2003 Devotion

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2004 Writing Contest Winner

Devotion

“White Lie"

by Lisa A Nichols: Anacortes, Washington State

“I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity.” (1 Chronicles 29:17)

The sound of my feet against the concrete sidewalk as I trotted along with my three companions was like a tapping rhythm. I was engrossed in its melody, my mind wandering to a more musical place, trying to pull out some song I knew to go with my feet. I might have started singing.

“So now what?” my friend Rebecca announced, pulling me back to my original frame of mind. I stopped and glanced around. There we were – my sister Erin, my friends Rebecca and Michael and myself – all halted in the road, having just come out of an antiques shop. We spent the afternoon waltzing up and down the sidewalks of Friday Harbor, having lunch, exploring the shops and enjoying each other’s company. The sun shone overhead and was warm on our backs, yet we were refreshed by the cool sea breeze blowing through the charming island town.

“Well, we could see a movie,” I suggested, always an avid movie-buff, even on a sunny afternoon.

“Yeah, I saw a little theater downtown,” Michael confirmed.

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“Well let’s go. We don’t have anything else to do.” I said and we took off down the concrete hill, paved with brick and wooden sidewalk shops all the way down. The ground leveled the closer we came to the tiny one-room theater, squeezed between an old-fashioned ice-cream parlor and a bookstore.

Only two movies were playing but one in particular caught all of our attention. “Look at the prices,” I noted, nodding up toward the plaque above the ticket booth.

“Geez, there’s a two dollar difference between youth and adult,” Erin remarked.

Everybody nodded and we stole to the side to discuss our options. Erin and I were seventeen and Michael and Rebecca were eighteen. Hmmm… our scheming brains were boiling up a plan. The cutoff was sixteen so we could surely pass as youths, pay the cheaper price and save two bucks each. Rebecca voiced what was swimming through all our brains. “Why don’t we say we’re sixteen?”

Michael deemed himself our spokesperson, stepped up boldly to the ticket booth and proclaimed, “Four youth tickets please.” He named the movie but then the ticket guy hesitated as he looked us all over with a raised eyebrow. “How old are you guys?” he asked.

“Sixteen.” Michael answered.

“I’m sorry but this movie is rated R.”

The statement didn’t register at first. Rated R? So what! What did that mean? The others must have thought the same because moments passed without any of us speaking a word.

The ticket guy read the confusion on our faces and in response to our dumbfounded silence he added, “It’s rated R. That means you have to be seventeen to see it or have your parent’s permission.”

“Parents permission? But we are seventeen!” I wanted to cry out, only… that would expose our conspiracy to obtain cheap tickets; it would defeat the whole purpose of our fib.

Suddenly, it dawned on me like the morning sun poking its first rays above the darkened horizon: we dug ourselves into our own grave. By lying about our age to get into the movie at a cheap price, we denied ourselves entrance. Well, we sure hadn’t seen that coming!

Speechless, we could do nothing but stare at each other with desperately entreating eyes as if willing our thoughts to tiptoe out of our heads and silently plot a solution to our dilemma. I suppose each of us were wondering how we might still make it into the theater without looking like complete fools.

Next Week: Don’t miss the conclusion as Lisa shares lessons learned from her “White Lie.”

You can email encouragement Lisa at princesslilia@hotmail.com

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2004 Winner -- Poetry, 2004 Winner -- Sermon, 2004 Winner -- Prayer

Honorable Mention --

"Spiders-Webs and Spirituality" by Della Lynne Rhem or Shelbyville TN

"Memories & God" by Jan Reger of Lynchburg, Virginia

"I'd Rather Be Full" by Lori Mondshine of Cypress, Texas

"Trees" by Katherine McLane of Farmville, Virginia

"The Power of Kind Words" by Dianne T. Nash of Lynchburg, Virginia

"I Am Alive Today" by Betty Henson-Bini of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

"Real or Religious" by Sue Keen of Lynchburg, Virginia