Mistaken signs of 'rapture' strained relations in Alabama community

Folks, I want to tell you a story about something that happened in my little farming-coal mining community in Alabama. It took place when I was about 8 years old. However, before I say that, I need to fill you in on what I will be talking about: sin, guilt, forgiveness and the consequences thereof will be the subject matter.

The folk in our community were salt of the earth. They worked hard and were always ready to lend a helping hand. They were happy people six days a week but on the seventh day, this seemed to change. The change took place when they entered the church on Sunday and stood in the presence of the parson.

It was a time when religiosity took center stage over spirituality and ones religious condition was measured by how miserable they looked. If a person had more than a fleeting smile then everyone knew there had to be evil lurking within. It was a time when guilt was king and the most miserable people had to be those folk who felt no guilt. These poor souls would spend hours trying to conjure up something that would bring that blessed feeling of impending doom. They knew if feeling happy, joyous and free persisted then there was the present danger of being ostracized by the congregation of genuine sinners.

Now this earthly happiness also touched the life and future of the parson. If too many people ran around smiling and looking happy then it was a sign that he had failed. His job was to provide every member of his flock with an ever-flowing stream of guilt.    

Now here comes the story. Once upon a time, about 10 years ago, I made a trip back to Alabama. I had but one purpose in mind and that was to get in touch with my roots. I wanted to visit the places that had meant something to me when I was growing up. I wanted to do it all alone and just take the time to sit down and think about things that had happened many years ago.

One of these spots was a hillside located behind the house where I grew up. The old house was still standing and I walked out back and gazed at the hill that seemed to have shrunk over time. It was much higher when I was shorter. The events of long ago marched in step across my mind bringing back memories of the night that events heralded the end of time.

It all started about the time we were sitting down to supper. All of a sudden we heard wailing, shouting, and screaming coming from over on that hill. It brought us all to the back door because such things were reserved for special funerals and church revivals.

Someone rushed by and shouted, “It’s the rapture because there is a big blade swinging in the sky.” I remember asking what a “rapture” was and I was told it meant that Jesus had come to gather all the good people and take them home to heaven. We walked out back and sure enough, we could see a blade swinging in the low clouds. My dad went back to the supper table to finish eating but my mother headed for the hill.

Now folks, all the people up there were trying their best to get rid of things that would keep them from being on the preferred list of those who were going to make the trip to heaven. Men confessed to wives and wives confessed to husbands. Some men confessed to other men they had not been on their best behavior as far as the other man’s wife was concerned. People paid back money that had been owed for years. Some people knew they were doomed because they could only confess they had nothing much to confess.

Amid all these heartfelt confessions, forgiveness flowed like milk and honey. There was no right or wrong that night and everybody loved everybody else as they all waited to be snatched up. They waited until daylight and the blade in the sky vanished.

It was not until the next day that the origin of the blade in the sky was discovered. It seems that over at the airport in Birmingham they had put in a new beacon that turned in a circle and sent a beam of light over the area. By the time the beam got to us, it looked like a blade slicing through the low clouds. To say the least, relationships in our little community were a bit strained for a long time. Only the threat of eminent departure into eternity could have brought out some of those confessions and only the knowledge of the blade’s source would have caused all forgiveness to be retracted.

I sat there and tried to remember what we were having for supper the night all this happened. I could not remember but I do know one thing. Some people up on that hill were “eating crow” for a very long time.