All Saints Page #3

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Do you know how sunk you're gonna be?

Yeah, I'm gonna have to buy

my jumbo Cap'n Crunch some place else.

(SCOFFS)

(SIGHS)

(TELEPHONE RINGING)

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

- (THUNDER CRACKING)

- (RAIN PATTERING)

(CHUCKLES)

(LAUGHING)

(AIMEE SIGHS)

Where have you been? The bishop called twice.

I think God spoke to me.

What?

God spoke to me.

He wants us to turn the land

around the church into a farm.

God spoke to you?

The God?

Yeah.

Yeah, there's just the one, Ames.

Well, what did he say?

He said, "I've given you land,

"I've given you farmers, do the math."

(CHUCKLES) God said, "Do the math"?

What do you mean, a farm?

A farm. You know, crops.

And do what with them?

Well, we feed the Karen.

We sell the rest, pay the mortgage,

save the church.

Er, hang on.

Er, what happened to the land developers?

Did they say no?

Yeah.

I mean, not exactly.

Oh, no.

We would have been out of here in a week.

Michael, you're doing it again.

You're sabotaging another job.

Ames, God spoke to me.

To me!

I think he's been speaking to me all along

with the salad trucks and the Karen farmers.

God wants us to save this little church

by making the land into a farm.

(TELEPHONE RINGING)

That's the bishop. What do I tell him?

Tell him God spoke to you.

BISHOP:
This is what you do, isn't it?

Go your own way.

The lone preacher.

I only know what I'm led to do.

No, you also know what you've sworn to do.

Well, I found some jobs for the Karen,

but that means their

food stamps have stopped,

- so...

- Oh, Michael.

Well, they're just scraping by.

They need our help.

Do you think you're the first preacher

to cry for the poor, for a dying church?

It's a question of faith for me.

Faith in who? Yourself?

You don't seem to have

much faith in your council.

If you did, you would know that you are

part of us, and you would trust that.

That's not faith.

Faith's not a memo from your boss,

even if your boss wears the collar.

You swore an oath

as a minister to God, not to me,

to obey even when you disagree.

I swore an oath as a Christian

to care for the least of these.

Oh, God save me from first-time pastors.

(SIGHS)

My first call was in Africa,

building a chapel.

But what the people really

needed was an aqueduct.

So, every day we'd build the chapel,

and every night, they'd tear out the wood

and add it to the aqueduct.

God's wisdom is vast, Michael.

We don't always know what he's asking.

You seem awfully sure.

Let me at least try.

Let me take it to the council.

Your church would have to sign on,

everybody, especially the Karen.

And when you come to the B&C,

you better have a plan

carved on tablets from Mount Sinai.

Yes, sir, understood.

And you get that if it all goes south,

you'll be mopping marble floors for 20 years

before someone offers you another call.

- I do.

- And you also get

that I'm only one vote,

and not necessarily a "yes."

I get that, too.

Thank you, Bishop.

Michael?

That voice you hear...

Be sure it's God's voice, not your own.

Okay, we're agreed? Yes?

Wonderful. Thank you.

- (APPLAUSE)

- (SPEAKS OTHER LANGUAGE)

Come on, let's go in the back.

Come with me. Come with me. Follow me.

Thank you.

These separate services give

my Southern soul the creeps.

Well, it's better than

the Karen sitting there mute

- while the white folks pray.

- You know, padre,

we don't choose who God sends to our door,

but we do choose how we receive them.

Hey, hope this bunch likes

the idea as much as the Karen.

I should stay and help.

No, no, I'm fine.

I stay and help.

Okay. (CLEARS THROAT)

(RAP MUSIC PLAYING OVER SPEAKERS)

(SIGHS)

ALL:
(SINGING)

Fill his courts with songs of praise.

Nice. Please be seated.

Before we finish up today,

I want to ask you a question

that I've already asked the Karen.

Well, the deal's done up in Nashville.

The "for sale" sign's out front.

We're already starting to feel sorrow

for the loss ahead that we're facing.

But what if we could stop it?

What would you do to stop it?

What would you do to save your church?

- Anything.

- What could we do?

What can we do?

Well, we have fields.

We have farmers.

Let's put this together and start a farm.

- What could we plant?

- We can plant corn,

tomatoes, squash.

Very good soil for these plants.

The Karen have seeds for... What's it called?

Sour leaf from Burma.

We can sell it to Asian restaurants.

So, we use the crops to feed the Karen,

we sell the rest to pay off the mortgage.

There should be plenty for both.

Ye Win's asked for a promise

that everyone works, all of us.

I've given him that.

So, that's it.

That's what we propose.

Start a farm, we work together,

we save the church.

- Amen.

- Amen.

If that sounds like a good idea,

let's see a show of hands.

I thought so. All right. (CHUCKLING)

(DOOR OPENS)

Now what's your problem?

You're quite a salesman, ain't you?

That's no sales job. Look at that land.

Get in!

Get in the truck!

You don't say much, do you?

I'm fixing to say plenty.

All Saints ain't no farm.

See this, right here?

This... this is a farm.

Know how you get seeds into the ground?

Plow.

Know how they plow? Tractor.

Know how seeds sprout? Water.

Know how you water? Boom sprayer.

We've got dozens of people.

Yeah, well, maybe they can...

maybe they can plant.

If the weather holds, maybe they can harvest.

But they ain't gonna keep your fields wet.

But this is so good for us,

especially the Karen.

They don't need you

swooping in there, saving them.

Them people come out of a jungle war

that would have ate you for breakfast.

Exactly.

I'd need their help over there

just like they need our help here.

Them people are not here to pick your

beans. They're here to be Americans.

What's more American than farming?

How many Americans do you see out there?

Are you ready to ride them Karen

like these people

have been rode all their lives?

Till their fingers bleed and

their backs are broke so bad

they can't pick up

their young'uns in the evening?

Are you ready to be that cruel?

Well, I ain't.

No, sir.

Not no more.

You don't have to be afraid of that.

God won't let that happen.

You're just a huckster, ain't you?

You're a con man in a collar.

You tell them, "God told me to do this."

- You're looking for a new pulpit.

- Come on!

Maybe in a cathedral or something.

I'm right, ain't I?

You're seeing all them bishops

lined up to shake your hand,

and you're saying,

"I'm just doing God's will."

Yeah, yeah. Let's just go.

It's true, ain't it?

Look at yourself.

Were you this cowardly in Vietnam,

or is this a new thing?

Get out of my truck.

Get out now!

For... Forrest!

That was his farm, the one he sold.

He didn't say it, but I know it was.

Whatever. I'll manage without him.

You should take Ye Win with you to the B&C.

I can handle the bishop

and council. Trust me.

No, you can't. Not alone.

- They're gonna grill you.

- Aimee...

He knows these people, Michael.

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