Short Stories

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And let them make Me
a sanctuary, that I may dwell
in their midst. According to
all that I show you concerning
the pattern of the tabernacle,
and of all its furniture, so
you shall make it.
[Exodus 25: 8-9]
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Characters: The Lord, His
servant Moses, young Joshua,
and Joachim son of
Michael, the scribe (ancestor
of author)
Place: Mount Sinai
Scripture: (KJV) Exodus 25
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(LORD)
"....MAKE AN ARK OF ACACIA
WOOD; TWO CUBITS AND A
HALF SHALL BE ITS LENGTH,
A CUBIT AND A HALF ITS BREADTH,
AND A CUBIT AND A HALF ITS
HEIGHT....."

(Scribe)
"Psst, hey, Moses! What did He say:
a CUBIT and a half its length?"

(Lord)
"I SAID TWO CUBITS AND A
HALF ITS LENGTH, SON OF
MICHAEL."

(Moses)
"Shh, Joachim! Pay attention!"

(Scribe)
"I'm hungry. When are we
gettin' a snack?"

(Moses)
"The Lord gave you a whole quail,
not two hours, ago, Joachim."

(Scribe)
"So? I'm not that crazy about
quail, anyhow. Give me somethin'
sweet, any day."

(Lord, with tender patience)
"There shall be Manna for you
in the morning, son of Michael.
Now:

You shall overlay it with pure
gold, within and without shall
you overlay it, and you shall make
upon it a molding of gold......
you shall cast four rings of gold
for it and put them on its four feet,
two rings on the one side of it,
and two rings on the other....
you shall make poles of acacia wood..."

(Scribe)
"Wait! Wait a second, Moses!
The Lord's goin' too fast!
Oh, darn; now, I broke my stylus,
again."

(Moses)
"JOACHIM! You're driving me
CRAZY! Wait a second, Lord.......
(Turns and walks part way down
Mt. Sinai)
Hey, Joshua! Joshua? Can you
go get some more styluses for
Joachim? Run over to Benjamin's
tent; he's got some more!"

(Joshua)
"Huh? Oh, sure thing, Moses!"
(Runs down the mountain, shaking
his head. This is the fourth time
he's gone back down for another
stylus.)

(Scribe, chewing on broken
stylus)
"Hey, Moses? How long is
this going to take? I've got
to go water my camels."

(Lord)
"As long as it takes, son
of Michael."

(Moses)
"I'll tell Joshua to ask
Benjamin's son to water
them for you, Joachim.
Don't worry about it.
Just concentrate on the
Lord's job for you, right now."

(Scribe)
"Yeah. Okay, Moses. I'm
trying really hard; but,
you know that one camel
is very sensitive, and he
doesn't like other people
to water him."

(Lord)
"THE CAMEL WILL SURVIVE,
SON OF MICHAEL. LISTEN
TO MY DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY!"

(Moses pokes Joachim in the side,
and gives him a stern look. The
scribe dramatically rubs his side,
and looks very woeful.)

(Joshua runs up, breathing hard,
and seeing the cloud in front of
him, bows to the ground.)
"Here, Moses; Benjamin gave me
about 6 more......is that okay?
(Joshua stares hard at Joachim,
bows again, and then walks
down Mt. Sinai, just a ways back,
and then sits against the rock with
his blanket and walking stick.)

(Lord)
"NOW.....WHERE WAS I.......?

YOU SHALL MAKE POLES OF
ACACIA WOOD AND OVERLAY
THEM WITH GOLD. AND YOU
SHALL PUT THE POLES INTO THE
RINGS ON THE SIDES OF THE
ARK, TO CARRY THE ARK BY THEM..."

(Scribe)
"Psst, Moses? How do you spell
'carry'?"

(Lord)
"SON OF MICHAEL;
LISTEN TO ME: 'C-A-R-R-Y'.
HAVE YOU WRITTEN IT,
CORRECTLY, SON OF MICHAEL?"

(Scribe copies word carefully
onto his stained payprus; he
squints a bit, and then blows
onto the paper. Then, with a
pained expression, he
nods.)
"It would be a lot easier if I
could see better. You know,
Moses, my eyesight has never
been that good......."

(Moses is quiet for a moment.
Then, he looks down on the
ground, and finds a clear colored
stone; it is round shaped, and very
smooth.)
"Here, Joachim. The Lord said
for you to look through this.
It will help you see His Word
better."

(Scribe squints with one eye,
and does what he is told.)
"Hey! Wow! Hey, it DOES
help, Moses! Tell the Lord
thanks for me!"

(Lord)
"YOU'RE WELCOME,
SON OF MICHAEL.
NOW, LET US GO ON:

THE POLES SHALL REMAIN
IN THE RINGS OF THE ARK;
THEY SHALL NOT BE TAKEN
FROM IT. AND YOU SHALL
PUT INTO THE ARK THE
TESTIMONY WHICH I SHALL
GIVE YOU."

(Scribe picks up the new
stylus - already bitten on -
and turns an even more
woeful face to Moses.)
"MO....SES! I can't spell these
big WORDS the Lord is giving me!
And, He's really going TOO FAST!"

(Moses sighs heavily, and looks
toward the flaming cloud drifting
ominously in front of them.)
"LORD! Can I go down, and get
son of Benjamin to take over
as Your scribe? Joachim is
driving me NUTS!"

(Scribe)
"Hey listen, Moses! I followed
you all the way up here on these
two flat FEET. And, that walking
stick you gave me wasn't that
much HELP! Joshua practically
had to carry me up here!"

(Moses)
"Hey, YOU; quit your WHINING!
That's all I've heard from you,
since the Lord chose you as His
chief scribe for this Project! You
should be honored! And, all I
hear is......."

(Mountain shakes a little, just
enough to make Joachim grab
his papyrus, bitten stylus, and
smooth, clear stone.)
(Lord)
"Alright, children; calm down.
Your bickering isn't going to
make things go any faster.
Now, Moses: try to be more patient
with your neighbor."

(Scribe leans forward, and
whispers to the fire-cloud, with a
note of confidence.)
"Uh, Lord? Moses's not just
my neighbor, anymore.
My cousin Neishbah just got
betothed to Moses' second cousin's
third son, Shuchah."

(Moses lets out a moan, shakes
his craggy head, and covers
his face in his leathery hands.)

(Lord, with Fatherly patience)
"Yes, son of Michael. Of this
joyful happening, I am aware.
Now, as for you, son of Michael,
I am trying to teach you some
discipline; it will help you, and
your children for generations
to come."

(Scribe)
"Really, Lord? Generations?
Well, I'm glad of THAT,
Lord! Okay! I'll stick to
my new job! You bet, Lord!
I'm not goin' anywhere!
(He sits back down, against
the cool, moss covered boulder,
smooths out the payprus, nudges
the clear colored stone against
his bad eye, and squares his
narrow shoulders, holding erect
the bitten up stylus from Benjamin's
tent. Against his better judgment,
he turns to Moses, and blows a
raspberry at him, allowing the
Lord's helpful stone to fall to the
grassy turf. Joachim's fellow neighbor,
and soon-to-be relative, returns the
raspberry with a definite glare. Joachim
laughs, grabbing the smooth stone from the
dirt, blowing on it and restoring it to
its original position over his bad eye.
He shouts gleefully:
"Okay, Lord! We're ready when
You are!"

(Lord waits a long, patient moment.)
"Before I begin again, children, I
have sent an angel to leave something
for you, over there - by that rock.
Give some to Joshua, also."

(Both Moses and Joachim look around,
hoping to see one of the Lord's angels.
Instead, they see a basket appear;
it was full of sweet figs. Beside
it was a jug of cool water.)
"THANKS, LORD! THANK YOU!"

[NOD.]
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Then you shall make a mercy seat
of pure gold; two cubits and a half
shall be its length, and a cubit and
a half its breadth. And you shall
make two cherubim of gold;
of hammered work shall you make them,
on the two ends of the mercy seat.
[Exodus 25:17-18]

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In memory to Julian and
Elaine Michaelson

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