Who has cleft
a channel
for the torrents
of rain,
and a way
for the
thunderbolt?
[Job 38:25]
**********************
"Hey, LORD?
Why did You make it so HOT
in SAN ANTONIO?"
"Cuz, child."
"Yeah, I guess.
So........eh, are we gonna
have another HURRICANE?"
[SILENCE.]
"Why did You INVENT
those things, ANYWAY?"
[SOLEMN PATIENT NOD.]
"Cuz, child."
"Well, were THEY in the
GARDEN?"
[PATIENT PAUSE.]
"Which one,
My precious."
"Lord.....are You LISTENING
to ME?
(Irritable squint.)
Where'd You GO?"
[LOVING SMILE.]
"I'm right Here, child."
"SO?
What ABOUT it?
THE Garden!"
[CHUCKLE.]
[NOD.]
"Ah.
That one."
"Yeah. I bet they
didn't have any hurricanes
in THERE."
[SILENCE.]
[TOUCH THE BOTTOM
OF THE NORTHERN
ATLANTIC
FOR A LONG MOMENT.]
"I still don't get that
story: if it were such
a perfect PLACE......
why did they have
evil TREES in THERE?"
[PATIENT SIGH.]
[WAVE HAND OVER
A STROKE OF LIGHTENING
ON THE OCEAN.]
(Clumsy yawn.)
(Run hand through frizzy hair.)
"I'm glad I WASN'T in
there. Ech.
(Grimmace!)
Who would've wanted
to be married to ADAM,
ANYWAY?"
[SIGH.]
[GAZE OFF AT THE MOON.]
[LOOK FOR A MOMENT AT
THE FOOTPRINT OF THE
ASTRONAUT BOOT.]
"Ech.
What a wimp.
No backbone.
That's what I SAY!"
[WATCH A SANDSTORM
ON THE FACE OF MARS.]
[SLOW PATIENT NOD.]
"Who, child."
(Loud whine.)
"L.....O.....R......D!
You're not LISTENING to ME,
AGAIN!"
[WISE SMILE.]
"Yes I am, precious."
(Look up at the ceiling.)
(Pout.)
(Shrug.)
"He was a real jerk."
"Who, child."
"ADAM!"
[PATIENT NOD.]
"Ah."
"I mean....he was such
a WIMP.
(Thoughtful stare at the
dusty keyboard.)
What kind'a MAN would
blame everything on his
WIFE? What a JERK!"
[CURIOUS GAZE.]
[SMILE.]
"Where did you learn
such words,
My beloved?"
"PHILLY!"
[SMILE.]
"Ah.
Yes."
[NOD.]
[HOLD ICY EDGE
OF ONE OF SATURN'S RINGS.]
(Take off glasses.)
(Rub tired eyes.)
"Yeah.
That's all I gotta
say on the subject.
Ech."
[THOUGHTFUL SILENCE.]
[CONCERNED GAZE AT
EARTH.]
[DEEP FROWN.]
(Whiny yell.)
"L....O....R....D!"
"What, child."
"I don't think You've
heard a WORD I've
SAID!"
"I hear everything,
My little one."
"Uh, UH!
You haven't heard me,
at ALL!
(Irritable look up at the ceiling.)
Where have You BEEN,
ANYWAY?"
[HOLDING THE SUN
IN HIS HAND.]
"Right beside you, child.
All the time."
**************************
Has the rain
a father,
or who has begotten
the drops of dew?
From whose womb
did the ice come forth,
and who has given birth
to the hoarfrost
of heaven?
The waters
become hard like stone,
and the face of the
deep
is frozen.
[Job 38:28-30]
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