By The Reverend Mrs. Silence DoGood
Dear Editor,
“We can’t clean the new word ‘Disappointed’ off the blackboards. It’s happening again.”
When my daughter Sarah with an H came in and said those words to me I knew exactly what was happening. It was my deceased father-in-law communicating with me again.
Both my daughter and son know that I held a séance in the old school bus. Sarah with an H is fifteen and my son Toby is thirteen. At first after learning that their deceased grandfather appeared during the séance they were afraid to clean the inside and outside of the yellow bus. But having stopped their allowance and realizing that the only way for them to earn money was for them to clean the bus they became fearless. I stopped their allowance and made them work together hoping it would stop them from fighting. Happily for the most part it has worked.
The bus was permanently placed on our Church’s grounds after we saved it from being used for storage at a neighboring camp. We turned it into our Sunday school classroom. This particular bus is important because my deceased father-in-law The Reverend Mr. Silas Patriot DoGood founded The First Church of God’s Love by preaching in it when it was no longer in service.
My best friend Alice Bright Light and I held the séance to find out if my father-in-law really wanted me to become a doctor and give up the Church. That’s how Alice had misinterpreted a dream she had. Silas appeared and told me he wanted me to get a Doctor in Theology and not become a medical doctor. He thought that a theology degree would make me a more informed pastor of the Church he founded. The day after the séance the word “Doctor” appeared baked into the three slate blackboards in the Sunday school bus. He had taken residence there.
When I told my husband Willie about the blackboards he again became furious with me. He reminded me that he was against the séance in the first place. He had begged me to let his father rest in peace. He told me again that my friendship with Alice Bright Light was turning me away from my mission as Senior Pastor of the Church that his father founded.
I thought deeply about The Reverend’s suggestion that I get a theology degree because I love and respect him. But my whole being rejected the idea. The foundation of my religiosity is not based on old books and traditions. My religiosity is new. Once I decided against getting the theology degree the word “Doctor” faded and the word “Disappointed” appeared. It was Silas.
I realized that my husband Willie was correct. I should never have used Alice’s shamanistic powers to summon the deceased Reverend Mr. Silas Patriot DoGood to the bus. I called Alice in a panic and asked her to meet me at the River Creek Inn. The new parking attendant Paul knew who we were so he allowed us to park our well used trucks next to the very expensive sedans. He welcomed us in his white-monogrammed-Nehru jacket.
Alice and I sat in our customary booth and we ordered our favorite Green Chartreuse. I told her that I wanted to close the portal to the other side that we had created. I was frightened. She explained that when she was still living on the Reservation she was taking lessons on how to become an evidentiary medium. A very wise elder was teaching her. But before she finished her training she fled the Reservation. She could no longer stand the discrimination she endured because of her face. Her family and the whole tribe called her “Wolf” because of her features. It had become unbearable. She sheepishly admitted that she doesn’t know how to close the séance nor the portal. And her teacher, the wise elder, had died.
After the Inn I went home, entered the bus and tuned on the lights. It was me who was “Disappointed” with what I had done.
Amen.
The Reverend Mrs. Silence DoGood
Senior Pastor
Executive Director
President
Chairman
Choir Master (part-time)
The First Church of God’s Love