Sunday, March 21, 2010

Sharing A Tailgate...Part II

...I walked over to where she was sitting on the tailgate and cautiously lowered myself to the tailgate. She was big, I was bigger and it was an itty bitty old Datsun truck. We bounced once or twice from the recoil of the shocks and gave a hearty chuckle and remarked that we could both lose a few pounds. I noticed that she was putting her note cards away from where she had been writing earlier. I couldn't resist so I asked, "What are you writing?"

"I'm doing my Bible work for the Sabbath tomorrow." she said.

Since the day was only Friday, and knowing that I had been raised to believe that the Sabbath was on Sunday, it was only natural for me to be curious as to why she thought the Sabbath was on Saturday, right? So, before I knew any better, I started asking questions.

"Are you Mormon?"

"No."

"Jehovah Witness?"

"No."

"Seventh Day Adventist?" I questioned.

Bingo.

Before you could say, Oh brother, where art thou, I was cornered. The daughter and son-in-law had come around on the other side of me carrying different sorts of books, pamphlets and cards. The grandmother moved in from the other side and had a black box containing audio cassettes that she was giving away. I glanced toward the mother and she whipped out a brochure that had the screaming headline, "Apocalyptic insurance needed now. Are you insured? The end is near."

I listened politely and accepted the literature. She told me that I could read it or pass it on. I'm not really into doomsday prognostications, and I don't believe in scaring people to death. However, my mother raised me to be polite and I will not and do not slam the door in people's faces even if we are sitting in the back of a truck.

I wasn't cornered for very long because interest in our tables had suddenly picked up. After all, we were all there to make a little money. As the day wore on, the mother mentioned others in her family and how well they did financially. Specifically, her brother and how much he was able to tithe to the church. She said she tithed what she could but felt ashamed that she couldn't do more. Her mother had just walked back over to join us and had overheard her last statement. "What are you talking about?" she said. "Your brother just gives money, he isn't out here in the streets witnessing to people. You remember this, salvation isn't just measured by the amount or size of your tithe."

I believe that holds true no matter what you believe, don't you?

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