Ellie then stood up in Albert Square, in front of the grand Gothic Town Hall, and her voice boomed out loud and clear: People of Manchester! (pause) God made the world, not you!
Narrator: And there were two people in the crowd that day. Well actually there were hundreds, all very spaced out of course, social distancing you know, I mean literally, not metaphorically, there were no drugs involved. Anyway, two of them started heckling, and they happened to be called Izzy and Jess.
Izzy: Well God didn’t do a very good job then, did she mate! He or she made a right mess!
There was snickering through the crowd. This is Manchester, not Liverpool, but even so people do have a sense of irony.
Jess: No it’s not a mess, it is beautiful, but we’re ruining it! We have to save the dolphins, we have to stop polluting the earth, the ground, the seas, the sky… Listen to the planet, people!
Ellie: People of Manchester! Stop talking about the problems for a minute! God gave you your breath in the first place! Just be quiet for a bit and listen.
Izzy: Yeah and who are you mate? You’re from down South aren’t you? Think you know all the answers with your clever rhetorical tricks. Educated at Eton were you? Who gave you your breath?
Jess: Yeah, I bet you drove up here didn’t you? Getting your exhaust gases into our air. Should have just made a podcast. Polluting the planet with your big speaking tour! The insects will hit back, mate. Watch out! The tide is coming in!
Narrator: Some people in the crowd are looking around anxiously, for insects and water.
Ellie: People of Manchester, listen! God gave breath to everything on the earth, the insects, the dolphins. She made the tides. She put even put the moon up there.
Izzy: yeah, right. What about evolution, mate? Haven’t you heard of Charles Darwin? You’d be better off in the States mate. They like your lot there.
Jess: Don’t go by plane though! The skies are so clear for once. The birds can hear themselves think, let’s keep it that way people! Shut the runways, open the skies!
There is another stirring through the crowd, as they contemplate their foreign holidays and their lost deposits.
Ellie: People of Manchester! God made the United States, he made the UK, he made France, he made China, he made all the nations. And marked out the territories they should inhabit.
Izzy: Yep, now we see where you are coming from. What about colonialism, what about the long historical struggle over land and trade routes and power, what about slavery mate? Who made that then?
Jess: Sure but who are the slaves now? It’s the animals! The factory farming! We are so arrogant, so sure of ourselves, we coop up the chickens and wonder why we get all these diseases. Free the birds! Free the pigs!
Ellie: People of Manchester! You’re missing the point. God made this beautiful world, and she made us her children. That’s the truth of it – if only you could see it. We are made in the image of God! I’m talking about a deeper truth, people! We are made in the image of God!
Izzy: Mate I might be, but I can’t see how you can be, sunshine. I’m not feeling the divine presence, mate.
Jess: Yeah, and what about the dolphins? Are they made in the image of God too? And the chickens? And the insects? You’re not making any sense!
Ellie: People of Manchester! Finally we’re getting somewhere. I knew you would understand. God is not like anything that human beings can make. God is that in which we live and move and have our being. I’ll say that again, that was nice: God is that in which we live and move and have our being. I’m going to write that down.
Izzy: (sarcastically) wow man that’s so cool.
Jess: yeah, maybe that is cool…
Narrator: and the crowd started to move off… socially distanced of course.
Ellie: wait, I haven’t told you about Jesus yet! He rose from the dead you know!
Narrator: But the crowd has had enough theology for one day. They are off to find a sandwich.
The End
Andy