The Preacher Man

I was in my mid-twenties, employed at the local plastic factory. Working two midnight (8hr) shifts, and every weekend (12hr shifts). The weekend warriors, we called ourselves.

Most weekends I ran 3 to 4 sets of hot mold injection machines that made cassette cases. (Truely dating myself here🤣😂) We worked 11 am to 11 pm with one 45 min break. Now before anyone gets upset, we girls did it that way because we had to cover each other’s machines when the other was on break. And we ran our backsides off doing it. I was making 4.25 hr. plus piece work. The year 1992.

The mold techs, who were also our supervisors were ok, but we had our favorites that didn`t mess with our piece rate, by fixing problems right off. A down set of machines could mean the difference on what bill got paid that week.

Now to get to the meat of this story. The preacher was our weekend mold tech, and he was feeling his position, both on the floor as supervisor and in his lofty preachy self. Fairly new, but in my opinion had a high regard for his abilities. (Hint- he wasn`t one of our favorites). One day he asked me about myself, and a conversation ensued.

“So, you're a mom? - Two kids, really, wow. - So, what does your husband do? Oh you`re not married, but two kids, right?”

Casual conversation. He told me about his wife and family. Then it came, yup I couldn`t believe it either! Did you guess it? JUDGEMENT

“You must have been a disappointment to your parents. I`m the pastor at (I won`t name of the religion nor the church). You should come by our church; we can help you”

Needless to say, my dander was up. I had those two mouths to feed and I wasn`t going to let my pride get in the way of taking care of those girls, so I bit my 24-yr old lip. Probably hard enough to draw blood🤔But I digress.

The following is the song I wrote after that. Writing has always been my emotional outlet. I can write better than I speak at times. When speaking I tend to get nervous and trip over my tongue and lose my train of thought. My mind races with several possibilities of how I want to say any given thing. To articulate accurately means processing all of that on the fly.

Below -the Lyrics to that song. 👇

'Where Do I Worship You'

When I was a child, Sunday was for rest
Now they got me working Lord, I`m doing my best
Is it wrong to wonder, try to understand
Show me the way Lord, lend me your hand

(refrain) Where do I worship you
               How do I say my grace
               Can I do it here, Lord
               or in another place

Do I need four walls, a bell that you can here
Do I stand straight or tall, or do I show you fear
Protestant, Catholic, or am I a Jew
Does it really matter Lord, as long as I love you

(music interlude)

In the devil's darkness, a word is his seed
He plants it in your head, a doubt is what he`ll breed
Many do their bidding, by using your name
They steal from our souls, for their own gain

Other`s tell me that, that they know the way
As long as I follow, and do as they say
Feeding the hungry, giving to the poor
Not just on Sunday, doesn`t that mean more

You know I`ve cursed you Lord, used your name in vain
Through the power of LOVE, I bow my head in shame
Some people say that I`ve done you wrong
How can that be, Lord for you I write this song

 (Refrain) So where do I worship you
                 How do I say my grace
                 Can I do it here Lord
                 Or any other place

(repeat last two lines fading into music)    

  (c) 8-31-92 - Debra M Martin