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Then his voice fell to a whisper "Jolly old Saint Nicholas," he hissed "Lean your ear this way Don't you tell a single soul what I'ain "Yes, your children whisper their secret desires to Satan and he will answer their prayers, not with the presents they seek, and certainly not with the presence of God Immanuel! No, he will answer their prayers with the ashes of sin in their mouths, with the poison of atheism and unbelief in the plaslobin and replace it with hellish lust!"

And so on And so on

In Zeck's mind, the clock that kept perfect time went round the full forty minutes of the sermon Father never repeated hile e was always brief, Father said, but it took hiuage into the poor English that mere mortals could understand

And Father's serht in time He was not a man who talked just to hear himself talk He labored his labor and then he was done

At the end of the sermon, there was a hymn and then Father called upon old Brother Verlin and told hih to pray Verlin rose to his feet weeping and could hardly get out the words of the prayer of blessing on the congregation, he was sochosen for the first ti an old car of his for nearly that it orth, because the buyer had teiven, more or less That's what it meant, for Brother Habit to call on him to pray

Then it was done Zeck leapt to his feet and ran to his father and hugged him, as he always did, for it felt to hiht fro, and if Zeck could eht rub off on hiin to become pure Because heaven kneas not pure now

Father loved hientle on his hair, his shoulder, his back; there was norod to draw blood out of his shirt

"Look, son," said Father "We have a stranger here in the House of the Lord"

Zeck pulled free to look at the door Others had noticed the an declared hier wore a uniform, but it wasn't one that Zeck had seen before--not the sheriff or a deputy, not a fireman, not the state police

"Welcome to the Church of the Pure Christ," said Father "I'm sorry you didn't arrive for the sermon"

"I listened from outside," said the man "I didn't want to interrupt"

"Then you did well," said Father, "for you heard the word of God, and yet you listened with humility"

"Are you Reverend Habit Morgan?" asked the man

"I a us except Brother and Sister 'Reverend' suggests that I' No one certified me but God, for only God can teach his pure doctrine, and only God can name his ministers Nor aht, and must all obey the admonition of God to Adam, to earn his bread by the sweat of his face I farround I also drive a truck for United Parcel Service"

"Forgive norance, I meant only respect"