In this wonderfully original and quirky fable, the ultimate wish is fulfilled – but in a way that no one expects: Jesus returns to earth – and He is a She.
For a long time nothing much has been different for the poor black congregations of the Sweet Pilgrim Baptist Church of Clearwater, Mississippi. Eastertime has dutifully rolled around again. The dogwoods are in bloom.
And then, from off in the distance, comes a wondrous music – a music that thunders throughout the sky with sweetness. It brings in its trail a celestial cloud. And, shortly after, it signals a heavenly visit: Jesus and Simon Peter come to town. And they are women. Jewish women – well-dressed, Fifth Avenue—model types, to be exact. “At times I’ve come to earth in the form of a man. But this time I’ve come as a woman. Is something wrong with me appearing as a woman?” Ms. Jesus asks the surprised churchgoers.
In short order, this unexpected turn of events becomes the norm. Jesus and Simon Peter drink Chablis with the locals; arrange for oil drilling on black families’ tiny lots; make some folks rich and a few bitterly envious; get caught up in civil rights matters’ and figure in a suspense-filled series of events that brings joy and prosperity, hatred and murder, and, as a final surprise, redemption.
