Rasslin' With God Part 2: A Story of Nails
Me an’ God was givin’ each other half nelson’s and headlocks and rollin’ ‘round in the mud for the better part of a month before we’d had enough and decided to get on with things. It’s part of a ancient religious tradition that dates back to the time of Jacob. Now there ain’t nobody in the Bible that I can relate to more’n Jacob, so I reckon it’s fitting that I’d have that sortuva rasslin’ match with God.
The thing about Jacob is he was the sort of twisted up and gnarled coward that I been most of my life. He was always hidin’ behind the skirts of what should’ve been sacred and he kept on catchin’ his lucky card on the river after he done made a foolish bet earlier on. He was a sneak and a fool and a coward and lucky to be alive, much less blessed with all that he was. An’ I done told you the story about the dragracin’ and I could tell you a hundred more stories just like it to prove my point.
Well this weren’t the first time I got in a tangle with the Good Lord over somethin’. But in the past I’d always give up after a coupla hours ‘cause I knew He had me beat, and I figured it weren’t worth the effort. But this time He was askin’ me to turn loose o’ the best thing I’d ever had in life. An’ I don’t care if He was the Good Lord, I wasn’t lettin’ her go without a fight.
Well I did turn loose of her eventually. I knew it was what had to be done, but it didn’t set everything straight with me an’ God. I looked up ta heaven and all I could see was the ankle I had my arms wrapped around while He bent me over His Knee and whipped my ass. An’ I was grittin’ my teeth and refusin’ to cry the whole way through. I weren’t givin’ up ‘cause I was weak like I did all them other times. I weren’t givin’ up without a blessin’.
An’ I was lookin’ back over my life as I rassled with God. And most of what I saw was all crooked and gnarled and bent outta shape. An’ I called up a friend, let’s just call him Forest Gump, that I’d known in a time when things looked like they might be makin’ some sense. I told him that I felt like a bent nail that there weren’t no way of drivin’ in a proper direction. An’ ol’ Forest, well I guess he’s got a bit more faith in God than I ever had, an’ a hell of a lot more reasons to just curse Him forever than I ever will. Forest gets this voice like a prophet an’ he tells me he’s holdin’ a nail in his hand as we speak, an’ it’s straight, an’ he’s tellin’ me God wants me to be a straight nail. An’ I can’t say that I believed him too much at the time, but I did feel a little bit better goin’ to bed that night. Which was a good thing, ‘cause I was gonna see the worst shit storm I’d been through in awhile hit me the next day. Come back tomorrow an’ I’ll tell ya what it was.
The thing about Jacob is he was the sort of twisted up and gnarled coward that I been most of my life. He was always hidin’ behind the skirts of what should’ve been sacred and he kept on catchin’ his lucky card on the river after he done made a foolish bet earlier on. He was a sneak and a fool and a coward and lucky to be alive, much less blessed with all that he was. An’ I done told you the story about the dragracin’ and I could tell you a hundred more stories just like it to prove my point.
Well this weren’t the first time I got in a tangle with the Good Lord over somethin’. But in the past I’d always give up after a coupla hours ‘cause I knew He had me beat, and I figured it weren’t worth the effort. But this time He was askin’ me to turn loose o’ the best thing I’d ever had in life. An’ I don’t care if He was the Good Lord, I wasn’t lettin’ her go without a fight.
Well I did turn loose of her eventually. I knew it was what had to be done, but it didn’t set everything straight with me an’ God. I looked up ta heaven and all I could see was the ankle I had my arms wrapped around while He bent me over His Knee and whipped my ass. An’ I was grittin’ my teeth and refusin’ to cry the whole way through. I weren’t givin’ up ‘cause I was weak like I did all them other times. I weren’t givin’ up without a blessin’.
An’ I was lookin’ back over my life as I rassled with God. And most of what I saw was all crooked and gnarled and bent outta shape. An’ I called up a friend, let’s just call him Forest Gump, that I’d known in a time when things looked like they might be makin’ some sense. I told him that I felt like a bent nail that there weren’t no way of drivin’ in a proper direction. An’ ol’ Forest, well I guess he’s got a bit more faith in God than I ever had, an’ a hell of a lot more reasons to just curse Him forever than I ever will. Forest gets this voice like a prophet an’ he tells me he’s holdin’ a nail in his hand as we speak, an’ it’s straight, an’ he’s tellin’ me God wants me to be a straight nail. An’ I can’t say that I believed him too much at the time, but I did feel a little bit better goin’ to bed that night. Which was a good thing, ‘cause I was gonna see the worst shit storm I’d been through in awhile hit me the next day. Come back tomorrow an’ I’ll tell ya what it was.