Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: End Times (02/27/14)
-
TITLE: Are We There Yet? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Catherine Craig
03/06/14 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
Simone looked back one more time. The man standing on the street corner looked wild, his eyes – feverish. She shrugged. He wasn’t worth listening to.
She’d had her fill of extremists. She shrugged again, as if to ward off the first image that came to mind. Mother. A steady diet of religion, enough to gag on. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe it; she did – sort of.
“You wanna catch a taxi, or walk?” asked Sherry, Simone’s best friend. “Oh yeah, that guy back there, he’s a bit much isn’t he?”
“Well, it’s just…”
“Oh yeah,” Sherry rolled her eyes, and laughed, “it’s like hearing what you hear at home in stereo, isn’t it? I get it.” She looked back at the man still spewing words. “Maybe we should introduce him and your mom.” When Simone glared at her, Sherry added, “No offense, but I’ve grown up hearing all that too, and I’m only half-joking.” Then thoughtfully, “Do you think the world is going to end?”
“Let’s walk,” answered Simone, tucking a stray lock of windblown hair behind her ear, away from her mouth. “That guy, shoving his ideas down people’s throats. And no, I wouldn’t want to intro him to Mom. Then I’d get in it surround sound.” She giggled, then grew serious. “It makes me think, but I’d never admit that to my mother.”
“Yeah.”
“Actually, I had a dream,” Simone blurted.
“Oh?”
“It was evil. Someone got me to read called, “The Quest”. It’s eery.”
“Tell me,” begged Sherry, her eyes wide with curiosity.
“Okay, if you insist,” Simone said, glad for the opportunity to talk about it. “There was a war. There was a tall mountain, with people climbing it. Most wore armor, some tarnished, some still bright. Demonic things were in pursuit.”
“Keep going.”
“Well,” Simone went on. “Dragging behind this demonic army were “prisoners”, fully armed but powerless. Vultures hovered overhead spewing vomit on the those in tow.”
“I read that book,” explained Sherry. “I remember that part.”
“You never mentioned it.”
“Well, at the time, it made an impression on me; but it’s been awhile. The prisoners were those “wounded” Christians, hurt by other Christians,” elaborated Sherry. “That particular allegory was to illustrate how the church acts today. When a “wounded” person trips up, others attack him. These prisoners were deluded; they thought they were marching in God’s army but they were really neutralized – in no one’s army – but being tricked by the demonic horde into thinking they were. They thought that everything that happened was from God, that those that stumbled were being judged by God.”
“Yeah,” said Simone, “that’s the way it seems, doesn’t it? Jesus said to be kind to each other, but hardly anyone is. Christians are supposed to help each other. But, they don’t.”
“I agree. That’s why I don’t want to go to church; everyone’s a hypocrite.” Sherry almost tripped over the crib in the half-dark. “Anyway, the book was vivid. Some of God’s army began picking up the enemy’s arrows and sending them back, which the enemies dodged. Instead these arrows of slander, accusation, etc. would hit Christians. When these were hit, demons of bitterness, rage, etc., would sit on the shafts. The arrows of hurt would lodge in the Christians’ hearts.”
I think that’s what’s happened to me,” admitted Simone. “When I was a kid, I had a stupid teacher who let someone get the better of me because she was afraid of the truth and wouldn’t stick up for me. It would have cost her, and she didn’t want to take the chance. So, she didn’t do anything. I took the fall because she wouldn’t speak up.”
“You never talked about that, why?”
“I stopped caring. It didn’t matter.” Simone whispered and stopped. The pain hit her like a fist in her stomach. “You know, it does matter,” she added.
“Maybe you need to re-look at things, Simone. Maybe that guy has a point. What if it is the end of the world, and the past is a demonic agent to sidetrack you?” Sherry half-laughed, but Simone could tell she wasn’t joking.
“Maybe, we both should,” Simone agreed. “Let’s go talk to the youth pastor, see what he says.”
“Tomorrow, first thing. I’ll meet you at the church.”
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
God bless~
Just a little note about quotations: use single quotation marks for a quotation inside of another quotation. For example your first sentence would be punctuated like this, “'When you see these things happening, lift up your heads for the end is drawing closer!' Jesus once cried to his followers…”
So many people have been hurt by Christians and they often carry their bitterness for years like your MC. It is a warning for us to be wise and gentle in our dealings with non-believers. Thank you for sharing your story.