THE CHAIR

CHARACTERS:

WOMAN

MAN

MINISTER

SCRIPT:

ACT 1 – AT CHURCH

(The Minister is at church praying. The Woman crying approaches him)

WOMAN: Excuse me. (The minister turns around and looks at her) Please, my

father needs you.

MINISTER: Calm down, and tell me what is wrong with him.

WOMAN: He is very sick. I think that if you talk to him, and if you pray with him, he
might feel better.

MINISTER: Let´s go right away. Let me just take my prayer book and the holy oil.

(The Woman and the Minister leave the stage)

ACT 2 – AT THE MAN’S BEDROOM

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(The Minister enters the Man’s bedroom. He leaves the door open. The Man is
lying in bed. There`s an empty chair beside his bed)

MINISTER: Well, I suppose you were expecting me.

MAN: No, who are you?.

MINISTER: I am the minister. Your daughter came to see me.  She wants me to
pray with you. But when I saw the empty chair, I thought you knew I was coming to
see you.

MAN: Oh yes, the empty chair. Would you mind closing the door?.

MINISTER: Not at all.

(The Minister closes the door)

MAN: I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter. But all of my life I have
never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the priest talk about prayer, but
it went right over my head. I abandoned any attempt at prayer, until one day about
four years ago my best friend told me, Joseph, prayer is just like having a
conversation with Jesus. I suggest that you place an empty chair in front of you,
and in faith see Jesus on the chair. Don´t be afraid, because he promised, “I’ll be
with you always.”Then just speak to him in the same way you’re doing with me
right now. So, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every
day. I’m careful though. If my daughter sees me talking to an empty chair, she’d
either have a nervous breakdown or sends me off to the hospital.

MINISTER: Well, I encouraged you to continue doing it. Let´s pray together.

(The Minister opens the prayer book and both pray. When they finish praying the
Minister anoints the Man with oil)

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MAN: Thank you, I feel much better.

MINISTER: I have to go to church now, but I´ll pray for you everyday.

(The Minister leaves the stage)

ACT 3 – AT CHURCH

(The Minister is sitting in his desk. The phone rings)

MINISTER: Hello.

WOMAN: I just called you to tell you that my father passed away.

MINISTER: Oh, I am sorry to hear that. Please tell me… did he go in peace?.

WOMAN: Yes, and when I left the house about four o’ clock, he called me over to
his bedside and told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back
from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange
about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his
head on the chair beside the bed. What do you make of that?.  What do you think it
means?.

(The Minister wipes a tear from his eye)

MINISTER: I wish we could all go like that. God bless us all!.

THE END

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Author: Unknown