He stands in front of the seminar, a collar pressed pristine with pride in front of the sparsely filled seating. His talk: ‘Humility: Seeing others as Jesus saw them.’
The preacher clears his throat, getting the room’s reverent silence out of his throat, and addresses his flock.
“What did Jesus do when he met a prostitute?”
A man in front raises his hand.
“Yes brother, speak.”
“Excuse me, but Jesus never met a prostitute.”
He is taken aback, but he knows, he understands that he must be new to the faith. He corrects him, stern but gently,
“I promise you, Jesus met many prostitutes in his lifetime.”
This young man shakes his head vigorously.
“No, he didn’t.”
“He did indeed boy,” he said, now just sternly. “I have memorized this book,” picking up his Baptist bible, waving it high for him to see.
The man stands up now, not angry, but determined as he says “No, Jesus never met a prostitute.”
To dare suggest he remembers his lifeline wrong, spittle mixes in with his fire and brimstone as he shouts, “Luke 7:37-50! Do you hear me? ‘And behold a woman of the city, who was a sinner-’”
But the young man is undeterred, walks himself up to the pop-up table, face to face with this angry man of God, and gently closes the book.
“No, Jesus never met a prostitute, he met a woman who needed love.”
Liddy Elizabeth Franco
Liddy Franco, 21, lives in Cleveland, Ohio. She works as a part time computer programmer and writer while being a full time student at John Carroll University.