Imagine it’s Sunday and a friend who has been inviting you to their church for like forever, manages to catch you, when you have absolutely no reason to say no, at least not one you can make without seeming like perhaps you burst into flames when you enter the doors of a church ⛪
You agree to tag along, and when you get there, you really want to sit at the back, blend in, be inconspicuous, maybe somewhere you can make a quick exit if the sermon drags on for too long but noooo they drag you to the very front row 💺
When the service starts the pastor asks that if there are any visitors may they stand up, introduce themselves and how they came to be here today and then be welcomed to the church. You try to slouch in your chair and make yourself invisible but everyone seems to be looking at you and your friend nudges you rather obviously in the ribs. Slowly you stand up and mumble your name, as your friend beams beside you. 😁
The pastor says “hallelujah” 🙋 the congregation shouts “hallelujah” back.🙌…
The choir starts a hymn 🎤
“Right in this place, the spirit is moving…. “♪ ♪
Slightly alarmed you look around 😱 For The Spirit 👻 that is moving in this place, right now…
Eventually the sermon starts and the pastor reads from the book of the First Corinthians 11 verse 14. About how man must not have long hair but a woman must never cut hers but she must cover it always.
And you with your shoulder length locks can feel the eyes of everyone trying not to stare at you as the pastor delivers a fire and brimstone service about how demons live in braids and long hair….
You want to raise your hand and ask what if you are like Samson?
The Pastor says tell the person next to you, “I want to cast out the demon in you!”
“I want to cast out the demon in you you repeat!”
“Out!” the pastor says..
“Out!” the congregation repeats.
“Out!”
“Out!”
Suddenly voices in prayer fill the room, some even start speaking in tongues. It’s a bit disconcerting for you as you are used to more conventional churches where everyone bows their heads and close eyes to pray silently and only a few people one after the other speak their prayer requests out loud then everyone says Amen.. Not this when everyone speaks at the same time.
You try not to stare at people slamming their bibles into their hands, jumping up and down while praying, filled with the Holy Spirit presumably…
You realize you haven’t uttered a single word in prayer you try to but it’s rather hard to think of anything to say and finally you notice everyone slowly getting silent as the prayer session draws to a close, till everyone says Amen
In conclusion the pastor then reads from the gospel of Matthew 25 verses 1-13. The parable of the ten virgins waiting for the groom, five of them were wise and five were foolish. The wise had extra oil for their lamps and the foolish did not….
The parable is to teach us that we must be constantly vigilant as no one knows the day or the hour of the coming of Christ….
It’s been an interesting service, you think to yourself and everything is going fairly OK until the pastor for emphasis just has to ask you, “So where would you rather be…. In the light with the five wise virgins or in the dark with the five foolish virgins….”
Erm, well, honestly I’d only answer that to a priest during confession.
Finally the service ends and on your way out people stop to greet you and ask you to please come again and you say “I’ll see….”
~B
Becoming The Muse 
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