Mac the Angel
Joseph Anderson Donetti tried not to giggle. It was the first time he had actually seen Mac in her angel costume. Although he had certainly heard enough about it. Mac had discussed with him for hours just what she should wear.
Her mom had helped her sew a long white robe out of a sheet. Mac had dearly wanted to have wings. In fact, she had made a pair herself from cardboard. But she had not been able to make them stay on properly. And they were stiff and crooked. So she had settled on accenting her outfit with a beautiful gold belt that she and her mother found at the Goodwill store and a golden halo that her dad made for her out of some stuff he found in a box of Christmas decorations.
Mac had slipped off the platform when Joseph began his part of the program. She had told him ahead of time that she was sad not to be able to watch him go do his part, but there was no other time when she could get into her costume. And now here she came out onto the platform, tripping on her long robe. Joseph wondered if real angels ever tripped.
Mac made her way to the microphone. She gave the audience her most angelic smile. “I thought a lot about creation when we were studying it in our baptismal class,” she began. “I read the story in the Bible, and I tried to see it like a movie in my head. I can hardly wait to see the video of creation when I get to heaven! I’m just sure God made one so we could all watch it one day.
“I told Pastor Chuck that I wanted to tell the story like I was one of the angels who watched God create. But I found out that creation was so complicated that I couldn’t do it that way. But I wore my angel costume anyway to remind you that the angels were there watching. And besides, it’s beautiful!”
Everybody in the pews smiled.
“At first there was only darkness,” Mac continued. “Everything was very dark and still. And then the Spirit of God moved over the water. My dad says that word ‘moved’ means something like ‘vibrated’ because God’s Spirit was probably creating energy, and energy comes in waves. I learned that in school.” Mac bounced up and down on her toes. “Light waves, and heat waves, and sound waves,” she said. “I don’t really understand energy yet, but I will someday. And my mom says I have a lot of it.”
Everybody laughed.
Mac began again. “And then God created light. My dad says this shows that God started the earth spinning around. And there was light on one side of it just like the sun would be later. God must have done a lot of other things that day,” Mac said, “because I don’t see how it would take Him a whole day to say, ‘Let there be light.’ I guess we’ll have to wait until we see the video to know everything else he did.
“That was the first day. I don’t understand everything that God did on the second day either,” Mac confessed. “The Bible says He made air to divide the water in two. Some of the water was above the air, and some of the water was below it. God called the air sky.
“On the third day, God created dry land. And He covered the land with perfect dirt that didn’t have to be fertilized. Which was great because I don’t like fertilizing the garden very much! The dirt was all ready to grow the plants that He made next. He made full-grown trees and bushes and flowers and decorated the world just beautifully. And He said that it was good. I forgot to tell you that. Each day after His work was done, God looked at it and said that it was good.”
A baby began to cry near the back of the church. The mother stood up and hurried out to the Mother’s Room. Mac grinned. “The world was very quiet still,” she said. “There weren’t any babies yet, or birds singing, or animals stomping around.”
Everybody chuckled.
“On the fourth day, God made two great lights—the sun and the moon, and He also made the stars and put them in their places. Did you know that there are stars that are hugely bigger than our earth? But they are not more important than our earth. So God doesn’t think that bigger is always better. Which is good to remember if you are a short person! And God said that His work that day was good.
“I can understand how God was busy on the fifth day, though,” Mac continued. “First, He filled up the seas with all the animals and the fish that live there. I don’t think people can even count all the different kinds of fish and stuff that live in the ocean. And then God filled up the sky with birds. I think He had a really, really busy day! I mean, just think of all the different kinds of birds there are.” Mac began to look exhausted herself.
“And when the day was done, God looked at all that He had done, and He said that it was good. And He blessed all the animals He had made.”
Mac happened to glance up at the clock on the back wall of the church. “Oh, dear!” she gasped. “Pastor Chuck told me not to talk too long, and my mom said not to talk too much, and my dad said ‘Don’t get carried away’, and I think I did!”
Pastor Chuck jumped up. “It’s OK, Mac,” he said with a little laugh in his voice. “You’re doing a great job. You just tackled a huge subject—something people have written shelves of books about. I know that I, for one, would love to hear the rest of your story. And I think everybody else would too.”
Everybody said, “Amen.”
