Dear Editor: The Sign

Dear Editor,

This is a story about THE SIGN and so much more.

It started pretty much like any other day, then took an unexpected turn. Or maybe, not so unexpected.

On the road to Butte, headed up the pass, I pull into the rest area. A familiar shade of green is illuminated by the sunlight.

Woah! What? I was kind of shocked - laying in the mud, half of it suffocated beneath the trash dumpster was THE SIGN.

JESUS CHRIST 2020 is all that was visible, but I knew what the hidden words under the dumpster were.

I thought how symbolic is that? The name of Jesus, the Lamb of God, kicked to the curb in the mud and filth under a rotting pile of garbage. Same as it always was! And is!

2000 years ago ancient Israel, rejecting Christ and the reality of who He is, was asked by Pilate: Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas or Jesus which is called Christ," (Matthew 27-17).

Barabbas, a murdering insurrectionist, thief, and lying conman OR Christ "the way, the truth, and the life," (John 14.6).

"And they cried out all at once, saying away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas," (Luke 23.18).

So "they" crucified the "truth" and embraced the lying conman.

Hmmmm... 21st Century America...lying conman...insurrectionist....hmmm.

As I stood next to the dumpster looking at THE SIGN, how can I move this oppressor and pull the sign out, I wondered. It's too heavy. There is no way I could move it.

So I drove away thinking, I am not going to turn away and leave that sign with Jesus Christ's name clearly visible for all to see buried in mud. I'll get it out if it kills me.

Back on the interstate, headed to Butte. Thinking...what a fool! Just remove the poster from the form-ply it's stapled to! Brilliant! Right?

So I sped around Butte, did some chores, visited Pork Chop Johns, and it was time to go.

"On the road again...I can't wait to be..." Whatever. The plan was to drive to Pipestone and turn around, then accelerate back to THE SIGN.

Hmmmm...how high is that concrete barrier in the center of the highway? Ok, ok, I can climb over that. No problem - new plan!

So I pull into the eastbound rest area, get out, and take a look. Traffic flying by. Look. Wait. Look. Wait. Ok, I'm going for it! Run into the ditch, across two lanes, climb the barrier, two more lanes, and head to the dumpster. I lean down and remove JESUS CHRIST 2020 from the mud. (Hey, I ain't playing!) Then back across the interstate.

Now there were two truck drivers standing in the parking lot watching me do all of this. They must have been thinking "What is this dirty old white boy doing? He must be nuts!" What do you all think?

Remember, I knew what the hidden words under the dumpster were.

How did I know what I could not see? Well, I am the author of the hidden words and those that were visible. That was THE SIGN I held high for all to see as I stood in front of the Whitehall Fire Station some three years ago. Two or three months ago I set IT up at the rest area to encourage thought. I should have known that in a Godless nation that worships a false God - GUNS, GUNS, GUNS - that IT would be trashed.

How many people saw THE SIGN lying in the mud and filth and walked away? Hundreds? Thousands? Have you turned your back on Christ?

Same as it always was! And is!

THE SIGN: Hunger for a Moral America? Jesus Christ 2020.

Protect children, not guns.

Gerald Johnson

Cardwell, Montana