“The rusted metal sign outside Mt. Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church crookedly hangs from a rotten wooden frame. It slowly swings in the hot Alabama breeze. It used to read in bold red letters, “Jesus Saves.” But rain, weather, and time itself happened to the sign in such a way that the word “saves” gave way to smudging and smearing, until it finally disappeared like the Lord himself. Now it just reads “Jesus.” His name just hanging there on a Friday afternoon. Locals drive by the church every day and they know the sign is there but nobody pays much attention to it. The sign is ignored by most for no reason other than it is as common as their grass cutting shoes. Still, every once in a while, the name provokes a question out of a child in the back seat or a thought in the mind of a man thinking about leaving his wife and children.
One lazy summer afternoon Johnny and Mason had been wandering around in the country looking for cans and bottles to shoot with their B-B guns. As they happened upon the church, they decided to do a little target practice on the back of the sign. Something told them that taking direct aim and pinging the name of Jesus was crossing into the unforgivable spaces that only Beelzebub has dared tread. One after another the BBs stung the sign and nothing spectacular happened. The boys laughed, the crow squawked, and Jesus swung – dented, crooked, and quiet in the hot Alabama breeze outside the Mt. Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church.”
