The Epiphany of Three Men of the Cloth

*Image of The Collection Plate by TPW. The Epiphany of Three Men of the Cloth My submission is of an objective accounting that had scintillated at my workplace yond the mid-'70s. It had spun into a resplendent calling as a writer, triggered by my poem with a major national magazine. Subsequently, a flurry of anthologies while holding onto a lifetime profession and retiring amidst my thriving social media network exposing some of my composed works through videos to thousands of online subscribers--averaging seventy thousand viewers monthly, and on the day of this writing, more than 8.3 million viewers. The latter portion of the preface is the after-effect of my present recreation that I solely claimed to be a wayward poem that I had written and had mysteriously appeared on a national publication desk. The culprit that all believed to have executed such a feat was our bellman, Tom Hanks. Yes, now he is a famous actor. Signed post form and a receipt check, my entitled poem was printed in a Spring issue of the following year by a major national magazine facing the pinnacle of its existence. The Collection Plate 'Tis a sanctuary, a place of worship, one's faith unchallenged, acceptance universally. A complement of thrice their numbers, spiritual qualities as faithful servants, pronounced by their autonomous tenet gathered did they; a pastor, a priest, and a rabbi. They'd planned to divey-up-the-spoils that overwhelmed the plate, and being their first meet, contemplation lagged on until hopeful resolve. The pastor leads the others to the heart of the sanctuary, and he suggests that a circle drawn in the center of the sanctuary where he'll stand in its core, throw the plates of monetary yield up in the air, and whatever falls within the circle goes to the Lord, and whatever falls beyond the circle, is theirs. Disagreement followed. The priest suggested that he'd draw a line in the heart of the sanctuary, then toss the plate monetary yield up in the air and what falls on the right side of the line is the Lord's, and on the left side is theirs. Disagreement followed. They were at an impasse until the rabbi took the deliberating pastor and priest out from within the sanctuary. Then the rabbi suggested to the pastor and the priest that by launching the plates' monetary bounty skywards to the open air, the Lord grabs His, and what falls earthward is ours. 2022 August 19 *9th Place* The Epiphany That Changed Your Life Forever ~~Chantelle Anne Cooke: Judged 2022 September 05