In this wonderfully original and quirky fable, the ultimate wish is fulfilled – but in a way that no one expects: Jesus returns to earth – and He is a She.
For a long time nothing much has been different for the poor black congregations of the Sweet Pilgrim Baptist Church of Clearwater, Mississippi. Eastertime has dutifully rolled around again. The dogwoods are in bloom.
And then, from off in the distance, comes a wondrous music – a music that thunders throughout the sky with sweetness. It brings in its trail a celestial cloud. And, shortly after, it signals a heavenly visit: Jesus and Simon Peter come to town. And they are women. Jewish women – well-dressed, Fifth Avenue—model types, to be exact. “At times I’ve come to earth in the form of a man. But this time I’ve come as a woman. Is something wrong with me appearing as a woman?” Ms. Jesus asks the surprised churchgoers.
In short order, this unexpected turn of events becomes the norm. Jesus and Simon Peter drink Chablis with the locals; arrange for oil drilling on black families’ tiny lots; make some folks rich and a few bitterly envious; get caught up in civil rights matters’ and figure in a suspense-filled series of events that brings joy and prosperity, hatred and murder, and, as a final surprise, redemption.
Here is a fable of Real Justice and True Righteousness that speaks directly to the prejudice of our times.
A Delightful, if reverent, romp up and down the aisles of a Mississippi Baptist congregation. Fun!
Morgan Freeman
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“That Jesus the Carpenter of Nazareth was the Son of God occurred to almost no one until coarse and uncouth people as well as legalistic, brainy, religious types began to see Him live, act and speak in a way unlike anyone else. Whether they spoke in vulgarities or in pious-sounding platitudes, people were taken off guard by the fact that He was a common workman, homeless, lived simply – even crudely – did and said startling, unorthodox things that shook people to their roots, as in Clayton Sullivan’s remarkable fable, Jesus and the Sweet Pilgrim Baptist Church. This is a fable. No one is claiming that Jesus might come again as a well-dressed Jewish woman. So, put aside your prejudices and read it. The Gospel is here in all its simple, shining power.”
Eugenia Price
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