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HONOR    4'0m2f Honor your father and your mother

MEL -- (enters, carrying Bible, sipping from styrofoam cup) 
Eeeuuu, this fruit punch! No wonder adults drink the coffee 
after church.

TIF -- (follows, running) Melissa, you've got to hide me. 
(stands beyond Mel, ducking slightly)

MEL -- Why? (looking back to exit) What did you do?

TIF -- I called my Mom a nag.

MEL -- Nice work! Now you can just kiss off the movies this 
afternoon.

TIF -- That's why I yelled at her.

MEL -- Why?

TIF -- She said I couldn't go to the movies with you.

MEL -- Why?

TIF -- I promised her that I would do my homework yesterday but 
I didn't get around to it. 

MEL -- Oh, Tiffany!

TIF -- It isn't like I don't have the rest of this afternoon 
and all of tonight to do my homework.

MEL -- So, you called her a nag.

TIF -- (looking over Mel's shoulder toward exit) Do you see 
her? I'm hoping she'll cool down if I stay out of sight for a 
while.

MEL -- It's a good thing you're not a Jew in ancient Israel.

TIF -- What does that have to do with anything?

MEL -- (hands Tif the cup) Here hold this. I'll show you. (opens 
Bible, pages through)

TIF -- (drinks) Eeeuuu, this fruit punch! No wonder adults drink 
the coffee after church.

MEL -- (laughs) Yeah, that's what I said.

TIF -- What are you looking up?

MEL -- Here it is: Deuteronomy 21, commandments for the Jews. 
See here? It says, if you have a rebellious child, ..."all the 
men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the 
evil from among you." 

TIF -- They really DID that?!

MEL -- I don't know if they did it or not. But it must be pretty 
important for God to command it that way. (turns pages)

TIF -- All I did was call her a nag. It isn't like I swore at 
her or something.

MEL -- (points) Look here.

TIF -- Exodus 20. That's the ten commandments. So?

MEL -- (points to each) So, you've got four commandments about 
God and (points) then six commandments about other people. Look 
the first of the commandments about people.

TIF -- "Honor your father and your mother."  Alright, you've 
preached a good sermon, Pastor Tom.

MEL -- Tiffany, you can make light of it if you want to, but 
these are the ten COMMANDMENTS, not the ten good suggestions or 
the ten really cool ideas.

TIF -- Yes, but my Mom PROMISED I could go to the movies today.

MEL -- Yes, and YOU promised to do your homework. Look at the 
next commandment.

TIF -- "You shall not murder." I never killed anybody.

MEL -- I'm not saying you did. But look at the order that God 
lists the commandments. They're listed in order of importance. 
He says honoring your father and your mother is more important 
than (points) "You shall not murder." It sounds to me like it's 
pretty important to God that you honor your parents.

TIF -- Yeah, well, I'll honor her later. Right now, I'm mad at 
her.

MEL -- If you won't honor your mother for her sake, do it for 
your own benefit.

TIF -- Are you saying that if I go and apologize to her, she 
might let me go to the movies?

MEL -- No. Read here. (points)

TIF -- "Honor your father and your mother..." I just read that...

MEL -- Read the rest of it.

TIP --"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live 
long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." So?

MEL -- So, did you know that people who honor their father and 
their mother live longer than those who don't?

TIF -- No, I didn't. So, what are you saying? Are you saying 
that because I called my mother a nag, I'll get eaten by worms 
or struck by lightning?

MEL -- No. What I'm saying is that the Lord made the universe 
with certain rules, like gravity. If you jump off a tall 
building, you'll probably fall and die. If you honor your father 
and your mother, you'll probably live longer than someone who 
doesn't. It's as simple as that.

TIF -- (sigh) I suppose I should go and apologize to her.

MEL -- Only if you want to live long in the land the Lord your 
God is giving you.

TIF -- (sigh) You know, you ruined everything.

MEL -- "I" ruined everything?!

TIF -- Yeah, I was having such a good time being mad at her. 
(takes a sip from cup)

MEL -- (laughs) You'll get over it.

TIF -- (looks in cup) A lot sooner than I'll get over this fruit 
punch. Here. (hands over cup) Wish me luck. (exits)

MEL -- I wish you long life. (begins absentmindedly to drink,
looks in cup, scowls, follows)

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