Do you ever wonder about the preachers on the bus? You know the kind. A person would board the bus, stand in the middle, bring out a bible, and start blabbing about god.
I rarely pay attention to these preachers except one time. After the sermon, they’d hand out envelopes asking for donations.
Whenever I see these preachers, I remember a Sharon Cuneta movie (I forgot the title) where she realizes she doesn’t have enough money to pay for her fare. She pretends to be a preacher and just rambles on about god.
Sharon goes to the passengers, and they give her money. She gets off at her stop and the bus conductor doesn’t even ask her to pay. I wonder how many of those preachers are like Sharon’s character.
Every time there’s a preacher on the bus, people always give money. I wonder what compels people to do this. Bus passengers usually aren’t rich, but they don’t even think twice about donating their money. Of course they will only give a small amount, but nonetheless they still give. Do they trust the preacher because they assume that no one would be so evil as to use god to get money?
I wonder if I could pass off as a preacher. I wonder what I’ll say. I wonder how much money I’ll get. What if I start preaching on the bus just for kicks, and I don’t ask for money? What if I give them a quiz to test if anyone is listening? I wonder if the ones who give money really listened to those preachers. Were they moved by the preacher’s speech or were they moved simply by the invocation of the word god?
Seems like god is strong enough to compel a poor working man or a woman with three jobs to give away a part of their meager income. Is it guilt that compels them to do something that will add to their suffering, or does god move them to become generous even if their income cannot accommodate such generosity?
The man with eight kids will not buy kakanin for his snack, so that he can give money to god, hoping that those collecting on behalf of god will give the money to that hungry child or that blind old man. Who are these preachers on the bus? How are they using god’s power? How are helping the world?
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For religion related posts, check out these links:
- I Played Mary, He Played Joseph
- Ja’s Weird Childhood Games (check out “Playing Church”)
- When I Die I Want a Glass Coffin and a Cellphone
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Age of the Diary by Jasmine T. Cruz. If you like this post, please subscribe to this blog. Follow Ja on Twitter: ageofthediary. Email Ja at: ageofthediary@gmail.com.
