by Debbie Simorte
Granny dragged me down to the Baptist revival tent early so we could get seats up close. I don’t know why, ‘cause the preacher screamed so loud that people clear over at the MFA could hear. He flapped his arms too, like a swarm of bees was after him.
When he quoted Mark he hollered that if you believed, holdin’ snakes couldn’t even hurt you and I started sniffling ‘cause I was scared of snakes.
When he got to Luke 10:19 “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you,” I busted out bawlin’ about as loud as the preacher was preachin’ ‘cause he was still carryin’ on about snakes and just yesterday I had stepped barefoot on a scorpion.
What I was feelin’ then was powerful alright but not nothin’ like the power that preacher meant, so I thought surely God thinks I ain’t believin’ enough and half of Hickory County knows it now too and I’m gonna go to hell.
The preacher’s wife came runnin’ over to see if I needed help or I’d found Jesus or what and Granny yanked me up by my arm and said, “She just misses her mammy, that’s all.”
We hightailed it back to Granny’s, where Pap had the dominoes out, ready to play with me, like he somehow knew we wouldn’t be down there revivin’ very long.
8 comments:
Great description-helped me to be right there beside you in that revival tent. (It was probably hotter than hell in there, right?)
Great voice.
Thank you both for the kind words! Bruce - Yes, I'd imagine it was : )
This has the easy ring of authenticity to it. Simplicity that belies the thoughtful structure and attention to voice. Very nice indeed.
Thank you Suzanne!
Strong voice and great descriptions. Contained a powerful subtext, too - loved it!
Thanks so much Shirley!
Watch out for those bees and snakes Deb...and yeah, I'd be scared too...congrats on making it to finalist btw...
Cheers,
Alan.
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