WOMEN                            57






                      Women. 


               MIRANDY HEARS ABOUT CREEDS


    "Br'er Jenkins was at my house last night," observed Mirandy, "a'
he was expostulatin' 'bout dat new  sect of religioners out in de West,
whar de man say he is Adam, an' de woman  say she is Eve, an' dey is
tryin' to start a sort of second-hand Eden  whar dey 'lows dere won't be
no sin, an' ev'body will go about widout no clothes on onless dey maybe
mought be sort of dressy, an' wear a fig leaf or so.
    "'Humph,' 'spons I. 'I don't think much of dat as a faith, leastways
for women. Dere wouldn't be no Eden ef hit didn't have a few bonnits,
an' longery shirt waists in hit. for no female lady dat I is acquainted with.
Besides even a angel looks better wid a nice floatin' robe on, an' dere ain't
nothin' in de spectacle of a bony, scrawny woman not a fat, floppy one to
clewate de thoughts towards speritual things. No. Br'er Jenkins,' says I,
'clothe; is lak de mantle of charity-dey covers a multitude of sins, an'
you wont never ketch me  runnin' off after any newfangled religion dat
does away wid yo' Sunday go-to-meetin' frock an' hat.'
    'Bless Gord  for de  faithful !' spons Br'er Jenkins,  'but dese folks
aint peeled down to de skin yit, owin' to not yit findin' enough folks
dat is got a strangle hold on sin, an' furdermore de climate been ser vig-
otous in dem parts in de winter.  But I hears dey is git a mighty likely
little valley whar dey is gwine back to the simple life of our first pa an'
ma befo' dey got mixed-up  wid dat serpent business.'
    "Yassum, dat's so.  An' Br'er Jenkins' remarks remind me of Br'er
Isham.  Br'er Isham was a moughty peart man, what was a master brick-
layer, an' when he move into our neighborhood dere was a mighty wrastlin'
around to see what ch'ch he would jine, because we all felt dat he would
be a po'ful ornament to de congregation, bein' as how he was a personable
man, wid a plug hat an' a bass voice dat shook de rafters when he open
his mouf to sing.
    "So all de sisters, dey go mighty perlite to call on Br'er Ishan, an
invite him to deir chu'ch. an' he thank 'em, an' say he'll be pleased to drop
around, but he don't say which faith is his faith, an' befo' we knowed hit
de Methodist. an' de Baptist, an' de Presbyterian, an' de Unitarian, an' de
Piscumpalums sistern was all a claimin' him. an' having eyes on his pocket-
book.
    "At last I went to hen, an' I says:
   "'Br'er isham,' says I, 'widout wishin' to pry into yo' private affairs,
I makes bola to ax you what is de entitlement of de chu'ch dat you belongs
to. for Sis Sally Ann says you is a Methodist an' is a countin' on you to
contribute to deir strawberry supper, an' Sis Lucindy says you shorly will




			

African Methodist Episcopal Church Review, Vol. 24, Num. 1

Women's Department

Volume:  24
Issue Number:  01
Page Number:  57
Date:  07/1907