I’d not been on a cruise in a very long time and was excited to experience the seas again. Embarkation was stress-free as I was the last one to check in and receive my cabin keys. The receptionist, who was the primary face of the cruise ship, was polite and paid attention to the details of anxiety I displayed. Even though I told her twice, “Don’t say my cabin number out loud,” I’m certain I only needed to note it once as she handed me the key.

Then, she tells me that the entertainment for the evening was Tasha Cobbs and how all the passengers are enjoying her performance. As a live-and-die hard music fanatic, I chose another excursion. Around the bend of arcades and other gaming machines, I heard children tête-à-tête and a man inspiring them. I peeked around the wall and there the children were, on the stage grasping a lesson on relationships. The parents and other passengers were in the audience.

When the teacher looked at me, I noticed that his right pupil was black and his left pupil was blue. As I slowly sat down, I watched the teacher…watching me. Then, he took a couple, stranger passengers, and seated them at the foot of the stage. They were angry people, looking like they were on a forced adventure. Not only were they angry, they unswervingly rejected the truth.

As I affirmed the teachings of this teacher, the aggravated lady next to me stood up with a fiery rage and exclaimed, “YOU’RE A LIAR!” I could see her choleric expression from my peripheral vision. Without agitation, I said to her, “He’s in the scriptures. What he’s saying is in the Holy Scriptures!”

What about the children? They had intently observed the behavior of the parents and the couple. I was thinking that, perhaps, they were thinking, “And therefore, grown-ups are failing in their relationships. They do not believe the teachings of the teacher.” SELAH!

When I woke up, I was gently reminded of Luke 18:15-17. As well as Matthew 18:3-6, KJV: verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Selah.

© September 10, 2017 Angela M. Smith