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THE PRESCRIPTION

MAIN POINT
What is the best source of help for our troubles? The answer depends on the nature of our problems. If we have a troublesome personality quirk, we may find more help for that particular problem from psychology than from religion. If we have been anxious and overworked, we may get more relief from recreation than from attending church. If we are physically ill, we can turn to medicine. If we have trouble expressing our emotions, we can join an encounter group. And if we are in poverty, the government is probably a better source of long-term help than is the church.

But when what we are dealing with is soul-sickness, the help we need comes only from the church's "pharmacy," where prescriptions such as these are issued: "Read your Bible," "Pray every day," "Attend worship every Sunday," "Trust and obey," "Do unto others," "Take up your cross," "Believe in Jesus."

We may well say, "Why, I've heard those things ever since I was a child. They are okay, but my problems today are too big for such simplistic advice. I need some real help."

The question, however, is not whether secular help is more appealing, but which help can make us whole?

This sketch suggests that when it comes to soul-sickness, the church's prescription is the only source of healing.

CHARACTERIZATION
Kathy is a young mother in her late 20s or early 30s. She's caught between the responsibilities of caring for her own family and helping her ailing father. She loves her father and is truly worried about him. Clearly, she and her dad have had a good relationship, but it pains her to see him in such a slump since the death of her mother. And to a degree, she's begun "mothering" her father.

Dad is in his 60s and is feeling lost without his wife. He knows he's becoming a worry to his children and feels badly about that. He wants his children to be free to live their own lives, but he's stuck in his grief and despair.

DIRECTOR’S NOTES
1) Consider putting the sermon between the two scenes. Depending on how the sermon is developed, Kathy's line at the end of the second scene could be a fitting conclusion that will keep the audience thinking about the message.

2) Dad should look defeated, especially in the second scene. His movements should be slow, his shoulders slumped, but be careful not to exaggerate this defeated appearance. In the first scene, in fact, Dad has a little hope - that the new doctor will have a solution - and he should show in his determination as he gets up to leave for his appointment.

3) Kathy's "mothering" of her father should be gentle and not obnoxious. Do not play her as "talking down" to Dad. She still respects his intelligence and his right to make his own decisions.

4) Although this is a serious sketch, there is a moment of light humor when Dad says, "He gets a hundred bucks an hour and he tells me something I could have heard in church for nothing." The audience may laugh. Prepare "Kathy" to wait until the laughter begins to subside before delivering her next line.

RELATED SCRIPTURES
In many ways, Dad is a modern version of Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-14) and a good sermon could be built on that text. Other healing stories would also make good starting points. Consider Matthew 8:2-17; Matthew 12:9-13; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 8:43-48; John 5:1-9; John 9:9-41.

RELATED THEMES
Besides the primary topic of soul-sickness, this sketch could also be used to introduce the topics of prayer, grief, the stresses on adult children caring for ailing parents, or the concern of older adults about losing their independence.