ACT I
INT. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN
OF JERSEY CITY
An intimate sanctuary,
like fifty-people intimate, is filled with a random selection of people who’s
appearances all share only one thing in common – they’re dressed in their
shabby Sunday best.
The pulpit sits on more
of a platform, than a stage, and a PASTOR wearing a faded robe-that’s-too-small-for-him
holds a Bible in the air as he delivers his sermon.
PASTOR
And
Thomas didn’t believe what Jesus told them.
In John chapter fourteen, he says to Jesus, “Lord, we know not whither
thou goest; how can we know the way?”
We move past pew after
pew of a devout congregation, all rapt with attention. Some people are even mouthing the bible
verses along with the Pastor.
We settle on the very
last pew, where an eighteen year old girl is casually swiping at her
phone. She’s pretty, all-American, the
type of person you’d judge to be a sheltered innocent and be totally right. Except for the sheltered part. This is BETHEL.
ON BETHEL’S PHONE:
“HAVING FAITH DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO BE BLIND”
BY PROFESSOR ALTON KIND
ON BETHEL
She runs her finger up
on the screen with purpose. This isn’t
an idle waste of time for her.
WOMAN (O.S.)
Huh-Hum!
Bethel looks up. The woman sitting next to her, a large and
squat creature wearing a chastising expression and oozing with matronly scorn,
is her mother MARY.
MARY
(Whispering for the Lord)
Bethel!
Put the phone away!
BETHEL
Sorry mom.
Bethel hits a button
and the light of the screen dies.
PASTOR (O.S.)
But
we all know what Jesus said to Thomas that day, don’t we?
MAN (O.S.)
We
sure do!
Bethel looks past her
mother to the man sitting on the other side of the pew. He’s tall and thin, with bright eyes that are
moist with his conviction. Bethel’s
father, CHARLES, nods along with the pastor, even when the pastor isn’t saying
anything.
PASTOR
“I am the way—
As one, the
congregation joins in.
PASTOR CONGREGATION
--the truth and the life: (same as pastor’s)
no man cometh unto the
Father, buy by me.”
We’re with Bethel,
watching her parents join in on this act of mob mentality. She rolls her eyes.
PASTOR
Now
there will always be people like Thomas who question. People who don’t understand how you can have
such complete and total faith in God. In
our lord and savior Jesus Christ. And I
would ask you, in those times, not to lose patience. Because, the fact is, we have the proof
behind our faith that they refuse, or perhaps cannot, accept.
Bethel leans forward,
just a little, in the pew. Mildly
curious.
And then the Pastor
holds up his Bible, high into the air.
PASTOR
We have this.
Bethel leans back in
the pew, giving an almost imperceptible shake of her head. She pulls out her phone, tucks it to the side
so her mother can’t see.
PASTOR (Cont.)
We’re
the lucky ones. Because we don’t need to
question, we don’t need to doubt, we don’t need to fear. God laid out everything for us in his Word. All we need to do, is have faith. Amen?
CONGREGATION
(Roused)
Amen!
PASTOR
We’re
soldiers, remember. In the age-old war
between Heaven and Hell. Our faith is
our shield, and the Bible is our iron.
Sometimes, the shield gets chipped, worn, by these doubting Thomases
that are in our lives. It’s up to us, to
keep our faith sturdy. And it’s also up
to us, to share the iron with them, in the hopes that they’ll make their own shields.
CHARLES (O.S.)
Amen!
Bethel snaps from her
phone to see her dad, full-on crying, as he stands and applauds the pastor’s
last words.
PASTOR
Thank
you, brother Charles. Well, I’m not
gonna get a better reaction than that.
The congregation
laughs.
PASTOR
So
let us bow our heads for the closing prayer.
Uniformly, everyone in
the congregation leans forward, resting their heads against the top of the pew
in front of them.
Bethel is just a hare
behind them, following the lead of her parents.
When her head hits the pew in front of her, she wraps one arm around her
head, shielding her face from her mother’s line of sight.
Her other arm is
extended way low, with her phone screen turned up. It’s the church-version of reading under your
covers super late at night.
PASTOR (O.S.)
Our Heavenly Father…
We’re with Bethel as
she types away madly on her phone.
ON BETHEL’S SCREEN:
NYC APT LISTINGS
ON BETHEL
She gives the final tap
and a million search results pop up.
We close in on her eyes
as they flick back and forth with the speed of a humming bird’s wings.
INT. LIVING ROOM
Mary and Charles sit in
their simple living room sipping on cups of tea.
That shabbiness in
their Sunday best, it’s reflected here times a hundred. There’s nothing overly valuable in this
room. A couple sitting chairs, a coffee
table.
In fact, the most
valuable looking elements are a three-dimensional crucifix sculpture on the
wall above Mary’s head, and a beautifully gilded over-size bible in the center
of the coffee table.
Bethel briskly jogs
down the stairs, easily visible from the living room.
BETHEL
I’m heading over to Miriam’s mom.
MARY
Bethel, can you come in here please?
The most annoying
phrase a teenager can hear.
Bethel walks in and
stays standing. She doesn’t plan to stay
here long.
BETHEL
What’s up mom?
MARY
Can you sit, please?
Bethel obliges, but
with the only two chairs occupied, she has to sit on the floor. She crosses her legs.
Mary breathes out
audibly, visibly more comfortable. She’s
used to this sight.
MARY
Beth,
you know your dad and I love you right?
BETHEL
Are
you guys getting divorced?
CHARLES
What? No!
BETHEL
Is
that what this talk is about?
CHARLES
Why
would you think that?
BETHEL
I
dunno. I hear you guys fight
sometimes. Oh, you want to know who I’d
choose to live with?
CHARLES
We’re
not getting divorced. Mary?
MARY
Charles,
relax. She’s teasing you.
A broad smile on Bethel’s
face proves Mary’s right. But Mary isn’t
smiling.
MARY
Beth,
I want to talk to you about church.
BETHEL
Why?
MARY
Because
you don’t pay attention, anymore. You’re
always on your phone. We have to drag
you there every Sunday. It feels like
you don’t even want to be there.
BETHEL
I
wanna be there mom. I’m just a teenage
girl. Teenage girls love their phones
and like to sleep in late. Even
Christian ones.
MARY
Please,
you’re smarter than that Beth. And I’m
smarter than that, so give me some credit.
You’re not some teeny bopper who’s can’t see past the surface. You’re too curious for that. And I’ve always loved that about you, but
lately, it just feels like…Charles, help me out. It’s too hard.
CHARLES
Beth,
over the last few years you’ve gone from being our smart and faithful little
girl into a…distanced young woman. It
feels like you’re drifting. From God,
and from us.
MARY
And
we’re worried Beth. You leave for
college in a month. If you’re drifting
now, where will you be after four years at NYU?
Bethel sits up from her
relaxed, Indian-style position. She
brings her knees up to her chest, and wraps her arms around them.
BETHEL
Ya
know, I was thinking about the pastor’s sermon today. About faith.
About how important it is.
MARY
It’s
the most important thing we have.
BETHEL
I
get that. But do you, either of you,
think it’s possible for different people to have faith in the same thing, only
differently?
CHARLES
I
don’t follow.
BETHEL
Well,
take Miriam for example.
MARY
Your
best friend Miriam?
BETHEL
Yeah. She’s Jewish.
CHARLES
I
don’t like where this is headed.
BETHEL
No,
dad, no, she’s practicing.
CHARLES
I
really don’t like where this is going.
BETHEL
My
point is, she has faith in God. We have
faith in God. And by both the Bible and
the Tora’s definitions, it’s the same God.
But we practice different faiths.
Do you see?
MARY
Sweetheart,
it’s not the same God.
BETHEL
Why?
CHARLES
Because
Miriam doesn’t believe that Jesus Christ is her lord and savior.
BETHEL
So?
CHARLES
Her god is fiction.
Her god is fiction.
BETHEL
Dad,
you cannot be serious.
MARY
Charles,
please.
BETHEL
It’s
all fiction. But that’s not what
matters, right?
It’s like she just
dropped a bomb in the middle of the room.
CHARLES
I have to go.
MARY
Where?
CHARLES
Pra…
Charles looks over at
his daughter as he catches himself.
CHARLES (Cont.)
Read. I
need to read.
Charles leaves.
BETHEL
Mom, I didn’t mean to hurt him
but,
what he said was insane. Who is he to
condemn an entire religion as false?
MARY
He’s
a man of faith, Bethel. A believer. That’s what faith is, a road to belief. You can’t have one without the other.
BETHEL
I’m
sorry mom. But I disagree. I have faith.
I don’t know why, but I do. But
as far as believing that Noah built an ark so large he could fit a pair of
every species on it, or that a bite from one apple threw all of us out of
paradise forever…I just can’t.
MARY
Do
you believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God? And that he died for your sins?
Bethel looks at her mom’s
expectant, pleading face. But she can’t
answer.
MARY (Cont.)
Ok. Ok.
Mary gets up and walks,
shellshocked, to the stairs. She stops
at the foot and turns back.
MARY (Cont.)
Don’t stay out too late.
She walks up a couple
steps. Then stops and turns back to
Bethel.
MARY (Cont.)
And give Miriam my love.
Mary continues up the
stairs.
Bethel is left sitting
alone. On the floor.
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