Whisper of a Faithful Saint

The Infernal Meeting of Heck's Worst

It was a dark, sunny day when the Devil’s own council fell into disorder—at least among the pesky ones who made a habit of troubling pawpaws everywhere. This day, however, their attention was focused upon our Pawpaw.

Gathered there were the fiery detractors of the kindly old saint.

On one side moaned the Hounds of Heck: indomitable Indifference, precision Worthless, and ever-looming Doubt.

In their shadows lingered the deplorable and defeated curs Loneliness, Emptiness, and Cold.

Anxiously, they would pace back and forth. At the faintest hint of light, they’d turn about, and knowing they could go no further, turn about again. Roaming, looming, swimming in tight little circles waiting to feed — waiting to feast on any scraps of defeat, remnants of lost hope, or dregs of abandonment.

The opposing side was haunted by the distasteful Disgust, the abusive Reproach, and the antagonistic Contention, followed by their spiteful grudges: resentful Revile, his starving brother Envy, and the whispering phantom of Forgotten.

Confusion was supposed to be there, and of course he wasn't. Probably for the worst, because it's never for the best with these stinkers.

On the ground slithered the contentious snakes of corruption, loathing all they encountered, swallowing the detritus of wickedness and hissing forth nothing but poisonous maliciousness.

Ew, gross! If you can’t say anything nice… Oh well. That was them, and that was their here and now. Thankfully, it was not mine at any time.

Indifference, their leader, hissed their meeting to order — or rather, disorder. Oh well. I shall try to make sense of this confusing and disorganized disruption in a tasteful manner, so none of us end up with tummy aches.

For the sake of our harmonic symbiosis, I’ll tame the oh-my words and spare you the you-really-shouldn’t-say-that dialogues, the dreadful declarations, and, of courses, I’ll toss out the not-good-at-all discourses.

Good thing this came to me third hand, and with gloves on… Pretty sure the first two hands ran out of soap.

Okay, now to begin… Oh my… Oh goodness… Oh dear… I’ll just redact ninety percent of this. Need another pair of scissors… Ah, here we go.

Indifference began, “Pawpaw! A worthless, unassuming old man! How is it that this thing still resides as a thorn in our sides?”

Doubt, “Shut up, Forgotten, we don’t want to hear any more of your silence!”

“Touché!” whispered Forgotten with a roar, quietly fading into the background.

Envy, “I wish I was forgotten.”

“He’s nothing, not-a-thing” contended Worthless. “A weak, frail old man perched on his porch, with a [redacted] old hat, and habitually praying all the time. It’s heaven’s attention that has my concern.”

“That’s it! Heaven’s attention,” Emptiness concurred, shuddering. “That’s the problem. That’s the danger. The thought chills me to the bone —”

Cold hailed, “Oh, how inspiring!” They all leered at him, but he gave a frozen smile. “Anything that cold is my glory and my worth.”

Disgust quietly and obnoxiously rasped, “We must get rid of this Pawpaw, displace this thing, make him of no matter, no consequence, no value. Fill it with sadness, remove his mirth, destroy his peace, crush his spirit!”

Envy, “I wish I was disgusting.”

Contention sneezed with gusto.
“They tried now didn’t they? You all tried, and failed! Disappointment, all of you. Failures extraordinaire! And why, you pitiful, deplorable old lot, have you failed? Because you are the feeble ones, weak, petty, ‘contemptible.’”
He laughed, self-amused.
“Doubt, Worthless, and even you, Indifference, our so-called ‘dear’ leader — defeated by tiny, little, itty-bitty cherubs! Little cuppycakes from heaven! Oh my!”

“Utter nonsense!” objected Worthless without a point.

Indifference cruelly smiled, “Go on? You have an objection?”

Worthless blurted, “You know very well why I object. And why I hesitate. But this time, no! It’s because of their faith—the lot of them! Pawpaw, his little so-called angels, and that… that Aunt Bee of theirs, always looming about, rocking on her ‘porch swing in Heaven,’ watching over them like some old ninny who can’t mind her own business!”

Revile laughed, “Oh this is too good. Fussing about cute little angels? Mythical old ladies in the heavens? An old man? Why am I here? I have Christians and their reputations to destroy! Waste of time this meeting is!” And he would disappear to continue his chaos, but Indifference called him back. “What is the meaning of this?”

Indifference insisted, “We will let you return to your surreptitious infiltrations soon enough. You were called here due to your outrageous and overwhelming success.”

Revile flared, “Then let me go back to my congregations in the churches! I have converted thousands, millions, entire denominations! And this is but one man — not our concern!”

Envy, “I wish I had congregations.”

Doubt erupted, “Let him go back, he makes my job so much easier.”

Worthless, “I concur. Nothing highlights ‘worthlessness’ like the reviles of others.”

Contention, “If you find it so easy, Revile, then present your plan. How to deal with this Pawpaw? Or his angels might do.”

Revile, “Bah! We can’t deal with angels — a waste of time and effort — especially the little ones. Focus on this Pawpaw with something new, something different, something unexpected. Something devastating.”

Emptiness, “Oh they tried that. They couldn’t budge him, so they went after his friends, his family, wife and children, his health, even his life.”

Envy, “I wish I had friends… family… anything really.”

Cold, “The man has no status, no reputation, no recognition; as far as the churches are concerned, he is as discarded refuse.”

Reproach, “You make this man out to be a Job? No one knows this man.”

Contention, “They tried putting him to shame — the man has no pride. Their mistake was taking everything and everyone away. There is no one left to show off for, no one left to impress. And where were you Loneliness, you couldn’t ask for better opportunity!”

Loneliness, “It’s true, he’s all alone, but he doesn’t seem to think so. It’s all this attention heaven gives him. How can he be lonely with so many faithful witnesses? I don’t stand a chance. He’s not like most of the others. He’ll get answers to prayers before he’s finished them.”

Revile, “One of those, eh? Leaning on the promises of the Word.” He laughed sharply, “Have you tried Job’s friends? Never mind, no doubt you have. Worthless accusers. I suggest: forget about him, acceptable losses. Go for the multitudes.”

Indifference, “I didn’t call you all here to listen to your infernal opinions on various matters! This man is our concern. He might be contagious, he might be…”

But as their meeting rambled on, dear Pawpaw whispered to heaven.

Then Heaven was presented with a little quiet voice, “Dear Lord God of All, please… help…”

From a porch swing in heaven, three tiny intercessors — Gracie, Luna, and Rosie — moved with much compassion, fell instantly to their knees, earnestly praying for their cherished Pawpaw.

Gracie petitioned, “Dear Beauty of our Lord, please send help to our Pawpaw…”

Luna pleaded, “Dear Christ of our Hope, please gives Pawpaw some hopes…”

Rosie desired, “My Precious Baby Jesus, I loves You so, so can’ts You hold Pawpaw’s heart for us…”

Gracie, Luna, and Rosie entreated together, “Please protect Pawpaw!”

Aunt Bee, “And Amens!”

Rosie, “That too.”

Luna whispered, “Pst, Rosie... our Jesus is Baby Jesus all growed up.”

Rosie, “Already?”

And as they prayed on, a clarion siren blasted throughout the heavens.

Angel contingents fifteen through two hundred seventy readied themselves as one great host of angels darted downward and away. The remaining angels quickly followed.

A little devil darted into the dark meeting, accidentally knocking Indifference over,
“A clarion call has sounded! They’re on their way!”
He screamed and fainted before Indifference could rebuke him.

Indifference, “What? How can this be? No one knows about this meeting!”

Revile laughed with a roar, “You forgot the prayers of a faithful saint!”

Cold, “Oh my! How rare!”

Loneliness, “Let’s get out of here!”

Envy, “I wish I was not here.”

Revile cackled. “Oh, this is rich. Heaven’s hosts mobilizing for an old grandpa! An old man barely held together by memories, faith, and miracles!”
He instantly vanished in a flame so hot that the icicles on Cold’s nose melted.

The other devils left in such a hurry that they ran into each other. Smoke, embers, flames exploded into the darkness.

And yes, Loneliness, Emptiness, and Cold only just managed to escape, but in the confusion of their retreat, they tripped over the promises of God and tumbled into the snares of their own making.

Doubt, Worthless, and Contention were detained—not forever, for their whispers still linger in the hearts of mankind.

And of course, Revile recruited Envy to help pass out gossip newsletters of questionable rhetoric.

The rest escaped to their various domiciles, but since that day, no similar meetings have been called again.

From Heaven, Pawpaw’s Little Angels—Gracie, Luna, and Rosie — watched all the commotion from Aunt Bee’s porch.

Luna beamed, “That’s our Pawpaw.”

Rosie giggled, “And all he did was whisper a prayer.”

Gracie asked Aunt Bee, “Do you think he knew about their meeting?”

Aunt Bee declared, “Well, when all those little devils suddenly stop bothering you, it’s hard not to imagine they’re up to something no good.”

“More like down to something,” laughed Luna.

To the comfort of all who heard, a voice in Heaven boomed: “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”

Far below on earth, Pawpaw slept peacefully beneath the watch of Heaven, surrounded by a myriad of angels, held in the promises of God, and loved more deeply than he could possibly know.

And so is a Whisper of a Faithful Saint.