Far Country (32 page)

           
Steve flashed him a huge smile. “Trust me, Jesus was all about fishing!” He
bowed again and walked swiftly for the stage door.

           
Richard glared at the empty hallway for a moment, more confused and frightened
by what was happening in his life than he cared to admit.  Two weeks ago,
his wife had been a hopeless stage four cancer patient. Today – just this
morning – all signs of the cancer had faded from the x-ray.  And he had
watched it shrink!

           
 And you will know who healed your wife.
Robert Graham’s words kept echoing in his head. 
So was this what Lee Ann kept claiming? A true miracle of God?  Richard
had never had a place in his life for church, and God had gotten less of his
attention than Santa Claus. Why would God waste His time on someone who didn’t
believe in Him? 

           
Of course, he could vaguely remember Lee Ann attending  church by herself
occasionally when they had been first married, but after a couple of years,
once the twins were born, she had quit attending altogether.

           
But two weeks ago, all that had changed. And Lee Ann had known. She had been
certain of what that x-ray would show before she ever saw the film!
Where
had that assurance come from?
Richard wondered, at a complete loss to
explain anything that had happened since Reverend Graham had prayed over Lee
Ann in his dining room.

           
Richard gritted his teeth unable to stop the memory. He had lied to Steve. He
had
felt something that night.  There had been a presence, energy -
something,
in the room. Just for a moment.  He knew that it was impossible, and yet,
it had been there, nonetheless.  

           
He didn’t understand any of it, but Lee Ann had no doubts.  She was
jumping into church with both feet! Not only going to church, but she had gone
out and bought a Bible! She read it
everyday
, then
spent long periods of time just sitting there with her hands together and head
bowed, apparently praying her heart out!

           
Richard shook his head at the sudden changes going on around him. For the
second time this year, his world had been turned upside down!  He was just
learning to face the fact that Lee Ann would die, when suddenly, not only was
she healed, she’d gotten religion! He was glad she was healed, but the rest of
this…why couldn’t they just go back to the way they had been, before the
cancer? He was ashamed to admit that he was more than a little angry with Lee
Ann. And he was angry at himself for being angry at her.  It made his head
spin. Suddenly overwhelmed with the changes in his life, he knew that he didn’t
want to wait alone back here where he couldn’t stop thinking about it all. He
could hear clapping in the assembly hall where everyone had gathered to watch
the skit. Gloomily, he slipped through the side door and took a seat in the
back of the hall.

           
By Wednesday, Richard found he was unconsciously paying more attention to the
theme of the evening. The music room was next to the kitchen, and he could hear
Lee Ann playing the piano while the choir director taught several groups of
kids Bible songs, including, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ and ‘Lord, I
Wanna
be a Sheep!’” When the children who were in the
Crafts Room ran outside for snacks, they were playing with handmade sheep
marionettes, created out of cotton balls, string and popsicle sticks. 
Gracie ran up to Richard, proudly waving her own sheep puppet at him. “Look
Grampa
!”

           
Richard admired the little cotton ball creation, and then he tried out the
little puppet, making it dance across the table. “Lord I
wanna
be sheep,
buh
buh
buh
baa,” he sang to her in a deep voice.

           
“
Grampa
!” Gracie exclaimed. “You know my song!”

           
“Yeah, I guess I do know it.  I’ve been listening to you guys practicing
it for three days now!” He admitted to her, laughing a little at himself.

           
Back in the kitchen, Richard had just finished washing the last of the bowls when
the five minute warning bell rang for the skit. He found himself wiping his
hands dry and following his fellow kitchen helpers out into the hallway behind
the stage.

           
Once again, Steve was waiting there for his entry cue, along with several young
boys and girls.  Steve was obviously dressed as a shepherd tonight,
complete with the big shepherd’s crook.  The children were wearing
sheepskin vests and had floppy black ears attached to bands around their heads.
They sported cotton ball tails, and milled around the hallway giggling and ‘baa
baa-ing to pass the time.   Richard could hear the stage manager
introducing the skit, but he could not make out the words. He cocked his head.
“What’s with all the sheep stuff?” he asked Steve.

           
“Tonight we are talking about how Jesus is a shepherd to his people.” He nodded
his head toward his restless flock of children. “We’re acting out the parable
of the lost sheep.”

           
Richard frowned in confusion. “I thought you said your Jesus was all about
fishing!”

           
The stage manager finished his speech and the audience clapped. Steve opened
the stage door and his ‘sheep’ bounded onto the stage ahead of him. “Totally
into fishing!” Steve agreed with a grin. “See you on the other side!”  He
dashed up the steps after his runaway flock.

           
Richard scowled. “What do fish and sheep have in common?” He grumbled turning
away. But then, his curiosity got the better of him, and once again he slipped
into a chair at the back of the hall.

           
Friday evening, Richard put away the extra juice bottles and leaned against the
refrigerator door. The other ladies had already headed to the assembly hall.
Richard had wanted a little time alone, and had offered to finish up by
himself.

           
He contemplated the little vase of flowers he had collected over the course of
the evening. The theme tonight was something about knowing a good plant by the
fruit it produced.  The students gave out flowers to anyone whom they
thought was helping God.  Richard had been surprised that as he had
collected the dirty dishes after the 4
^th
grade snack break, children
had begun handing
him
flowers!

           
The first time it happened, he had laughed and handed the flower back to the
girl. “I think you are supposed to give the flowers to someone who is helping
God,” he reminded her.

           
“I know that!” She had retorted, unabashed. “Jesus wants us to nurture people.
You’ve served us snacks every night, and you even clean up after us, even
though you look like you don’t much enjoy it.”

           
“I don’t, do I?” Richard responded, suddenly feeling self conscious about his
attitude all week.

           
The girl shrugged. “I don’t blame you for looking grumpy, I hate washing dishes
too,” she acknowledged. “That’s why I think you deserve a flower. You took care
of us every night, even though it wasn’t a very fun job.”  Once again she
held out the daisy, and this time Richard accepted it with a confused “thank
you.”

           
“You have to put it in water, or it’s going to die,” she reminded him when he
stuck it in his pocket. “Uh, right, I’ll take care of it when I get back in the
kitchen,” he promised her.  She gave him a bright smile and hurried after
her class, which was heading off to the story room.

           
Carefully, Richard carried the flower back to the kitchen. Ellie, one of the
other ladies working with him, smiled when she saw it. “How nice!” she
exclaimed, and reached for small juice glass in the cabinet. She filled it with
water and said, “This ought to be deep enough to hold it.”

           
Richard dropped the daisy into the glass and set it on the corner of his
serving tray.  After that, each time he returned to the kitchen, two or
three new daisies would have joined the first one in the juice glass. Now as he
leaned against the refrigerator, he held the glass in his hand and contemplated
his rainbow bouquet. Why
would anyone look at a grumpy old man handing out
snacks, and think that somehow he was doing God’s work?
He wondered, more
confused than ever by the children’s’ gesture.

           
“Wow, pretty impressive!” Richard looked up to see Steve admiring his flower
glass.

           
Embarrassed, Richard quickly set the glass down on the counter.  “I think
they just got tired of having to carry them around,” he said feigning an
indifferent shrug.

           
“Not a chance!” Steve said seriously.  “They’ve almost emptied four
buckets worth of flowers tonight. The kids have had a pretty good time
recognizing God’s servants all night long.  They even started a vase for
the cleaning lady, and an honorary one for their parents. And it was all their
idea.”

           
Taken aback by the obvious thought the children had put into their project,
Richard cast around for a different subject.  His gaze fastened on Steve’s
outfit. Instead of the traditional robes and beard of the last couple of
nights, Steve was wearing patched overalls, work boots and heavy gloves.

           
“What’s with your clothes?” He demanded. “Isn’t t time for the skit? You look
like you’re ready to clean the gutters.”

           
Steve glanced down at his outfit. “Oh yeah, I’m in the skit…can’t you tell that
I’m supposed to be a gardener?” He asked a little concerned.

           
Richard’s eyebrows shot up. “I guess you could be, but I thought you were
supposed to be telling Bible stories about Jesus.” He said, trying to ignore
the tug of disappointment that instead of a story tonight, Steve would be
giving a gardening lesson.

           
“Oh, it’s definitely a skit about one of Jesus’ parables,” Steve reassured
Richard.  “This one’s in the book of Luke, and talks about not giving up
on someone just because they don’t seem to be responding. Sometimes you have to
do more than stick a plant in the ground. The same goes for spreading God’s
Word. In other words, if you don’t prepare the soil, how can you expect to get
a good harvest?”

           
Richard crossed his arms over his chest and raised a skeptical eyebrow. “So now
you’re telling me Jesus is a gardener, too?”

           
“The Master Gardener. Absolutely.” Steve replied without hesitation.

           
“Your Jesus can’t seem to settle down on one career,” Richard observed
sarcastically.

           
Steve sighed. Richard just didn’t seem to get any of it. “Richard, Jesus only
has one career: Saving souls. He just uses a lot of different methods to
achieve the goal.”  Steve spread out his hands. “Whether He’s fishing for
souls, protecting and caring for the flock or preparing the soil in our hearts
to receive the Word of God, it’s all just ways of letting us know how far he
will go to bring us closer to him. That’s what the theme of this Vacation Bible
School has been. How God finds us, and how we can help him with the soul
harvest.”

           
Richard’s eyes met Steve’s.  “And if we don’t happen to be part of this
‘soul harvest?”

           
Steve’s eyes never wavered. “You always have that choice,” he acknowledged
quietly. “But he has one other career we haven’t talked about yet. It’s
something you need to consider.”

           
“Don’t tell me, he’s also a gourmet cook on the Food Channel Network,” Richard
quipped, a sarcastic note in his voice.

           
Steve laughed, remembering trying to explain the miracle of the bread and
fishes to Chuck at the beach one day. “A friend of mine once claimed that Jesus
had the first fast food restaurant,” he replied, “but that’s not it. Jesus is
also the King of Kings. One day he will judge the world and everyone will have
to make the choice. Either follow the king’s laws, or be condemned and get
thrown out of the kingdom.”

           
Richard’s face was blank for a moment, then his eyes widened and a look of
incredulity spread over it. “Are you talking about hell?” He demanded angrily.
“What you are telling me is that, I must either toe the line or I will burn
forever in hellfire? Is that it?”

           
“When the judgment comes, only those who will grow in God’s New World will
remain,” Steve said seriously. “Evil will be destroyed at last.”

           
“So you expect me to worship a God who will destroy me if I don’t do everything
he says? He sounds like a thug!”

           
“Not a thug, a gardener,” Steve corrected. “If you plant a garden, don’t you
have the right to pull out the weeds and clear away the dead wood?  Don’t people
make similar choices every day, about what they will and what they won’t allow
to happen in their communities? We agree to follow laws
everyday
,
or face punishment. Why should we get angry with the One who gave us everything
we have, for doing the same thing?” Steve replied.

           
Richard stuttered, searching for a retort, when the sound of clapping signaled
that it was time for Steve to go out on to the stage. “Excuse me.” Steve
apologized, and picked up a bucket with a bare dead branch sticking out of the
dirt. “Luke 13:6  - I’ve got a tree to revive.” He turned away from
Richard and slipped through the stage door.