Chapters (11)
… what if I were to tell you
that when the offering plates went around,
the little piece of paper I put into the plate
said Joshua
and not Paul
PASTOR
…
WIFE
…
PASTOR
…
WIFE
…
PASTOR
is this a hypothetical question?
WIFE
no.
PASTOR
oh.
WIFE
…
PASTOR
…
WIFE
Should I be amputated as well?
PASTOR
uh, no.
WIFE
are you sure about that
PASTOR
yes
WIFE
Because I believe in Hell.
I believe in the Devil.
I believe that believing in Jesus,
believing that He’s the Son of God,
and believing that He died for your sins
is the only,
the only thing that can secure you a place in Heaven.
PASTOR
Why didn’t you tell me earlier that you disagreed with my sermon?
WIFE
Why didn’t you tell me earlier that you were going to deliver that sermon?
Why didn’t you tell me that you were going to forcibly
change
what our church
believes?
PASTOR
…
WIFE
In your sermon you talked like you had been struggling with this message,
tormented,
but you never told me any of that.
PASTOR
I don’t normally check my sermons with you
WIFE
And I think it’s kind of too bad that you don’t.
I think what you did
was actually
incredibly selfish
PASTOR
selfish?
WIFE
yeah
PASTOR
how???
WIFE
You haven’t thought about
how what you’re doing affects other people.
PASTOR
Everything I’m doing is about other people.
WIFE
What about me? What about our daughter?
PASTOR
what about her
WIFE
you know that most of her classmates go to our church
PASTOR
okay
WIFE
and some of the parents of some of those classmates
talk about you in front of their kids.
And the kids come to school,
tell her that her daddy is going to Hell.
Did you know that?
PASTOR
no
WIFE
and she doesn’t know what to do,
she wants to stand up for you,
but doesn’t know how.
PASTOR
How would I have known about that?
WIFE
if you just opened up your eyes and paid attention
to the people around you
PASTOR
you hide things from me. All the time you—
WIFE
you never consulted with me,
never told me that you were struggling with something.
That tells me, I’m not on the same level as you.
You don’t see me as someone you would
talk to about the things you’re thinking,
that I’m just the preacher’s wife,
that I just sit in the background,
just nod my head,
and support you in every decision you make.
I’m not that kind of
preacher’s wife
PASTOR
I know you’re not.
WIFE
I think you figured that if I experienced your amazing sermon
with the rest of the church, I’d be all swept up with all the rest of them,
and just buy into it on account of your own magnificence.
PASTOR
I don’t think I’m magnificent!
WIFE
But Paul, it didn’t work on me,
and for those for whom it did work,