Post by Rick Majors on Dec 3, 2017 23:16:49 GMT -5
It is a cold and dark winter night. The wind whips through the gaps between buildings, causing passersby to pull up their jackets around their necks and tighten their hoods around their faces. Not that there are many people on the street; not in this weather. But, there is one building with a long line out front, however. No, it isn’t the hottest club in town or a new brunch place that sells organic free-range eggs served on gluten-free bread with a side of massaged kale prepared by food artisans (this is Toronto, after all). No, this is a local soup kitchen and the line is made up of homeless individuals and other people who are down on their luck.
Inside the establishment, there is an even larger crowd. In this weather, a lot of people are here just to get out of the cold; the soup is just a bonus. Most of the men and women (and, unfortunately, some children) inside the building are just happy to be away from the wind.
Behind the counter are several volunteers trying to remain cheerful while handing out soup and stale rolls to a crowd that seems to be getting larger, not smaller. Among these volunteers is Gabriel, Pure Class Wrestling North American Champion and Messenger of the Lord. He has been here for about an hour now, dutifully pouring soup into bowls with a large ladle. He’s been making small talk with some of those receiving food but, until now, he hasn’t said much. That is about to change though.
Seemingly without warning or provocation, Gabriel steps out from behind the counter and walks into the center of the room. No one seems to pay much attention until he starts to speak very loudly.
“My brothers and sisters,” he begins. “I feel a lot of warmth and love in this room here today.”
Some people turn around to look in Gabriel’s direction, but not many. To be honest, he isn’t the first person who tried loudly addressing the room about various issues here tonight.
Undeterred, Gabriel continues.
“Yes, I know that we may all wish that we were not here tonight. I know we wish that everyone was well-fed, and that this enterprise was not necessary, but it is a sad reality that places like this are a fixture of modern society.”
Gabriel begins to walk slowly around the room.
“We live in a society that throws away what it deems undesirable. Those who do not conform to what is ‘supposed to be’ are not welcome in our world. They are shunned. They are cast aside. They are ignored. They are forgotten. But you are not forgotten, my brothers and sisters. You are not ignored. This is not a room filled with undesirables. No, this is a room filled with people who have been mistreated by the world. And, my brothers and sisters, though I spent my evening on the other side of the counter with a ladle in my hand, I have also been mistreated.”
It is at this point where many in the room groan and turn their attention away from Gabriel.
“While I have been very lucky to never spend a night on the street with an empty belly, I have certainly had my share of misfortune. And this horrible treatment has become even worse since I was saved by the Lord.”
More groans from the room.
“You can say a lot of things in this world, my friends. You can make crude and vile comments. You can defame people. You can curse and threaten. You can speak out with hatred and ignorance. You can do all of these things and no one will bat an eyelash. But, if you speak the word of the Lord, you are considered an outcast.”
Gabriel stops walking now and turns to address the “audience” head-on.
“This is a special time of year. This is a time for love and for caring. This is a time to hold those we cherish close as well as a time to reach out to those who may be struggling. And, unfortunately, many of us are struggling today. And it is because we have stripped the word of the Lord from our lives. We are not able to freely spread his message of love and hope any longer in fear of being ostracized. We have forgotten why we are here today and why we celebrate this festive season. We are now ruled by commercialism and money and ego. No wonder we are living in such sin. No wonder our lives are collectively falling apart. No wonder we do not care for one another anymore. We have lost our way. We have lost our morals. We have lost our decency. And we have lost ourselves.”
Gabriel looks down for a moment before continuing.
“But do not despair, my brothers and sisters, for we have not lost everything. We have not lost the Lord. He is still with us. He is always with us. He watches over us each day. And He will guide us through these troubled times. It is Joshua 1:9 that tells us ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’”
Gabriel smiles now.
“The Lord will never leave us. Do not fear, for even when things appear to be the worst, the Lord will not forsake those who truly believe. Trust in Him. Have faith in Him. For after every storm there is a rainbow. The Book of Genesis tells us that the rainbow is a covenant between the Lord and his creations. There is always hope. Always. ‘Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.’”
Gabriel pauses for a moment, takes a deep breath, and then continues.
“But as hopeful as this message may be – and it is truly a hopeful and loving message – there are still those who seek to destroy its goodness. They not only mock the Lord, but they position themselves as the storm itself. They want to eliminate his message of hope. They want to cause disarray and mayhem. They take pride in their destructive, unpredictable, and harmful actions. They do not see the beauty in each of the Lord’s creations. No, they want to be the storm that destroys them. They want to be the darkness that wipes out the light. They want to ruin it for the rest of us.”
Gabriel wants to continue speaking, but he’s finally confronted by several staff members. The crowd gives as brief cheer as Gabriel is told that he either has to let the people eat in peace or leave the building. Gabriel protests for a brief while, but he eventually relents, grabs his coat, and walks out into the cold.
The change in scenery doesn’t stop him from preaching, however. He now speaks out loudly as he walks, addressing no one in particular.
“They tried to cast me aside. They tried to silence my voice. But you cannot silence the word of the Lord! I will not allow it!” he yells out into the deserted streets.
“You are not a ‘Force of Nature!’,” he screams. “You are a fraud! You truly believe that you can create enough havoc in the skies and chaos in the world that you can defeat the Lord? You will soon find out just how powerful He is. You will learn firsthand that no matter how much you try, you can never create enough darkness to shut out the light!”
Gabriel seems to just be pacing up and down streets now with no real destination in mind.
“You’re not notorious. You are inglorious. You are shameful. You are disgraceful. You are sin personified! You are filled with arrogance and ego and greed. You take pride in excess. You worship material possessions. You lust after fame and gold. I truly believe that you see yourself as a god. You sick, twisted, heathen. How dare you!?”
Gabriel is now standing on the street, screaming into the darkness.
“You must be destroyed. Your kind must be eliminated. Your very existence must be annihilated and your memory must be wiped from the earth. I will make an example of you. I will rip you limb from limb and leave you a quivering, unrecognizable heap. And I will do so to show the world that people like you will not be tolerated. Your egotistical, brash, and disrespectful ways must not be emulated. I cannot – and will not – allow you to insult the Lord with your wicked acts and your lying tongue. There is no storm powerful enough to destroy what the Lord has created. The light will shine through. It always does. And your vanity and pride will be demolished by His virtuousness, morality, and love.”
Gabriel yells out the final words of his sermon.
“PRAISE SEROMINE! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!”
Inside the establishment, there is an even larger crowd. In this weather, a lot of people are here just to get out of the cold; the soup is just a bonus. Most of the men and women (and, unfortunately, some children) inside the building are just happy to be away from the wind.
Behind the counter are several volunteers trying to remain cheerful while handing out soup and stale rolls to a crowd that seems to be getting larger, not smaller. Among these volunteers is Gabriel, Pure Class Wrestling North American Champion and Messenger of the Lord. He has been here for about an hour now, dutifully pouring soup into bowls with a large ladle. He’s been making small talk with some of those receiving food but, until now, he hasn’t said much. That is about to change though.
Seemingly without warning or provocation, Gabriel steps out from behind the counter and walks into the center of the room. No one seems to pay much attention until he starts to speak very loudly.
“My brothers and sisters,” he begins. “I feel a lot of warmth and love in this room here today.”
Some people turn around to look in Gabriel’s direction, but not many. To be honest, he isn’t the first person who tried loudly addressing the room about various issues here tonight.
Undeterred, Gabriel continues.
“Yes, I know that we may all wish that we were not here tonight. I know we wish that everyone was well-fed, and that this enterprise was not necessary, but it is a sad reality that places like this are a fixture of modern society.”
Gabriel begins to walk slowly around the room.
“We live in a society that throws away what it deems undesirable. Those who do not conform to what is ‘supposed to be’ are not welcome in our world. They are shunned. They are cast aside. They are ignored. They are forgotten. But you are not forgotten, my brothers and sisters. You are not ignored. This is not a room filled with undesirables. No, this is a room filled with people who have been mistreated by the world. And, my brothers and sisters, though I spent my evening on the other side of the counter with a ladle in my hand, I have also been mistreated.”
It is at this point where many in the room groan and turn their attention away from Gabriel.
“While I have been very lucky to never spend a night on the street with an empty belly, I have certainly had my share of misfortune. And this horrible treatment has become even worse since I was saved by the Lord.”
More groans from the room.
“You can say a lot of things in this world, my friends. You can make crude and vile comments. You can defame people. You can curse and threaten. You can speak out with hatred and ignorance. You can do all of these things and no one will bat an eyelash. But, if you speak the word of the Lord, you are considered an outcast.”
Gabriel stops walking now and turns to address the “audience” head-on.
“This is a special time of year. This is a time for love and for caring. This is a time to hold those we cherish close as well as a time to reach out to those who may be struggling. And, unfortunately, many of us are struggling today. And it is because we have stripped the word of the Lord from our lives. We are not able to freely spread his message of love and hope any longer in fear of being ostracized. We have forgotten why we are here today and why we celebrate this festive season. We are now ruled by commercialism and money and ego. No wonder we are living in such sin. No wonder our lives are collectively falling apart. No wonder we do not care for one another anymore. We have lost our way. We have lost our morals. We have lost our decency. And we have lost ourselves.”
Gabriel looks down for a moment before continuing.
“But do not despair, my brothers and sisters, for we have not lost everything. We have not lost the Lord. He is still with us. He is always with us. He watches over us each day. And He will guide us through these troubled times. It is Joshua 1:9 that tells us ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’”
Gabriel smiles now.
“The Lord will never leave us. Do not fear, for even when things appear to be the worst, the Lord will not forsake those who truly believe. Trust in Him. Have faith in Him. For after every storm there is a rainbow. The Book of Genesis tells us that the rainbow is a covenant between the Lord and his creations. There is always hope. Always. ‘Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.’”
Gabriel pauses for a moment, takes a deep breath, and then continues.
“But as hopeful as this message may be – and it is truly a hopeful and loving message – there are still those who seek to destroy its goodness. They not only mock the Lord, but they position themselves as the storm itself. They want to eliminate his message of hope. They want to cause disarray and mayhem. They take pride in their destructive, unpredictable, and harmful actions. They do not see the beauty in each of the Lord’s creations. No, they want to be the storm that destroys them. They want to be the darkness that wipes out the light. They want to ruin it for the rest of us.”
Gabriel wants to continue speaking, but he’s finally confronted by several staff members. The crowd gives as brief cheer as Gabriel is told that he either has to let the people eat in peace or leave the building. Gabriel protests for a brief while, but he eventually relents, grabs his coat, and walks out into the cold.
The change in scenery doesn’t stop him from preaching, however. He now speaks out loudly as he walks, addressing no one in particular.
“They tried to cast me aside. They tried to silence my voice. But you cannot silence the word of the Lord! I will not allow it!” he yells out into the deserted streets.
“You are not a ‘Force of Nature!’,” he screams. “You are a fraud! You truly believe that you can create enough havoc in the skies and chaos in the world that you can defeat the Lord? You will soon find out just how powerful He is. You will learn firsthand that no matter how much you try, you can never create enough darkness to shut out the light!”
Gabriel seems to just be pacing up and down streets now with no real destination in mind.
“You’re not notorious. You are inglorious. You are shameful. You are disgraceful. You are sin personified! You are filled with arrogance and ego and greed. You take pride in excess. You worship material possessions. You lust after fame and gold. I truly believe that you see yourself as a god. You sick, twisted, heathen. How dare you!?”
Gabriel is now standing on the street, screaming into the darkness.
“You must be destroyed. Your kind must be eliminated. Your very existence must be annihilated and your memory must be wiped from the earth. I will make an example of you. I will rip you limb from limb and leave you a quivering, unrecognizable heap. And I will do so to show the world that people like you will not be tolerated. Your egotistical, brash, and disrespectful ways must not be emulated. I cannot – and will not – allow you to insult the Lord with your wicked acts and your lying tongue. There is no storm powerful enough to destroy what the Lord has created. The light will shine through. It always does. And your vanity and pride will be demolished by His virtuousness, morality, and love.”
Gabriel yells out the final words of his sermon.
“PRAISE SEROMINE! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!”
