Alas,
sinful natiion,
A people laden with iniquity,
A brood of evildoers,
Children who are corrupters!
They have forsaken the Lord,
They have provoked
to anger,
The Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away
backward!
[Isaiah 1:4]
****************************
"Well, HECK!"
[SILENCE.]
(Stare up at ceiling.)
"THAT'S EASY!"
[SILENCE.]
(Snorty guffaw.)
"I KNOW WHY!"
[PATIENT GAZE.]
"Ya know WHY,
LORD?"
[PATIENT FROWN.]
"Cuz....
they're not.. IN IT!"
(2nd Guffaw.)
[CURIOUS GAZE.]
"What is that,
My child?"
(Irritated shout up at ceiling.)
"WHAT?"
[LONG PAUSE.]
[WISE NOD.]
"That guffaw."
(Questioning stare
up at ceiling.)
(Thoughtful pause.)
"That's right;
I forget;
English isn't
Your First Language."
(Thoughtful squint.)
"It's.......eh....
it's like....."
(More squinting.)
(Wave hands about,
dramatically.)
"It's....kind'a like,
a snorty LAUGH!"
[ALL-KNOWING NOD.]
"Ah.
I see."
"YEAH!
HECK!
Why SHOULD they
BE AFRAID,
to read IT?
They ain't IN IT!"
[LONG, OMINOUS PAUSE.]
"There's nothin',
THREATENING,
about THEM,
in THERE!"
[PAUSE.]
"Uh, UH!"
(Grimmace!)
"It's all.....the,
CHILDREN of ISRAEL
did THIS! And, the
CHILDREN OF ISRAEL
did THAT!"
[NOD.]
[FAR OFF RUMBLE.]
"Go on."
"The CHILDREN 'A
ISRAEL made the
Golden CALF!
The CHILDREN of
ISRAEL disOBEYED!
The CHILDREN a'
ISRAEL were BAD!"
[PATIENT RUMBLE.]
"The CHILDREN 'a
ISRAEL were BAD!
BAD!
'Children 'a ISRAEL..
were BAD!
And...
ALL THEY DID,
was
BACKSLIDE!"
"Hm,
hm."
[NOT GUFFAWING.]
"YEAH!"
(Snort.)
"THAT'S WHY!
THEY AIN'T
the ones
GETTIN'
PUNISHED,
all the TIME!"
(Frown!)
(Shout at the ceiling fan.)
"ALWAYS,
about to GET IT!"
[PATIENTLY LISTENING.]
[ARMS FOLDED.]
[NODDING.]
(Yell up at the ceiling.)
"Right 'n
LEFT!
LEFT 'n
RIGHT!"
[NODDING.]
[GAZE AT RUMPLED
CHILD, SITTING ON
THE CHAIR,
EATING A FROZEN*-
BOX OF CHINESE FOOD.]
(Chomp.)
"SEE?"
[PATIENT SMILE.]
(Cut off a piece of
Chinese chicken,
for scruffy cat.)
"SEE WHAT I MEAN,
LORD?"
[SMILE!]
"It's not FAIR!
THEIR FAMILY'S
ain't IN IT!"
[CALM VOICE.]
"No,
child.
You're wrong."
(Drop some rice
on the floor.)
(Yell up at the ceiling.)
"NO, I'M NOT!"
[PATIENT VOICE.]
"Not so,
My precious."
[LOVING SMILE.]
"All My families,
are
in It."
**************************
Then the Lord God
called to
Adam
and said to him,
Were are you?
So he said,
I heard Your voice
in the garden,
and I was afraid
because I was naked,
and I
hid myself.
[Genesis 3:9]
______________________
*Not really frozen:
microwaved.
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