Author: Johnathan Embers

ANGELS AT WAR – CHAPTER 3

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

ANGELS AT WAR

CHAPTER 3

ARCHANGEL QUERIDA

THEY WHO SIN AGAINST ME WRONGS THEIR OWN SOUL (Proverbs 8:36)

            Jenny Oakley lay sprawled on her bed; her position reminded her of making snow angels as a little girl. She glanced at the bottle of pills on her nightstand and then back at the ceiling. What was she to do? Twenty-two, single, poor and pregnant. She turned her head back to the nightstand, recalling the haunting words from Becky yesterday. Then she watched her hand move toward the bottle.

            “Jenny,” Becky had begun her judgement with a soft tone. Her condemning words ironically sounded soothing, sweet and dripping with honey. “Given what you confided to me the other day, I’m afraid I had to make a tough, tough decision. But as head deaconess, it’s my responsibility to uphold integrity… I’m afraid I can’t allow you to teach the children’s Bible  class going forward.”

            “Stop tempting her with the pills,” I told Vermillion.

            “She has free will,” he replied menacingly. “You put things in her way; I put things in her way.”

            “Why are you so filled with hate? Why do you want to destroy a sweet, innocent girl?”

            “Innocent? Ha! She’s a fornicator. She doesn’t even know if the daddy of her love child is Devin Hart or Jimmy Stetson.”

            “No thanks to you taking advantage of her desperation.”

            “Oh poor little heartsick Jenny. The Christian Bible tells its believers to come out of the world, not adopt its philosophies. She should have kept her skirt on until she was married, right? Not only that, she became intoxicated and had a one night stand with Jimmy Stetson.”

            “If anyone sins, they have an Advocate with Jesus,” I told him, paraphrasing 1 John 2:1.

            “Oh yeah? So apparently she had to use that Advocate over hundred times during the last two years. Every time she climbed into bed with old Devin baby.”

            “In her mind she was committing to him for life.”

            “Really?” he drawled sarcastically. “Funny, I never heard any vows. Never saw a wedding band slipped onto her finger. As matter of fact, in the beginning, as I’m sure you recall, he told her a man has needs. He suggested he would move on if those needs weren’t met. Shouldn’t he have at least suggested establishing a home together one day? She gave into ‘a man has needs’ without so much as a hint of commitment.”

            “They met in church, so she assumed he was in it for the long haul.”

            “Are you excusing sin?” he taunted.

            “Of course not! But I am trying to keep a desperate young woman from destroying herself for eternity.”

            “Too late, old friend,” he replied, emphasizing old and our former friendship before he became part of the third of angels cast out with their leader.

            “Why are you so cruel? Jenny’s done absolutely nothing to you.”

            “Oh yes she has, by default. We were kicked out of heaven for what you call sin. She’s a sinner. Jesus called Satan a murderer (John 8:44). Well old friend, this little hussy considerers herself a believer, while at the same time she’s contemplating murdering herself along with that little bun in the oven.”

            “You seem to be ignoring a huge difference.”

            “Am I? Or is sin not sin then?”

            “You and your cohorts sinned in the light of God’s glory. Without a fallen supernatural being taking advantage of weak human nature.”

            Vermillion grunted angrily and coaxed Jenny to not only reach for but grab the pills. I blocked and countered by causing her to notice the mail she had thrown onto the nightstand before she crashed onto her bed. Of the three pieces, two were junk mail. Then she frowned at the anonymous note I had arranged to arrive in her box.

            I might have had a text sent, but this was the summer of 1990, several years before cell phones. The brief communication simply said, ‘You can’t change the beginning, but you can start now and change the ending. Before you do something desperate, go talk to the two potential fathers. And I do mean both! They have a right to know.’

            Her frown deepened as she reread the note. She unconsciously opened the drawer of the nightstand and pushed the pills inside and closed it. Vermillion expressed frustration. He called me a few unflattering names and threatened to double down.

            Jenny wondered who of the two women she had confided in had sent the note. But wait, she thought, as an old saying came to mind. ‘Can three people keep a secret? Yes, if two are dead.’

            Maybe Trixie had told the other two girls she went out with during that night of indiscretion with Jimmy Stetson. What was she thinking that day, before it turned into night? But she had been curious.

            Curiosity is one of the most successful tricks my counterparts use, curiosity of the forbidden. What would it be like to smoke a cigarette or even a joint? What would it be like to experiment with some form of forbidden sex? What would it be like to try a beer or wine cooler?

            In hindsight, Jenny spending an evening with wild young women, who went by the names Trixie, Roxy, and Skippy, was poor judgement. Especially when Trixie declared happily, “We’re virtually the same size!” She then proceeded to dress Jenny like her peers. Complete with a low cut top, high rising skirt, black stockings, and shoes with three inch heels. Then they decorated her head with what seemed like a whole can of hairspray and gaudy make up.

            She felt like a clown and could hardly walk in the shoes. She regretted accepting the invitation Trixie had regularly offered her. The two women worked together as waitresses at a diner. Trixie was always sharing stories with her coworkers about carnal adventures she experienced with her girlfriends. And, well, Jenny was curious, telling herself she was just going to be an observer.

            Jenny rarely drank alcohol and had never had more than one in a sitting before that night. But she had downed two wine coolers before they even had left Trixie’s apartment. She was buzzed and kind of liked it. She also felt quite sexy for a clown.

            By the time they stopped at a third bar, Jenny was feeling no pain. She was also starting to feel no coordination, and before they exited Roxy’s car, she ditched the three inch heels for her own flats.

            Guys were hitting on her left and right! But she just giggled and replied ‘no thanks’ to offers of drinks or dance. Trixie playfully rebuked her. “Honey, when you dress hot, guys tend to want to keep you cool.”

            “What do you mean?” Jenny asked naively.

            Trixie emitted a throaty laugh. “I mean you drink for free.”

            “Check it out, Jimmy Stetson just came in,” Skippy declared as she pointed to three guys who came in together and sat at the bar.

            “He’s just a tease,” Roxy lamented. This comment made Jenny frown. She had only ever heard of girls labeled teases.

            “Tell me about it,” Skippy lamented. “I practically told him I wanted to go to bed with him and he blew me off.”

            “I guess all three of us have struck out with him in one way or another,” Trixie said.

            “Not many guys in the bar scene are out of our league,” Skippy drawled. “But Jimmy Stetson’s in a league of his own.”

            “Now don’t give him so much credit,” Trixie differed. “He’s just a hot construction worker, not some millionaire playboy.”

            “Maybe so,” Skippy said. “But I’ll make out with a Sting look alike any day.”

            “I think he looks more like a modern James Dean,” Roxy differed. “All cool and brooding.”

            “I say he looks like MacGyver,” Trixie added, then turned to Jenny. “What do you think?”

            “I agree with Trixie, when I knew him he always reminded me of MacGyver.”

            All three stopped with drinks half way to their mouths. Skippy asked, “What do you mean when you knew him?”

            Jenny shrugged. “Jimmy and I shared a lab table in science our senior year of high school.”

            “Go say ‘hi’ to him then,” Skippy challenged, seeming a bit jealous.

            Roxy pointed at Trixie, Skippy and then herself. “One, two, three strikes, we struck out.” Then she challenged. “Batter up!”

            If Jenny hadn’t been so buzzed, she would have sunk down in her chair, or maybe even have fled. On the other hand, she never would have admitted knowing Jimmy if she had been sober. But with her inhibitions down, she boldly arose and went to her former classmate and immediately teased him about a little accident he had. “Hey big fella, break any beakers lately?”

            He squinted at her with a smirk as his brain processed who the woman in front of him was. Then he grinned, “Jenny Oakley?”

            “One and the same,” she said a little drunkenly as she spread her arms.

            “I beg to differ,” he replied.

            She frowned. “What do you mean?”

            “You’re not the same Jenny I remember.”

            Understanding his implication, she cocked a hip, put a hand on it, and flipped her hair with her other hand. “You like my new look.”

            He turned to fully face her on his bar stool and folded his arms. “No offense, but I liked the old Jenny better.”

            Her face held a dumbfounded look as she gazed at him. He laughed. “Sorry, that was cold. I had few beers before we got here, it must have given me diarrhea of the mouth.”

            “No, that’s okay,” she giggled and actually touched his arm. “Would you mind telling me why? Just tonight with this little experiment, I’ve had more guys, um, checking me out, than I ever have before in my whole life. So I find it a little puzzling that you preferred the old me, so to speak.”

            “Believe it or not, I prefer a pretty girl who dresses wholesome. Keeps a guy guessing.”

            Jenny’s buzzed brain had trouble comprehending. She didn’t mean to make audible her thought. “Me pretty?”

            “Yes, you pretty,” he grinned.

            Despite the effects of adult beverage, she now blushed. Jenny had always felt filled with not quite. Her sandy hair was not quite blonde. Her gray eyes were not quite blue. Her eyes were not quite good enough to avoid glasses. Her teeth were not quite straight enough to avoid braces. Her grades were not quite an A average. Never interviewed quite well enough to get a good job.

            “So you don’t typically dress like this?” he asked.

            “No, never, I mean until now, you know tonight,” she pointed at her girlfriend’s table. The three were staring but looked away as soon as Jimmy’s gaze turned on them. “Trixie talked me into it.”

            “Oh yeah, how come?”

            Inhibitions loosened her tongue some more. “My boyfriend of almost two years dumped me for someone else a couple months ago. A few weeks ago he pleaded with me to take him back, saying he made a big mistake. I gave in and took him back. Long story short, a couple days ago, not even a month into our reunion, he tells me he and his wench got back together.

            “So, at work. Trixie and I are both waitresses at Grandma Em’s Diner. I was crying on Trixie’s shoulder about being played, or whatever it was he pulled… By the way, I wasn’t literally crying on her shoulder, it was ah, um, what do you call it?”

            “A figure of speech.”

            “Yes, a figure of speech. So Trixie convinced me that the best medicine would be a fun girl’s night out. Then before we left her place, she talked me into wearing some of her clothes.”

            “So you’ve never dressed like a stripper before?” he asked bluntly, almost insultingly.

            “No, never,” she said wide eyed. “As a matter of fact, I was wearing her shoes with three inch heels, but I put back on my own shoes that have none.”

            She kicked up a leg to reveal her low heeled pumps, and the shoe slipped off her foot and sailed off in an arch ten feet away. “Opps.”

            Jimmy retrieved the shoe. As he sat back down, he asked his buddy, “Don, will you slide down another stool so Jenny can sit down next to me?”

            “No problem,” Don grinned maliciously through a weeks’ worth of stubble and winked.

            “Sit down and give me your foot,” Jimmy ordered.

            Jenny obeyed with her eyes still wide and placed her foot on Jimmy’s lap. What happened next is why alcohol is called spirits. The more you use and abuse the substance, the more a being like Vermillion has a door open to tempt or even destroy a soul. Due to their inebriated state, coupled with lust and desire, my enemy’s work was made easy. I, on the other hand, was pretty much a helpless witness.

            Jenny was so enraptured by Jimmy holding both her foot and her shoe, she was oblivious to how high her already short skirt had hiked. I made her aware of his pause as he replaced her shoe on her foot, and she noticed where his eyes were transfixed. She wiggled on the stool as she worked her skirt back down to mid-thigh. Jimmy found this act of modesty in her immodest attire all the more alluring.

            “You must be Cinderella,” he grinned as the shoe fit.

            She giggled. “Then you must be my prince.”

            He kissed her and the table of three applauded. Their applause rippled into more clapping and cheers throughout the tavern. Jenny looked embarrassed, but Jimmy somehow looked both annoyed as well as amused. “Why can’t people mind their own business?”

            The night quickly became a blur. She vaguely remembered her and Jimmy stumbling into her apartment. She recalled their passion as if it was a dream. She with skin crawling remembers the morning quite well though. She was so nauseous she couldn’t make it to the bathroom and threw up in her garbage can. Thankfully, Jimmy had slipped out before she woke, so she at least didn’t have the embarrassment of him watching her hurl.

            Jimmy never called and Devin was back with the other woman. What should she do? Who sent the note? What did it matter? She read it again. Start where she was? She could change her ending?

            So start as single pregnant woman who was beyond broke with almost a thousand dollars debt on one of her credit cards and six hundred on another? Vermillion had her considering abortion, so I devised a plan of my own.

            Emma, the older lady that lived below Jenny on the ground floor, hated to impose on people. Let’s just say I persuaded her to call Jenny. “Hi Honey, I hate to bother you, but my brother is coming for supper tonight and I discovered I have a mouse nest in my little grill. With my recent hip replacement, I’m skittish about walking it down to the edge of the woods to get rid of it.”

            “Oh, Mrs. Vargus don’t you dare try to do that,” Jenny told her kindly. “It’s no problem at all. I’ll be right down.”

            Jenny gave a little squeal of surprise when she cleaned out the grill. She had expected the little pile of fluff to be empty. But as she dumped it at the edge of the woods, four hairless babies and the mother fell onto the ground. The mother began to hall her baby mice away one by one.

            Despite the monster a thousand times bigger a few feet away, the brave little creature came back for all four of her offspring, hiding each one safely, in her tiny mind, under some leaves. Jenny put a hand to her mouth and whimpered as tears flowed down her cheeks. “Lord, please forgive me for what I was considering. A mouse is a more devout mother than me.”

            She resolved to contact Devin Hart that very day. As a matter of fact she would call him as soon as she was done helping Mrs. Vargus. He did have a right to know he was likely going to be a father.

            She bit her lip. Likely! Why did she have to have that one night stand with Jimmy Stetson? That was so unlike her! Now she couldn’t be one hundred percent certain that the child was Devin’s, just mostly sure.

            “Hello?” A male voice droned over the phone line.

            “Hey Devin, it’s me,” Jenny said evenly. “We need to talk about something.”

ANGELS AT WAR – CHAPTER 2

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

ANGELS AT WAR

CHAPTER 2

ARCHANGEL QUERIDA

THE ANGEL SAID TO THE WOMEN, “DO NOT BE AFRAID, FOR I KNOW THAT YOU SEEK JESUS WHO WAS CRUCIFIED. HE IS NOT HERE, FOR HE IS RISEN…” (Matthew 28:5, 6)

            I had never known such despair as Vida and I watched the Son of God cry out as he hung upon the cross. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

            We wanted more than anything to take Him down from the cross and minister to Him. Just like we did after His forty days and nights in the wilderness. After this extreme trial, the devil fled and we strengthened and encouraged Him. (Matthew 4:11)

            “Querida, we have to do something!” my companion said as we watched the Savior on the cross.

            I understood his desperation, but there was a clear message from on High. “I know how you feel, Vida, but we must let Him be.”

            “I can’t stand this, Querida!”

            I turned to speak to my dear friend, but a demonic roar interrupted me. I saw Vermillion and his companion, Adbeel with a company of about two dozen demons celebrating. The gaze between my one time close friend and I connected. The ugliness in his vindictive grin made witnessing the scenes of Calvary all the worse. It was hard to believe he and I had been so tight before the cosmic conflict had begun. Now he was a major nemesis.

            Ironically, Vida and Adbeel were once as tight as Vermillion and I had been. After the fallen angels were cast out of heaven, Vida and I had discussed our similar situations with our former friends. He, like me with Vermillion, had tried to council Adbeel against siding with the Luciferians. However, Vermillion had a more persuasive effect in Adbeel’s ear than Vida. So the four of us had inadvertently switched roles as best of friends.

            Have you ever thought certain sporting participants looked crazed and even evil as they lorded over their opponents? The shouting, flexing, and pounding of chest. Well, that had nothing on the fallen angels as they celebrated the violent, cruel death of the Son of God.

            There’s no point in me trying to describe the demonic seen. Both good and evil angels are invisible to humans unless we purposely manifest to the physical. The best I can suggest is to imagine what I said about poor sportsmen and multiply it tenfold.

            I really loathed the phrase ‘lesser of two evils.’ But that was exactly the position Vida and I were in. Either witness the bloody, beaten form of the Son of Man dying on the cross, or watch a demonic host gloat over it. Something occurred to me as I painfully watched the Prince of Peace in torture. “Jesus can’t see through the portals of the tomb, Vida.”

            “What do you mean?” Vida asked.

            “He’s tasting, not just physical death, but eternal death for humankind. He’s thinking His separation from God the Father will be permanent. Yet He’s submitting to it anyway. What wondrous love!”

            “We must have misunderstood Jesus when He said the third day He will rise again,” Vida replied.

            “It’s not the third day,” I told my companion as I also felt the first glimmer of hope. “He just can’t see it right now. What amazing love!”

            “Absolutely amazing!” Vida agreed.

            The diabolical roar intensified and Vermillion, Adbeel and their fiendish host charged Vida and me. Like the rush of a powerful storm, they came at us. Had things changed with the death of the Son of God? So far we had been untouchable to the fallen angels. Our warfare had been spiritual. We fought over the souls of human beings.

            Vida and I held our position, trusting in God’s protection. It wasn’t in vain. Several of our angelic colleagues rushed up to us like a mighty wall, and the evil forces reeled back. They retreated as if a great tsunami were about to crash down upon them.

            Gabriel, a superior of ours, approached Vida and me with a greeting humans would consider a hug. Then he said, “Vida, Querida, come with me.”

            In a flash we were at the temple, a dozen of us in total. Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. Then Gabriel gave the command, “Tear the curtain in two, from the top to the bottom!” (See Matthew 27:50 and 51)

            One of us could have completed this task, despite the veil of the temple being about five inches thick. But it was assigned to several of us so the great honor could be felt by more than one. For the gesture signified an end to sacrifices. For Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice, accomplished an end of the old covenant and the beginning of the new covenant. The beginning of righteousness by faith.

            The earth quaked and a centurion that had been guarding Jesus declared, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54)

            “Vida,” Gabriel petitioned. “Go to the Roman guard that just acknowledged Jesus as Messiah. His heart has opened to truth. Do what you can, Adbeel is trying to close in on him.”

            “Aye, aye,” Vida replied enthusiastically, and my partner in righteousness was off.

            Gabriel then assigned some more angels to the women who had been ministering to Jesus. (Matthew 27:55, 56)

            Then he sent another to Joseph of Arimathea to inspire him to ask for the Savior’s body. I was starting to feel left out, yet I knew I wasn’t. I was simply anxious to serve the Son of God however was seen fit. Gabriel’s gaze turned to me. “Querida, I need you to return to heaven briefly.”

            I would have been disappointed if it hadn’t been for the word briefly. This told me I was to be assigned an important task and was going there for a special blessing. When I came back to earth, I did it with such gusto that the earth quaked. I rolled away the large stone that blocked the entrance to Jesus’s tomb. He had risen from the dead!

            I caught a glimpse of Vermillion, Adbeel, and a few of their cohorts. They were singing a different tune now. It was a song of silence, confusion, even despair. I didn’t gloat as they had done. But my heart, if you please, rejoiced over the Son of God’s victory over death! Imagine that, the only human being in history that raised Himself from the dead!

            I was sitting on the large stone when two women close to the Savior’s heart arrived. They looked beyond stunned to see me. I couldn’t help grinning as I reassured them. “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He is risen as He said He would. Come see the place where the Lord lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee. There you will see Him. Behold I have told you.”

            Trembling with excitement, they ran from the tomb to tell the disciples.

            (Matthew 28:2-8)

            Different perspectives on the resurrection are given at the end of all four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. At the end of Matthew, Jesus gives The Great Commission, to take the Good News into all the world.

            John sums up his Gospel by expressing a thought about the amazing existence of Jesus.  ‘There are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.’ (John 21:25)

            Forty days after Jesus’s resurrection, He ascended up to heaven in a cloud. (Acts 1:9) Just before He parted ways with His disciples, He gave them some words of encouragement. Mainly He promised them the gift of the Holy Spirit with power.

            As Jesus arose from the earth, Vida and I stood by not far away and watched a couple of our colleagues. They assured these followers of Jesus of His eventual return, which was to be recorded for posterity in the Word of God.

            “Men of Galilee,” the two men in white apparel said. “Why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)

            It’s been more than two thousand years since God became a man. As a ministering spirit (Hebrew 1:14), I have experienced many victories. Unfortunately, working in a fallen world, with sinful humans, thereby competing with demons, I have also experienced numerous defeats.

            One of earth’s gifted writers said this quote. Actually he wrote a lot of brilliant things under the inspiration of God. But this particular quotation pertains to the battle human beings faced with sin. His name is C. S. Lewis, and I quote, ‘There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God, and counter claimed by Satan.’

            I could use up your whole lifetime telling stories spanning several thousand years. So where do I begin? I’ll start off with a young woman close to the present time who gave in to a few too many of Satan’s counter claims.

            Using the hope of love, Vermillion led her to a state of despair. I in turn led her to something that ultimately gave her hope in Christ. You could say we angels lead a person to the water, while the Holy Spirit motivates them to drink. But it is up to the person to say yes. For God is a gentleman. He doesn’t barge in unwanted; He stands at the door and knocks (Revelation 3:20).

            Words are powerful. That’s one reason why Jesus is called the Word (John 1:1). What I put in front of the young woman’s eyeballs was another quote from C.S Lewis. It came at a time when I knew she was despairing of crossing some spiritual line into eternal ruin. She felt her sins were too grievous to go on. She thought to solve her problems by breaking the sixth commandment. (Exodus 20:13)

            The quotation I put in front of her was just the spark needed to light a fire in her soul. The quote said, ‘You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.’

ANGELS AT WAR – CHAPTER 1

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

ANGELS AT WAR

CHAPTER 1

ARCHANGEL QUERIDA (Pronounced Kay-Reeda)

JESUS SAID TO THEM, “I SAW SATAN FALL LIKE LIGTHENING FROM HEAVEN.” (Luke 10:18)

            “Yes, my Lord,” I said as I bowed before the Son of God. “You wish to speak with me?”

            With a gentle touch, He bid me to arise and look at Him. His countenance was pure peace, pure love. “I give you the name Querida, which means beloved,” He told me.

            My eyes turned downcast from His gaze as I replied. “Dear Lord, I don’t deserve that title.”

            “Yes, you do,” He corrected. “You did everything you could to convince the rebels of the heavenly throne of their error.”

            This encounter I had with the Son of God came on the heels of Lucifer becoming Satan. It happened right after he was cast out of heaven with one third of the angels who sided with his position. His view, simply put, being that God was unjust. That God’s law was too restrictive and prohibited liberty.

            But that was a turning point for me. God unjust? No way! And what law? Before Lucifer’s campaign to overthrow the government of God, we were so in harmony with our Maker that I didn’t even realize there was a moral law. This law I speak of would basically become known as the Ten Commandments on earth.

            “But Lord, I was one of the first to petition my fellow angels that they ought to give Lucifer a chance to explain his position,” I admitted.

            “But then you saw the light and walked in the light,” He countered. “You then influenced ten times that number to remain loyal to the Godhead after you discovered the nature behind his agenda.”

            Like most I was dazzled by Lucifer’s majesty and his rank. He was second only to the Son of God. He was charming and very persuasive. One in particular that I had persuaded to listen to Lucifer was my closest friend, Vermillion. And listen we did. But with opposing results.

            Vermillion’s first time listening to Lucifer was my second. Before speaking, the anointed cherub dazzled us with incredible music. But something was different with this second speech I heard.

            The first time around he spoke of a recent meeting the Creator had had with the heavenly host. During this meeting God the Father established something that we had already known. That being, His Son was equal with Him and would be prominent in carrying out God’s purposes. Lucifer’s critique of the declaration regarding the Son of God seemed to be favorable. And I do say ‘seemed.’ With this next go around, there was an air of slyness in his banter. Later, watching him with Eve in the Garden of Eden, reminded me of his early campaign in heaven.

            Not long after Creation came the temptation and fall of man. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field (Genesis 3:1). And that is what I’m talking about. Even as Lucifer, he was more cunning than any angel in the heavenly host. But that was after iniquity was found in him (Ezekiel 28:15). That is what took me off guard. Not only had there been perfect harmony in heaven, there had been no deceit.

            Lucifer was the first to bring about iniquity. This transgression was all foreign to us. We didn’t know what sin was, let alone all of the different aspects of sin. We didn’t know what deception was. We didn’t know what vanity was. We didn’t know what envy was. We didn’t know what greed was. We didn’t know what violence was. I could go on, but this should get the point across.

            My first clue came when he insinuated that he would have been better at the position than God’s Son. He implied that the working out of God’s purposes was assigned to the Son of God  only because He was, well, God’s Son. He then suggested that God’s government denied us liberty and freedom. He indicated that God’s low key, benevolent Son would only make things worse. He couldn’t have been further from the truth!

            As we parted from what would have been a spectacular political campaign speech on earth, I apologized to Vermillion. “I’m sorry.”

            “For what?” he asked with surprise.

            I returned with my own surprised expression. “For what! He openly defied the Son!”

            “Not really.”

            “How can you say that? That last thing he said. That if he can get at least half the angels to side with him, God will have to let him prove his ways are better.”

            “What’s wrong with that?”

            “What’s wrong with that! It’s disrespectful! Lucifer is a created being like us…”

            “But much more exalted, much more intelligent.”

            “I’ll give you that,” I acknowledged. “But not more than God or His Son!”

            “Look, all he’s asking for is to be given a chance. If God’s fair, he will allow it.”

            And God was fair. He allowed the debate to continue. At one point Lucifer almost did have half of the angels on his side. But as the war of words continued, the Son of God, who would astound all of the holy angels in the future by becoming the Savior of fallen mankind, never lost his cool. Lucifer on the other hand became increasingly testy, and then violent.

            Early on in the scriptures, readers are told of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). This forbidden knowledge would be the plague of humanity. During this war in heaven (Revelation 12:7), the angelic host also learned of good and evil as well. The fallen angels firsthand, and the unfallen by observation.

            God bore long with the rebellious. But being God, He knew what was best. He declared deviation from his government would ultimately bring about degradation, strife and discord. He pointed out that we could already see this with the attitude of Lucifer and his sympathizers. And could we ever!

            I made one last plea with my dear friend Vermillion when I could tell God’s forbearance with the rebellion had culminated. “God’s right, you can see already the unrest that Lucifer’s agenda is bringing, and it hasn’t even been implemented.”

            “There’s unrest because the master hasn’t been given a chance.”

            “Did you just call Lucifer the master?”

            “That’s right,” he said defiantly, wearing an angry countenance I had never seen on him before. We were all becoming aware of so many new concepts and characteristics, and none of them were good.

            “You know you’re gonna be cast out,” I warned.

            He snorted. “So much for freewill.”

            Freewill. Although this was a concept we had been vaguely aware of, it was now foremost in everyone’s mind. We had always had the God given right to choose. But living in harmony with God’s government had been so natural, we never gave freewill a second thought.

            Oh how I wish this discord had never come about! What a sad moment when Lucifer, who had been the ‘morning star’ the ‘light bearer,’ but now brought darkness, was cast out as Satan (Revelation 12:9). And a third (verse 4) of the angels were cast out with him.

            God could have destroyed them with a word. But wouldn’t that have proven Lucifer’s argument correct? After all, he said God was a tyrant that restricted liberty. No, Satan and his evil host would have their chance. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of earth would have to live under his rule after their first parents failed the test of obedience described in Genesis chapter three.

            The result of sin soon showed its colors when one of Adam and Eve’s sons killed another in Genesis chapter four. The ripple effects of sinful natures passed on since the first parents down through the ages has been catastrophic.

            But after the rebellion in heaven, we soon found out that God and His Son had a plan. The Son Himself would become a human being! A baby no less! And this four thousand years after sin had entered the planet. The Gospels not only tell the most remarkable story ever told, God becoming a man to redeem a fallen race, it is the greatest story that ever COULD be told!

            It has been an honor and a privilege to serve The King of Kings for more than six millennium, going to and fro from the earth as a ministering spirit (Hebrews 1:14). But that’s according to your time. For with God a thousand years is like one day (2Peter 3:8 and Psalm 90:4).

            We of heaven truly do rejoice over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:7). We long for this nightmare of a sin experiment to over with like you do. But I have to admit that there’s been an adventurous side, and I’ll tell you what I can.

            Like most soldiers on earth, we ministering spirits will be glad when the war is over. This ‘battle against the rulers of the darkness of this age’ (Ephesians 6:12). With our earthly family that serve God, we agree, come Lord Jesus, come!

BLACK SABBATH – CHAPTER 30

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

BLACK SABBATH

CHAPTER 30

SEVEN SALLIE

FOR THE LORD HIMSELF WILL DESEND FROM HEAVEN WITH A SHOUT, WITH THE VOICE OF AN ARCHANGEL, AND WITH THE TRUMPET OF GOD. AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE FIRST. THEN THOSE WHO ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN SHALL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH THEM IN THE CLOUDS TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR. AND THUS WE SHALL ALWAYS BE WITH THE LORD. (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17)

            “Hey everyone, I’d like you to meet Querida,” I said as I attempted to introduce the angel that caused the angry mob to flee.

            “Where’s your friend?” my wife asked.

            I had just stepped onto C. S. Lewis’s deck after negotiating about twenty steps. I had assumed that Querida was behind me. I turned to my right and kept turning until I did a three sixty. “Where’d he go?”

            “Who was that old guy with you?” Inga asked.

            “It was angel who went by the name Querida,” I replied, as I still looked all around.

            Everyone looked at me like I had two heads. “I’m not crazy, that truly was an angel with me.”

            “Now Seven, don’t bear false witness,” Inga said sternly.

            “I’m not, that truly was an angel!”

            “I’m referring to the part about not being crazy,” Inga said sympathetically as she placed a gentle hand on my forearm. To my chagrin, my wife placed a hand over her mouth to hide amusement.

            Inga continued, “Clearly there was angelic intervention. There’s no way you and an old man would cause two dozen angry guys to fall all over themselves fleeing from you. How did he do it?”

            It didn’t go beyond my notice that she credited Querida and not the two of us. Which was fine, since it was he that caused them to flee. “I don’t know how he did it. He just raised his hand, and they couldn’t get away fast enough.”

            “It looked like he was just giving them a friendly wave from back here,” C. S. Lewis  interjected.

            “What did you see?” Inga asked. “Was there like a laser coming off his hand or something like webbing, like Spiderman?”

            “No, I didn’t see anything like that. He just lifted his hand, like C. S. said, and poof, the mob fell over themselves trying to get away.”

            “Speaking of poof, where did he go?” Zella asked. “He was right behind you.”

            I opened my mouth to say what amounted to nothing, for I did not know. But before I could say anything, there was a noise like a trumpet. I noticed my wife and Inga looking at me with wide eyes and open mouths as if the sound of the supernatural horn was coming from me.

            For God’s people the majestic sound was beautiful. We had all been homesick for heaven for quite some time, and the noise was like pulling into your driveway after a long trip. For we all instinctively knew that it was I Thessalonians 4:16 beginning to be fulfilled.

            For those that rejected God, the sound was ominous. For them it was multiple times more eerie than an air raid siren. So much so it was a fulfilment of Revelation 6:15, 16 and they tried hiding from the noise and the atmosphere. Even to the point of wanting mountains and rocks to fall on them to hide them from the approaching wrath.

            “Look!” Inga declared, pointing to the east. “That small black cloud!”

            With one accord, we all gazed at the eastern sky. We all saw what Inga noticed first. It was indeed an unusual cloud like shape. It seemed to sparkle and twinkle, but not like an aircraft. Our eyes stayed glued to the heavenly vision. As students of the Bible we knew what it was, the long awaited second coming of Christ!

            In solemn silence we gazed upon it as it drew closer to the earth. As it did so it became lighter and more glorious until it was a bright white cloud. Its base was like a consuming fire, and above it was the rainbow of the covenant. And there was Jesus, riding like a mighty conqueror!

            No longer was He a ‘Man of Sorrows,’ to drink the cup of bitter shame and woe. He was coming, victor of heaven and earth to judge the living and the dead. Revelation chapter nineteen was happening right before our eyes!

            Heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True (Revelation 19:11).

            His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns (Revelation 19:12).

            He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God (Revelation 19:13).

            In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it (John 1:1-5).

            And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses (Revelation 19:14)

            And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Revelation 19:16).

            The sky seemed filled with radiant forms. They were countless angels! No human pen could describe this scene. No mortal mind is adequate to conceive its splendor. As the living cloud came still nearer, every eye beheld the Prince of life. No crown of thorns now marred that sacred head. A diadem of glory rested on His holy brow. His countenance outshone the brightness of the noonday sun!

            Before we knew it, we were rising in the air to meet The Lord! My wife and I were hand in hand as we arose higher and still higher. Zella and I both didn’t like heights. But we had no fear whatsoever! No, we were filled with joy and excitement like we had never experienced before!

            Just as Querida reassured me, I would see my kids again soon. My daughter Sevenia held hands with her husband as they floated toward us. Somehow we instinctively knew how to make our way to each other. Her other hand was clasped with her half-brother, Zella’s and my son.

            Several of our church family joined us as well. Family and friends who had passed away too! Right there on our journey in the sky we were able to reunite and exchange hugs. We continued on our voyage with our Savior as we did so. True to His word in the first few verses of John chapter fourteen, Jesus led us to our heavenly homes!

 THE END.

ACTUALLY MORE LIKE THE BEGINNING!

BLACK SABBATH – CHAPTER 29

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

BLACK SABBATH

CHAPTER 29

SEVEN SALLIE

BECAUSE YOU HAVE KEPT MY COMMAND TO PERSEVERE, I ALSO WILL KEEP YOU FROM THE HOUR OF TRIAL WHICH SHALL COME UPON THE WHOLE WORLD, TO TEST THOSE WHO DWELL UPON THE EARTH. (Revelation 3:10)

            “There they are!” The leader of an angry mob of about two dozen men yelled.

            Inga and C.S. Lewis were sprinting out of the woods with the mob on their tail. They came toward the small group of us that were sitting on Lewis’s deck overlooking his back yard. Between their hostility and the side effects of the loathsome sores from the first plague (Revelation 16:2), they looked like a band of demons.

            All of us offered up prayers on the order of ‘Lord help us!’

            There were about twenty steps leading up to the large deck. No sooner had Inga and C. S. taken them two at a time, when a being that glowed bright white suddenly appeared at the foot. He waved a laser like sword that blazed with a brilliant silvery hue.

            The angry group fell back in a manner that reminded me of John chapter eighteen when the mob was seeking to arrest Jesus. Our Savior had asked who they were seeking. When they replied, “Jesus of Nazareth,” our Lord replied, “I am He,” and they all fell back.

            Sin makes people stupid. Instead of fleeing, the mob still pursued Jesus. Although He could have annihilated them with a word, our Lord allowed Himself to be taken. Not only that, when one of his disciples cut off an ear of one of Jesus’s captors, Jesus healed it. Yet another element that should have given them pause.

            Not unlike those responsible for the death of our Redeemer, this mob stood their ground. Well, actually they did take a couple steps back. But then the hair on the back of my neck raised when the leader barked, “Just give us Seven Sallie!”

            “We’re sorry, Seven!” Inga said, a look of consternation on her face. “We were running scared, we didn’t mean to lead them here.”

            “It’s not your fault,” I replied. Then I frowned as I realized that wasn’t true. Nonetheless, I didn’t hold it against them.

            A chill ran up my spine when the angel looked at me and said, “Come on, Seven.”

            “You’re gonna give me up!”

            The majestic being smiled reassuringly and said, “Fear not, I will approach them with you.”

            “Cool!” I replied confidently. But it turned out to be a similar experience like Peter’s. I’m referring to when he walked to Jesus on the water in Matthew chapter fourteen. Only my experience happened as we walked in C. S. Lewis’s backyard.

            Between the result of their loathsome sores and their open hostility, the mob truly looked like a pack of devils. Yet for every step the angel and I took, the angry mob took two steps back as their fuming countenances turned to fear. Then something changed. The group stopped. Their expressions changed to vengeful delight and bloodthirsty hunger.

            I looked toward my angelic companion, but he was gone! In his place was a feeble looking old man. With a long white beard and kindly eyes, he reminded me of Captain Kirk, our Pastor at Cotton Creek Fellowship back in eastern Iowa.

            “Where’s the, ah…” I frantically looked around! I was about to do a quick retreat when the old man grabbed my forearm with surprising strength. He calmly declared, as if we were out for a casual stroll, “Once again, you need not be afraid. Do you believe me?”

            I could tell by the strong grip on my arm that this was no ordinary geriatric gentleman. I nodded and as the mob descended upon us, the old man simply held up a hand in a stop gesture. I don’t know what the demon inspired group saw. I saw nothing out of the ordinary. But they not only stopped on a dime, they turned and fled, falling over each other in their haste.

            “Who are you?” I asked in awe as I went to one knee and bowed my head.

            “Stand up,” he ordered. Then he quoted the last half of Revelation 19:10 as he gave me a gentle rebuke. “I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

            “Yes, sir,” I conceded. Then I tried again. “Who are you?”

            “The name the Savior gave me is Querida,” the old man told me with a gentle smile as he offered me his hand to shake.

            I paused, looking at the hand that caused two dozen men armed with clubs, knives, and even a couple guns, to flee. Still cautious, I raised my eyes from his hand to his eyes. They seemed to be laughing. As I took his hand in my right, I pointed with my left toward the area where the mob fled. “How did you do that?”

            “Would you have asked that if I had remained in my heavenly body?” Querida, pronounced Kayreeda, asked. I found out later that his name means ‘beloved.’

            “You know, I don’t think I would have,” I admitted.

            “Do you not believe that the Lord’s strength is made perfect in weakness?” he asked, quoting a portion of 2 Corinthians 12:9.

            “Until now I would have said yes,” I replied, feeling humbled. Then I cast my gaze that was upon him downward. “But my behavior a moment ago proved otherwise.”

            He patted my shoulder. “Well done.”

            “Well done? I just admitted failure. I just acknowledged that when you transformed from a brilliant angel into a feeble old man, my faith wavered big time.”

            “Just like courage doesn’t mean the absence of fear, going forward in faith doesn’t necessarily mean the absence of doubt. When I asked if you believed, you nodded and went forward. This despite wondering whether I was of God or of the ruler of this world. What convinced you to go forward?”

            (To reference ‘ruler of this world’ see the Gospel of John 12:31, 14:30, and 16:11)

            “Well, I tended to believe you were from God. But I suppose I figured if you weren’t, I trusted what Jesus admonished in Matthew 10:28. They would be able to kill my body, but my soul was safe with God.”

            “Splendid!” Querida beamed.

            “But why an old man?”

            “You mean as opposed to somebody like Brock Storm?” he asked, referring to my cousin who was built like a linebacker who became a pro wrestler.

            “You know of Brock?”

            He arched an eyebrow.

            “Oh right,” I replied to his unspoken insinuation that he was a supernatural being. “How long can you stay in a human body?”

            “It’s human like, but not quite like you. It’s more like a cloak I can only wear for a short time.”

            “Do you always use an old man for a, um, cloak.”

            “Actually, I became an old man this time because I’m tired of this world. Just plain wore out!”

            “You get tired?”

            “Not in the same way you do.”

            “Obviously the second coming of Christ is closer than ever now that the seven last plagues have fallen. So do you know exactly when Jesus will return now?”

            He shook his head. “Matthew 24:36 will be in effect until 1 Thessalonians 4:16 happens.”

            “I see, makes sense. I just thought, well, you know…”

            “I can tell you this much. Between the destruction of the plagues and the very nearness of Christ’s glorious appearing, I’m afraid you won’t be able to go home.”

            I was stunned. “You mean I won’t see my daughter and son again?”

            “Not on this earth, I’m sorry to say. But I’m happy to say you will meet them as you rise into the air to meet Jesus.”

            “And so shall we ever be with the Lord!”

            “Amen, brother!”

            An angel called me brother! “How often have you made yourself known to us humans?”

            He shook his head. “With the seven last plagues having fallen, things are different. There are many cells of believers, like you here, who have obeyed the law of God rather than the laws of men. They need reassurance and sometimes protection.”

            “Acts 5:29,” I added happily, quoting the scripture about obeying God. “So is this the first time you’ve appeared as a person to a person?”

            “Oh no,” he said shaking his head. “But always before, the person I’ve assisted either couldn’t see me, or they thought I was a fellow human.”

            “I feel privileged.”

            “Your friends look worried,” Querida said, pointing. Everyone on the deck was standing at the railing looking concerned. “Come on, let’s go back to our soon to be heavenly, eternal family and reassure them. The dark night of this earth’s history is almost complete.”

(Writer’s note: FYI, next week will be the last installment of ‘Black Sabbath.’ The next story I plan to write will be about angels. They are mentioned numerous times in the Bible, even the fallen angels. I’ve always been fascinated contemplating the angelic realm and want to explore in imagination what angels, even fallen ones, might think about our world, etc. I plan to do this mainly through the character you just met, Querida. As always, I thank you for your interest! And I pray God blesses you and yours!)

BLACK SABBATH – CHAPTER 28

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

BLACK SABBATH

CHAPTER 28

SEVEN SALLIE

THERE IS A GOD IN HEAVEN WHO REVEALS SECRETS (Daniel 2:28)

            I had just opened my mouth to speak when a majestic voice from the heavens filled our ears. It was like the sound of rippling water, deep and melodious. There were a half dozen of us on the deck overlooking C. S. Lewis’s back yard. My companions all looked at me with surprise, as if the words had come from me. But then they turned to the sky, knowing that someone as puny as me could ever vocalize in that manner.

            “It is done!” the sky seemed to declare. But we all knew it was a fulfillment of Revelation 16:17 as the seventh and final plague fell. So none of us were surprised when verse eighteen was fulfilled moments later.

            Yet we were not afraid as the longest, loudest peels of thunder roared across the blue- charcoal gray sky. We gazed around in awe, and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up and my skin prickle. Then lightening like nothing we had ever seen, a light show no earthly technology could ever duplicate strobed to and fro.  

            Then came the biggest earthquake in earth’s history. The trees began to sway and the ground trembled. The groaning of the earth made me think of the Jolly Green Giant with indigestion. We all gripped the sides of our chairs as if on an amusement park ride. Yet we were not afraid.

            Our faith was such that we knew we were protected. We were all on the archetypical Ark, if you please. So we were the opposite of afraid, we were in awe, even excited! We had preached the second coming of Jesus for years. Many accused us of crying wolf. Most trusted in their traditions rather than Bible truth. Most followed the teachings of man rather than studying the Word of God themselves like the noble Bereans (Acts 17:11).

            One man had told me a year or two earlier. “You’re waiting for a show that is never gonna happen. The Bible is mythology.”

            Well sir, the lights have just gone down, and the curtain is about to go up! 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 was on the verge of being fulfilled, and we had been exercising verse eighteen which instructed ‘Therefore comfort one another with these words.’

            We did this right up to the voice, the thunder, the lightning and the earthquake. Mostly by sharing testimonies. We heard one more only moments before the last plague fell. This one was more about enduring love rather than the sweetness of a beautiful dog playing matchmaker. The miracle of this enduring love is that neither of the two individuals knew they were inadvertently waiting for the other.

            Like Mick, Luke Daniels was the lead singer of a Christian band. Like Mick and Lindsey, Luke and Hannah’s romance began in full force after one of Luke’s shows.

            “My dad was career military, so we moved a lot,” Hannah said. She had long, nut-brown hair and large, doe like amber eyes. “What made it both better and worse for me was being an only child.”

            “What do you mean by better and worse?” Zella asked.

            “Are you skipping ahead to your wedding vows?” I asked with a little smile.

            Zella smirked at me as she gave me a sideways glance. “Do you think you’re funny?”

            “It was part of our vows.” I defended because I was indeed trying at a little humor, albeit unsuccessfully.

            “Hannah was referring to moving frequently and being an only child,” Zella explained to me as if I were a child. “She hadn’t even gotten to meeting Luke yet. Let alone marriage vows.”

            “Gotcha,” I replied feeling a little dumb. Trying to be funny is an odd thing. You feel brilliant when everyone laughs and like an idiot when it falls flat. “Sorry Hannah, please proceed.”

            “No problem, Seven,” she smiled. “What I meant by worse, was obviously not having a sibling to share and comfort with the anxiety of moving to new places and in particular new schools. What was better was learning to find comfort and solace in God. A friend that sticks closer than a brother, if you please (Proverbs 18:24).

            “When I was twelve, in anticipation of yet another move, I prayed like never before,” Hannah told us with such earnestness I perceived she was back in the moment, experiencing the emotions she felt back then. “The thing that made it extra worse this time was adolescence. It wasn’t very kind to me. I was gangly and clumsy. I had braces, glasses, and a bit of acne.

            “Whenever we moved, my parents tried to find a conservative, non-denominational church.  My dad got stationed in Georgia, and we moved into a small town ten miles from the base. He rented a house from a guy who in turn turned him on to his church, a place called Meadowvale Church of the Open Bible. That’s where I met Luke and his brother Matt for the first time.

            “I actually had a huge crush on Matt when we first started attending,” Hannah laughed. “He was fifteen, spiky blonde hair, blue eyes, and an amazing guitar and piano player. He gave lessons at the local music store.

            “Although younger, my age actually, Luke was out going and athletic. I guess you could say he was a more macho image of his older brother. They were both nice to me, but Luke intimidated me. My first impression was that he was the popular type. The type that often would tease and bully me.”

            A look of sadness came into her eyes. “I never understood why so many popular kids pick on the less fortunate. They seemingly had so much going for them, why did they have to make life more difficult for those that didn’t? I suppose it just proved that in reality they didn’t have so much going for them after all. It’s like their image was a facade and at heart they were every bit as insecure as those they picked on. Probably more so.”

            “Immaturity plays a role also,” Luke added.

            “We moved to Meadowvale in the middle of the summer,” Hannah continued. “So I had a few weeks to adjust before the start of sixth grade. And the adjustment was an answer to prayer. There were a couple other kids at the church that were our age. Luke and Matt’s cousin John and a spicey redhead named Cassidy. John’s brother Mark was Matt’s age, and the four cousins ended up forming a band together.

            “For the first time I started a new school with friends. Then I had an immediate hiccup. Two days into school, we were playing dodgeball in gym class. It was scary for me. Other schools didn’t play dodgeball, let alone using actual playground balls instead of nerfs.”

            “One of the benefits of a smaller community,” Luke interjected.

            “Some benefit,” Hannah added dryly. “Right off the bat I got hit in the forehead. My glasses went flying, and I stumbled and fell. But the worst part was the panic of embarrassment. I was sure I was gonna be laughed at. Also, if I wasn’t already classified a nerd, I would be now.

            “But I only heard a few snickers before Luke was by my side, putting an arm around me and asking if I was alright. He helped me up and retrieved my glasses. Unfortunately I wasn’t out, the boy who threw head high was. But then Luke told me to stay by him so he could protect me.”

            Hannah smiled fondly at Luke. “So, I wasn’t out, and my crush on Matt Daniels transferred to falling in love with Luke Daniels. And that love only grew as he and I, John and Cassidy became weekend pals, playing in the woods behind the church, going for horseback rides on the Daniels’ family farm, and my favorite, getting rides on Luke’s dirt bike motorcycle, where I got to hug Luke from behind, and hold him tight as we zipped up trails and down ravines.

            “But then two years after we moved to Meadowvale, my dad got transferred to Fort Hood Texas. I had never been so disappointed in life. Those two years in Meadowvale were the best years by far, until I met Luke again seven years later.”

            “You two didn’t keep in touch?” I asked before Zella could.

            “I tried,” Hannah said, giving her husband a scornful, yet playful look. “But Luke only responded a few times and I eventually gave up.”

            “What can I say, I was fourteen,” Luke shrugged. “But I gave her a sendoff that kept us subconsciously bound for all our years of separation.”

            I opened my mouth, but sound came out of my wife’s instead. “What kind of sendoff?”

            “They had a going away party at the church,” Hannah related happily. “Luke took me out to the woods and kissed me for the first time.”

            “Then a second, third, and fourth,” he laughed.

            “Those kisses sealed the deal for me,” Hannah said. “My time in Meadowvale must have given me confidence. The rest of my school career finished with very little harassment. I ended up going to a college in the Pacific northwest. I was a late bloomer and by then I was getting quite a bit of male attention, of which I mostly ignored.”

            “Because of Luke?” Zella interjected.

            “I think it was a couple things,” Hannah explained. “Mostly nobody ever came close to matching the popular preteen that wasn’t afraid to comfort a distraught nerdy girl after she was embarrassed. But then also, I became cynical. I mean, so many guys mocked and made fun of me as a girl. But then after I transformed into a, forgive me for sounding vain, an attractive woman, the same type of guys tried to charm and sweet talk me.

            “Anyway, let me get to meeting Luke again. The seven years in between are not all that fascinating. I studied a lot and socialized a little. But I did become good friends with a girl I met in Texas, where I finished high school. She went to a Christian college in Washington, so I tagged along.

            “We became friends with some other girls we met, but I usually stayed aloof from going out. They were good girls as far as that goes, but their primary interest was doing things where the opportunity to meet the opposite sex was prevalent.

            “So during our junior year this Christian rock tour was stopping by our campus. Mick’s band Cornerstone was going to be there, and so was Luke’s. I just didn’t know it at first. I didn’t even know Luke was in a band with his brother and two cousins. So when my girlfriends tried to get me to go, I initially declined.

            “Then three days before the show, I’m walking past my roommate’s dresser, and she has half a dozen C.D.’s sprawled out on top. One of them caught my eye. It was called ‘The Band of Daniels.’ And on the front were four guys who looked older but familiar.”

            “Obviously the name of our band was both a play of our name, combined with the book in the Bible,” Luke cut in. “And obviously we knew the famous stories. Daniel and the lion’s den, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. But I didn’t understand the deep prophetic meeting of the book until we met Arlo Aldo several years ago.”

            Then he looked at his wife. “Sorry Hon, go ahead.”

            “Rhonda, my best friend from Texas and college roommate didn’t know that one of the C.D.’s she had was the guys I knew in Georgia. One in particular the boy I loved. The guy she had heard me talk about countless times as I reminisced about my glorious days in Meadowvale.

            “But I kept my mouth shut about knowing them, in particular Luke. I was a fourteen year old middle school student when I moved away. I was now a twenty-one year old premed student living clear across the country. I was sure I was no more than a distant memory.”

            “She couldn’t have been more wrong,” Luke said. “I mean, I did think I’d never see her again. But a distant memory? Far from it. She left an impression on my soul that would last a life time. I often felt no girl could fill the void she left in my life when she left. But I believe it was the Holy Spirt that caused her to brand my mind until we met up again. I think that’s why I was so picky when entertaining the possibility of the opposite sex.

            “Hannah’s sweetness and wholesomeness drew me in like a bear to honey. Plus she had the prettiest eyes I’d ever seen, and very kissable lips. The rest of her was just like she said ‘nerdy beyond compare.’”

            Hannah gave him a playful whap, and they both laughed.

            “You’ve heard of guilt by association?” Hannah asked.

            “Sure I have, “Zella replied. “I’ve experienced it time and again by being married to Seven.”

            They all laughed, but I held mine in so I could give my wife quality stink eye. She mouthed ‘sorry’ and I couldn’t help giving in to the smile I repressed.

            “Anyway, knowing the Daniels’ from church was like credibility by association. They were like the noble four guys in the Bible book of Daniel that their band was sort of named for. They set a precedent for our school. Bullying was pretty much nonexistent.”

            “Keep in mind it was a small school,” Luke said. “Only about forty in our graduating class.”

            “So we were standing outside in line for the concert,” Hannah continued. “I was feeling anxious about seeing Luke as well as my secret. Then I saw a fellow nerd from my Meadowvale days come out of a trailer pulling a black crate that had Matt Daniel’s name stamped in white. So I hollered, ‘Grant.’

            “He turned his head briefly, but assumed he wasn’t the Grant being called for by a female in line. After all he was two thousand miles away from Meadowvale. So I tried again using his last name, ‘Grant Sims.’

            “Then he stopped and looked my direction. I waved. He was, I don’t know, fifty feet away. He began to walk toward me and stopped ten feet away, squinted and put hands on his hips. ‘Hannah? Is that you?’

            “One and them same, I told him with a big smile. He took of his baseball cap and laughed. ‘Well, I’ll be.’ I went to him and we hugged. He reminded me of chubby Chet Morton from the old ‘Hard Boys’ series.

            He told us the guys were about to start sound check, and asked me and my girlfriends if we wanted back stage passes and to come watch. All three of my girlfriends stood with their mouths hanging open in disbelief.

            “Let me take Matt his extra guitars and I’ll get y’all back stage passes.”

            “My girlfriends looked at me like I had two heads. So I shrugged and explained that I knew the band when I was in middle school. None of them were ever prone to violence, but Rhonda grabbed me by the shoulders and scolded me for not telling them I knew the guys in ‘The Band of Daniels.’

            “It was general admission, so we got the best seats in the house. The band was in the midst of a song that would end up on their second CD. When they finished, I noticed Grant walk on stage and say something to Luke. His head whipped in our direction and my heart fluttered. Then it pounded when he moved in our direction, climbed up on a riser, put hands on the railing by where we were sitting and stared at me in disbelief.

            “I smiled and waved, then he grinned and vaulted the railing. As if on cue I stood. The cute boy who kissed seven years earlier was now a gorgeous man who hugged me tight to himself. Even after all those years I felt the love. I also felt eyes on me.

            “When we separated from our embrace, my three girlfriends were watching in incredulity. Three months later ‘The Band of Daniels’ finished their tour. Three weeks after that, Luke and I were married and my three girlfriends who witnessed our reunion were my three bridesmaids.”

            “Wow,” Zella said. “So the vast majority of your courtship happened when you were in middle school.”

            “It did,” Hannah giggled, shrugged. “But when you know you know.”

            “That’s the way it was with Zella and me. When we knew we knew.”

            “Welllllll,” Zella drawled with a wince, but then she laughed when I made a pout lip.

            I opened my mouth to speak, but another voice was heard. Something beyond human utterance. Followed by thunderings and lightenings like nothing we had ever seen!

BLACK SABBATH – CHAPTER 27

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

BLACK SABBATH

CHAPTER 27

SEVEN SALLIE

THEN JESUS SAID, “FATHER FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY DO.” (Luke 23:34)

            “Jared, hi,” Lindsey said cheerfully and jumped up to greet a gentleman who had just arrived.

            “That was quite a story,” I told Mick Wadena. I had been a silent observer as my wife questioned him and his wife Lindsey about her dog playing match maker with the couple. Zella would later tease me about calling myself a silent observer. In my defense, TALK show hosts tend to talk, even when they are not on the air.

            “The miracle of Jitts bringing Lindsey and me together actually isn’t the most remarkable part of our story,” Mick told me, pointing to his wife and the guy she was now hugging.

            Lindsey and Mick had just finished telling us about their second meeting after Mick’s band finished their show in Madison, Wisconsin. That’s when a lone man made his way onto the deck that over looked C. S. Lewis’s back yard on a remote acreage, only a few miles from Lake Superior.

            The guy appeared to be about fifty, give or take, as with most of us on the deck. He had a shaved head, a sun weathered face, sunglasses, and a goatee with a light sprinkling of salt. He also was missing half of his left arm, and his left leg was a prosthetic.

            “Do you see that guy Lindsey is hugging?” Mick asked.

            Zella and I glanced at Lindsey embracing the lone man I had just described. “Yeah.”

            “That’s the guy that raped her sister.”

            “What?” Zella and I both replied, stunned. I recalled that because of her sister’s ordeal, Lana had ended up taking her own life. As a result, Lindsey developed a subtle vendetta against men. She also developed a not so subtle hatred of the man that violated her sister! So what happened that a rapist not only avoided the plagues, but was in an embrace with his victim’s sister? I asked as much to Mick.

            “Yeah, their friendship surprised me too,” Mick admitted. “Kind of ironic that he showed up when we were getting to his part of Lindsey’s and my story.”

            “Did he play a role with your, um, romance?” Zella asked with a frown.

            “Actually he turned out to be a major obstacle,” Mick explained. “I perceived early on as Lindsey and I got know each other that her hostility toward him was slowly eating her alive. After a few months of virtual dating, she…”
            “What do you mean by virtual dating?” Zella interrupted.

            “I don’t know if that’s the right way to put it,” Mick replied. “What I mean is, that after Lindsey and I initially met, I was in the middle of a nationwide tour for our second album. So most of our time spent together over the first few months was over the phone.”

            “Okay, I see,” Zella said. “How far apart did you two actually live from each other?”

            I shook my head a little at my wife. I wanted to hear about Lindsey forgiving her sister’s rapist, not geography. Later for sure, but not now. But Zella only frowned at me and continued, “I mean when you weren’t on tour, where did you call home? She mentioned being from Duluth.”

            “Milwaukee,” Mick said. “Three hundred plus miles, but it could have been worse.”

            “Why is that?” Zella asked and I shook my head some more.

            “Actually what was worse than the long distance relationship in the beginning, was our sports rivalry. Mainly she was a Vikings fan while I was for the Packers. Baseball wasn’t so bad since her team, the Twins is in the American League and mine, the Brewers, is in the National League.”

            “I notice you say was,” Zella said, and I just sighed and then chuckled to myself. I needed to exercise the patience of the saints.

            “Yeah, well, we still liked our teams, but the closer we got to Christ the less sports mattered. It turned out we actually enjoyed our teams more when we didn’t take it so seriously.”

            “Amen!” Zella smiled.

            “Now we’re on the verge,” I began, and Zella shook her head. Her wide brown eyes mocking me playfully. “We are on the verge of Christ’s return and sports seem to be a thing of the past. A shadow of our time on earth.”

            “True enough,” Mick agreed.

            “Games people more often than not took too seriously,” Zella added. “When I used to see fans in the stand with their hands earnestly clasped over a close game, I used to think ‘if they only sought the Lord with that sense of urgency.’”

            Lindsey returned, making our threesome a foursome. Mick inquired, “Where’d Jared go?”

            “He just stopped by to see how we were all doing,” Lindsey replied. “He’s on his way to check on a guy that’s from his disabled veterans group.”

            “Mick was just telling us about your long distance relationship,” Zella said.

            “And he was just about to tell us about you and Jared,” I interrupted.

            Zella smirked at me. I knew she wanted to know just as badly as I did. But she knew I struggled more with patience than she did.

            “Yeah, me and Jared,” Lindsey sighed and then looked fondly at her husband. “The subject of Jared almost ended Mick and me before we really got started.”

            “But not for the usual reason another man causes a hiccup with a couple falling in love,” Mick interjected.

            “Yeah,” Lindsey chuckled. “I guess it’s not typical for a boyfriend to tell his girlfriend to seek out another guy.”

            “Here’s the thing,” Mick said. “I tried to convince her that she didn’t have to see him in person. Just call him or even simply write him a letter. I emphatically told her that just because you forgive someone, it does not mean you have to have a relationship with them, or associate with them afterward in anyway. Forgiveness is actually more for yourself.”

            “I was so torn,” Lindsey said solemnly. “I was angry with Mick for making me feel guilty over my sister’s rapist of all people. But what saved our new relationship was he didn’t push it. He gave me time to think on it. But for two or three months, it impeded our progress in becoming close. I had heard that Jared was a wounded war veteran. But I didn’t know the extent. Do you remember me mentioning my girlfriend, Tina Janis?”

            Zella and I acknowledged that we did.

            “So her sister Taylor was a nurse in Minneapolis. All of my girlfriends knew I had a vendetta against Jared. So Taylor calls me and asks me to keep something between us because she didn’t want to get in trouble for violating any privacy policies. I couldn’t fathom what kind of conspiracy she was going to reveal. Part of me wanted to tell her ‘no thanks.’

            “Tina had been my best friend at one time, but her younger sister Taylor was a pest and a busybody. But my nosy side won out, and I told her I would keep whatever it was to myself. That’s when she told me Jared had been admitted the previous night over a suicide attempt. Her tone as she told me was one that expected me to be delighted. But I felt sick to my stomach.

            “I think I remained neutral in my response, and I did thank her,” Lindsey had a tear float from her eye, and she swiped it. “I remembered something Mick had told me about our human condition…”

            Mick gave her a few seconds to make sure she wanted him to speak. Then he said, “I told her we humans are vessels that are either controlled by Satan or God at every moment. I had quoted C. S. Lewis where he said… By the way, I mean Clive Staples Lewis, the author, not Charles Scott Lewis, our friend that lives here.

            “Anyway to quote the author, ‘There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.’”

            “And that was forefront on my mind when Taylor told me about Jared,” Lindsey said, having composed herself for the moment. “That and his suicide attempt. I actually felt bad for him. For the first time. When I heard he had been badly wounded about a year before, back then I thought good he deserved it. But after meeting Mick, I began to read the Bible again.

            “After my sister’s demise, which I did blame Jared for, I often thought about the mental, spiritual state of victims of their own hand. I have been at some pretty dark places in my life. I’ve had countless bouts of depression. But I never got so low that I considered ending my life. So this gave me perspective. What must that immense darkness be like? I didn’t want to know. But that reality gave me empathy for even, dare I say it, for Jared.”

            Lindsey stared off into the distance. Her breathing became rapid and a couple tears leaked from her eyes. She turned to Mick. “Honey, you know the story almost as well as I do. Will you finish telling the Sallie’s? I’m getting a headache.”

            “You bet,” he replied, as Lindsey stood and walked quickly toward the house. After watching her go, he said, “Knowing it almost as well as she does is a stretch. But you have to understand. Her testimony about forgiveness is powerful. But more often than not, it zaps her emotionally. What with seeing Jared just now, it doesn’t surprise me that she wasn’t in a good place to share how her change of attitude came about.”

            “It’s understandable,” Zella said. “I noticed she watched him as he limped away.”

            Mick nodded. “So, she went to see him in the hospital. She wasn’t sure if she could muster the compassion she needed to forgive him. As she made her way through the hospital, she prayed and quoted scripture to herself. Still she had a supreme battle with self and the hostility she felt. Then she saw him.

            “He wasn’t the handsome all-American teenager she remembered. Although on the later side of his mid-twenties, he looked war weary and twenty years older than his actual age. He wasn’t long out of high school when 9/11 happened. He joined the Marines and served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Three tours of duty in all, and on the last one he had a devastating encounter with a road side bomb.

            “He was drugged and a bit delirious when she saw him. When he saw Lindsey, he called her Lana and began crying and apologizing. He said he loved her and thought she loved him. She let him blubber for quite a while, then he fell asleep. She left him a note saying she was Lindsey and that she forgave him.

            “She left the hospital feeling both lighter for having gone through with it, yet sick at how broken such a young human being was. She hoped that was the end of it. But she didn’t realize during the stress of the meeting that she had written her phone number on the note she gave him.

            “He called her a few weeks later. They met for coffee and spent a long time talking. Lindsey saw how remorseful he was about Lana’s fragility and the role he played in her demise. He said he felt like a pervert due to his sin. He wanted to do something noble by joining the Marines. This aspect played as big of a role as patriotism had in his motivation to join.

            “Something else occurred to her that she had always purposely overlooked. Although no means no, no matter what! The young, immature couple had been participating in foreplay for a lengthy period of time. Then on the verge of consummation, Lana wanted to stop. As wrong as his actions were, it didn’t seem the same as if he had drugged her or was some guy that yanked her off the street and into some bushes.

            “The thing is, Jared didn’t truly feel forgiven by just reading the note Lindsey left in the hospital. Lindsey’s nurse friend told her that when Jared woke up in the hospital and discovered he was still alive, he was out of control angry. That’s why he was sedated when Lindsey visited him.

            “Lindsey found out later that when Jared called her, he had a phone in one hand and a gun in the other. Like Lana, he had been sort of considering others when he had taken an overdose of pills, only to have his stomach pumped. Also like Lana, he was gonna make sure with round two, regardless of the gory mess. He had made up his mind on a direction. If Lindsey agreed to get together, he would postpone his death so he could apologize in person. If she  wouldn’t see him in person, he was prepared to say a permanent goodnight to the world.”

            “So what changed Lindsey’s attitude that actually made her and Jared friends?” I asked. “I mean it seems one of the main things you said to convince her to forgive, was that forgiveness didn’t mean a relationship.”

            “When I noticed she was having regular contact with Jared, I asked her why. She said Jared asked about her faith, because he was surprised at the love she was showing him. He ended up giving his life to Christ, rather than ending it. She said she saw that he was a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). He wasn’t the same person that date raped her sister. Behold, all things were new. ”

            “Amazing grace!” Zella said.

            “Amen, Sister Wife!” I added, and Mick arched an eyebrow.

            “Sister Wife, I like that,” he grinned. Then he added with a look of awe on his countenance. “She also shared another C. S. Lewis quote that moved him like nothing else. Especially coming from Lana’s sister. ‘You can’t go back and change the beginning. But you can start where you are and change the ending.’”

            “I love that,” Zella said.

            “It just goes to show you the ripple effect of good and evil,” Mick continued. “Because of how Lindsey forgave and then ministered to this one soul, he in turn has ministered to countless other fellow veterans.”

            “And all that hung in the balance with that one call,” I said. “A phone in one hand and a gun in the other. We often don’t realize how often life is only a matter of inches.”

BLACK SABBATH – CHAPTER 26

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

BLACK SABBATH

CHAPTER 26

ZELLA LaSTELLA-SALLIE

CAN YOU SEARCH OUT THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD? CAN YOU FIND OUT THE LIMITS OF THE ALMIGHTY? (Job 11:7)

            “Back up,” I petitioned Mick. “Didn’t that scare the daylights out of you to suddenly see a dog rushing toward you when you lifted your head?”

            “Sure it did,” he shrugged. “But it all happened so fast. Kind of like a close call in traffic. But after the first couple seconds, I could tell Jitts wasn’t mean.”

            Mick had just expressed reeling emotions after he had been praying in a remote area of some woods. He specifically had been praying for a Godly companion who could possibly be his future wife. As he was concluding his prayer, he was startled at movement to his right. It was a dog of German Shepard decent galloping toward him.

            “Self-preservation instinct produced a healthy shot of adrenaline through my system,” he continued. “But as I began to take a protective position, the canine slowed and I noticed the tail vigorously swaying back and forth. Also, rather than barking or growling Jitts was whining excitedly. He also seemed to be smiling.

            “So instead of exercising fight or flight, I greeted the fury creature. I accepted an invitation to pet and scratch the animal as he lay in front of me and exposed his belly. I remember his right front paw dangled to allow room for my hand to perform ministrations of doggie delight. Then all of a sudden this stunning vixen came charging up the trail hollering ‘Jitt’s!’

            “She stopped in her tracks, wide eyed and mouth gaping when she saw her dog and me. Her face looked like Bigfoot had just stepped out onto the trail in front of her. Her red-gold hair was pulled back tight against her scalp into a ponytail. I took in her black spandex which seemed to be painted on. So I averted my eyes back to the dog and frowned. My mind asked, “Is this an answer to what I had just been praying about?”

            “Time out,” Lindsey said. “Painted on? They were running shorts with top. Standard attire for women who run.”

            “And standard intrigue for guys who lust.”

             “Sounds like a guy problem.”

            “I suppose it depends on the guy as to whether it’s a problem or not. Anyway, I disciplined my eyes to stay above her neck and…

            “Gimme a break,” Lindsey interrupted again with a roll of her eyes.

            “Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar,” Mick sang.

            Lindsey and I laughed. Then she ordered, “Just tell the story. But I will make corrections if needed.”

            “Fair enough, so our dialogue went something like this. I said, “Hi.”

            “Hi,” she replied quickly, spitting out the greeting as if it tasted bad in her mouth.

            “I seem to have met your dog,” I said.

            “So I see,” she replied, crossing her arms abruptly and scowling, as if I had called Jitts away from her. But I thought she had called him Jet and said as much.

            “Oh, no, it’s Jitts. Actually Jitterbug. I call him Jitts for short,” she replied, losing her stern demeanor.

            “Jitterbug? That’s an interesting name.”

            “He’s a rescue dog,” she explained. “He shook uncontrollably when I first got him and, I don’t know, I just started calling him Jitterbug, then Jitts.”

            “I see.”

            “Were you praying?” she asked, almost like an accusation.

            “It was not like an accusation,” Lindsey added.

            “I acknowledged I was and she asked, ‘do you pray often?’”

            “Every day, multiple times a day. Do you pray?”

            “Not so much lately,” she confessed, taking a few steps toward me. Those painted on shorts were at head level and only three feet away, so I stood abruptly, my carnal nature protesting and Jitts hopped up with me and went next to his master. She unconsciously put a hand to her dog’s head. “By the way, I’m terribly sorry.”

            “For what?” I asked innocently.

            She laughed. “For my dog charging at you like a lunatic.”

            “Oh, that’s okay. I could tell right away he was friendly.”

            “I let him off his leash because he has never gone after anyone until now.”

            “Well, it’s an honor to be his first.”

            “Did Jitts ever chase after anyone again?” I interrupted.

            “No, but I was more careful going forward,” Lindsey explained and then looked at her husband as if for permission to take over telling the story. He gave a go ahead nod and she continued. “But I think Jitts running up to Mick was, this may sound silly, but I believe it was supernaturally inspired.”

            “That’s not silly,” I reassured. “Mick prayed and God answered using a dog.”

            “Happens every day,” Mick joked.

            “The thing is,” Lindsey said with a look of awe and reverence on her countenance. “If God hadn’t used Jitts to bring Mick and me together, I would never have known Mick wasn’t, what’s the word I’m looking for?”

            “A psychopath?” Mick interjected with an arched eyebrow.

            “No, silly,” she said, slapping his knee. “I would have never known you were worthy.”

            “And Jitts’ adoration of you let me know that you were worthy,” Mick added.

            “Fair enough,” Lindsey said with a satisfied smile. But then she scowled. “Even if I was wearing painted on clothes.”

            “I wasn’t implying you didn’t look good in them. As a matter of fact, after we married there was nothing I liked more than seeing you scantily clad.”

            “Scantily clad? I…”

            “So what happened next?” I interrupted, hoping to direct them away from their differing perspectives on attire.

            “Perceiving that he was a deeply spiritual man, thanks to Jitts,” Lindsey said. “I began to ask him about his faith and then admitted that I was struggling with mine. Which was an understatement. Then he shared the ‘He that began a good work in you’ verse (Philippians 1:6). I felt compelled to tell him about my sister, but I was torn. Part of me wanted to flee, frightened of my attraction, and another part of me would have married him on the spot.”

            “All because Jitts took to him, you would have married him on the spot?” I asked with a playful smile.

            “I do exaggerate a little, but Jitts was the biggest part of my feeling drawn to him to be sure,” she admitted. “But he also was very attractive. And I don’t mean just physically. It was like there was a light in his eyes, and a gentleness in his demeanor, but also a strength in his character.”

            Lindsey looked at her husband, so I did as well. He looked a little embarrassed. I probably didn’t help by asking, “So what about you, big fella? Would you have married her on the spot?”

            “No,” he blurted, and they both started laughing, so I joined their mirth. Then he explained. “I say no only because my head was spinning. I mean think about it. I pray for a potential wife and, forgive me if this is an improper term, a goddess just shows up in a remote part of a forest the very moment I had been praying for something of that ilk.”

            “Then my friend unintentionally ruined the fairy tale,” Lindsey said and smiled wanly. Then she shrugged. “She was actually trying to help pair me up with Mick, but in the moment of my fickle emotions, I took it as a sign to flee from him.”

            “It was an odd couple days for both of us,” Mick interjected. “She had talked about her floundering faith during our brief conversation. So it never occurred to me that she would show up at a Christian concert an hour away from where we had met the previous day.”

            “There were four bands in total,” Lindsey took over. “But Mick’s band was the special guest of the headliner. Because my friend had an in with the headliner, we had excellent first balcony seats. There were, I don’t know, four or five thousand at the show. So it wasn’t like the Stones or Taylor Swift, but still a lot of people. And we were so close, I could have spit on a band member when they came to the left side of their stage.”

            “And that’s how we met a second time,” Mick said. “She spit on me.”

            He said this with such a straight face, I frowned and said, “Really?”

            “No,” Lindsey replied as they both laughed.

            “Obviously you two re-met at the show, so how did that come about?” I asked.

            “The first two bands just seemed loud to me,” Lindsey said. “I was more soft rock or country. Thankfully they only played twenty or thirty minutes. When they were almost done setting up for Cornerstone, which was Mick’s band, a girlfriend leans in and says, “These next guys will be a lot better and play for about an hour.”

            “An hour! I thought. I began to analyze my options. The best thing I could come with is saying I didn’t feel well and have my aunt come get me. We were crashing at her place that night anyway. I was just about to tell my girlfriends that I was gonna leave. But the lights went down and a roar went up. The crowds reaction was way more enthusiastic than for the previous two bands. So I figured I would give them a chance.

            “When the band seemed to explode onto the stage, I was beyond surprised when the lead singer looked familiar. It was the guy Jitts charged in the woods! Tina Janis, the girlfriend that was with me in the woods, leaned forward and looked at me with pure astonishment. Both of our mouths hung open. You could have pushed me over with a feather.

            “There was another girlfriend, Heather Johnson, in between us, and she looked back and forth at us with a puzzled expression. She was also annoyed because we were interfering with her observance of the performance. Then Tina said something into her ear and Heather looked at me with a frown and mouthed, “Really?”

            “I shrugged and then kept my eyes glued on Mick for most of their set. Their music was heavier than I prefer at first. But then it turned out that they had some mellower songs that I really, really liked. One song in particular had me as stunned as when I first saw Mick come onto the stage. The song spoke to me about coming back to God and having a closer walk with Jesus.

            “I had heard the song numerous times when I tuned into Christian radio. The song both drew me in, but sometimes frustrated me, depending on my mood. Sometimes I would listen to it and weep, longing for my broken relationship with Jesus to heal. It made me long for the peace I felt as a little girl as we left church. But another side would make me feel so guilty for my spiritual neglect and rebellion. Yet I never turned it off.

            “Now, here I was listening to it live. The singer only about thirty feet away. The singer was the dream guy I had met the previous day. The singer was the only guy, only person actually, that Jitts ever had charged up to happily.

            “I was wearing a baseball cap with my ponytail laced through the back. I pulled it down low so my friends couldn’t see my watery eyes. Because we were so close I was also afraid Mick would recognize me. Ironic since I had went looking for him the previous day.

            “But what was I gonna do with somebody who was something like a rock star, albeit a Christian one? Plus, I was pretty sure he wasn’t from the Duluth area. Shoot, I wasn’t even sure if the attraction was mutual. All I knew was that I was infatuated with him. He probably thought I was a careless, irresponsible fool who just let her unruly dog run wild.”

            “The truth was,” Mick took over. “The attraction was indeed mutual. But I had moved on already and had her out of my mind by morning. I fancied myself a realist. God doesn’t always answer prayers instantly. By her showing up like that, dressed with not much to leave to the imagination, and espousing lack of faith. Well, I figured Satan might just be trying to trick me. You know like the warning from Proverbs about avoiding the immoral woman.”

            “Thanks a lot!” Lindsey responded, giving him a light slug on his upper arm.

            “So if you tried to hide by pulling your hat low,” I asked. “What happened that you ended up meeting again?”

            “Because Heather’s cousin was H. R. Puffin, the headliner, we had acquired back stage passes,” Lindsey said. “But it turned out to be a little frustrating. I didn’t see Mick or any of his band mates anywhere. Then Puffin himself flirted with me.”

            Lindsey shook her head, laughed and covered her face with a hand.

            “What’s so funny?” I asked, grinning.

            “She hurt Puffin’s ego,” Mick said matter of fact.

            “Even though he was supposed to be a Christian, he apparently was used to women admiring him, not asking him about another one of the lesser stars,” Lindsey explained.

            “You asked him where Mick was?” I asked.

            “I did. Right after he asked if I would like to go somewhere private and talk.”

            “Did he help you?”

            “I’ve got to hand it to him, he did. Although begrudgingly. He said Cornerstone were still out in the arena at their merch table, signing autographs and talking to fans.”

            “What’s a merch table?” I asked, being unfamiliar with concerts.

            “Merch is short for merchandize,” Mick answered. “It’s an area where bands sell shirts, posters, stickers, C.D.’s, and such.”

            “Puffin made a point of telling me he didn’t go to his merch table because he would be there for hours. Anyway, I went back out into the arena. I saw there were still a couple dozen people in line to meet the band. I bought one of their C.D.’s and joined the end of the line to get it signed.

            “I noticed they asked the name of the person they were signing an autograph for. So then they would write ‘To so and so’ before they signed their name…”

            Lindsey started laughing, so Mick finished. “She says to me, my dog is a big fan of yours, could you make this out to Jitts?”

            “I looked up at her in utter astonishment as she took her hat off and grinned at me… You could have knocked me over with a feather!”

(Writer’s note: My stories have sometimes been motivated by music, and I’ve always wanted to implement songs into a story. So I’m doing a little experiment if you are interested in playing along. Not doing so will in no way take away from the story itself.

            So here’s a little supplement to today’s edition. The song I had in mind that moved Lindsey during Mick’s show was a song by the band ‘Kutless’ called ‘Run.’ If you listen to Christian radio, you might recognize it. It was especially played several years ago. It can be easily found on YouTube.)

BLACK SABBATH – CHAPTER 25

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

BLACK SABBATH

CHAPTER 25

ZELLA LaSTELLA-SALLIE

THE END OF A THING IS BETTER THAN ITS BEGINNING. THE PATIENT IN SPIRIT IS BETTER THAN THE PROUD IN SPIRIT. (Ecclesiastes 7:8)

            As several of us sat on the deck, Lindsey Wadena had just shown me a picture on her phone of the very meeting between her and her husband. She had said a dog had played match maker between them. I had witnessed something similar myself with Willa Waconia and Billy Bob Booker. The parallel between Lindsey and Mick’s romantic account and the one I witnessed several years ago had my curiosity at a peek.

            A friend of Lindsey’s had taken the photo when she witnessed her asexual gal pal chatting it up with a bare chested young stud. Standing beside her, gazing fondly up at Mick was a German Shepard mix. His name was Jitterbug.

            “He was such a scared little boy when I first got him,” Lindsey explained. “He was only about six months old and would just start trembling for no apparent reason. A friend of mine rescued him from a horrible situation. He was undernourished and had been abused. My friend already had five dogs, so I took him in.

            “He was called Nacho when I first got him. But as I spoke softly to him and nurtured him, I would say ‘aren’t you just a little jitterbug.’ I didn’t really care for the name Nacho; it just didn’t seem to fit him. Then a girlfriend suggested I call him Jitterbug, and then I started calling him Jitts for short.

            “It didn’t take too long for his trembling to go away. But I began to notice a pattern with him. Every time a guy came around he would hide and start trembling again. This didn’t happen very often. I didn’t have a boyfriend and I seldom dated. So it was usually my dad or my brother.”

            As a woman of around fifty, Lindsey was certainly nice looking. But the photo she showed me in her mid-twenties revealed an absolute knock out. She also looked like she stepped out of a fitness magazine in her spandex shorts and sports bra. So I had to ask, “So, you just weren’t interested in romance?”

            “Yes and no,” she replied. Then her large almond shaped eyes looked sad. “I had my own tragedy when I was a teenager. Maybe that’s why Jitts and I bonded so well.”

            “Were you abused?” I asked softly, cautiously.

            She shook her head and I noticed her jaw tighten. “When I was thirteen and my sister Lana was sixteen, she was date raped.”

            “Oh no!” I couldn’t help blurting.

            She bowed her head and nodded. “It was horrible. What made it worse was I had such a major crush on her boyfriend.”

            There was an awkward silence for a long moment. Selfishly I felt disappointed. For I was desiring a heartwarming story similar to the one I experienced with my dog Free, not an ugly recount of an innocent girl defiled by unbridled lust.

            “Three months after the ordeal,” Lindsey continued. “Lana swallowed all of her antidepressant medications and some sleeping pills. Her stomach was pumped and she spent a few weeks in a psychiatric unit of a hospital. The very day she was released, she slit her wrists in the bath tub. This time she didn’t survive.”

            “I’m so, so sorry,” I told her. She nodded and as she wiped at a tear. It struck me that even after all these years, the pain of her sister’s torment and death lurked just beneath the surface of her soul. How many such people have we encountered, unaware of the pain they keep hidden. It was a lesson for me about being kind to everyone we meet, despite any sour dispositions they may have.

            “I’m sorry as well, for that depressing little antidote,” Lindsey said, forcing a smile. “But I guess I needed to tell the back story of Jitts and me, and how he ended up unwittingly setting me up with Mick.”

            Lindsey showed me another picture. This one was of a teenage girl and a dog that looked similar to Jitts. The teenage girl also looked similar to Lindsey. But she wasn’t the striking beauty Lindsey was in the first photo she showed me of her, Mick and Jitts. Lana looked wholesome in a long dress with her hair pulled back, grinning from ear to ear with a crooked tooth smile.

            “I love her big grin in this pic,” Lindsey said with a sentimental smile. “Lana was bi-polar. She was also painfully shy and timid, yet sometimes she could be volatile and angry. But Yoda brought her out of her shell like no one else could.”

            “Yoda?” I asked with an arched eyebrow.

            “Our brother was a huge Star Wars fan,” she laughed. “When he suggested Yoda, Lana thought it was a good fit. You can see there was another reason I fell in love with Jitts.”

            “Yeah, they look like they came from the same litter,” I commented.

            “Anyway, I was leery of guys, I guess because of what happened to Lana. Jitts didn’t like guys and was afraid of them. So I developed a personal rule. If Jitts didn’t like a guy and hid, I wouldn’t continue to go out with him. This rule proved to be somewhat unreasonable. I didn’t realize Jitts would cower from virtually every guy he came across. The only guy that won him over was my brother, and he is not the macho type at all.

            “So when I met Mick, I was twenty-two. I’d had Jitts for about four years and had zero love life. Come to think of it, maybe Jitts wanted me all to himself,” she laughed. “Until he invited Mick into my life that is.”

            Mick must have been overhearing our conversation because he interjected. “I don’t know about that. Every time we sat next to each other, he nosed in between us.”

            “Yeah, but then what happened a few months in?” Lindsey replied with a disapproving, yet light hearted gaze.

            “Whatever do you mean?” Mick responded innocently.

            She chuckled and looked at me. “I mean that a few months in, Jitts turned his primary affections onto Mick. He followed him wherever he went. He stopped nosing between us and just crawled onto Mick’s lap.”

            “The big lug,” Mick laughed. “Seventy five pounds isn’t exactly a lap dog.”

            “So how did Jitts play match maker?” I asked eagerly.

            “A friend of mine had this cousin that was a pretty famous Christian rock rapper. His stage name is H. R. Puffin.”

            “I’ve heard of him,” I interjected.

            “So she, me and two other girlfriends were going to his show in Madison, Wisconsin. Mick’s band turned out to be Puffin’s special guest on the tour. My friends and I all lived in Duluth at the time. I wasn’t into the concert at all. I didn’t know or necessarily like Puffin’s music or big crowds. But we were gonna camp at Devil’s Head the day before, and rock climb and hike. Nature was what I was really into! Plus I had an aunt that lived near Madison, and she was willing to watch Jitts while we went to the show. So I agreed to go on the trip.

            “So we were at Devil’s Head the day before the show. One of my girlfriends and I went for a run and Jitts came with us. We had just run some hills and was walking to catch our breath.  Then Jitts just up and runs off like a flash.

            “There was a shirtless guy kneeling in front of a log. His elbows were on top of the log and doubled fists were on his forehead. It seemed he was praying. It also seemed that Jitts was charging toward him. Jitts never approached anyone, male or female. But like I said, especially male. That’s why I was comfortable not having him on a leash.

            “I felt a surge of panic! This was so out of character for Jitts. I chased after him and called. But he kept going. I thought for sure he was gonna lunge with bared teeth. I called and called. The man, who turned out to be Mick, raised his head and looked with surprise at my charging dog.

            “But then Jitts slowed and I could not believe what I saw. His tail was wagging as hard as I had ever seen it. Then Jitts surprised me even further. He prostrated himself at Mick’s feet. Well, actually his knees.

            “So I come running up ready to pull my suddenly vicious dog off of the man. But Jitts was squirming and whining excitedly, his tail thumping on the ground. Mick was grinning and petting him and telling him what a good boy he was. I must have stared for the longest time, unable to comprehend what I was witnessing.”

            “It wasn’t even a minute,” Mick interjected with a chuckle. “But it turned out to be an answer to prayer, I just didn’t know it at the time.”

            “He had been praying for me,” Lindsey said happily.

            “But you didn’t even know her, right?” I asked with a frown.

            “I didn’t, and even after our encounter that day, I didn’t know who I was praying for.”

            “You’re losing me,” I replied with a questioning smile.

            Mick chuckled. “Let me back up. There were four of us in the band called Cornerstone. We all grew up together, went to Christian school together. We were all the real deal. By that I mean devout and serious about our faith. The four of us were tight and made a pact of celibacy until married. So two of us married high school sweethearts the year after we graduated.

            “The week before I met Lindsey, our guitar player, Matt, got married. We were all only in our early twenties, yet I was now the only unmarried one in the band. I wasn’t jealous, yet I really wanted to find a mate more than ever. Being in the position I was, especially as lead singer, I had scores of female admirers. But just like Lindsey had her reasons for being leery of guys, I was leery of gals that were smitten because I was in a popular band.

            “I mean, we weren’t a household name by any stretch. But on the Christian rock scene, we were becoming a pretty big deal. And as our fame spread, it seemed it was going to be harder and harder to meet that special someone, as strange as that may sound. It was ironic since I met countless attractive females at every show. But yet I had it in my head that a woman I met at a Cornerstone show was only interested in Mick the singer, not the person.”

            “But then Mick and I met a second time at his show the next night,” Lindsey laughed. “So he ended up marrying a woman he met at one of his shows after all.”

            “Not fair, we met in the woods, and Jitts introduced us.”

            “True enough, but we did go our separate ways in a matter of minutes, figuring we’d never see each other again.”

            “So out in the woods where you met, how long was your dialogue and what did you say to each other?” I asked.

            “First I said I was sorry about Jitts charging up to him,” Lindsey laughed.

            “Then she asked me if I had been praying and I acknowledged that I had.”

            “Then we just stared at each other for a long time.”

            “It was probably only twenty or thirty seconds,” Mick laughed.

            “It’s hard to tell because it sure felt like several minutes.”

            “But we were both dumbfounded. Me because I had just been praying that God would help me find a soulmate. And she because Jitts rarely took to guys.”

            “Try never,” Lindsey corrected.

            “What about your brother?”

            “He had to win him over after a few encounters. Until you, he never took to a guy right off the bat. Anyway, we started talking about spiritual things. I felt compelled to tell him about my struggles with faith, my rebellion toward God.

            “I remember he shared the verse ‘he that has begun a good work in you will complete it’ (Philippians 1:6). I had such a strange tug of war going on inside of me. I had never been so drawn to a guy in my life! Yet I had so conditioned myself toward asexuality, that this other part of my brain was screaming, get away from him!”

            “And you did,” Mick laughed.

            Lindsey looked at Mick and then back at me. “My girlfriend, God bless her, was trying to assist Jitts in setting me up with Mick. After he and I had been talking for five or ten minutes, she sidled up next to me and said she was going back to our camper and that I should take my time. But I used her interruption as both a sign and an excuse to get away from the hot guy.”

            “She meant temperature by hot,” Mick said. “It was about ninety degrees and humid.”

            “I wasn’t talking temperature at all,” she responded with a coy smile. “He looked good with no shirt. But on the other hand, I was a little put off that he didn’t put his shirt on as we talked.”

            “But I didn’t have one with me,” Mick defended. “It was back at my campsite.”

            “I may have gotten away from him as fast as I could,” Lindsey continued. “But I could not get him out of my mind. Who was he? I didn’t even get his name. Where did he live? What was it about him that drew Jitts to him? How could that even be?

            “As I took a shower back at the camper, I almost fell down kicking myself in the behind. What was I thinking blowing off the closest thing to a perfect man I ever had encountered! I dried off and went looking for him, got super sweaty in the process, which negated the shower I had taken. But it was to no avail, I didn’t see him. I was so disappointed.”

            “I too was disappointed,” Mick added. “I had literally just prayed that God would put the woman of HIS choice into my life. Then this happy dog nudges me out of my reverence. I says to the dog, ‘well hi fella, but you’re not what I had in mind when I was praying.’ Then I look up and see Lindsey running toward us, calling Jitts. Then I said to him, ‘but she just might be!’

            “But then after several minutes talking with her, she bolted like she was just called to put out a fire. I kept an eye out for her the rest of the day, but to no avail. I was so disappointed to be teased like that. I tried not to have a complaining attitude, but I prayed again, simply asking, ‘Lord why put that intriguing woman in front of me, only to have her walk away?’

            “After praying I grabbed my Bible. I like to randomly open it and see what my eyes hit on first that I had previously underlined. That night my eyes landed on Psalm 27:14. ‘Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord!’

BLACK SABBATH – CHAPTER 24

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

BLACK SABBATH

CHAPTER 24

SEVEN SALLIE

GOD IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH, A VERY PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE. THEREFORE WE WILL NOT FEAR THOUGH THE EARTH BE REMOVED. (Psalm 46:1, 2)

            The sunset was bizarrely beautiful. I’d never seen anything like it. It was both breath taking, yet ominous. Who would have thought a sunset could pose such a contradiction in our minds. It was like a living object lesson of Psalm 85:10. ‘Mercy and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have met together.’

            Brilliant reds, greens, yellows, pinks, blues, and violets swirled together. Have you ever noticed how fast a colorful sunset can change into darkness? Well this sunset changed and morphed colors five times faster than usual. Yet darkness came five times slower than usual. And the color schemes just kept changing and moving.

             The fourth plague fell the previous day. Unrepentant humanity was scorched with great heat (Revelation 16:8, 9). Yet those of us who had the seal of God were protected. It was as if we were encased in an unseen bubble. The cells of God’s people scattered throughout the world experienced the same protection. Our friends and family back in Eastern Iowa were experiencing a similar shield that we were. I was so grateful to hear my daughter’s voice as she related this information to me.

            We had all had a restless night as the judgements of God continued to fall. Not that we feared for ourselves, for we loved Jesus (John 14:15) and had kept the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12). We were concerned for the unprotected. We mourned for friends and loved ones that sided with the commandments of men rather than the commandments of God.

            We took courage that the plagues indicated that the second coming of Jesus Christ was very, very soon.  The most stunning sunset our eyes had ever seen made us think of our Lord coming in the clouds of heaven. Not in some secret rapture.  

            John the Revelator tells us in the very first chapter, verse seven, that every eye will see Him. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 that the Lord Himself will descend with a shout, with the voice of an arch angel, and with the trumpet of God. In Acts chapter one, when Jesus arose to heaven, verse eleven tells us that He would come in like manner.

            1 Thessalonians 4:18 tells us we should comfort one another regarding the second coming of Christ. Revelation 21:4 assures us that God would wipe away every tear and that there would be no more death, sorrow, or crying. There would be no more pain, for the former things will have passed away.

            Inga, C.S., who was formerly known as Jackson, Zella and I were sitting on C. S.‘s deck. We were comforting each other about the second coming of Christ as we watched the unique sunset. We were all excited, yet troubled by the falling of the plagues. So we were exercising the Bible instruction to exhort one another daily (Hebrews 3:13).

            It must have worked. C.S. got a boyish grin on his face as he took hold of Inga’s hand. “Come see, a quarter mile through the woods is a large pond. It wasn’t affected by the third plague. Sunsets are amazing there. This one will be absolutely phenomenal.”

            But Inga resisted and frowned. “This is the most interesting sunset I’ve ever seen; but I don’t like what it represents.”

            C. S. frowned back. “What do you mean?”

            “The reason the sunset is so unique is because the fourth plague has fallen. That means  fallen humanity has been scorched with great heat.”

            “Don’t think about that,” he petitioned. “There’s nothing we can do about it now. God is a righteous judge. Think of it as Christ’s imminent return being incredibly soon.”

            “C. S. is right, Inga,” I added. “The loud cry of the three angels messages was sufficiently broadcast. Everyone had their chance to accept or reject the God of Creation.”

            Inga pondered this for a minute. A girlish grin grew onto her face as she did so, and then they were off, walking hand in hand toward the woods. Zella smiled sentimentally as she watched them while I watched her. Her beautiful ebony skin glowed in the fast changing but slowly fading sunlight. “I think love has been rekindled.”

            “Were they in love the first time?” I asked.

            “There must have been something.”

            “Yeah, but Inga despised him for almost a decade. What we’re witnessing is new, fresh.”

            “No, I say there was something. Circumstances all those years ago just caused Inga to take a step back on her feelings.”

            “More like a leap.”

            “Life’s a strange trip,” she said with a shrug.

            I put arm around her and kissed her mouth. Aunt Holly and Benny were at the neighbors, so we were alone. I kissed her again and she giggled. “No wonder you talked Inga into going with C. S.”

            “I don’t know that I talked her into it,” I grinned. “But I was hoping for some alone time with the most beautiful woman on the planet.”

            “Aw, you’re sweet,” she said aiming a big eyed smile my way. I arose and moved to sit on her lap. She stopped me by placing both hands on my back side. “I don’t think so!”

            “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

            “Sit back down,” she ordered. Then she arose and moved to sit on my lap. Unlike her, I allowed it. To my immense pleasure, she kissed me and I mean deeply. I wrapped my arms around her and planned on much more of the same. But it wasn’t to be.

            Inga and C. S. had entered the woods that surrounded the acreage via a trail to the southwest. From the northeast side of the woods we heard the crunch of leaves, the snap of a twig and the murmur of voices. Half a dozen people began to emerge from the woods and Zella sprang from my lap as though it were on fire… Drat!

            The little band was led by Benny and his two friends, a boy and a girl. Holly was with the children’s parents. The couple appeared to be close to Zella and myself in age. They made their way to the deck and Holly introduced us to Mick and Lindsey Wadena.

            Mick was medium height, burly and had thinning blonde hair. Lindsey had short strawberry blond hair. She reminded me of Mary Poppins, but it was probably the old fashioned dress she was wearing.

             “Wow, you’re Seven Sallie,” Mick declared.

            I opened my mouth to reply, but Zella beat me to it. With an exaggeratedly deep voice she said, “Yes indeed, it is he, the venerable Seven Sallie.”

            They all laughed and I looked at my wife. She giggled. “You always look like Daffy Duck when you’re exasperated.”

            They all laughed again, and I couldn’t help chuckling along with them. Then something happened that I didn’t know how to take. Mick was commenting on the strange sunset, but I was  overhearing Lindsey discreetly whisper to Holly, “I thought you said he looks like George Clooney.”

            “I just meant sort of,” Holly whispered back.

            Was this a compliment or a dis? Oh well, I wasn’t even meant to hear it.

            “So you know Arlo Aldo?” I asked Mick.

            “I do indeed,” he replied. “Eli Alderson also.”

            Eli was Arlo’s bandmate. They were both in a Satanic band for many years, and then after their conversion they started a Christian band. Mick rehashed what C. S. had already told me about Arlo vacationing up here and teaching them about the Biblical Sabbath. Then he went on to explain about him and C. S. sharing their information with others in their neck of the woods.

            “As a matter of fact,” Mick was saying. “I think it would be a great comfort if you talked to some friends of ours, Jack and Jill Hill. They…”

            “Jack and Jill Hill?” I asked. “Hill is really their last name? As in Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pale of water?”

            “Yeah, it really is,” he laughed. “Sorry, I guess I’m just used to it after all these years. They have an interesting love story. They became close friends as kids, preteens actually. Jack went by Johnny back then. But then when he and Jill started hanging out, his friends and siblings started calling him Jack to go with her Jill. His dad was John Senior, but went by Jack, so I guess it was a bit of a combination.

            “Anyway, Jill moved away, and they didn’t see each other again for several years. Then Jill showed up at one of his shows a thousand miles from where they first got to know each other. I actually witnessed their reunion. Our bands were touring together at the time. It was a pretty special, memorable moment.”

            “Your own coming together with Lindsey was pretty special too,” Aunt Holly said.

            “Yeah, I suppose it was,” Mick replied, looking fondly at his wife.

            Lindsey seemed like a pretty serious, no nonsense type of person. But she grinned and told us. “Would you believe a dog played cupid?”

            It took me a couple seconds to absorb a dog playing match maker in a romance. However, it wasn’t something I was foreign to. Zella had a rescue dog, a chocolate Labrador named Free. She had been horribly abused. She was blind in one eye and walked with a limp, among other things.

            Free disliked and was afraid of male human beings. The bigger and more macho, the more her disdain. Then one day a big, tall, muscular man with a deep voice came into Zella’s herb and health food shop. Free was in the store that day because Zella’s living quarters upstairs was being painted.

            Although she had warned Billy Bob Booker to keep his distance from Free, the gentle bear of a man couldn’t resist the wounded animal. To Zella’s utter shock, Free couldn’t resist him either. After she witnessed her dog offer up her belly to be scratched by the big man, she had to tell her best friend Willa what happened. In turn, Willa couldn’t resist wanting to get to know Billy Bob herself.

            I looked at my wife. Her stunned expression turned to one of curiosity. “You two were match made by a dog?”

            “Yeah,” they both said at the same time, and  then chuckled.

            “Please tell us about it,” Zella petitioned eagerly. She sat back in her chair, crossed her arms, and anticipated their story.