Subtle Manipulations
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Edited Subtle Manipulations
Edited Subtle Manipulations today. I got a long way to go with editing it.
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Printed Subtle Manipulations
Task number one on my to-do list for the summer of no excuses was to print my manuscript Subtle Manipulation.
It's been done... it was 332 pages! I just destroyed a tree, I'm sorry.
Here's my goals for the summer... https://ladyboonewrites.blogspot.com/2018/05/goals-for-summer-noexcuses.html
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Monday, June 20, 2016
Chapter Two
(1995)
DeAndre patted his hair into
place. He knew he looked good. He was getting ready for church. It was a cold day in January 1995. He was excited because it was cold enough to
wear his black leather trench coat. It
had not been cold enough to wear it before now.
He was going to Parkridge
Pentecostal Church. His cousin, Jasmine,
had been raving about the church ever since she started going to the
church. She was getting on his
nerve. Jasmine was like that, once she
got excited about something, she usually never stopped talking about it. She kept telling DeAndre that the church was
a place where they could start over and be whoever they wanted to be. That was appealing to DeAndre because for so
long, people had been asking him was he gay.
He could not help it because he was good looking, knew how to dress
better than most women, and always smelled good. He just liked to look good. He did not mind spending money to do so
either. He had been raised by women and
he had a bunch of female friends, but he was not gay. Okay, so he was 20 and did not have a
girlfriend, but that did not mean a thing.
It was hard to figure out why the church wanted him to get married. He was single and a hard-working Christian
man, you would have thought that the church would have found a way to put him
to work. They were always complaining
that there were not enough workers in the vineyard. With all the workers being married and
tending to their families, a single man had to be a commodity, but church folk
were always trying to marry him off. It
got on his nerves, too. It was even
worse for his cousin, Jasmine. She was
forever telling him that some old hag from the church had cornered her and
asked her, “When are you gonna get married and have some kids?” Jasmine would usually just smile and walk
away. DeAndre always told her, “You need
to just curse one of them old ladies out and then they will leave you
alone.” Jasmine would respond, “That’s
all I need is for those old ladies to go tell the pastor that I cursed them
out. I would never hear the end of
that.”
DeAndre laughed as he thought about
his cousin. She was a cool person. She was understanding, patient, and always
willing to give everyone a chance. That
was the total opposite of him. He would
cut a person that hurt him off so quickly that the person would never realize
that they had been cut until two days later when they were in the hospital for
a blood transfusion. He had been hurt so
much in his life by church folk, that he had no patience for them. Church folk could be mean, brutal, and
conniving, especially preachers. DeAndre
had no love for church folk who acted like saints on Sunday and did dirt the
rest of the week. That is what made him
such a fire and brim stone preacher.
DeAndre had preached a few hell fire and damnation sermons since
becoming a minister a year earlier. He
was rarely ever invited back to many churches.
What was it that made people not want to hear the true word of God? People only wanted to hear about what God
could do for them, instead of what God expected them to do. Did not Paul the Apostle write in II Timothy
4, “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word;
be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long
suffering and doctrine. For the time
will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts
shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall
turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure
afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy
ministry.” Why did folk act like that
was not in the Bible?
DeAndre stopped the sermon that was
running through his head and put the finish touches on his three-button gray
suit. He had dressed conservatively
today because he did not want anyone to say anything crazy about him. He looked good in his Italian suit. His classic double reverse pleated trousers
had a crease in them that would cut butter.
His purple shirt was accented by his gray and purple tie and
handkerchief set. He wore his light
purple shoes with the suit, even though he had a pray of gray shoes that would
have went with the suit just as nicely.
He had to add a little flair to his outfit, so he went with the purple
shoes. He also had a purple watch that
went with the suit.
DeAndre took a step back and did
his best model pose. He looked fabulous. He went to his closet to select a cologne to
wear. He had the most expensive colognes
that money could buy in his collection.
He mostly purchased his cologne from Neiman Marcus. He did not like to smell like everyone else,
so he had to make sure that he did not shop where everyone else shopped. He decided to wear Egoiste Platinum by
Chanel. He strategically sprayed in the
cologne in the right places. He walked
back into his room and took one last look at himself in his full-length mirror
before he grabbed his coat and walked out the door to go get in his car and go
to the church.
***
Jasmine was driving down the
highway. She was planning to move to
Sheldyville next month, so she wouldn’t have to drive back and forth from
Maysfield to Sheldyville every weekend.
She had recently graduated from Maysfield State University in
Maysfield. She was so glad that her
uncle was a professor at the college, because she did not have to go to college
in a city where she did not know anyone.
He uncle had been a great help to her while she was in college.
Jasmine was grateful to her uncle
and aunt. They had adopted her after her
parents died in 1975. Jasmine’s parents
died in a car crash. They were hit by a
drunk driver while they were on the freeway.
Her mother died at the site of the accident. Her father died on the way to the
hospital. Her aunt and uncle, DeAndre’s
parents, had raised her as if she were their own child. She and DeAndre were more like sister and
brother than cousins. Her parents had
left some money to help care for Jasmine, so that helped her aunt and uncle out
some. Thinking about her aunt and uncle
made tears form in her eyes. Jasmine
wiped her eyes.
Jasmine could not believe that she
had to drive to Sheldyville on Sunday.
She had planned to drive down on Saturday, but she was not able to do
so. She had to get up at 6:00 AM and
drive down on Sunday morning. There was
not much traffic, so it was an easy drive.
She did wish that her cousin DeAndre was in the car with her, but she
knew that he was at his house primping in the mirror trying to get
dressed. That boy was worse than a woman
when it came to getting dressed. He
dressed better than any woman that she knew, too. He was three years younger than her, but he
always acted like he was the oldest. It
must have been that alpha male thing that she had heard so much about in
psychology class.
Jasmine was thankful that DeAndre
had agreed to let her move in with him.
His mother had recently moved back to her hometown of Booneville, so
DeAndre was living in a three-bedroom apartment by himself. He probably enjoyed it because he did not
have anyone there to bother him.
Jasmine, DeAndre, and her aunt had lived in the apartment for over 12
years, before Jasmine went to live in Maysfield to go to college. Jasmine could not believe that she had lived
in an apartment for most of her life.
Jasmine chuckled. She and her
cousin had some good times living in the Broughwood Park Apartments, perhaps,
the second time around would be just as fun as the first time. Oddly enough, the apartment complex was down
the street and around the corner from Parkridge. That was cool because she would not have to
get up that early to go to church. She
had gotten used to living very close to the church that she went to because her
uncle was a pastor and he lived in the church’s parsonage, which was right
close to the church before he had a house built in Maysfield. That house was not that far from the church
either.
Jasmine was glad that she was
moving to Sheldyville in a few weeks.
She was so tired of making the two-hour drive from Maysfield to
Sheldyville. Her uncle was constantly
fussing at her because she was putting so many miles on her car. She would just laugh at him. She was about 30 miles from the church, but
she was going to be late for the service.
She hoped that DeAndre would wait for her outside. He liked to make an entrance, so walking in
late might be cool to him. He world
probably wait on him.
Jasmine picked up her cell
phone. She dialed DeAndre’s cell phone
number. The phone rung forever. Jasmine was about to hang up when DeAndre
answered, “Where are you at girl? You
got me out here in this car waiting.
Folk are looking at me like I am crazy.”
Jasmine laughed, “Good morning to you, too.” DeAndre smacked his lips. Jasmine shook her head, “I am still on the
freeway. I am about 15 minutes
away. You can either wait on me or go
ahead and go in the church. It’s up to
you.” DeAndre smacked his lips again,
“I’ll wait on you. Hurry up and get
here. I am tired of waiting on
you.” Jasmine responded, “I am driving
as fast as I can. I’ll be there. See ya!”
DeAndre snapped, “Whatever. Just
get here. Slow driving behind.” Jasmine laughed as she hung up the phone and
sped drove down the freeway.
***
DeAndre watched as Jasmine pulled
her dark blue Acura Legend Sedan up next to his gray Chevrolet Impala. He waved at her as she cut the car off and
got out of the car. She walked over to his
driver’s side door. DeAndre acted like
he did not want to get out of the car.
Jasmine made a face at him. He
laughed and got out of the car. He
grabbed his cousin and gave her a big hug that lifted her up off the
ground. She laughed, “You need to quit
hugging folk like that. You are gonna
hurt somebody one of these days.” He
smiled, “Look at you looking all good in your pink outfit. I am scared of you.” She laughed, “I do look good, don’t I.” DeAndre twisted his lips, “Whatever. I am the one who taught you how to dress so,
you should be thanking me.” She licked
her tongue out at her cousin. He had no
problem reminding her that he was responsible for her whole look. “Whatever,” Jasmine thought. DeAndre put his arm in Jasmine’s arm and
walked her to the entrance of the church, “You are wearing your heels. That’s good.
You look like you may be able to walk in them. You are too cute.” Jasmine shook her head, “Leave me alone,
please. Remember, we are starting a new
life here, so don’t be telling all of my business. No one knows us here, so we can be whoever we
want to be.” DeAndre laughed, “You are
too serious. So, I can be a big-time
lawyer instead of an accounts payable clerk.”
Jasmine shook her head, “Yea, if you want to be. You need Jesus.” DeAndre retorted, “Never said I didn’t.” That was his response to that phrase every
time she said it to him.
They finally reached the door of
Parkridge. DeAndre let Jasmine’s arm go
as they walked through the front doors of the church. DeAndre looked around. It was as nice as Jasmine had said it
was. The building met with his approval,
as if the house of the Lord needed anyone’s approval. But DeAndre had had his fill of store front
and small churches, the church had to look nice for him to consider joining it.
DeAndre was looking for a new
church home. He had outgrown his current
church home. He had been a member of the
church since childhood. There were not
any young people joining the church and the pastor would not listen to any of
DeAndre’s ideas about revamping the service slightly to attract a younger
crowd. DeAndre ad not suggested any
drastic changes, just mostly updating the service style. The old fashion foot stomping, hand clapping,
testimonial service style of worship was cool for a weekday service, but
upwardly mobile young folk, were more into a structure Sunday morning
service. The choir still even sung the
old style of songs from the 1980s.
Please, at least update the style of music that the choir sung, but the
choir president, who had to be over 110 years old, would not do it. Okay, so Sis. Moss was only like 60, but she
still needed to teach the choir some new songs.
The pastor even preached an old-style message. He preached a goulash message for over an
hour. Young people wanted a more
polished message that could be followed easily.
DeAndre had a hard time following his pastor when he jumped from talking
about shacking to talking about how it was when he first built the church. Seriously, what in the world does shacking
have to do with building a church?
DeAndre did not want his pastor to
change his message, just change his delivery.
DeAndre understood the need to preach Holiness or hell, but there was a
way to preach it without boring everyone in the sanctuary with the message.
Jasmine tugged at DeAndre’s arm,
“Boy, would you come on. We have missed
the beginning of the praise and worship service. Let’s go.”
DeAndre smiled as he thought, “Did
she just say ‘Praise and Worship’ service?
I may like this church after all.”
He smiled as he made his grand entrance into the church. With each step down the middle of the aisle,
he said, “Look Parkridge Pentecostal Church, Evg. DeAndre Woodside has entered
the building. Y’all ain’t ready for
him.”
Jasmine smiled as she watched
DeAndre walk down the aisle. He was
doing his “Y’all ain’t ready for me” walk.
He was so funny. How could anyone
who preached Hell fire and damnation sermons be so stuck on himself. He needed Jesus.
Jasmine and DeAndre finally found a
seat close to the front of the church, DeAndre’s choice of course. He always had to be where he could see and
other folk could see him. Jasmine did not
understand that. She always took a back
seat to everyone else. That often got
her pushed to the side and overlooked, even when she was the one who had done
all the work. DeAndre often told her,
“You need to stick up for yourself. Open
your mouth and quit letting folk run over you!”
DeAndre could be harsh when he wanted to. He always spoke his mind. If he hurt your feelings, he would apologize
for hurting your feelings, but not for saying what he had said. Jasmine shook the negative thoughts out of
her head and replaced them with positive thoughts.
“I am going to be more vocal. I will not let people run over me
anymore. This is a new day. I am a new me. This is a new start for me.”
Jasmine wished that she had more
faith in herself, but she did not.
DeAndre stared at his cousin. She had that far off look on her face, so he
knew that she was thinking about something.
That is all she ever did, was think.
One of these days, she was going to act instead of think. DeAndre knew that he should not think those
kinds of thoughts about his cousin, but he was tired of her crying to him about
how someone had hurt her feelings. She
needed to speak up for herself and quit letting folk run over her. She was a sweet person and would give you the
shirt off her back. But she had a nasty
habit of giving people chance after chance.
So many people had ran over Jasmine with a Mack truck and she just
forgave them and still tried to be nice to them. She need to learn to cut folk off.
“You get two chances with me. That’s it.”
That was DeAndre’s slogan and he meant every word of it.
His cousin was forever telling him
that he was too harsh. She did not know
what she was talking about though. You
had to be tough or people would walk all over you. DeAndre had tried to soften his stance more
than once, but every time that he did, he got walked on.
DeAndre sighed as he thought,
“Maybe I should try to be nicer and people more chances. Lord, You got to help me do that because I
can’t do it on my own. Lord, while You
are working, could You help Jasmine to not let people walk all over her?”
Both Jasmine and DeAndre stopped
their thoughts and joined in the service.
They both purposed in their hearts to make a new start and to make some
much needed changes in their life.
The service went the same this
Sunday as it had most other Sundays. The
service was exciting, moved quickly, and was energetic. Jasmine could tell that DeAndre was having a
good time. He was into the service. She did not expect him to dance or anything,
because it took a serious jolt from the Holy Spirit to send DeAndre into a
dance. Jasmine could tell that DeAndre
liked the service and the church, so they were probably both going to end up
joining the church.
***
(1996)
It had been a year since both
DeAndre and Jasmine had joined Parkridge Pentecostal Church. They had both taken things slowly before they
got involved in the church. Since
joining the church, both of their lives were going good. Jasmine had gotten a job at the local library
and DeAndre had received two raises in the past year. Things were going good for both.
They had recently joined the Sunday
School Department of the church. Jasmine
was the librarian. DeAndre was the
attendance secretary. It was easy work
and the leaders were fun and did not act crazy.
That was just what DeAndre wanted because he did not have time for any
leader that wanted to act a fool with him.
Jasmine was as happy as she could be at the church. DeAndre was still skeptical, but he was
warming up to the people at the church.
Oddly enough, Jasmine had made more
friends that DeAndre had, and he was the outgoing friendly one. Jasmine had introduced him to everyone that
she had met, so he knew quite a few folks.
He just was not ready to make any new friends. He had made some connections with some of the
young men at the church. He liked
working with young men. DeAndre had a
knack for getting them to open and listen to him. DeAndre had planned to take his time and
making friends, and that is what he was doing.
By the middle of 1996, Jasmine and
DeAndre had become very involved in the ministries at Parkridge Pentecostal
Church. DeAndre was the assistant Sunday
School superintendent. Jasmine was a
Sunday School teacher. They both were
working with the youth ministry. That
was a challenge at times because the director of the youth ministry did not
seem to like DeAndre because he had a better repertoire with the young people
than the youth ministry director.
Bishop Boston had taken notice of
DeAndre’s work ethic and commitment to the church. DeAndre was at almost every service. He was willing to help when necessary and he
seemed to work well with other people.
DeAndre was an excellent dresser, too.
the bishop noticed how good DeAndre smelled every time he got near him. DeAndre always seemed to wear the most
expensive colognes out on the market.
Bishop Boston thought DeAndre was a perfect young minister to mentor and
cultivate. The only problem the bishop
faced was that he could never get DeAndre to say anything to him other than,
“God bless you, Bishop.” If DeAndre would
give him a chance, the bishop planned to turn him into a top-notch preacher.
***
DeAndre sat down in the chair that
was sitting next to Jasmine’s computer desk.
He looked around her room. She
had made herself right at home. She had
pictures on the wall. She had her
certificates and other awards displayed around the room. He laughed as he said, “You have made
yourself right at home.” Jasmine looked
up at her cousin, “Yea, and?” DeAndre
threw the stress ball that was on her desk at her. She caught it and then threw it back at
him. He laughed, “Let me ask you
something.” Jasmine said, “What?” DeAndre asked, “What do you think of your
pastor?” Jasmine made a face, “He’s kind
of pretty and some of the things he says seem a bit chauvinistic, but other
than that, he seems okay. You remind me
of him sometimes.” DeAndre made a face,
“Whatever, I am not a chauvinist.”
Jasmine frowned, “Yep, you can be.
Why did you ask me about Bishop?”
DeAndre made a face, “Every time I get near him, he acts like he wants
to talk to me or something. I don’t give
him a chance to though. I ain’t got time
to be getting close to another pastor.
They shady sometimes. He is
probably even worse because he is a bishop.”
Jasmine shook her head, “You need to give him a chance. Maybe he just sees something good in you as a
minister and he wants to help you be a better minister. I don’t know.
Just give the man a chance. Every
preacher is not evil.” DeAndre mad a
mistrusting face, “You trust people too easily.
Someone could be showing you a knife and you would invite them into your
house. You need to quit that.” Jasmine shook her head, “Oh please. You need to quit.” DeAndre smacked his lips, “Oh please, you
need to start.” Jasmine swung her pillow
towards DeAndre. she knew that it was
not going to come anywhere near DeAndre, but it made her feel better.
DeAndre reached for the
pillow. He missed it. He laughed and said, “You are crazy. Do your really think Bishop just wants to
help me be a better minister?” Jasmine
shrugged her shoulders, “Yea, what else could he want?” DeAndre paused before he said, “I just don’t
have time to be getting involved with any mess.
Church folk are so messy. They
get on my nerves. I just don’t want no
mess. I would hate to have to act a fool
up at Parkridge. And you know I can act
a fool.” Jasmine knew oh too well how
big of a fool that DeAndre could act.
She smiled at DeAndre and said, “All I can tell you is to pray and seek
the Lord on it. You said that you want
to be a big-time preacher. Maybe Bishop
is the person who can help you do that.
You will never know unless you give him a chance.” DeAndre shook his head. Jasmine made sense. Maybe it was time that he gave the Bishop a
chance. At least he could have a
conversation with the Bishop. That could
not hurt anything, maybe it would turn out good.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Chapter One
(2006)
Jasmine stroked her hair as she
stared in the mirror. She was supposed to be brushing her teeth, but she was
having a hard time doing it. Her mind kept thinking about Parkridge Pentecostal
Church and the things that had happened to her and her cousin, DeAndre. She
kept wondering why she was thinking about the church and its people. It had
been two years since she had last graced the steps of Parkridge. She had no
intention of going back to the church either.
Jasmine picked up her
toothbrush. She picked up the
toothpaste, flipped the cap up, and squeezed the tube. She put the toothpaste on her toothbrush and
started to brush her teeth.
***
(1994)
Jasmine Woodside stood in front of
Parkridge Pentecostal Church. It was
warm on the fall Sunday in 1994, she was almost regretting wearing what she was
wearing. She could not believe that she
was standing in front of one of the most popular churches in the city of
Sheldyville. She brushed her long hair
back from in her face and walked into the church.
Jasmine knew that she looked cute
in her purple suit. Her purple shoes and
purse matched her suit perfectly. Her
make-up was flawless. She wished that
she would have told her hair stylist to put her hair up instead of down, but
her hair still looked good. Jasmine knew
that she was looking good.
Jasmine walked into the vestibule
area of Parkridge. It was elegant and
large. People were walking around. No one spoke to her, but that did not matter
to her. She walked into the sanctuary of
the church. It was massive. There were rows and rows of pews around the
building. It was a lovely
sanctuary. Some people were seated. Some people were standing up talking. Some people were walking around. It was an amazing scene to Jasmine because
she had never been in a church this big.
She had always attended small churches.
Churches where everyone knew everyone, and everyone thought of her as a
baby. She was twenty-two years old and
she was tired of being treated like a child.
So, what, if she was still a virgin.
So, what, if she had no children.
So, what, if she had no man. So,
what. None of that stuff meant
anything. Perhaps, Parkridge could be
the new start for her that the speaker at her college graduation had spoken of.
Jasmine was excited as the dark-skinned
usher smiled at her and hand her a program.
Jasmine smiled back at the usher.
The usher said, “Enjoy the service today. God bless you.” Jasmine nodded. She looked at the usher’s name tag. It read Marie Baxter. Jasmine made a mental note to remember the
usher’s name.
Jasmine walked to the middle of
sanctuary. She took a seat and looked at
the program. The pastor of Parkridge was
Bishop Henry R. Boston. Jasmine smiled
because she was familiar with Parkridge’s church. She had several of their CDs. The choir was fantastic. Their songs had brought Jasmine through several
hard times. Jasmine was happy to be
sitting at the church. She was looking
forward to hearing the choir.
Jasmine kicked her shoes off. She had just recently learned to walk in tall
heels. She had not worn a heel over a
half inch until this past year. She
could not believe that she let her metrosexual cousin convince her to where
some heels that were an inch high. After
prating for a whole week, she was finally able to walk in the heels without
stumbling. Oddly enough, her male cousin
had taught her how to walk in the heels.
Jasmine laughed as she thought about all the things that her male cousin
had taught her about being a girl. He
was the one who had taught her how to put on her make-up. He was the one who had taught her how to put
an outfit together. The only thing
Jasmine hated about her cousin’s vast knowledge of being a woman, was that he
was often called gay. He cousin was not
gay. He was just good at looking good,
smelling good, and dressing good. He was
20 and did not have a girlfriend, but he was not gay. Why did church folk think that you needed to
be married once you turned 20? It was
always amazing to Jasmine because most of the people who were always asking her
when she was going to get married, either had rocky marriages or were divorced. Jasmine did not have a good view of
marriage. With divorce running ramped
through her family and having seen so many rocky marriages in her church
growing up, she could not have a good view of it.
Jasmine brushed her long black hair
out of her face. She hated having hair
in her face. She would have cut it off,
but her cousin, aunt, and former church family would have had a fit. They believed that women should not cut their
hair short, especially if they had been blest with long hair. Jasmine would never cut her hair, but there
were times when she was tired of having long hair. It did come in handy when she wanted to pull
it back into a ponytail.
Jasmine rubbed her nose. She smiled because she had been teased so
much growing up because she had a big nose.
She hated been called big nosed.
Jasmine was a beautiful young woman.
She had few flaws, but she did not have a man. She often felt bad about it, too. It did not help that people, church folk would
ask her what was wrong with her, as if she had a disease that kept her from
getting a man. It was not like she was
sitting around her house praying, “Lord, don’t let men pay attention to
me.” In actuality, she was praying the
exact opposite. “Lord, can I get a date,
please.” Jasmine did not understand
church folk, especially the ones who said they spoke in tongues. they were constantly criticizing her and
making her feel bad because she did not have a man. Apparently, their Holy Ghost was not working
like it should have been because they would have discerned what and how she was
feeling. She felt worse than they could
have imagined about the whole situation.
It got even worse when Jasmine overheard one of the mothers of the
church say, “Maybe she is one of those girls who like girls.” Jasmine almost had a fit when she had heard
it. She told her cousin what the old
lady had said. DeAndre said, “Girl,
please don’t let those old ladies get to you.
They say worse things about me.”
Jasmine had tried to shrug off the lady’s comments, but she never
could. Jasmine often wondered how many
other people were wondering the same thing.
Jasmine let her old life leave her
mind. She was at a new church, where the
people did not know her. She could start
over here. That is why she had come to
the church anyway. She was going to be
the woman that she wanted to be, popular, confident, and have a man.
A light skinned lady sat down next
to Jasmine. The lady said, “God bless
you, sister.” Jasmine responded, “God
bless you.” The lady smiled and started
talking to the lady that was sitting on the pew in front of her. Jasmine decided to talk to the lady after she
finished her conversation. That would be
her first step to being a different person.
She would have never taken a chance and talked to anyone. Jasmine was shy, very shy. She had to get to know people before she was
even comfortable talking to them.
Jasmine would have to wait for
another chance to be a new person. The
service began before the light skinned lady finished her conversation.
A dark-skinned older man walked up
to the podium of the pulpit. He said,
“Praise the Lord, everybody.” The
congregation responded in kind, “Praise the Lord.” He said, “Let’s all stand for a word of
prayer.” The congregation stood up. A light-skinned man with a full beard and
mustache walked up to the podium after the other elder stepped back. The light-skinned elder said, “Every eye
closed, every head bowed, every heart clear.”
He then began to pray. He prayed
for about ten minutes. He prayed with
such an intensity that Jasmine had to look up a couple of times because she
wanted to see the elders face. His face
was crumpled up. He had one hand on the
microphone and the other hand was raised in the air. He waved it around as he prayed. At the end of the prayer, he said, “God, come
in the building today. Move in the
choir. Move in the speaker. Move in each one of us. We will be ever so careful to give your name
the praise. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord!” He praised the Lord for a few more minutes
before he said amen. After he said amen,
the organist played a few notes. The
people in the congregation began to praise the Lord frantically. It was crazy up in the sanctuary.
Before the organist could began
playing the shouting music, the dark-skinned elder walked back to the pulpit
and said, “Alright, Eld. Winbush. You
are about to get something started in here.
Eld. Davidson come read the scripture for us.”
A tall dark-skinned man walked to
the podium. He said, “The Lord is going
to move today. I can feel Him already
moving. Glory to Your name, Lord. Hallelujah!
Let me leave that alone. Please
turn in your Bibles to Psalms 100.” Eld.
Davidson read the scripture. By the time
he got to the last verse, he was almost preaching. The light-skinned lady sitting next to
Jasmine yelled out, “Glory!” It startled
Jasmine. She was looking around the
church, instead of praising the Lord, herself.
Jasmine shook her head, smiled, and thought, “I am going to like this
church.”
The dark-skinned older man walked
up to the podium. “Are you ready to
praise the Lord?” The congregation
responded with positive responses. He
asked, “Are you ready to worship the Lord?”
The congregation again responded with positive responses. The elder said, “Clap your hands as the
praise team comes to bless us.”
Five women walked up to the front
of the sanctuary. The began grabbing
microphones as the organist began playing some music. A heavy-set light-skinned lady said, “God is
good! Yes, He is so good. Bless His name.” The congregation started clapping as the
praise team started singing.
Jasmine clapped and sung with the
praise team. This was the first time
that she had been to a church with a praise team. The churches she had attended usually had
testimonial service. Usually one person,
the testimony service conductor, would stand in the front of the church, that
person sung call and response songs, in between asking people if they had a
testimony. From time to time, the people
who stood up to testify, would sing a song before testifying. This part of the service was usually long,
but jubilant. It could be a fun part of
the service especially if one of the people who were testifying ended up
dancing or praising God while they were testifying. It was so funny to see one of the sisters
testify about how God had made a way so that her light bill would not be turned
off and then watch her go into a frantic dance.
The organist would play the shouting music and most of the rest of the
congregation would join in the dance with the sister. Then after the sister was through dancing,
she would finish the rest of her testimony.
Each testimony could end up being 5 to 10 minutes long. With the conductor singing a 3-minute song in
between each testimony, the testimony service could last an hour long. It felt weird having a praise team instead of
a conductor.
The praise team finished. The praise service only lasted 10
minutes. Jasmine stood in shock. The praise service was already over. The praise team had sung some wonderful
songs, but they were not the old school songs that Jasmine had grown up with,
like “Have You Tried Jesus?” “Jesus on the Mainline,” and “I Made a Vow to the
Lord”. It felt weird not to hear old
Mother York bellow out “Got My Sign Out for Jesus” and the congregation respond
with “And I won’t take it down.” That
was a Sunday morning tradition at Jasmine’s old church. “I guess with a new start comes other new
things,” Jasmine thought to herself.
This was going to be interesting.
The dark-skinned elder said, “Right
now, we are going to ask Sister Maple to come and give us a testimony.” A lady came from the middle of the church, to
the front of the church and took the microphone that was next to a podium on
the floor. She began to testify. Jasmine smiled, “Maybe, I will still get to
hear some testimonies.” Sis. Maple
calmly testified and then placed the microphone back on its stand after she
finished. Jasmine did a double
take. It was a good testimony, but Sis.
Maple did not dance or get excited. The
dark-skinned elder said, “Sis. Crowder is going to come and give us a
testimony.” A light-skinned lady rushed
the front of the church. After she had
the microphone, she gave an excited testimony, did a quick dance, and then went
back to her seat. Jasmine smiled,
“That’s what I’m talking about.”
The dark-skinned elder that was
conducting the service walked back up to the podium. He looked back at the choir, who was behind
him, and said, “Are you ready to sing choir?”
The whole choir applauded. The
dark-skinned elder turned towards the congregation and said, “And now, it’s
time for this recording mass choir to bless us in song. Come on, choir.” The congregation started clapping like
crazy. A light-skinned lady walked
towards the front of the church and stood in front of the choir. The organist grabbed the microphone that was
close to the organ and pulled it towards his mouth. He said, “Can you feel God moving?” The congregation responded back with a rousing,
“Yes.” The organist said, “Pray for us
as we sing, Can you feel God moving.” He
pushed the microphone away from his mouth and started playing the song.
The choir started singing. They were awesome. About middle way through the song, most of
the congregation was standing up, rocking, and clapping with the choir,
including Jasmine. She was enjoying the
choir. The choir directress was fun to
watch. She was almost dancing as she
directed. There was a woman at the end
of the soprano section jumping up and down as the choir sung the up-tempo
song. Several of the tenors were rocking
and clapping harder than any of the other choir members. The entire four-member elder staff was
standing up, clapping, and rocking. The
choir sung the song for a while.
The song was over. Everyone was clapping and praising the Lord
as the organist pulled the microphone over to his mouth once again. He said, “He’s an awesome God. How many of you know that God is an awesome
God?” He started playing a slow
song. Before he had played five notes,
several people had stood up and started clapping. After he had played the introduction to the
song, he started singing. He had a very
soft, melodic voice. As he sung, more
people stood up. He finished the verse,
then the choir started to sing the verse.
As the choir sung, more people stood up and started praising the
Lord. Some people were crying. Some people had their hands raised up. Some people were crying with their hands
raised up. The worship song took the
service to a higher level.
When the choir finished the slow
song, the dark-skinned elder walked to the podium. “Bless His name. Somebody ought to bless the name of the
Lord.” Some people who were sitting
down, stood up. Some people who were
clapping, clapped harder. Some people
who were crying, cried even more. The
organist played a couple of notes. The
dark-skinned elder said, “Alright now, somebody wants to praise the Lord.” The organist played some more notes. The elder said, “If you want to get your
praise on, now is the time.” After he
said that, the whole church went crazy.
People started dancing and praising the Lord like it was their last
chance to praise the Lord. The organist
was playing the shouting music at a frenzied pace that had everyone in the
church dancing. The drum kept pace with
the organ while playing rhythmic riffs that made the listener think that the
drummer had six arms instead of just two.
The church danced and praised for close to five minutes.
The dark-skinned elder said, “Come
on Sis. Johnson let’s welcome our first-time visitors.” A dark-skinned heavy-set lady walked to the
front of the sanctuary. She took the
microphone and said, “Would all of our first-time visitors please stand?” People from all over the sanctuary stood
up. As Sis. Johnson welcomed the visitors;
the ushers handed the visitors a visitor’s card. The light-skinned lady that was sitting next
to Jasmine handed Jasmine the visitor card.
A few minutes later, a caramel
colored thin lady walked up to the microphone.
She smiled. Someone from the
congregation said, “Alright Sis. Boston.
Let Him use you.” Sis. Boston
smiled again and then said, “Praise the Lord everybody.” The congregation responded with, “Praise the
Lord.” Sis. Boston said, “I don’t think
you heard me. Praise the Lord
everybody.” The congregation got louder
as they said, “Praise the Lord.” Sis.
Boston excitedly said, “They told me that this was a Holiness church. It’s mighty quiet in here for this to be a
Holiness church. Can I get one witness
in the building to praise the Lord?” Suddenly,
there was a loud screech. Jasmine
thought it was from a woman, but when she looked around, a tall, good looking,
dark chocolate man was running around the church. After he took off, the organist started
playing the shouting music again. The
rest of the church went to dancing and praising the Lord.
Before Jasmine knew what had
happened, she started dancing. She tried
to stop herself from dancing, but she could not. She had never danced in heels before. Jasmine danced as if it was going to be her
last chance to dance.
When Jasmine stopped dancing, she
looked up and she had danced her way to the back of the church. There were two ushers surrounding her. Jasmine had lost an earring, which one of the
ushers handed her along with some Kleenex.
Jasmine walked back to her seat as
Sis. Boston did the announcement.
Jasmine had never been to a church where the first lady had stirred the
whole church up while giving the announcements.
Jasmine was going to like this church.
One of the elders from the pulpit
conducted the offering. The choir sung
during the offering. The offering seemed
to take forever because the church was so large, and everyone walked around.
After the offering, the
dark-skinned elder who had been facilitating the service all morning came back
up to the podium. He said, “We are up to
the word.” The congregation gave a
thunderous round of applause. The elder
said it again, “We are up to the word.
Are you all ready for the Word?”
The congregation got even louder this time when they responded.
Finally, a tall, stocky, Sepia
colored man walked up on the pulpit.
Everyone in the congregation stood up.
The dark-skinned elder said, “Now, I present to some and introduce to
others, the founder and pastor of the Parkridge Pentecostal Church, Bishop
Henry R. Boston. Let’s give him a hand
as he comes.”
Bishop Boston walked to the podium
slowly as if he was the most important man in the world. He wore an elegant, dark purple robe that was
accented on the collar and sleeve cuffs with gold designs. He had on a purple and gold Bishop’s Chi mere
that was lower calf length with a pleat in the front and back. He had a confidence about him that radiated
through his mannerism. He spoke clearly
and properly, enunciating every word. He
was somebody and he wanted everyone in the building to know that he was just
that.
Bishop Boston began by saying,
“Praise the Lord, everybody.” The
congregation responded, “Praise the Lord.”
Jasmine smiled as she thought, “They like saying that phrase a lot.”
Bishop Boston continued to stir the
crowd up by saying, “God is indeed moving in this building today. Can you feel Him?” Bishop did not wait for a response from the
crowd as he said, “If you can’t feel God in here today, then something is wrong
with you.” Bishop continued to talk for
about 15 minutes, trying to stir the crowd up.
Jasmine became bored with the
ramblings of the Bishop. She was not
even sure what or who he was talking about.
He was sharing some testimonies of the members of his church, but she
did not know who anyone was, so by the third testimony, she had lost interest.
Parkridge was the biggest church
she had ever been in. It was clean and
well-lit. The electricity bill had to be
high. The light bulbs were high in the
ceilings. It probably took some work to
change all the light bulbs in the church.
The pews were comfortable. They
were wooden, but they had a plush turquoise cushion on the seat and on the back
to make the wooden bench easy on the sitter.
There was a black baby grand piano on one side of the church. The organ and drum set were on the other side
of the church. The choir stand looked
like it could hold 100 or more people.
The pulpit was large enough to hold 15 preachers, although it only held
five at the time.
Jasmine’s thoughts were interrupted
when Bishop said, “Let’s turn to Ecclesiastes chapter three, verses 1 through
13.” People turned the pages of their
Bibles to find the scripture as they stood up.
Bishop Boston said, “When you have it, say Amen.” Several people said, “Amen.”
Bishop began reading, “To every
thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time
to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to
break down, and a time to build up; A
time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to
gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to
keep, and a time to cast away; A time to
rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of
war, and a time of peace. What profit
hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? I have seen the travail, which God hath given
to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
He hath made everything beautiful in his time: also, he hath set the
world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from
the beginning to the end. I know that
there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his
life. And also that every man should eat
and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.” After he finished reading, he said, “May the
Lord add a blessing to the readers, hearers, and doers of His word. You may be seated.”
The congregation sat down. Bishop said, “I would like to use for a
subject, ‘What Time Is It?’” Many people
in the congregation said, “Amen.” Some
people said, “Bless His name.” Others
said, “Alright.” One person said, “Talk
about it then.” Another person said,
“What time is it, Bishop?” Jasmine
chuckled at the people as they talked back to the Bishop.
Bishop began his sermon... “The Bible states that there is a time for
everything. It doesn’t matter what it
is. There is a time for it. You can do some things during a certain and
then you cannot do it at any other time.
You have to know what time it is in your life.”
Bishop continued with his sermon
for a while. Jasmine faded in and out on
Bishop as he preached. Jasmine looked at
the different people in the church.
There were ladies in the latest styled suits with big hats with feathers
to match. There were men in the latest
styled suits, looking dapper with matching ties, shoes, and handkerchiefs. There were only a few children in the
sanctuary because most of them were in Children’s Church.
“You may look at one person and
they are prospering, getting everything that they want, and you do not have a
dime to your name. You have to borrow
money just to get a coke out of the coke machine. Don’t worry about it, it just isn’t your time
right now. Just wait a little while
longer, it will be your turn. Just keep
doing what you are doing. Serve the Lord
and live right. Your time will come.”
Jasmine thought as Bishop talked,
“When is it going to be my time? I have
been doing right for so long and I still ain’t got nothing. I can’t wait until it is my time.”
“Don’t get jealous when it is
someone else’s time. Praise the Lord for
them, like it was you that was getting the blessings. You got to be happy for other folk when they
are being blessed.”
Jasmine thought for a minute, “I am
always happy for other folk when they get blessed. I guess I just have to keep waiting.” She shook her head and then smiled.
Bishop began to tune up. The organist played a note. People began to stand and encourage Bishop to
preach.
“Preach Pastor!”
“Go head and tell the truth!”
Bishop squalled, “What time is it?”
“What time is it, pastor?”
“Talk on it then!”
The organist played a string of
keys that sent the bishop into a full fledge whoop. Bishop was melodically saying each
phrase. In between each phrase, the
organist played a string of notes and the drum kept beat with a loud crash of
the high cymbal and a hard hit of the snare.
The congregation chimed in an Amen, a Yes sir, and a preach pastor. The service was at its highest point. Before long, Bishop had everyone excited with
praise.
“What time is it? If it ain’t your time now, keep on
praising. Keep on giving. Keep on working. It will be your time soon. Somebody oughta give God a dance.”
The organist played a loud long
string of notes and then everyone went to an effusive dance.
After everyone had finished
dancing, the Bishop said, “We are having church in here. If you didn’t get your dance on, it ain’t
nobody’s fault but your own.” That
phrase started the dancing up all over again.
“Yea Lord,” Bishop Boston sung
loudly and off key. That seemed to calm
everyone down. Bishop walked down from
the pulpit onto the floor and the elders on the pulpit followed suit. Several women from the audience walked out
from behind the pews and joined the Bishop and the elders at the front of the
church.
Bishop said, “If you are here and
you are not saved, this is a good Sunday to get saved.” He paused for a few minutes as the organist
played a slow song softly.
“If you don’t know the Lord, you
need to get to know Him. You won’t know
what time it is for you without Him.”
People started walking down to the
front.
“That’s right. Come on down.
We will get you saved and delivered right now. We have people up here who can pray for and
with you.”
People continued to walk down. The bishop, elders, and female ministers prayed
for the people as they came down for the altar call.
The altar call seemed to take
forever, but it was finally over. The
elders went back up to the pulpit. The
women went back to their seats. The
bishop was the only person standing on the floor in the front of the
church. He sung, “Bless the Lord, oh my
soul.” The organist took over the song
and continued to sing it as the bishop said, “If you need a church home, the
doors of the church are opened. If you
got saved today, you should make your home here. If Parkridge is good enough to get you saved,
then it’s good enough to keep you saved.”
No one came down to the front though.
The bishop walked back up to the
pulpit. He handed the microphone to the
dark-skinned elder. The dark-skinned elder
said, “And we are standing.” The
congregation stood up as the elder continued, “The Lord moved for us
today. Let’s take this praise home with
us.”
Someone yelled, “I sure will Eld.
Fugler!” Eld. Fugler said, “Alright
then. What time is it?”
A lady sitting near Jasmine said,
“Time to go home.” Jasmine stifled her
laugh.
Eld. Fugler said, “All minds clear
as we pray.” He paused before
continuing, “Lord, thank you for the word today. We needed it.
Help us to realize what time it is in our life. May the Lord watch between me and thee while
we are absent one from another.” He
paused again before the entire congregation sang, “Amen.”
People began leaving the
sanctuary. Jasmine got caught in the
traffic. She waited to get through the
crowd. It was slow moving, but she waited
patiently. Several people passed her and
did not say anything to her. Finally, a
lady said, “God bless you sister.”
Jasmine smiled and respond, “God bless you, too.” Jasmine continued to work her way through the
crowd.
She finally reached the back doors
of the church. She was met at the door
by the same usher who had greeted her in the beginning. Sis. Baxter said, “Did you enjoy the
service?” Jasmine smiled and said, “Yes
ma’am.” Sis. Baxter said, “Well, come
back and join us again.” Jasmine said,
“Yes ma’am. I will.” Sis. Baxter hugged Jasmine as she exited the
sanctuary.
Jasmine walked out of the church
building and headed towards her car. She
knew that she would be back to Parkridge again.
She was even considering joining the church.
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