The devil sits on your eyelids.

He sits there with his legs dangling and swinging nonchalantly yet
efficiently he keeps your lids shut. Yes indeed, the devil sits on your eyelids.

Funny, how the devil is always to blame for things you dont want to admit to and for things you
refuse to take responsibility for. Who did it? Not you? Not me either. Well, it was probably the
devil. The devil is after all, the devil. You keep your eyes shut in an attempt to compensate for
only a little over a couple of hours sleep, and you blame the act on the devil. Well the fact of the
matter is, you allow the devil to sit on your eyelids.

At any rate, you slowly open your bloodshot eyes, battling the devil, shoving him off of his
comfortable seat. You blink yourself awake a few times, but the residue of sleep remains; its
footprint evident in the dark, swollen circles below your eyes. You are not yet fully awake, but
you are at least functional.

You are seated with your legs crossed at the very front row of the church pews. Its a bright
Sunday morning; the sun is out after a long night of rain and it blazes. It is as if it is screaming
condemnation at the night and the clouds for hiding its splendor. Its the perfect day to return to
the House of God.

Youve been away from church for so long that it was refreshing for you to walk through the
heavy doors and into the Sanctuary. You were nervous about it this morning; your hands were
shaking as you knotted your tie, but once you were through the doors everything felt better. Now
that youre in the Lords presence everything feels appropriate, like everything fits together - like
pieces forming a puzzle. Heck, you even feel comfortable in the old skinny, ill fitting suit youre
wearing which you found on a mannequin in one of the stores at the mall.

As the choir sings you stand and open your hymnal. You sing along with them; the words of the
old songs come back to you, and they roll off of your tongue without you even looking at the
hymnal. You sing How Great Thou Art with the choir and the congregation and your heart
swells and your soul indeed sings. You realize that given the present circumstances you find
yourself in, its quite oxymoronic for you to thank God with all your heart and all your being, so
much so that you are reduced to tears. But still, you do. You praise God.

The singing ends and the pastor walks up to the pulpit as the people sit and settle down. He is
silent for a few moments, and you wait for him to speak. Suddenly, he bursts powerfully into
prayer, uttering salutations and exaltations to God. He thanks God for all Hes given and all Hes
done, and he thanks Him for all He is yet to do. The congregation agrees with him, hailing hearty
amen!s every now and then. After he conveys gratitude, the pastor goes off to ask for
forgiveness of sins. This portion of the prayer strikes you; you feel that all that is happening, to
you and to the world, is a consequence of the unforgiven sins of humanity. The pastor continues
his prayer, asking God to give him wisdom as he preaches the Word, and asking God to use him
as his mouthpiece. He then ends his prayer and you agree with him in Christs name with an
amen.

He begins his sermon, which is focused on John 3:16. It is perhaps the most known verse in the
Bible, and it talks about the love of the Father and his plan of Salvation. It reads in the King
James Version, For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Its the perfect verse for times such
as these, you think. Everyone needs to be saved. With so much death, and so much suffering
around you, people need a Savior. The pastor declares as much. You smile to yourself; youve
only just returned to the House of God yet somehow, youre thoughts are in tune with those of
the preachers. As such, you listen attentively as he speaks, mentally taking notes of his key
points.