Faith

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The kingdom of heaven
is like a grain of mustard seed...
[Matthew 13:31]
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"I didn't know there
WAS mustard, in those
days, Lord."

[SILENCE.]

"WHAT? Do You
mean, they had
MUSTARD?"

[SMILE.]

"I didn't think that
stuff was invented
till Heinz, in Pittsburgh?"

"There was the mustard
tree, child."

(laugh)
"Mustard comes from TREES?
That's WEIRD!"

[LAUGH.]

"Remember that time, Lord,
I went to Dijon in France,
and I came back on the
plane with a little ceramic
jar of mustard?"

[NOD.]

"I think it broke, en
route, and all my stuff
from the suitcase
smelled like mustard
for weeks."

"What does It tell
you, child?"

"Eh......never to pack
a ceramic jar of mustard,
whether it be Dijon's,
Heinz, or Guilden's,
in your suitcase,
stick it in cargo,
and then, fly
across the ATLANTIC?"

[LAUGH.]
"No, My precious.
What does My Word
tell you?"

"Eh.......I don't know, Lord."

"Tell Me, precious."

"Eh......lemme' read It,
again, Lord."

[PATIENT NOD.]

"Uh, well.........somethin'
about birds in nests,
pecking on bits 'a MUSTARD?"

[LAUGH.]
"Look again."

"I don't think birds
EAT mustard, Lord,
at least not without
a little piece of bread
under it."

[PATIENT SILENCE.]

"I don't KNOW, Lord!
You know I'm JEWISH!
I'm not even a SMART Jew,
at THAT!"

"What of it, child?"

"Well.......eh, I don't know.......
somethin' about seeds, and
nests, and fields......
Lord, You know I'm
from northwest Philly.
What do I know about
this farming STUFF?"

"Look, child."

"Well, the Christians
tell me it's something
about faith: I mean,
HAVING faith."

[NOD.]
"And?"

"Eh, I don't have
a lot of faith, Lord:
in ANYTHING."

"Anything, child?"

"I don't know, Lord.
SOME days, I have
a lil' faith in YOU, but.....
it sort'a depends on the DAY."

[SILENCE.]

"So, I guess on most
days, I got the faith
of one lil' MUSTARD seed?"

[NOD.]
"Yes, child.
That is all I need."
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.....Like a grain
of mustard seed
which a man took and sowed
in his field;
it is the smallest of all seeds,
but when it has grown
it is the greatest of shrubs,
and becomes a tree,
so that the birds of the air
come and make nests in
its branches.
[Matthew 13:31-32]

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