"
... and my father drops me off a Saturday morning services.
"You should go," he tells me.
I am seven, too young to ask the obvious question: why should I go and he shouldn't? Instead I do as I am told, entering the temple, walking down a long corridor, and running toward the small sanctuary, where the children's services are held.
I wear a white short-sleeved shirt and a clip-on tie. I pull open the wooden door. Toddlers are on the floor. Third-grade boys are yawning. Sixty-grade girls wear black cotton leotards, slouching and whispering.
I grab a prayer book. The sears in back are taken so I choose one up front. Suddenly the door swings open and the room goes silent.
The Man of God steps in.
He stalks like a giant. His hair is thick and dark. He wears a long robe, and when he speaks, his waving arms move the robe around like a sheet flipping in the wind.
He tells a Bible story. He asks us questions. He strides across the stage. He draws close to where I am sitting. I feel a flush of heat. I ask God to make me invisible. Please, God, please.
It is my most fervent prayer of the day.
"
... and my father drops me off a Saturday morning services.
"You should go," he tells me.
I am seven, too young to ask the obvious question: why should I go and he shouldn't? Instead I do as I am told, entering the temple, walking down a long corridor, and running toward the small sanctuary, where the children's services are held.
I wear a white short-sleeved shirt and a clip-on tie. I pull open the wooden door. Toddlers are on the floor. Third-grade boys are yawning. Sixty-grade girls wear black cotton leotards, slouching and whispering.
I grab a prayer book. The sears in back are taken so I choose one up front. Suddenly the door swings open and the room goes silent.
The Man of God steps in.
He stalks like a giant. His hair is thick and dark. He wears a long robe, and when he speaks, his waving arms move the robe around like a sheet flipping in the wind.
He tells a Bible story. He asks us questions. He strides across the stage. He draws close to where I am sitting. I feel a flush of heat. I ask God to make me invisible. Please, God, please.
It is my most fervent prayer of the day.
"
---Mitch Albom in 'Have a Little Faith'
