Signs
Stories
Scenes of Glory
Subplots of God's Long Story
Object:
Chapter 17
Signs
Luke 21:25-36
"Cres, I've got to talk to you," was all that could be heard over this newfangled marvel named the "telephone." Connections were poor in Winnemucca, Nevada, in 1915. Alice couldn't even raise Central Exchange to be reconnected. But Alice heard clearly enough, "Cres, I've got to talk to you." Even if Alice hadn't recognized the tinny voice, she knew who it was. No matter that her last name had been Venneman for 23 years, the former Alice Creswell was always "Cres" to Peg Reed.
"I'm going over to Peg's," Alice yelled to Ernest. "Sounds like she's upset."
"Want a ride?" Ernest said, sticking his head into the hall from the den. "The car's working. Paper said ash is bad for the lungs."
"I'll wear my hat and tie a scarf around my face. I'll be okay."
Outside, Alice encountered a gray world. The late May air appeared to be snowing, but it wasn't cold. Even the moon was obscured by the blinding clouds of ash. She occasionally blinked an ash from her eye as she walked along anticipating Peg's anxiety. Lately Peg was more nervous than usual. Probably the ash. But, if Peg didn't have something to worry about, she'd actively seek it.
In high school, Alice and Peg were neighbors in the small, tough frontier town. Alice and Peg clung together as much in mutual defense as in affection. But twelve years ago, Peg took an acute turn when she was rounded up by an end-of-the-world group. Since then, Peg lost the ability to plan or organize her life, which had never been easy for her. She usually had a job, but never made much money. If she hadn't lived with her elderly father to care for him, she couldn't survive financially.
At the Reeds' house, the perimeter of the porch's floor was white with ash as with a light dusting of snow. Alice stepped under its roof, shook like a dog, and snapped her scarf clean. She shook out her hair as she knocked on the door.
"Cres," Peg opened the door with wide eyes. "Get in here."
"What's up, Peg?" Alice asked as she stepped in, still brushing herself off.
"It's the end," Peg said. "I figured it out." She grabbed Alice's hands excitedly in her own. "The war in Europe. Mount Lassen erupting. It's been a year of both."
"The end?"
"The end of the world, Cres. It's gotta' be. Nothing like this before."
"I thought you were off that. I thought those folks left town when the world didn't end."
Peg spoke louder, "Bishop and Mrs. Hyde were near to being right. When you calculate 2,000 years, to be off by only a dozen is pretty close."
Alice slapped some ash off her knee. "How's Mr. Reed?"
"He's good tonight," Peg said. "He's sitting at the window like it's snowing. He lit a fire in the fireplace. Said it matched the mood."
"Let's hear what he thinks," Alice said.
Mr. Reed was seated in a large chair. "Daddy, Cres is here," Peg said.
He replaced a book in the bookcase next to him and said, "Hi, Alice." He'd taught Alice science in high school. "What you think of this hard snow?"
"We'll see if Ernest gets his Model-T stuck in it as quickly as he gets it stuck in real snow," Alice said.
Mr. Reed laughed. He pointed out the window. "Pretty exciting, isn't it? The old earth spitting up like a baby?"
"Daddy," Peg said, "It's more than that." She spoke slower and lowered her head slightly, "I think they're signs of the end of the world." Mr. Reed frowned and she spoke quieter, as if answering him, "You know -- the moon and stars darkened and the war across Europe."
Mr. Reed and Alice looked at one another. They'd dealt with Peg's various worries before. "What about you, Alice?" He asked with the tone of prepping a student for a text. "You think the world's ending?"
"Well," Alice said, "I don't know --"
"The world's always ending, and always beginning," he said when she answered too slowly. "Volcanoes have burst forth for millennia. If they don't crush the land with lava or mudflows, like old Mount Lassen's trying to do, they give us a lot of sand to sweep off Winnemucca's roofs. And the spring grass," he motioned out the window to their dark yard, "that's coated tonight with ash will push up and grow green tomorrow."
"That's just nature, Daddy," Peg said. "I think God's going to end it."
Mr. Reed leaned back in his chair. Alice knew that he hadn't agreed with Bishop and Mrs. Hyde, but he was kind to them, and Peg had been faithful to him. Even though she worshiped in the Bishop's tabernacle, she walked her father to the Methodist church for worship every Sunday and arranged for someone to accompany him home.
"Honey," he said to Peg. "The world will to end someday. But people who predict when are always wrong. God'll come up with a new world, or kingdom, or whatever God wants to call it. But God's not going to abandon us. Keep your head up and live for God no matter what."
Peg seemed ready to cry. Mr. Reed reached over and rubbed her hand. "It looks bad around the world tonight, but there's been worse. Time'll probably come when things seem worse than 1915. Stand tall and live for God, and let's see what tomorrow brings." He smiled at Peg and Alice, raising and lowering his shoulders with a sigh, meaning class was dismissed.
Alice and Peg drank tea in the kitchen until Peg seemed calm enough for Alice to leave. Alice walked home through a particularly heavy ash fall. In the past she hadn't thought much about the world ending. She brushed ash from her hat and tried to walk with her head high as she prayed that Mr. Reed was right.
Discussion Questions
1. What immediate responses do you have to the story?
2. Do you identify with a character in the story? If yes, how and why do you identify with the person? If no, why don't you identify with anyone in the story?
3. Would you like to have a conversation with a character in the story? What would you say, ask, or suggest to the person? Why?
4. How does the story bring the biblical text into a clearer focus for you?
5. How would you improve or modify the story? Why?
6. Have you been around people obsessed with the end of the world? What's it like to be with them?
7. What are your biggest fears about the world?
8. Do you think much about the end of the world? What heightens or increases this subject's coming to your mind?
9. What further depths of meaning, symbols, connections with, or applications of the biblical faith do you find in the story?
10. Since Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and is alive among us through his Holy Spirit, what of this story would you like Christ to activate in your life?
Signs
Luke 21:25-36
"Cres, I've got to talk to you," was all that could be heard over this newfangled marvel named the "telephone." Connections were poor in Winnemucca, Nevada, in 1915. Alice couldn't even raise Central Exchange to be reconnected. But Alice heard clearly enough, "Cres, I've got to talk to you." Even if Alice hadn't recognized the tinny voice, she knew who it was. No matter that her last name had been Venneman for 23 years, the former Alice Creswell was always "Cres" to Peg Reed.
"I'm going over to Peg's," Alice yelled to Ernest. "Sounds like she's upset."
"Want a ride?" Ernest said, sticking his head into the hall from the den. "The car's working. Paper said ash is bad for the lungs."
"I'll wear my hat and tie a scarf around my face. I'll be okay."
Outside, Alice encountered a gray world. The late May air appeared to be snowing, but it wasn't cold. Even the moon was obscured by the blinding clouds of ash. She occasionally blinked an ash from her eye as she walked along anticipating Peg's anxiety. Lately Peg was more nervous than usual. Probably the ash. But, if Peg didn't have something to worry about, she'd actively seek it.
In high school, Alice and Peg were neighbors in the small, tough frontier town. Alice and Peg clung together as much in mutual defense as in affection. But twelve years ago, Peg took an acute turn when she was rounded up by an end-of-the-world group. Since then, Peg lost the ability to plan or organize her life, which had never been easy for her. She usually had a job, but never made much money. If she hadn't lived with her elderly father to care for him, she couldn't survive financially.
At the Reeds' house, the perimeter of the porch's floor was white with ash as with a light dusting of snow. Alice stepped under its roof, shook like a dog, and snapped her scarf clean. She shook out her hair as she knocked on the door.
"Cres," Peg opened the door with wide eyes. "Get in here."
"What's up, Peg?" Alice asked as she stepped in, still brushing herself off.
"It's the end," Peg said. "I figured it out." She grabbed Alice's hands excitedly in her own. "The war in Europe. Mount Lassen erupting. It's been a year of both."
"The end?"
"The end of the world, Cres. It's gotta' be. Nothing like this before."
"I thought you were off that. I thought those folks left town when the world didn't end."
Peg spoke louder, "Bishop and Mrs. Hyde were near to being right. When you calculate 2,000 years, to be off by only a dozen is pretty close."
Alice slapped some ash off her knee. "How's Mr. Reed?"
"He's good tonight," Peg said. "He's sitting at the window like it's snowing. He lit a fire in the fireplace. Said it matched the mood."
"Let's hear what he thinks," Alice said.
Mr. Reed was seated in a large chair. "Daddy, Cres is here," Peg said.
He replaced a book in the bookcase next to him and said, "Hi, Alice." He'd taught Alice science in high school. "What you think of this hard snow?"
"We'll see if Ernest gets his Model-T stuck in it as quickly as he gets it stuck in real snow," Alice said.
Mr. Reed laughed. He pointed out the window. "Pretty exciting, isn't it? The old earth spitting up like a baby?"
"Daddy," Peg said, "It's more than that." She spoke slower and lowered her head slightly, "I think they're signs of the end of the world." Mr. Reed frowned and she spoke quieter, as if answering him, "You know -- the moon and stars darkened and the war across Europe."
Mr. Reed and Alice looked at one another. They'd dealt with Peg's various worries before. "What about you, Alice?" He asked with the tone of prepping a student for a text. "You think the world's ending?"
"Well," Alice said, "I don't know --"
"The world's always ending, and always beginning," he said when she answered too slowly. "Volcanoes have burst forth for millennia. If they don't crush the land with lava or mudflows, like old Mount Lassen's trying to do, they give us a lot of sand to sweep off Winnemucca's roofs. And the spring grass," he motioned out the window to their dark yard, "that's coated tonight with ash will push up and grow green tomorrow."
"That's just nature, Daddy," Peg said. "I think God's going to end it."
Mr. Reed leaned back in his chair. Alice knew that he hadn't agreed with Bishop and Mrs. Hyde, but he was kind to them, and Peg had been faithful to him. Even though she worshiped in the Bishop's tabernacle, she walked her father to the Methodist church for worship every Sunday and arranged for someone to accompany him home.
"Honey," he said to Peg. "The world will to end someday. But people who predict when are always wrong. God'll come up with a new world, or kingdom, or whatever God wants to call it. But God's not going to abandon us. Keep your head up and live for God no matter what."
Peg seemed ready to cry. Mr. Reed reached over and rubbed her hand. "It looks bad around the world tonight, but there's been worse. Time'll probably come when things seem worse than 1915. Stand tall and live for God, and let's see what tomorrow brings." He smiled at Peg and Alice, raising and lowering his shoulders with a sigh, meaning class was dismissed.
Alice and Peg drank tea in the kitchen until Peg seemed calm enough for Alice to leave. Alice walked home through a particularly heavy ash fall. In the past she hadn't thought much about the world ending. She brushed ash from her hat and tried to walk with her head high as she prayed that Mr. Reed was right.
Discussion Questions
1. What immediate responses do you have to the story?
2. Do you identify with a character in the story? If yes, how and why do you identify with the person? If no, why don't you identify with anyone in the story?
3. Would you like to have a conversation with a character in the story? What would you say, ask, or suggest to the person? Why?
4. How does the story bring the biblical text into a clearer focus for you?
5. How would you improve or modify the story? Why?
6. Have you been around people obsessed with the end of the world? What's it like to be with them?
7. What are your biggest fears about the world?
8. Do you think much about the end of the world? What heightens or increases this subject's coming to your mind?
9. What further depths of meaning, symbols, connections with, or applications of the biblical faith do you find in the story?
10. Since Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and is alive among us through his Holy Spirit, what of this story would you like Christ to activate in your life?
