ANGELS AT WAR
CHAPTER 12
CRICKET KARR AND THE ROCK STAR
ARCHANGEL QUERIDA
ASK AND IT WILL BE GIVEN YOU; SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND; KNOCK AND IT WILL BE OPENED TO YOU. FOR EVERYONE WHO ASKS RECEIVES, AND HE WHO SEEKS FINDS, AND TO HIM WHO KNOCKS IT WILL BE OPENED. (Matthew 7:7, 8)
“Did you just throw Cricket under the bus?” Vermillion asked as he sidled up to me. He wasn’t gloating, so I figured he was concerned.
“Of course not,” I simply replied to my former friend. What I didn’t tell him was that carnal passion shouldn’t get in the way of spiritual progress.
We had just witnessed Cricket interrupt Violetta and Sully as they engaged in a passionate lip lock. Vermillion knew that I had motivated Cricket to seek out the couple. What he meant by ‘throw her under the bus’ was because of the stunned expression on her face. He assumed the look of her countenance was jealousy.
But Vermillion underestimated a soul fully surrendered to God. Cricket was such a soul. Yes she had been tempted. When Sully tried to place his mouth on hers, she had an inkling of regret at rejecting his advance. But if she ever did submit to the opportunity of romance, the man must be a committed, grounded follower of Christ such as herself.
True, Sully had very recently accepted Jesus as his Savior. But he was brand new to Bible believing faith. He needed to grow from an admirer of Jesus to a follower, denying himself and taking up his cross. (Matthew 16:24) What the Apostle Paul meant when he said, ‘I die daily’ (1 Corinthians 15:31) needed to transfer from a concept to a practice with the young man.
Vermillion had entered Sully’s mind as he slept. But so did the Holy Spirit. The Comforter’s influence led the man to utter the plea, ‘Lord, help me.’
I was thereby instructed to enter his dream as well. But it was much easier to communicate with a human in a sleep state when they were devout. The less devoted, the harder it is to negotiate the direction of their brain waves. Thus, Sully was a challenge.
Vermillion was attempting to take advantage of Sully’s pent up hormones. He was steering the man’s attraction to both of the Karr sisters through erotic dreaming. It gave me righteous indignation when he was going to make a wholesome, Godly young woman like Cricket appear lewd in Sully’s imagination.
So I motivated a Boston Terrier, who responded to the name Waffle, to show Sully some affection. This guided his subconscious fantasy away from Cricket with a jolt of reality. Just to be clear, I simply wanted the dog to nuzzle Sully’s ear, maybe lick his face, and awaken him. But my opponent managed to keep Sully in a passionate slumber for another twenty seconds longer than I had hoped.
But Vermillion’s extra activity with the jolly canine backfired. Waking to a mouth full of dog slobber caused Sully’s arousal to disappear. However, only half a day later amorous feelings returned. It was apparent that slobber from a lovely female human had the opposite effect of going mouth to mouth with a dog. Having Cricket interrupt their private moment wasn’t as effective as Waffle, but it still redirected the lustful mindset. For the time being anyway.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” wide eyed Cricket declared, then spun on a heel and prepared departure.
“Cricket, wait!” Violetta blurted. “It’s not what you think.”
Cricket obeyed the command and turned back around. “How do you know what I think when I don’t understand what I saw myself?”
“We were just, um, I mean I was…”
Cricket couldn’t help grinning. It wasn’t often her strong, feisty sister became rattled. “I think I understand. You two were tussling again and trying to bite each other’s faces.”
“No,” Violetta barked, blushed, and regained her typical feistiness. “We just sort of fell on the tailgate here and… Oh what’s the big deal?”
“You’re the one making it a big deal,” Cricket said mildly. “Look, I didn’t mean to invade your privacy. I’ll leave you two to it.”
Cricket turned and began to briskly walk away and her sister gave chase. Sully remained sitting on the tailgate of the old pickup truck. He had never been drawn to two women at the same time before, let alone two sisters. Two sisters who were both so different. Two sisters who seemed unattainable. He was confused.
But did he just have a breakthrough with Violetta? Or did Cricket just ruin it? What about this spiritual transformation he had been experiencing? How was it the Karr sisters were both feeding this spiritual growth, yet also inhibiting it by his attraction to them. He put his hands on his head and attempted to pray. He was inexperienced at petitioning God and quietly said, “Hey, Jesus, it’s me.”
He was really surprised when he heard a voice say, “Sully?”
This voice discombobulated him for a few seconds. He wasn’t expecting an audible response. But when he lifted his head and opened his eyes, he saw his cousin Jeremey approaching. “Oh, hey Jer.”
“Who are you talking to?”
Feeling embarrassed, he almost replied nobody. But when he was reading the Bible Cricket had given him, he recalled some words of Jesus. ‘He who is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed.’ (Luke 9:26) “Um, I was just trying to pray.”
“Oh, sorry, man. I’ll leave you to it.”
“No, no, that’s okay. I was groping for words anyway… How well do you know the Karr sisters?”
“I don’t know Cricket all that well. But Callie and Violetta are best friends, so I’ve gotten to know her fairly well I suppose.”
“What about guys in Violetta’s life?”
“What guys?”
“That’s what I’m asking.”
“And that’s what I’m saying, what guys?”
“You mean she’s into girls?”
“No, she and Cricket both are what you might call, what’s the word? Asexual, I think. Both seem to have no interest in romance, but for different reasons.”
“What reasons?”
“Well, Violetta is kind of a loner that’s into nature. On weekends she’ll go off by herself on a horse, and you won’t see her all day. And you’ve probably discovered that Cricket is a religious zealot.”
“You say that a bit derogatorily.”
He shrugged. “It is what it is. It’s because of her that Callie and I are getting married when we are. I wanted to wait at least another year.”
“How in the world is that Cricket’s doing?”
“Well, Callie goes to Cricket’s church occasionally. I don’t know if Cricket told you, but she goes to church on Saturdays rather than Sundays like normal people. Anyway, it was right after Callie returned from one of these services that she said we shouldn’t have sex anymore until we were married.”
“So your church is okay with premarital sex?”
“Well, technically no. But we are saved by grace through faith, not by keeping the law.”
Vermillion began to cackle as we watched the two cousins converse. “That’s it, Jeremey, well put.”
I recalled a scripture to Sully’s mind. Sometimes when a mind is fresh to spirituality, it absorbs things like a sponge. What gets difficult to work with is a mind saturated with religious rhetoric, such as Jeremey’s. Sully responded, “Cricket told me something from, I believe Romans. It said, ‘do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.’” (Romans 3:31)
Jeremey paused, confused, then Vermillion helped him out. He said, “Don’t let her put you under the law. The Bible also says all have sinned.”
I am in no way insinuating Jeremey was going to be lost because all humans are a work in progress, even Cricket. All those that will ultimately be excluded from heaven will have been such by their own choice. But all Christians should take to heart something C. S. Lewis said: ‘There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.’
“Yeah, sure, I get that,” Sully said. “But Jesus also said, ‘if you love Him, you’ll keep His commandments.’” (John 14:15)
“What, are you a Bible scholar all of a sudden?” Jeremey asked with a bit of sarcasm.
“Maybe,” Sully shrugged. “You call Cricket a zealot, but her knowledge of the Bible, and the way she explains things fascinates me.”
“I can see why you might think that, but just be careful.”
“Be careful of what?”
“Fanaticism.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean people like where Cricket goes to church. They take the Bible too literally.”
“Doesn’t your church believe in the Bible?”
“Of course. But we read it responsibly.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means we realize it was written like two thousand years ago. Things change; people change. Like the whole Saturday verses Sunday thing. We keep Sunday now in honor of Christ’s resurrection.”
“Cricket says that change is not in the Bible.”
Jeremey shrugged. “I guess church leaders changed it.”
“How can man change God’s law?”
“Well, men wrote the Bible.”
“Not the Ten Commandments. God wrote that on tables of stone with His own finger. The Sabbath is right in the middle. Cricket showed me a Bible verse that says, ‘I am the Lord I do not change.’” (Malachi 3:6)
“Look, Sully, I didn’t come to argue with you. I came to tell you we’re camping a few miles down the river. I’ve got plenty of room in my camper. Callie doesn’t want us to be tempted so close to the wedding so she’s sacking out in Violetta’s camper.”
The thought of camping near Violetta was tempting. But possibly awkward as well, and Sully was tired. “No thanks. I woke up to a strange dream and couldn’t get back to sleep. I’ll do my own style of camping tonight.”
“What’s that?” Jeremey frowned.
“It’s a nice night so I think I’ll sleep with the window open.”
Jeremey chuckled. “Give me a break.”
“One break, coming up.”
Jeremey shook his head, grinning. But the smile grew rapidly into a straight face. “Listen, Sully, I’m glad you are seeking God, and Cricket is a wonderful person. But do me a favor and sit down with my pastor. He has a degree in theology, and he can answer your questions better than I can.”
“Maybe.”
“All right. See you in the morning.”
Sully watched his cousin walk away, then gazed up at the stars for five minutes. My former friend chuckled maliciously, and I noticed he was arranging a situation of temptation.
“The weapons of our warfare are indeed carnal,” he said, misquoting 2 Corinthians 10:4 which states that the weapons of our warfare are NOT carnal.
Sully walked across the road to Jeremey’s house. As he negotiated the stairs on the back deck, he noticed someone sitting under the porch light with Waffle on their lap. It was Violetta! She was gently stoking the Boston Terrier’s head. Sully’s heart skipped a beat as he wondered what was behind her intense gaze.
