10-2 view from under the pew

the broken-hearted beetle

boss pastor leroy had

a guest speaker during

services last week in

the church pew

underworld

the speaker turned out

to be londa the ladybug

missionary who had

traveled overseas to

witness to the bugs

bees birds and beetles

while there she met a

an elderly japanese

beetle who wanted to

give her heart and soul

to jesus

londa wanted to help

her with her decision

but didn t want to create

any anxiety distress or

embarrassment for her

so instead of asking

difficult theological

questions londa placed

one of her little

ladybug arms around

the old japanese

beetle and gently said

tell me a story about

jesus

joy the japanese

beetle s little face

lit up as she began

the simple recital

of her faith

she told about how

jesus was born of a

young virgin how he

was filled with the

spirit of god

tempted in the

wilderness taught

thousands of people

fed the five thousand

healed the sick lame

and blind

raised the dead to life

and told wonderful

parables about god s

kingdom and life

forevermore

but then boss she came

to the midnight prayer

throes of jesus in the

garden and the betrayal

kiss the arrest by the

temple soldiers and

the mock trial of the

son of god in the

courts of men

as she spoke about

the crown of thorns

the whipping of his

back with the

cat-o-nine-tails

and his collapsing

under the weight of

the cross along the

via dolorosa

joy the japanese beetle

began to weep and for

a long time couldn t

speak at all boss

she was about to tell

how they drove the nails

into his hands and his

feet but she couldn t

talk any more

she began to sob

uncontrollably

finally joy was able to

compose herself and in a

tearful broken voice

she just murmured - i

can t tell that part

it breaks my heart -

boss i don t know how

others may feel but

sometimes in my own

little mousy way i find

myself becoming hard and

calloused about what jesus

did for me

part of the revival we

need in the church pew

underworld is a heart like

joy s - one broken with

the thought of jesus

suffering and dying on

our behalf