JOSH – a man in his late 20’s or early 30’s.
AMY – his wife.
[Lights Up]
(JOSH is in the middle of recapping the day’s events which he has recorded on his notepad)
JOSH: . . . and after that I helped Mrs. McEddy weed her flowerbed,
then I picked up that stray dog and took it
by the Humane society. Combine that with buying that horribly tart
lemonade from the kid on the corner, and
holding the door for that group of seven pregnant women pushing strollers
at the mall and I think that you’ll agree
that today was my best karma day yet.
AMY: That all sounds great Josh. However I’m still a little confused
about where this sudden interest in karma
has come from. Isn’t that just some Eastern Philosophy mumbo-jumbo?
JOSH: Mumbo-jumbo? Are you kidding me? This is common sense. I’ll try
explaining it one more time. You see,
there are forces in this world that are greater than we are. These
forces that have a direct impact on what happens
to us on a daily basis.
AMY: I follow you so far.
JOSH: Good. Now most people would name all the positive forces "good" and all the negative forces "evil".
AMY: Right.
JOSH: What I have discovered is that the Hindus have an even better
explanation for these forces. They name
them all karma. Karma is like gravity, in a sense. What goes up, must
come down. For every action there is an
equal and opposite reaction. So, for every bad thing you do, something
bad will happen to you. The same is true
for good deeds.
AMY: So let me get this straight. You are now on this "good deed" kick
because you are trying to somehow
control the amount of good in your life?
JOSH: Yeah, kind of.
AMY: But what about what God has to say?
JOSH: What about it? This dovetails in perfectly with my beliefs. Doesn’t
it say in the Bible to do unto others as
you want them to do unto you?
AMY: Yes, but I think that you misunderstand the source of those good things.
JOSH: How do you mean?
AMY: Good things in your life don’t come from some cosmic Bank of Karma. They come from God.
JOSH: Ok Pastor, thanks for the sermon.
AMY: Seriously, Josh. Jesus said, "No one is good – except God alone".
Further more, the only way to know
goodness is to be willing to submit ourselves to God. Only then will
we be able to tell what "good" really is.
JOSH: Ok, ok. I know all the verses. It’s not like I haven’t been paying attention in church.
AMY: Then why all this about karma?
JOSH: I don’t know. I guess that it just makes sense to me. I mean,
this way I get to have some idea of what is
coming my way. With the God thing, who knows? You spend all that time
in prayer and reflection, talking about
all the bad stuff you’ve done, how unworthy you are and you’ve nothing
to show for it. My way is like a formula.
If you do "X" you get "Y".
AMY: God also promises to give us rewards for our good deeds. However,
the things He is going to give us are
better. In fact, they’re already waiting for us . . . in heaven.
JOSH: You’re on a roll aren’t ya? So, you may have managed to convince
me that God has a good deed
equation of his own, but you still haven’t told me why I should buy
into that one and not the Hindu one.
AMY: Easy, because God expects it. God has given us the most expensive
gift that any of us could imagine. Part
of what he asks in return is that we are good. If it weren’t enough
that God asks us to be good to one another, he
also promises that we will be rewarded for our goodness.
JOSH: I guess I never really looked at it that way. So I should be good because God has been good to me?
AMY: Exactly.
JOSH: (looks back at notepad) Well then, I guess tomorrow I need to
(begins writing things down as he says
them) work with little Jim on his free throws, edge Mrs. Dunlap’s driveway,
take my old clothes to Goodwill,
(AMY watches him, amused, and shrugs her shoulders)
[Fade Out]
...............................................
© Andy Campbell 2001
All rights reserved
This play may be performed free of charge, on the condition that copies
are not sold for profit in any medium, nor
any entrance fee charged.
In exchange for free performance, the author would appreciate being
notified of when and for what purpose the
play is performed.
He may be contacted at: aprilandandyc@earthlink.net