Christianity Explained.

Once more by popular demand, or at least some demand, the origins of Christianity are brought to light.

The Sharpest Knife in the Drawer

By Joan Baril

 She was fifteen years old and she was pregnant. What was she going to say to her parents? She’d have to tell them but how to pitch the message? And not only her parents. Once the elders of the village found out, there might be real trouble. Last year they dragged a woman caught in adultery to the village square and stoned her to death. Would she be next?

            But Mary was by far the sharpest knife in the drawer. As her mother wailed and her father shouted, she drew herself up to her full four-foot height and said, “I did nothing. Nothing. God did it.”

The Sharpest Knife in the Drawer, a story by Joan Baril

She was fifteen years old and she was pregnant. What was she going to say to her parents? She’d have to tell them but how to pitch the message? And not only her parents. Once the elders of the village found out, there might be real trouble. Last year they dragged a woman caught in adultery to the village square and stoned her to death. Would she be next?

But Mary was by far the sharpest knife in the drawer. As her mother wailed and her father shouted, she drew herself up to her full four-foot height and said, “I did nothing. Nothing. God did it.”

“What?”

“It was God. I swear. I was kneeling at prayer”—both parent rolled their eyes at this unlikely scenario—“when this angel appeared. Very tall, with golden wings, a shining face and he said I’d have a baby.

“No, it’s true. It’s true. I was so surprised. I said, ‘Hey! Hang on a minute,’ but he insisted it was God’s will. That’s right. And that the baby would be special, a rabbi. More than a rabbi—like a messiah maybe. Anyway,” she snapped her fingers, “I was pregnant. Just like that. And oh yes, he said I was special too, that I’m a holy person. God chose me.” She pointed to herself. “I’m full of grace.”

Xmas and the Giller

Christmas again.  Every year.  How did we get started on this road? On Saturday, check out my explanation in. "The Sharpest Knife in the Drawer." The short story starts "She was fifteen years old and she was pregnant. What was she going to say to her parents?"  

I have now read all the Giller fiction except the winner, The Sentamentalists.  The book finally hit Coles and Chapters but not my mail box yet.  

I take it all back.  This is an apology to Sarah Selecky.  I dismissed her Giller-nominated story collection, titled The Cake is for the Party.  I did this after reading one story. Me wrong.  This is a great book and I think my fav of all the Giller nominees so far.  Selecky sharpens her pen, dips it in a mixture of equal parts heart ache and acid, narrows her eyes and begins. She sets down contemporary, funny, wicked, sad tales, a sort of Sex in the City written by someone with an unflinching gaze and a secret notepad for the telling phrase. I especially liked the story, Where Are You Coming From Sweetheart?, which deals with a self-obsessed teen aged girl.