29 September 2026, Freewriters Community Daily Writing Prompt Day 3241: my crutch
“OK, so this is what I don't understand about that whole conversation … if religion is 'my crutch,' does that mean my soul is still broken?”
“There you have it, granddaughter. Sometimes people are not saying to you what you are; they are talking about themselves.”
18-year-old Vanna Trent was discussing being cussed clean out by a former friend who had called her holier than thou and “church girl” and told her Jesus wasn't real and that religion was just her crutch and that real people were facing real problems in a real way in the streets …
“And blah blah blah – but she's calling me, the one using religion as a crutch, for advice and help,” Vanna said to her grandmother, Gladys Jubilee Trent.
“That's the part that to me doesn't make sense,” Grandma Jubilee said. “I am a whole Jubilee-of-the-mountain born – it's like why do you call me if you don't need the situation handled and don't think I can handle it from two miles off? So, if you don't have the real, Vanna, why was she even calling you?”
“I don't get it, Grandma Jubilee,” Vanna said. “How do people need you, and then when you don't give them what they want, somehow they are better than you?”
“Like I said, baby, sometimes people project,” Grandma Jubilee said. “But then there's this part, Vanna. Roll this around in your mind real slow: folks who don't know Jesus who want to use people who do know Jesus as a crutch.”
Vanna stopped to consider this.
“Why would you do this when you could just get saved?” Vanna said.
Grandma Jubilee looked around Vanna's chair.
“Looking for some seat belts for you, Vanna, because this here is gonna be rough,” she said, and Vanna laughed.
“OK, I'm ready, Grandma.”
“So, way back in I think in 1 Samuel 28, we have Saul, who messed up and would not fess up, and then noticed: God stopped talking to him. I mean he tried everything legal and then tried something illegal: go on and get Samuel's spirit pulled up from peace and quiet to talk to God for him. Why? Because the last time he and the prophet talked, Saul thought he got Samuel to go back by tugging on his robe, so, maybe it would work again. Well, Saul forgot this here: Samuel turned around and added to the prophecy of Saul having the kingdom torn away from him, and then went on back and killed the vibe of Saul's victory party by killing Saul's trophy, King Agag – left that man resting in pieces, dropped the mic, and walked off never to speak with Saul again in life because Saul did not obey God.
“So, uh, why would you ask the same guy to come back and tell you something different?” Vanna said.
“Because people want what they want, and they don't want to submit to God to get it, and sometimes, they forget the rules don't change,” Mrs. Jubilee Trent said. “So, anyway, Saul finds him a witch to go call for Samuel who gets shocked because the Lord has Samuel actually show up... just to tell Saul what God said after he messed up all those years ago and just add that yeah, David is going to be king, and the date on your execution for what you did against God reads 'tomorrow.'”
“Ouch,” Vanna said.
“All Saul had to do, anywhere between 1 Samuel 15 and 1 Samuel 28, was get squared with God: 'I was wrong, I'm sorry, and I'm willing to follow You again' – but no,” Mrs. Jubilee Trent said. “And in the meantime, Saul used up and wore out and ran off everybody else around him who could not fill the gap – only to let Samuel go on and die and then go drag him back up hoping to get a different answer.
“This is what is going on with some of your friends, Vanna – they are doing 'What Would Saul Do?' right now, and they are just cussing you out because they don't know how to use a javelin.”
Vanna almost fell out of her chair.
“Yeah, so you remember that Saul threw a javelin at David for existing while the Lord was with him, and at Jonathan for refusing to sin against the Lord and have David killed,” Grandma Jubilee said. “I don't care how long you have known anybody: when they show you they hate who you are because they see God blessing you in a way He won't bless them in their mess, believe them. Saul was not what we call Jubilee-of-the-mountain standard, going 0-3 with the javelin, but I bet he could have at least grazed with a sawed-off shotgun.”
Vanna broke out laughing.
“King Saul with a shotgun would have been dangerous, all right,” she said, “and I take your point, Grandma. She already blocked me, and if our old hangouts reopen after Covid, I'm not going back anywhere around her or our mutuals. That's all done.”
“Good, because, see, I'm not 0-3 with anything I choose,” Grandma Jubilee said. “I can and will do what I gotta do for anybody in this family, but, y'all staying out of the way of trouble saves other people's lives as well from resting in pieces. Old Samuel coulda been an honorary Jubilee-of-the-mountain on that Agag situation, rescuing Israel if not Saul from disobedience. I totally get it but your former friends don't need to get a good experiential understanding.”
“I get your point, Grandma – I'm good!” Vanna said. “Sheesh – and my former friend's name was Agatha!”
“I know that already,” Grandma Jubilee said. “I picked the story I did for a reason!”