Buddy and The Pastor - Part 1 - "A Brief Encounter"
Buddy and the Pastor - Part 2 - "The Boys in the Door"
And now Part 3
"Gilding the Lily"
"Pastor?"
A large hand grabbed Angers' shoulder and turned
him around. "Pastor Angers, I have a question for you."
Pastor Jacob Angers looked up. He frowned. He had
been minding his own business, waiting in line to cash out and this
ass....
"Uh oh", he thought, “Its Fred Jenkins, from
the other night at the Tradin Post.”
He felt his face getting warmer as the embarrassment
he had suffered flooded back in, reminding him what a fool
he had been the other night. But Pastor Angers had 12 years of pastoring under
his belt. If he felt shame, it was only fleeting. A man of God should never
feel shame. He squared his shoulders and …..
“Son, if this is about the other night, the
checkout line here at Hannaford's is not the place to discuss it.”
Fred Jenkins’ blank stare told Angers whatever the question was; it wasn’t about the other night.
“No Sir. It’s not about the other night. I
have a Bible / God kinda question. And you being a man of God and all, I thought you
might straighten me out.”
The Pastor’s sarcastic reply died before he could utter it.
Was this the beginning of a serious conversation with one of
the Fallen? Was this a chance to do what he did best, bring one of Satan's flock into the fold of God's embrace? Pastor Angers hoped so, but he had learned not to trust a heathen.
They were notorious for having fun at anyone’s expense; at his expense anyway. He decided to
hear Fred’s question.
“Son, like I said, the checkout line is no place
for a conversation like this.”
He looked Jenkins up and down trying to size
up his mood.
“Follow me out to my car.”
As soon as the two of them were outside, Fred
Jenkins started in:
“Well, you see sir, I am confused about the
notion of “Free Will” set against the notion of “God’s Will”. Now add in the "Infallibility of
God" and well sir, it don’t make no sense; no sense at all.”
Fred’s question stopped Pastor Angers dead in his tracks. He turned around and glared at Fred. The glare was all he had as Fred’s combining 3 basic tenet’s of Christianity into a single question caught him off guard. They rarely came up in the same conversation. He continued to glare at Jenkins until finally, Fred Jenkins spoke up:
“ Uh, Pastor, are you alright?” Did I say
something to piss you off?
The good pastor’s eyes softened. He looked
down at the ground.
“Son, I just don’t know the answer to your
questions right off. The way you put them together like they were in opposition
to each other, does seem to allow for some confusion on the part of the un-baptized.
I will look into…….”
“ Oh, I have been baptized. Don’t remember it
though. Mom felt it was a good idea. She figured it wouldn’t hurt to have the
blessing of a god even if it weren’t real. She called it “Gilding the Lily. Whatever
that meant, I have no clue.”
The pastor’s mouth had been hanging open. He
closed it and contemplated what he had just heard.
“Your mother called a baptism, “Gilding the
Lily?”
Angers slapped his forehead, tossed a dark
look at Fred, then continued his trek to his car. Without another word, he opened the
driver side door, turned again to look back at Fred. Shaking his head, he
slammed the car door, fired up the ignition and burned rubber leaving the
parking lot.
Fred stood watching him disappear down Main Street. A small grin slowly formed as the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. He wasn’t done with the good pastor just yet.
___________________
Okay. The uncanny abilities of the algorithm magic to know what I want before I know I want it is beginning to creep me out.
I had just pumped up my YouTube page and without any input from me, right in the middle of the screen, staring right at me, was a long haired hippy dude in a nice clean shirt, standing in the pucker under a power line. He was holding a Dobro guitar. Over the Image, "The Great Caucasian God" jumped out at me.
Was it a sign from God, letting me know he knows what I know before I know it and he's just dropping a hint I may be in for a lightening strike or two before this story is through?
Or is it AI?
But then if I am to believe God controls everything, AI is just another tool from God's quiver he will use in our future to continue to fuck with our minds.
Anyway, here is a tune by a musician previously undiscovered by me. Here is Jesse Wells and his musical opinion of "The Great Caucasian God".
No comments:
Post a Comment