Alan S. Austin
Arizona Playwright • Writer • Poet
  

MAY GOD BE WITH YOU (8/14)

And it so happened that a man and his family fell among thieves and drug dealers who threatened them and robbed them. Fearing for their safety they gathered their meager possessions and went to look for a safer place to live, crossing rivers and barriers and journeying until they reached the kingdom of Arizona, a land they believed full of milk and honey where they would be safe, would work hard and raise and educate their children and be protected from those who would do them harm. But the Lord of this Kingdom told them, "You are not welcome here because you are poor and from another land. Go back to where you come from." The poor man replied,"We cannot go back. My Lord. We have nothing to go back to." The Great Lord told him, "How dare you expect us to care for you. Because I am a religious man I will put you and people like you on a bus and send you elsewhere where others can care for you. You are not wanted here." The man bowed his head, held his wife and children tightly and said "We took you at your word that you would protect the innocent and the persecuted. Clearly we were mistaken. Send us wherever you will and may your God be with you. "