The Storyteller | Mary Vee

Photo by Mary Vee The power is out. Day three. I am thankful for the fleet of electrical power workers who are out in the wind and ice storm that is attacking our area.  On our backwoods American road, trees are down, a power line fell and ignited the road, and the power is out in our community. Temperatures are expected to drop throughout the day. At this time we are experiencing a whiteout (when cloud and snow on the ground meet and prevent visibility). Repair men and women are braving the elements to restore our power along with the power for thousands of others in the north.  Fleets of electric repair vehicles park at fire stations where crews change shifts and hopefully get something warm to drink. Photo b Mary Vee Perhaps the task wouldn't be as difficult if once the repair was finished, the restored area could be checked off the list. But ice ladened trees or their heavy branches continue to fall on power lines. It's like a whack-a-mo...

Monday night's world cup football playoff between Italy and Sweden proved to be an epic game. This was the first time Italy did not earn the right to go to the World Cup football (or as we Americans say, soccer) games in sixty years. I didn't like the mocking reports against this fine team. And while the Italian fans walked away in silence, I thought there had to be shreds of good hope in this major sports event for them. I searched on-line stories about the event.  Then, this morning, tucked in one article, was the rest of a story. The heroic response by Italy's goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon. As we all heard, Buffon played brilliantly. He prevented any scores by Sweden. The final score was 0-0. He did his job. There are no overtime minutes to determine the winner. According to the rules, if a game ends in a tie, the previous scores and win/loss records are used to determine the winner. Italy's team knew what was at stake before the matc...

Nearly 500 people sat in the church A good 200 more in other rooms throughout the building. There were no windows in this modern facility, as is the custom for designs today. Not even stained glassed windows along the side. There was one fax stained glassed window with back lighting to appear like outside light shine through.  All was as it had been.  The people sang.  Scriptures read. Then during the prayer the power went out. It was a weird sensation, because although eyes remained closed, and the pastor continued to pray, a deep awareness enveloped the people.  After the amen, those who had their phone handy whipped them out and, like at a concerts, whipped on the flashlight, lighting the room. Two took their flashlight to the pianist and lit her music. The worship never stopped. No one except the mother with the crying baby left. The sound man appeared minutes later with a dusty, old battery-operated microphone and gave i...