continuation of chapter 1

Lynn flopped down into a large soft chair across from Ray and next to Seth.
“Mind if I join the boys’ club?” she asked.
“Our pleasure,” answered Seth.
Seth was a regular at the coffee shop and had engaged in several light-hearted conversations with Lynn and the other baristas.
“So, what are we talking about?” inquired Lynn.
“We’re just sharing work stories,” explained Seth.
“Don’t even get me started,” laughed Lynn. “I have plenty of stories.”
“Don’t we all,” said Ray, making more of a statement than an inquiry.

At this point it was closing in on three o’clock and Ray was far from finishing his sermon. He wanted to stay and talk some more, but he knew he had to work on his message. He asked Seth if he would be at the shop next Wednesday. Seth assured him that he would.
“Looking forward to talking with you again,” Ray said, gathering his things.
“Me too,” added Seth.
Ray exchanged goodbyes with Lynn, and with that, he left the coffee shop.
Lynn was working a double shift, so as she was taking a break, she enjoyed her vanilla latte, the quiet jazz music in the air, and the company of a real-live hero.

Seth was the first to strike up a new conversation.
“How long’ve you know Ray?” he asked.
“A few months,” she answered. “I had waited on him a lot and eventually had a real conversation with him one day. He’s a pretty cool guy.”
“He seems like it,” said Seth. “Not really what I expected a minister to be like.”
“What did you expect?” Lynn questioned.
“I don’t know, it’s just that, well, as far as I could tell he isn’t your typical uptight cookie-cutter type of Christian,” answered Seth.
“I know what you mean,” she encouraged. “He’s not pushy or abrasive,” she added.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Seth confirmed. “Why can’t all Christians be that way?” he added.
“That is a really good question,” Lynn concluded.

As Ray left the coffee shop he felt a few drops of rain on his face. The rain was soothing and cool, a contrast to the warmth of a typical August day. Although Indiana is known for its moderate Springs and Falls, the Summers and Winters could be incredible aggressive: Not today though. Rain was sometimes scarce in the late summer months, so this shower was pleasantly welcomed.
Ray quickly hopped into his beat up S-10 pick up. He hated the idea of getting water spots on his papers. Although he had contemplated buying a laptop, for now he was happy handwriting his messages. There was a certain sentiment to handwriting a sermon. It conjured thoughts of ancient scribes penning the Gospels and the Epistles.
Ray switched through radio stations trying to find anything worth listening to. As he expected though, all he found was the same bubble gum pop music that he found nauseating. He had said to his oldest daughter once:
“Come on Sis. I mean seriously, how many ‘Ooh’s’ and ‘Yeah baby’s’ are necessary?”
He pulled a zippered CD case from the backseat. Feeling his way through the case, he found the prize he was looking for and popped it into the player.
He usually listened to audio books while in writing mode. He tried to stay clear of “church” music in order to avoid getting emotionally caught up. He tried listening to worship CD’s once, but found his messages were encouraging and uplifting, but not as challenging. So today’s background noise would be chapter 4 from a book entitled “And God said…” Actually, it was originally titled, “Et Dieu a dit…” The author, a French philosopher from the 1800’s was named Xavier Boche’.
Although it was translated into English, it was still fairly heady stuff. From what Ray could tell, the point of the dissertation was that Christ had not abolished the laws of the Old Testament, but had fulfilled them, even simplifying them in two laws. Ray had to agree. For several years he had come to believe that one could follow the original ten commandments by simply adhering to the 2 commandments that Christ had given to his early followers: Love God and love your neighbors. The problem, as Ray had seen it, was that people still focused on working for salvation, as if they could earn it. Ray began string thoughts together.

“If we could earn salvation…” he thought aloud.
“Then why would we need Christ?”
“If we could earn grace…” he continued his thoughts.
“Why should we depend on God?”
He sat for a few seconds, not really thinking but just waiting.

Then it came.
“Because we can’t earn it. That’s just it. God offers it to everyone. After we have accepted his gift of grace, our lives change and we want to do good works. Not to gain salvation by because it is already given to us ,” he concluded.
This was nothing new to Ray. He had debated the grace vs. works argument when he was in seminary. He assumed that most people had abandoned the idea of salvation through works a long time ago.

He was in the middle of his thoughts, somewhat swept away, when he jerked back to reality to the screeching sound of tires, but not his. Then, blackness.

“So, you mean to tell me that there are single guys in the fire department?” Lynn giggled with amusement. “I thought that all women went crazy for a man in uniform.”
“Well, it’s a little misleading. I’m not single because I have a lack of opportunity. I am single, cause I’m not looking,” Seth explained.
“Well that’s a shame,” said Lynn. “Cause I was just about to ask you out.”
Seth thought to himself for a second. “Was she joking? Oh man, this is uncomfortable.”
He didn’t respond.
“Well, awkward moment, eh?” Lynn asked shifting in her seat.
Seth cracked a smile. “Yeah,” he agreed.
Then a thought popped into Lynn’s head.
“Oh crap, I am so sorry. I must have missed something. I had no idea that you were, well, you know, not into girls.” She awkwardly apologized.
“What?!” Seth half gasped, half choked. “I’m not gay! I’m divorced!”
“Great. I’m an idiot. I am so sorry, I guess I assumed that if a good looking guy tells me her isn’t looking to date that he must be trying to say something else,” she tried to explain.
“Don’t worry about it, the guys at the station tease me all the time,” Seth tried to comfort her.
“No really, I am sorry. I will by all of your drinks from now on,” she was still apologizing.
“Well that’s a deal, but only if we drop the subject,” Seth concluded.
“Agreed,” added Lynn.

She continued, cautiously. “So, uh, if you don’t mind me asking. What happened?” her tone had changed.
“You mean my marriage?” asked Seth.
“Yeah, you don’t have to tell me, it’s none of my business,” she back peddled.
“No, it’s ok,” he replied. “We were young, just 19 and 20 when we got married. Things were great for a few years. I was hired at the department; she was a receptionist at a doctor’s office. Like I said, things were great.”
Lynn just sat there, silently, taking in the story.

“So a few month at the fire department and we were fighting all the time, about everything. Our shifts suck, twenty-four hours on at a time. Seven o’clock in the morning to seven o’clock the next morning.” Seth continued.

“Wow, I thought I had it rough working a few mornings here and there,” replied Lynn.

“Yeah, well, while I was at work, she was out with her friends hitting the bars and clubs. One night she met a bartender and the rest is history,” he looked away towards the window.

“Oh no,” Lynn was feeling pain for him.

“She started having an affair. I felt so stupid. I had no idea. It went on for two or three months. Then one morning, I came home from work and the house was quiet. She wasn’t there. All of her stuff was gone. All she left was a letter on the kitchen counter,” he remembered.
“She left you a ‘Dear John’ letter?” Lynn almost shouted.
“Yeah, well actually a ‘Dear Seth’ letter, but it basically said that she was leaving me, she found someone else, it wasn’t my fault, blah, blah, blah.” He motioned with his hands as he said the last three words.
“I just remember falling to the floor and crying so hard. Then like a one-two punch, I realized that she had taken our dog too. I was literally all alone.” There was a quiver in his voice.
“Oh my gosh, that is so low,” replied Lynn.
“Yeah, so that was five years ago, and I haven’t dated since,” Seth added.
They sat back awkwardly for a few silent seconds.

“So,” Lynn broke the tension. “What holds you back?”
“I don’t know, fear of getting hurt again, I guess,” answered Seth.
“Yeah, I guess that would do it,” Lynn offered then continued. “Don’t worry, I won’t stalk you or anything, but uh, you know, if you ever would like to go have dinner and some company you can give me a call.” She wrote down her phone number on a napkin and slid it over to him.
He reached for it hesitantly. Looking at it for a second, he spoke up.
“I just saw this number,” he said.
“What? Where?” she asked, concerned.
“On the wall in the restroom,” he said, smiling.
“You jerk,” she said, laughing, then slugged him hard in the shoulder.

|