“Well I’d like us all to bow our heads and wait on the spirit,” Josey said in a hushed voice. She knew this would cause a stir, since they didn’t often call upon the spirit unless there was a big job that needed immediate prayer.
Now, all eyes were upon her, which is where she wanted them. To draw the suspense out a little longer, Josey appeared to riffle through her Bible. When she knew she had everyone’s attention, she licked her lips, folded her manicured hands and raised her eyes upward.
“Lord, now You know we are not here to judge, we are here to help those in need. If that means calling down fire and brimstone to bring correction, then that’s what we have to do, for the good of the soul. And since this involves someone of the clergy, we know what a heavy burden we carry in praying for the deliverance and correction of those you send to lead us.”
Now Josey knew she had them intrigued. Though their heads were bowed, they were fairly twitching, in anticipation of the name she would reveal.
“Lord, as head of the prayer group I know you let me see a lot of things others don’t, since this is the only way I would know how to pray for these lost souls. Right now I lift up Mandy Brennan to you.” She waited for a second as she saw all the obedient heads nod in unison.
“Yes Lord,” they all recited.
“Now I don’t want to go into it that much Lord, because You know what I am referring to. But Lord, we all know drinking is lascivious behavior and one that is not looked at lightly by You, especially for the wife of a man of the cloth. Help her dear Lord and bring her deliverance from this addiction. Thank you for allowing me to be a vessel of honor before You. And thank you for giving me eyes to see, so I can bring special needs to this prayer group. We pray Lord, just show her the errors of her ways. And her, with two little children,” she whispered, as she shook her head and tsk’d tsk’d.
Josey really believed that without the intervention of the prayer group, Carington just could not survive. In her mind, if the weekly prayer warriors did not assemble themselves and run interference for all the sinners in town, Carington would be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorra of old.
As if on cue, strains of “Bringing in the Sheaths” crept through the closed door, reminding all who were present that it was their job to gather all the lost, and present them clean and spotless before the Lord. A new sense of urgency welled up in Josey as music filled the air around her.
“Do you feel that?” she asked.
“What?” the members softly gasped.
“That cold wind. Be real quiet now, I believe it’s the spirit. Remember the Bible talks about the mighty wind coming in while they were all praying. Be real still now, so we don’t go and chase it off.”
Unbeknownst to Josey, Percy Putnum had slipped in the door to adjust the air conditioner thermostat. He’d had complaints about the size of the church’s electric bill, but he believed that if they would just replace the old model for a more efficient one, then the money problems would be solved.
Mertis could not hold back the sneeze that erupted.
“Now look at that, it’s gone,” Josey said, shaking her head as the cool blast was replaced with a dank smelling stillness.
Percy silently let himself out the door and braced himself against the wall as he laughed. Finally he had found an avenue for his old Army skills. He was quite amazed that he still had it in him to stealthily enter areas and leave without making a sound.
“Lord,” he prayed, between his laughter, “if that’s the best You’ve got for prayer warriors, we’re in trouble down here. I think we’d do better with that talking mule Nehemiah was on.”
Glenda Jackson sat on the Chamber of Commerce board and always had a wealth of information as to what was happening on the political side of things. When she spoke, everyone was quiet. She hurriedly opened her eyes to see what everyone else was doing, and saw that all eyes were still closed. Probably waiting for the return of the spirit, she thought sarcastically.
She cleared her throat. “Lord, we come before you, a group of women devoted to serving You and our community. We accept the responsibility You have given us and relish the opportunity to be a vital part of bringing change to the lives of those around us. There is a little issue that is causing strife in our community, and I would like to lift it up to you before it hits the Buzz Bee.”
Now she had the curiosity of the group. Anything important enough to get in the paper was their concern, and rightly so. They felt they should be made aware of all matters, prior to any of the other town’s people. Glenda waited just long enough to create some additional suspense, and when she felt the members would surely pop from anticipation, she began again.
“We have formed our own Homeland Security committee right here in Carington.”
Stay tuned for the next episode!
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