The Jehovah's Witnesses are out today, standing in the middle of the village with a board offering a 'Free Bible Course'.
He's tall; skinny trousers, white shirt, and a trendy jacket and tie. He wears hipster glasses and his face looks fresh and boyish. She's pretty - long blond hair, layered into a pattern that sort of matches her ankle-length skirt. She wears a light corduroy jacket. They chat nervously behind their board.
I wonder what they hope will happen here. To most of these lunchtime shoppers and moochers, the Bible is probably just an archaic book to be sort of aware of, there in the background of consciousness like Moby Dick or The Taming of the Shrew, popping up in quizzes and school assemblies, but weirdly obsessed over by a small group of unusual people. They remember Noah's Ark probably - maybe the story of Jesus, but beyond that it's as impenetrable as Katherine's wit, or the white whale's blubber.
There will be atheists and antitheists here too, giving the young JWs a bit of a wide berth. Surely they're not expecting an argument about theology? That can't be the reason they're standing there so patiently, can it?
The rest of us here on a sunny lunchtime, are people who know the Bible and probably don't need a course on it. They can't be here for us either! Surely! So who are they hoping will sign up?
They're not approaching people. They're just standing there. Nobody's walking near them. They're just chatting and watching and checking the weather app for the next rain-shower.
Hmm. I find it intriguing, and tinged with the familiar. When they get back to Kingdom Hall for a well-earned cup of tea, I wonder what they'll say when people ask them how it went? What will they feel? And what will they report?
No comments:
Post a Comment