Short Short Story: September 27, 2023

“Love your enemies?! You must be crazy," said the corrupt President.

The tortured, imprisoned woman replied, “I do love you, even though you are a billionaire by stealing countless properties of the poor; taxing the working poor to death and abolishing all taxes for the rich; and extending the death sentence to all religious organizations, environmentalists, and non-violent human rights advocates.”

A Short Story

 

He hated every second of Lakeshore Indian Residential School. Not a day went by that he wasn’t abused by a priest or nun physically, psychologically, or sexually. He had been taken forcibly from his parents by a priest and Mounties when he was only 5 years old. The school was 400 kilometres from his home, and he only got to see his parents once a year at Christmastime. Of course he wanted to stay home with his parents, but the priest and the Mounties would always come to forcibly take him back to the school for another year. 

At school, they took away his traditional Indigenous clothing, and punished him severely if he spoke Cree. 

He hated the school so much, that he tried to run away on several occasions. Only to be caught and dragged back to the school. Every day was a day of torture. 

One day, when a priest tried to abuse him for a third time, he summoned all the courage and strength he had and kicked the priest between the legs as hard as he could. The priest fell to the floor and, in anger cursed him. He then ran away again. Tragically, a nun saw him running and was able to send another priest after him, who brought him back to school. 

When the abusive priest cornered him, he punched him in the face and he fell back onto a sharp edge of a desk and was killed instantly.

30 years later, his body was found in an unmarked grave, and all of his family and members of the reservation had a day of remembrance to mourn his death and the deaths of other students who were discovered in a mass unmarked grave behind the school. 

A short, short story on keeping Lent

What does it mean for us twenty-first century Christians to “keep Lent”? the pastor asked his congregation this rhetorical question in a sermon on the first Sunday in Lent.

   There was silence for a few seconds. Then Pastor Jacob continued with the rest of his sermon on “What do you give up or take on for Lent?”

   After the service, shaking hands with his parishioners there wasn’t a word spoken to Pastor Jacob about his sermon. He wondered whether his message made any difference. He wondered if he made any difference. What was God up to in his life and in the life of the members of this congregation, Resurrection Lutheran Church? Sunday after Sunday the same response, the same soul-wrenching questions. Were there ever going to be any answers? he wondered. The more he looked and longed for, the less he saw any signs of resurrection in himself or his parishioners.

   Then, one day while preparing yet another sermon for Sunday, there was a knock on his office door. He opened it. In front of him stood a homeless drunk whom he had seen in church before.

   The drunk surprised him when he blurted out, “Pastor, I would like to take on something for Lent, can you baptize me?”

   They sat down and chatted further, they agreed to go ahead with the baptism next Sunday, even though Resurrection Lutheran frowned on such a practice during Lent.

   Next Sunday Bjorn Egan was baptized much to the surprise and dismay of many parishioners. Pastor Jacob wondered what was going to happen next. Was that the last he would see of Bjorn Egan?

   The days passed by quickly and as the pastor began the Sunday service, he was shocked and delighted to see Bjorn Egan and a dozen or so other street people sitting in the two back pews.

   Of course the congregation glared at them as if to say “What are you doing here?”

   After the service when Bjorn Egan shook hands with Pastor Jacob, he asked him: “My friends here were wondering if you would baptize them too?”   

Congratulations Alice Munro!

Alice Munro is the first Canadian woman to win the Nobel Literature Prize!