God’s Assembly Place
Leaving the Masons’ Lodge behind,
there was Mrs. Shimer’s cool dark little house
and the grade school slides to pass,
then spirea bushes to pull the petals from
before I reached the mysterious brick church
nestled in trees across from the lumber yard.
The sign said “Assembly of God.”
Everyone else said, “holy rollers and speakers in tongues,”
but they threw the best Bible school of the summer.
My mom let me attend them all: Lutheran,
Community Bible, Seven Day Adventist, Assembly of God
and our own Church––Methodist.
The Community Bible Church called us Jet Cadets
who made progress through the skies
by attendance and memorizing Bible verses.
The Methodists had the best art supplies,
but the Assembly of God
had that aura of mystery–
as though God had assembled us all there for a special purpose.
Because I had heard what went on there
when I wasn’t present,
I was the Nancy Drew of vacation Bible school,
looking fruitlessly for clues
as I made do with Kool Aid,
peanut butter cookies and
mimeographed pictures of Bible stories to color.
Then every day, the short walk home again
through that bridal path of spilled spirea blossoms,
with faith that tomorrow
religion just might turn into that great adventure
that I knew I was born to.
Thanks Whimsygizmo for leading me to this prompt with your wonderful poem. Readers, if you want to participate in the Writer’s Digest prompts, find them here:
Poetic Asides
Oh, Judy. I truly, truly love this. The description of the journey to get there, the road back home…the mystery (and lack of therein) in between. WONDERFUL. Capped off by this fantastic line: “I was the Nancy Drew of vacation Bible school.” Tickled pink by this piece, ma’am. And thanks for the shoutout. So happy to see you over at Poetic Asides. A WONDERFUL place to be, poetically. You will love it.
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A friend I sent your link to sent me the link to your interview. It was fun to see your face. He also sent me a link to an interview with me I didn’t know had been published. If I can find it, I’ll send it to you. Fun to be able to put a face and a bit of a story to someone whose writing you’ve been reading. Let me go in search of it.
Aha, found it so adding it to this comment. Hope this isn’t too self-promotional, but I’m always so curious about everyone on the blogs I’m guessing that maybe you are, too. http://myinternationaladventure.com/the-adventures-of-judy-dykstra-brown/
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I just love this one!
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The Nancy Drew of bible school…. This was an irresistible read.
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I am always intrigued by stories, with Mason’s in them. The secret handshake club and the hidden unelected governments, now global. Run by the illuminati with Rothschild, Goldsmith and their ilk as the heads.
To find God, just look into your heart.
Buildings and books are the province of those, who would manipulate you. Cheers Jamie.
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Amen y exactamente!!!
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We follow the choirs. Wherever the music is best, there we are.
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