Reverend America: A Journey of Redemption (25 page)

And together we’ll find home

He started by himself—the whitest man in that bus, and for miles around. But Hoptree was right—he had the gift. He’d known serpents and dungeons. He spoke with his own authority. Everyone joined in. They belted it out—and as they did, Aura Ryder kicked on the generator and came in on the Jensen. Valentine Tate picked up the electric guitar and Hoptree played the harp.

The flood blistered ark of the bus and the gopherwood shacks all around them vibrated with the life of the song. It wasn’t about Christ on the Cross or some throne in the clouds. It was about something bigger, quieter, and they sang as loudly as they could, sending the music out on the wings of morning, over the water and high up into the falling air.

The pale minister with the dark past heard his own voice rise above the rest—the voice trained in tents and hardwood churches overlooking ravines of rust eaten iron stoves. He heard it come forward like a spirit when the stone of the past is rolled away. A spirit consecrated to wander, and in wandering to be reborn. Could he be moved? Could he be moved to remain—to put down roots? Or was he forever a mustard seed on the wind, a Rinder haunting the crossroads just this side of Burma Shave and Damascus? There was no more sermon left to say—only the one kind of prayer he’d never finally lost faith in. He sang as only he could.

Kris Saknussemm is the internationally acclaimed author of eleven books that have been translated into many languages, including Zanesville, Private Midnight, Enigmatic Pilot and the short story collection Sinister Miniatures. His shorter work has appeared in Playboy, Nerve, The Boston Review, The Hudson Review, The Antioch Review, New Letters and elsewhere. More information is available at
www.krissaknussemm.com
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