TITLE: Almost But .. By Lorene Weaver 01/21/09 |
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Herman stood facing the crowd, waiting for them to calm down. His eyes drifted over in one direction and landed on one person. He was ordinary looking yet Herman sensed anything but common. There seemed to be a magnetic effect for each time he looked away he was drawn back to him.
The crowd quieted and it was time for Herman to speak. His prepared words seemed to melt like a spring snow, quickly. Without really thinking about it, he opened his mouth, “God has a plan for you.” His eyes were once more drawn to this older man and he stood and faced in his direction. “God is not done with you. You have a hunger, a vast hunger, that you desperately want to fill. You don’t know what the hunger is so you don’t know how to feed it. Come up here. There is an answer for you.”
Everyone in the audience turned in the direction Herman was looking, anxious to see whom he was talking to. No one moved forward or stood. The silence was staggering in its effect. Herman waited and watched. The magnetism was still there, but weakening.
A voice was heard thundering and shaking the silence. “ Don’t be a wimp. Stand up, you who are being called. This is your moment. Grab it.”
Hundreds began shouting, “Stand up, stand up.”
A tall man, about fifty, stood up and turned to leave. Ushers nearby gently escorted him to the front. The crowd cheered and then grew silent.
Tears were streaming down his face. His mouth opened but no words came out. Herman walked over to him and said, “You’re not the one.”
The man fell to the ground. Moaning and groaning at times, screaming piercing notes, coughing, flailing his arms and legs and then - then, total peace. No noise, no movement.
Everyone waited. No one moved or spoke. In a few minutes several started praying in tongues in small groups. It spread quickly as more and more people formed circles. Spiritual songs began to rise to the very throne of God. The harmonies were beyond belief in their complexities.
Herman was lying prostrate inches away from the man. He felt a sense of pressure on his back that seemed to hold him to the floor. How many hours this went on was unknown. At some point the leaderless group slowly drifted away, many with smiles that were so beautifully natural they almost seemed unnatural. The singing faded into the distance as Herman and the man were left alone.
copyright@2009 Lorene Weaver
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