Lionel Troy stands before his congregation. The pulpit, as always, his stage.
“Ya see folks, Daddy Zion don’t want you to worry. Daddy Zion don’t want you to cry. He is your Daddy! He MADE you. He PROVIDES for you. If you walk off and try to provide for YOURSELF? Your ass is gonna fall prey to the Jaboo.”
Amen, amen.
“After all, lest we forget the story of Bartolo in the Maze, hmm? Open them Zionic Texts to Verses 4-9 in Chapter 3 of the Book of Willoughby.”
“Bartolo, a clever thief, had boughteth a pair of magic wings with stolen credits prior to his imprisonment in the Maze. But Zion, infinite in all ways both imaginable and unimaginable, spaketh unto Bartolo. ‘Lo, useth not them magic wings, for they do not cometh from me. I am the provider. I will guideth you towards escape.”
“But what did Bartolo’s bitch ass, punk ass do?”
“He didn’t listen to Daddy Zion! He didn’t heed Daddy Zion’s warning! He betrayed Daddy Zion! And thusly, Zion abandoned his bitch ass in that maze, with his little bitch ass magic wings.”
“So Bartolo put them wings on his back and he soared high into the air. But what Bartolo didn’t realize is them magic wings he bought off that vendor?”
“Well I’ll be a sumbitch if they didn’t suck the will right out of him.”
“Because them magic wings were cursed as all fuck. Amen?”
Amen.
“Daddy Zion was trying to tell Bartolo, ‘Look here you little asshole. My way is the right way. My way is the hard way. And the easy way out? Well, it screws your ass completely in the end.'”
“And screw. His. Ass. It. Did.”
“Because every second he used those wings was a second his own free will was drained from him. Zion offered him grace. Zion offered him strength through him to make it out of that maze the right way.”
“But Bartolo chose the easy way, Amen?”
Amen.
“And folks, you got people out here in this cold world that’s coming to an end, and they’ll sell you anything to make a buck — but if they can make more than a buck, they will. And if they can sell you the easy way, if they can sell you the way that makes you weak, the way that screws you over, they will.”
“Why Lionel? Why do they do it?”
“That’s the wrong question.”
“You see, all y’all’s lives are your own mazes. And if you keep taking the easy way, you keep buying a way out of your situation instead of seeking Zion, and you’re gonna stay exactly where you are, or worse.”
“Because the easy way out? It’s like a damn lamplight.”
“But the hard way? If you’ll see it all the way through… Folks, the light will shine brighter than a lamp. That’s Zionic light, my lambs.”
“And if you find yourself in a maze, well, you better hope it’s Zionic light showing you the way, rather than a lamp.”