The parson had secured a corner of the room occupied by the book store at a break during the annual conference of his denomination. Obscured in his corner he had time to engage in his favorite pastime of people watching.
During the Executive Session of the Clergy, the presiding bishop in a pitch for a wellness program of the denomination had made remarks that being overweight was a tremendous health problem. He had suggested the clergy should have courage to approach overweight brothers and sisters of the cloth an in love tell them they were overweight and should take better care of themselves. The parson now sat in his corner watching the parade of expanded waists pass by as he contemplated the bishop’s departure from preaching to enter the realm of meddling.
The parson wasn’t aware if it was her voice or the fact she wasn’t a candidate to whom someone needed to relay the bishop’s admonition in love. She was a walking exhibition of wellness.
“Shopping for some preaching books?” her friend asked her after their mutual greeting.
“Actually, I’m in here to buy a Bible,” she replied.
“A Bible?”
“Yes, they told us we needed to bring a Bible with us when we were ordained. So, at the meeting they had with us this morning, they asked me if I brought a Bible. I said ‘sure’ and held up by iPhone. They looked at me like I was crazy. And then they asked me again if I brought a Bible. I showed them my iPhone again. And then I showed them the apps with the three translations I keep on it. Two of them whispered together and then they told me they thought a traditional Bible might be more appropriate than holding my iPhone.”
The parson watched her walk over to the cashier to pay for her traditional Bible. As he did he pulled his iPhone from the belt holster, turned it on and touched the icon to bring up The Message. He read a couple of verses at random as he again felt young, contemporary, and thin.
sigh
:)
Posted by: MMP | June 17, 2010 at 07:30 AM