Grief

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I will fall
upon them
like a bear
robbed of
her cubs........
[Hosea 13:8]
*********************
"How can You be so CRUEL,
LORD? HOW?"

"What, child."

"THE PANDAS!
THE PANDAS!"

[SILENCE.]

"You ought to be ASHAMED!"

[SILENCE.]

"TWO OF THEM!
TWO!"

[NOD.]
"Yes, child."

"HOW COULD YOU?
THAT'S HORRIBLE!
(Grimmace!)
HORRIBLE!"

[PATIENT PAUSE.]
"Who Am I,
little one?"

(Turn away.)
(Reproving frown.)
"I DUNNO!"

[GENTLE VOICE.]
"Tell Me."

"I SAID....!
I.. DUNNO!
Now......GO AWAY!"

[PATIENT SILENCE.]

"TWO of them, LORD!
And: they're ENDANGERED!
You ought to be ASHAMED!"

[PATIENT WAITING OF A
LOVING FATHER.]

"They're ENDANGERED!
And.......You KILLED THEM!"

[SILENCE.]

"I think that's HORRIBLE!
HORRIBLE!
That's DISGUSTING!"

[SILENCE.]

"I can't BELIEVE it!
How could You DO such a THING?
There's SO little JOY in the
world!
(Shake head reprovingly.)
And, You take away even THAT!"

[PATIENT SILENCE.]

"WHY?
WHY?"

"Because, I AM the LORD,
child."

(Silence.)
(Fold arms.)
(Turn away.)
"I think that's terrible."
(Frown.)
"Jesus said You took care of
the BIRDS...........DIDN'T He?"

[PATIENT NOD.]
"Read My Word, child."

"WHY?
YOU should know where it
IS!"

[GENTLE VOICE.]
"Do you,
little one?"

(Shrug.)
"I dunno;
it's SOMEWHERE."

[SMILE.]
"Show Me."

(Flip open Bible.)
(Flap pages around, noisily.)

[PATIENT SILENCE.]

(Mumble.)
(Murmuring.)
(Flip pages back and forth.)

[PATIENTLY WAITING.]

(Frown.)
(Orange soda can drips
onto page.)
(Wipe away drop.)
"I FOUND it."

[PATIENT NOD.]
"Read It, child."

(Put on second pair of glasses*.)
"Yeah.....here it is:

Look at
the birds of the air:
they neither sow
nor reap
nor gather in barns,
and yet your
Heavenly Father
feeds them.
[Matthew 6:26]

YEAH?
Well....You FEED them,
and then You KILL THEM!
.....where's that part
about the SPARROW?
When it DIES?
What about THAT?"

"Look, child!"

"I dunno, Lord.
(Sad frown.)
I think that's really MEAN.
Those animals don't know
anything. What did THEY
do? THEY didn't do NOTHIN'!"

[NOD.]
"Look, child."

"And: ANOTHER THING!
(Turn back to face air conditioning
vent.)
How could You DO SOMETHING,
like THAT?
And, what's this about them
not goin' to HEAVEN?
HUH?
What's THAT ABOUT?"

[GENTLE VOICE.]
"Look, child."

(Turn away.)
(Sip SAMS orange soda.)
(Turn on the radio.)
(Turn off the radio.)
(Flip some more tattered pages around.)
"I dunno.
I just don't understand You,
at all, Lord.
I just don't know.
It's very sad.
Very sad."

[SORROWFUL GLANCE.]
"Yes, child.
[PATIENTLY WAITING.]
It is."
*************************
What I tell you
in the dark,
utter in the light;
and what you
hear whispered,
proclaim
upon the rooftops.....
are not two sparrows
sold for a penny?
And not one of them
will
fall
to the ground
without
your Father's
will.
[Matthew 10:27-29]

____________________________
(*It's an over-50 thing: don't
worry about it.)
(P.S. There is still debate over
whether the Giant Panda is a bear....
a big raccoon...or, in its own
species [about to become extinct.]
The Chinese word for 'panda'
is 'xiongmao' or 'Giant Cat Bear'.)

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