Chapter 19

        Meanwhile the quilters were meeting during rehearsals to design costumes.  The usual blue and brown get-ups for Mary and Joseph required little modification.  Jealous Plant kept “misplacing” my Mary smock, but it was usually pretty easy to track down.  The real challenge, though, was the reptile and arachnid costumes, which had to be made up from scratch and ingenuity.
        I was reminded of the time that Mrs. Snapper got on a Project Runway kick and had the other quilters competing to redesign Pastor Basil’s stoles. It had seemed like a great idea until Pastor Basil was nearly set on fire when the brightly colored feathers tacked onto her red stole ignited during the Pentecost service.         
     Sybil the python’s ears and cover cloth were easy enough in their design and presentation.  Harold the snapping turtle really only needed to have the font decorated to look like an inn so he was easily taken care of too.  The tropical house geckos, on the other hand, proved more of a challenge:  they needed sheep suits. 

      At first Mrs. Snapper championed the idea of knitting them all little white onesies with a back flap for their tails.  In the end that task proved to be too much work and the geckos themselves unwilling.  So the quilters settled for tying cotton balls to the lizard’s backs with a ribbon around their middles.  
     “They look like snowflakes” grumbled Mrs. Snapper.
     “Quite appropriate for the season too” Pastor Basil pointed out and Mrs. Snapper couldn’t argue with that.    
     It was easy enough to use wire hangers, nylon, and glitter to construct wings for the chameleons.  How they were supposed to proclaim the good news, however, was still uncertain.  For all of her effort, Pastor Basil could not get them to talk or even whistle.  They did look splendid with their sparkling wings and stunning array of colors, though.  The plan was to have them fade into the carpet until the very last minute when they would reveal themselves to the shepherds in a blaze of gold and silver. 
     Jealous Plant naturally sulked throughout the fitting procedures.  I tried to cheer him up by making him his own set of nylon wings and even bringing Helen over to visit him.  The Jealous Plant and the Christlike tarantula had become fast friends over the past couple weeks.  
     Even so, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something Jealous Plant wanted and I just couldn’t figure out what that was.   
To Be Continued
James 5:13-14
Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.
While the Narrator doesn’t anoint Jealous Plant, she does bring in Helen the Tarantula to try to make him feel better.  We might think that healing is something we do by ourselves with a bottle of medicine or advice from a doctor.  However, healing is most effective when it is a communal experience.  We are encouraged when people visit us or send us cards when we are sick.  We feel a bit better when someone makes us some soup.  When have you experienced healing with the help not just of a doctor, but the support of a community?   

A reading of Chapter 19 by Amelia Corbett