied their actions. They all knelt on it, and pressed their palms together.

I thought they only did that in church in the old movies.

I did the same thing, and shut me eyes. I felt really stupid, not knowing what I was supposed to be doing. In a moment I heard movement from the family beside me, and sat down as they did.

A man walked down the aisle wearing what looked like a huge piece of fabric in pink.

I leaned over towards Devin and whispered, “Why is the dude wearing a dress?”

“Ssh. He’s the priest.” That didn’t really mean anything to me, but I let it slide.

I was fine sitting there while half of the church-goers sang and the , but when everyone started reciting stuff that sounded like poems I had never heard I felt even more out of place then when I had walked in.

A little girl standing next to me handed me a brown book with what I recognized as a cross on the front. I flipped through it, and found something that looked like what they might be saying.

 By the time I had done this, I realized everyone had stopped talking except the priest. He told us all to sit down.

I’m sorry, but I don’t take orders from men in dresses.

Then he began to talk, this time in words I could understand. Normal English. He talked about how people in the world had begun to move away from God and focus on only material possessions. How people had become selfish and self-centered. He also talked about how everyone could be saved through God’s love.

Somehow I couldn’t imagine someone being that forgiving. Especially of someone like me. I would have been more believing of the idea that God took a tally of everything we did wrong, and you could only screw up so many times before He got pissed off at you.

Everything he said seemed to be directed right at me, and I began to wonder if Devin had set this whole thing up. I looked over at him coldly, and he returned with a smile.

When church ended, everyone piled out of the small room. Devin’s family went and shook hands with the priest. I walked up to him as well, and he gave me a big small.

“I do not recognize you, daughter. Are you new to our parish?” He took my hand in both of his and shook it. I resisted the urge to pull away.

“New to religion in general, actually.” You see that guy over there with the obnoxious smile, yeah he dragged me here.

He gave me a big smile, and finally released my hand, “Welcome, my dear, welcome.”

What do you say to something like that? “Thanks.”

“Will you be returning soon?”

Would I be? “Actually, I think I might.”

Reviews

[Daydreamer54]

Well this is a start, i'm glad devin is trying to hrelp her become a better person! ^^