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Topic: Missionary (10/19/06)
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TITLE: Jimmy | Previous Challenge Entry
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10/26/06 -
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Well, this is one of those stories that has a very ordinary (actually less than ordinary) character, a very extraordinary event, and someone who thinks that there could be a connection between the two.
The less than ordinary character is Jimmy. Every church has one. Jimmy is the guy who has no transportation, but somehow never misses a service; works a part-time job, possesses almost infantile language skills, and speaks in the timbre of “nasal”. I will admit, however, that on one Sunday morning when he stood up and gave a word the effect for whatever reason was very dramatic. I’ll give him that one.
Jimmy doesn’t cause trouble or anything like that, but there is one thing about him that does irritate me. I am heavily involved in our missions program, and for the size of our church we get a lot done. Although this is a just a voluntary position, I still take it very seriously. Why I don’t know, but Jimmy attends every one of our meetings. He has never gone on a trip with us although he has a standing offer to go anytime he wants all expenses paid. He never gave me the impression that he even cares to go. So, why does he come? Jimmy says that the meetings keep his missionary spirit awake.
This is where the story gets freaked out. My sister-in-law works in the cafeteria at McKinley High School. Yeah, that McKinley High School, the one that was in all the papers and made national news. Well, Cindy was there to witness the whole thing. This is what she remembered from that day.
“I walked into the building and knew something was ‘up’. Something in the air, invisible, but extremely tangible. I looked down the hallway and there was Jimmy (he volunteers as a hall monitor) frozen with his arms outstretched. This ‘presence’ was getting much stronger every second and it was now affecting the classrooms. I heard kids whimpering. Some where crying so hard it sounded like wailing, one girl was on her knees asking God to forgive her, a few were hugging each other, laughing and crying and then they erupted in shouting some kind of thanks to God. One of my co-workers was right behind me when this all started, and I now noticed that she was flat on the floor shaking violently and mumbling some kind of gibberish. It was all chaotic to me, but not the kind chaos that you felt like you should try to stop, or could stop, even if you wanted to. I turned my attention down the hallway opposite of where Jimmy stood. There was a cloud coming towards me at a very slow pace. Not very thick and the color I can’t describe. Whenever this cloud passed a room, the room became silent. I sensed that it was more than just silence. Almost like life was suspended, and anything about our existence that really mattered was inside that cloud. This cloud thing ended up taking over the whole building until no one was able to enter the school, and of course no one could leave. That afternoon about 3:00pm the cloud dissipated, but nothing returned to what we could call normal. A heavy residue lingered and the kids refused to go home. If I didn’t have to pick up my children I would still be there myself. The peace was like nothing I have ever known. As I was leaving, I saw a couple bags of pot on the floor, packs of cigarettes everywhere, and some pills that might have been for birth control. That was four weeks ago. We are back to conducting classes as before, but believe me when I tell you this; nothing about the kids is like before.”
Well that’s it, the short version anyway. Jimmy told Cindy that God called him to be a hall monitor at McKinley and “intercede” for the school. His theory was if bad people can have everyone’s attention, like what happened at Columbine, how much more can the glory of his God, like at McKinley.
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