Pastor's Messageby the Rev. Dr. Marcia CoxExcerpts from a book, Men Without Women, Ernest Hemingway (hear the central, subtle place of the cross in conversation.) (Three Roman soldiers are in a bar after the Crucifixion.) 1st soldier—Say, George, can't you give this gentleman something to fix up his ache? Wine-seller (George)—I got it right here. 3rd soldier – Heh, what'd you put in there, camel chips? Wine-seller—That'll fix you right up. 3rd soldier—(Drinks it down)—Jesus Christ! 2nd soldier—That false alarm! 1st soldier—Oh, I don't know. He was pretty good in there today. 2nd soldier—Why didn’t he come down off the cross? 1st soldier—He didn't want to come down off the cross. That's not his play. 2nd soldier—Show me a guy that doesn't want to come down off a cross! … Listen, I seen a lot of them—here and plenty other places. Any time you show me one that doesn't want to get down off the cross when the time comes—heh, I'll climb up there with him. 1st soldier—I thought he was pretty good in there today. 3rd soldier—I thought he was all right. 2nd soldier—You guys don’t know what I'm talking about. I'm not saying whether he was good or not. What I mean is, when they first start nailing him, there isn’t none of them wouldn't stop it if they could. 1st soldier—I was surprised how he acted. 3rd soldier—The part I don't like is the nailing them on. You know, that must get to you pretty bad. 2nd soldier—It isn't that that's so bad, as when they first lift 'em up. (He makes a lifting gesture with his 2 palms together.) When the weight starts to pull on 'em. That’s when it gets 'em. 1st soldier—I seen plenty of 'em. I tell you, he was pretty good in there. 3rd soldier—(He is sitting with his head down, looking sick) I don’t want anymore. 2nd soldier—Just for two, George. 1st soldier—You see his girl? She's a nice-looker. 2nd soldier—I was standing right next to her. I knew her before he did. (wink) She used to have a lot of stuff. No more. He never brought her no good luck. 1st soldier—Oh, he ain't lucky. But he looked pretty good to me in there today. 2nd soldier—What become of that gang of his? 1st soldier—Oh, they faded out. Just the women stuck by him. 2nd soldier—They were a pretty yellow crowd. When they seen him up there, they didn't want any of it. 1st soldier—But the women stuck all right…to the end. You see me slip the old spear into him? 2nd soldier—You'll get into trouble doing that some day. 1st soldier—It was the least I could do for him. I'll tell you, he looked pretty good to me in there today. Wine-seller—Gentlemen, you know I got to close. (The 3 soldiers eventually exit to the street.) 2nd soldier—George is just like all the rest of them Jews. 1st soldier—Oh, George is nice fella. 2nd soldier—Everybody's a nice fella to you tonight. 3rd soldier—Come 'on, let's go up to the barracks. I feel like hell tonight. 2nd soldier—You been out here too long. That's all. |
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Augustana Lutheran
Church Church Office
Hours: |
office
phone: 202-234-5315
voicemail: 202-234-5312 fax: 202-234-5724 email: office@augustanadc.info pastor@augustanadc.info theaugustanan@augustanadc.info |
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Updated:
March 21, 2004
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