Date: Fri, 05 Dec 2003 21:56:48 -0500 From: Jeff Wilson Subject: W.A.R. Part V- Chapter 3 Warning - This is probably the most controversial material I've dealt with. Please don't stop reading if it seems offensive. The views expressed here aren't mine. W.A.R. Part Five - Secrets Chapter Three - Sunday With Mom by Jeff Wilson After waking up in Brett's arms and spending most of Saturday with him, I went to bed happy on Saturday night. But then on Sunday, mom decided that I was going to go to church with her. Now, I'd done that before, and it was okay, but then she started going to a new church. It was the one that Pastor Carl Steven preached at. She was so impressed by the way he was there for dad even though we weren't members of his church that she decided to go there and she ended up liking it. She tried to get dad to go, but he told her that his back would hurt too much to sit on a pew for that long. So she turned her attention to me. Every time she convinced me to go, I'd hear about how great Pastor Carl was and how powerful his sermons were. I wasn't impressed really. He worked up a lot of bluster, but he really didn't tell you much about God except for how angry he was at sinners. He was always talking about gays and feminists and the end of the world. He was a nice person and all, but he sure would do his best to convince you that you were going to hell. So I was talked into going with mom on the Sunday after the blizzard. I was still sore and tired from shoveling even more driveways on Saturday. My pockets were full and I had a good time with Brett, but when I'm tired and sore, I tend to be a bit crabby. So I was in no mood to hear about how I was bound for hell for my particular habit of getting Brett's dick in places that it shouldn't be. When we arrived at the church, everyone was really nice. There were a couple of people from my school there that I talked to. They talked about nothing in particular and they said they were happy to see me there. Mom talked with Mrs. Nicholson and she sat with her and Mr. Nicholson. "You really have to get George here sometime." Mrs. Nicholson said. Mom sighed, "You know George. He's more stubborn than ever." An usher walked up to us. "Hello Mrs. Roberts," he said. "Oh! Good morning David!" Mom replied. "Are you going to come to the dinner Wednesday night? It's in honor of Pastor Carl's tenth year with our church." David smiled. "Oh, that sounds nice. I'll have to see if George wants to go." Mom said. David's smile faded a little. "Well I hope he does. Even if he doesn't, I hope you'll be there anyway." Then he looked at me with a strange look on his face. As if he hadn't noticed I was there until that moment. "Oh. Hello Bill. Nice to see you here today." "Yeah." I said irritably. I was already in a bad mood and I didn't need this moron calling me Bill. The service started and everybody greeted each other in Christian love, which meant hugging and kissing. I tried to shake a few hands, but the old ladies all insisted on kisses and hugs. The people sang a few hymns and I stood there feeling like a dork. I used to be a real good singer until my voice changed. Then I had to sing a solo in seventh grade chorus and that was the end of my singing career. They had the offering and then Pastor Carl read a scripture verse. "Turn with me please to Psalms chapter 10." And then he read about the wicked being punished for their evil deeds. He prayed and then began his sermon. It started with a joke, as I've noticed most of his sermons do. Then he got serious and talked about God's holiness and sin and stuff. Then he really got on a roll. "Do you think for one minute that God is just going to let sex go without punishment? NO! These perverts! These sexual deviants! These people are not going to escape God's anger! The Lord will see to it that they are punished! How long until the Lord lets their sin consume them? How long before the fire in their perverted hearts consume their very souls? "Listen again to Verse Five, 'The wicked succeed in everything. They cannot understand God's judgment. They sneer at their enemies. They say to themselves, "we will never be in trouble! We will never fail!"' They are proud of their sin! They carry out their sexual sickness and no one is safe! They say, 'Look at me! I'm a sinner and I'm going to keep on sinning because God won't catch me!' Fools! Your punishment is already beginning! "All across this county, the gays and lesbians are increasing in strength. They talk about gay pride! Well of course! They are proud to be perverts! God hates them! God looks at them and only his mercy is keeping him from destroying them today! "But what about those that do nothing? What about you, Christian brothers and sisters? Let me tell you, this isn't something that's happening out in California. This isn't somebody else's problem. Some of you parents have this disgusting, destructive behavior happening under your very roofs. And you are too blind to see it! God will not spare you if you stand by and do nothing! If you have sin in your house, THROW IT OUT! If you find your son in bed with another boy, throw him out of your house! And let God deal with him as He wants. For God will not spare those that aide and comfort his enemies. Amen." I sat there feeling kind of numb. I felt like every eye in the place was looking right at me, as if I was wearing a shirt that said, "Sexual pervert." I couldn't wait to get out of there, and the odds were that I wasn't going to come back. I'd hang out with dad on Sundays. Then the worst thing happened. As we were leaving, and we were waiting to leave, the pastor was shaking hands with people as they left. Everyone kept telling Pastor Carl what a good sermon that was and how he was absolutely right. Everyone told him that he was preaching the message of the Lord. One person even said that he should have gone farther. Pastor Carl just smiled and thanked them. Then it was our turn. "Hello, Paula. Billy, it's nice to see you here with us today." He said. I smiled weakly at him. "That was a very powerful message, Pastor Carl." Mom said. "I never thought of things that way. You are so right when it comes to the responsibility parents have to keep sin out of their house. I'm glad that Billy doesn't do anything like that." I felt like punching her right there, I really did. "You've got a good boy, Paula. He just needs to show up here a little more often. I'll see you Wednesday I hope." I felt like throwing up. As we were driving home, I didn't say anything. I was afraid that if I did I'd say something I'd regret. But when we got home, I found dad working out in the garage while mom prepared our lunch. "I can't believe that mom agrees with that crap." I said. Dad figured out right away what I was talking about. He put down his screw driver and looked at me. "So what are you going to hell for this week?" he said. "That guy's full of shit, dad. Please don't make me go with her to church again." "Billy, not every person is like Pastor Carl. You know something, boy, I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. But I don't believe in people like Pastor Carl. All that guy is looking for is people in his pews. That's why I won't go. He just preaches what he knows people want to hear. So gays and feminists are the cause of the downfall of society. And all of this other crap that he says just because he wants people to show up. And he does those healing services and crap like that. "Your mother tried to convince me to go to one of those things. Boy, you know that I'm probably going to use this cane for the rest of my life, however long that is. I've accepted that. I'm at peace with that. I know that it was my own fault for ending up this way. Now, all that those so-called 'healing services' do is raise false hopes in people and try to convince them that they shouldn't be at peace with their situation. But they should try to pray long enough and loud enough that they'll convince God to fix them. Why not just accept yourself the way you are and just work to make life better for those around you?" It was nice to hear something sane after a morning of stupidity. I stayed out in the garage with dad and worked on the engine with him for a while. Soon, mom said that lunch was ready. We ate together and then I decided to take a walk to get some of my anger out. I put on my boots and coat and decided to walk to Brett's house. But by the time I got to the top of the hill, I was exhausted. There was way too much snow. I walked to Dustin's stump and sat down. I noticed that there were tracks leading from Dustin's house and back, and when I looked around the stump, I found cigarette butts, so I knew Dustin had been up here in the last day or so. Dustin had started smoking over the summer. He also started dying his hair black and letting it grow longer than I'd ever seen it before. He didn't have to worry about Amanda anymore. She moved out a couple months ago without any warning. She just packed up and left one day. It would have been good for Dustin, except that now there was no one to shield Dustin from his parents' full attention. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen him smile, and there was something about him that made me want to avoid him when I saw him. I figured that I'd walk back to my house instead of trying to go anywhere else. I was so tired that I fell asleep early in the evening and didn't wake up until it was time to go to school on Monday morning. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Okay, Let me explain something first of all. I tried to make that sermon over the top. I surely hope you don't think that all Christians are like that. I don't. I think that an over-whelming majority are more like George than like Pastor Carl. Unfortunately, it's people like Pastor Carl who get all of the attention. If you were offended by the words of Pastor Carl, well... good. It should be offensive. It's not a message that any good preacher would go preaching, but it would get him attention, people in his pews, and money in his offering plate. But, as you know by now, we're going somewhere with this. If you have comments, they're always welcome. I've got two email addresses to chose from: vicioussquirrel@hotmail.com or jkwsquirrel@ yahoo.com There's also my yahoo group that you can join. You get to see the chapters early if you join. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/squirrelwriter Next time - Billy gets to retake his drivers test, and Dustin is back. See you next time!