Craig had a building out back of his property in which he housed the little church, nothing fancy, just a garage used by the previous owner to store big rig trucks. He had insulated the walls and installed heat and air, but it still had it’s original concrete floor, painted the color of brick. When Lenny walked in, all he saw was an open space where everyone stood. He thought that strange, though he had misjudged, because at a certain point in the meeting, the folding chairs were dragged out and set up for the more traditional time of teaching. What he saw at first was a large open area with a small podium up front where someone stood to lead the others facing him, waving their arms in the air, singing and praying.

Craig met him at the door.

“Lenny! Glad you could make it. Really, I’m glad you decided to come. I’ve been thinking about you all week.”

“Me, too, Craig.” There was so much he didn’t say that floated through Lenny’s mind that he couldn’t choose one thing and decided to stay quiet.

“It’s pretty informal here. You’ll see Cammy and Caroline. They’re here already. And Bobby will be speaking in a moment. He’s over there. You might want to say hi.”

“Oh, okay,” Lenny said, looking around to take it in.

Craig gave him one of those comforting claps on the back with his big hand and left Lenny to himself.

Two harmonious female voices filled the high ceilings with jangling acoustic guitars and a light drumkit punctuating their song, words praising God which seemed to inspire hands waved in the air and a slight bounce from foot to foot. Even though they did not move in sync with one another, everyone seemed to move almost the same way. There was boisterous singing coming from some and intermittent exclamations from different parts of the room. Lenny saw Cammy first. It was no surprise. He was beginning to understand he kind’a liked her. He’d been through it so many times before, he didn’t even take himself seriously anymore. He took note and scanned the room for the other two friends he hadn’t seen yet.

Caroline was pivoting in place towards the front of the congregation with her usual lack of inhibition. She saw Lenny when he looked at her and waved a big hello. She bounced her way towards him in time with the music and greeted him gladly.

“You made it!” She folded him in a completely natural embrace with absolutely no sign of awkwardness or hint of offense to be felt from either of them. It wasn’t so much the way the little church might have all their members do, it was just Caroline. What a strange quality of comfort in her own skin she had. It was as soothing and relaxing, as welcome a quality, as just about anything you would encounter. Lenny thought later when he was at home remembering the evening that the only thing he knew that compared was the way God himself made him feel when he was talking to him.

And in his later years, looking back on this night, Lenny would realize the quality he felt in Caroline’s welcoming embrace was no less than the presence of God.

When he saw Bobby over to the side, Bobby was already looking at him with that wide grin of his and flipped his hand in a quick hello to make sure he caught Lenny’s eye. Lenny found himself walking without thinking, drawn to the friend who, when he had introduced himself, had introduced Lenny to the avenue of connection that edifies God’s family in one body of people.

Lenny arrived at Bobby’s side in the pomp and circumstance of a newly welcomed child of God, no fanfare, only an unseen weight of import heralding the spiritual awakening, angels standing at attention, inaudible trumpets singing Lenny’s hallelujah-rejoicing.

“Lenny,” Bobby said, and gave Lenny a big hug. “I knew you’d come.”

Lenny had the fleeting thought that it was strange to be hugged by a man, but it was dismissed so quickly that the thought that followed it was the only thing that registered on his face.

“How could I not? There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

Bobby drew back and gave Lenny a hearty shake before he let him go. He could have said more, but he didn’t want to scare Lenny away before he had a chance to get comfortable.

He put his arm around Lenny shoulder. “You ever seen anything like this before?”

Lenny looked slowly around the room, this time seeing some of the faces which at first had their backs turned. Light seemed to come from their eyes, smiling and singing their praises to God. No one seemed left out. All seemed equally enraptured. There was a communal feeling amongst them as if the joint effort of worshipping God brought them all along together.

He almost wondered out loud, but smiled instead, realizing he was at a loss.

“Can’t say that I have. What is this?”

Bobby drew back his arm and grabbed one of Lenny’s shoulders.

“This, my friend, is praise and worship.”

With that Bobby turned from Lenny and walked up to the podium. When the song leader saw him coming, he stepped down and Bobby took his place.

—

“Can you bring the music down a little. Y’all know how I feel about music.”

The music came down to a volume low enough for Bobby’s voice to be heard above it.

“That’s right, our praise and worship is not in the music or the song we sing, but in the heart turned to God. Someone told me one time, ‘Worship stops when the people can’t hear themselves or others around them singing.’

Our hearts are turned to God, right?”

Some of the patrons spoke a random, ‘Yes!’ which now could be clearly heard.

“Well, let’s continue… Father,” Bobby said, now closing his eyes, “We’re here for you. We’re here to be with you. We know you never leave or forsake us.” His hands were lifted up as if to grab hold of God. “Thank you for being here. We don’t welcome you here, Lord, because you’re already here. We just thank you for being here.”

Bobby paused to hear the music and then began singing softly with it. His voice was pleasant. He did not sing to be heard above everyone else. People followed suit, singing, some more loudly than others, but this time none singing as if to drown out the music in their own ears, but appropriately at the level of volume in the room, harmonizing and blending with the rest of the congregation.

“Father, you are the one,” he continued, “You are the one we come to. You are the one we see in our minds, looking to you with confidence that you are here.” He paused to consider that thought with everyone else. “We worship you. We worship you.”

Bobby stepped to the side and picked up a guitar sitting behind the podium. He began playing with the music, effortlessly finding the chords, blending with the song from the sound system. The song faded out at the end, but Bobby kept playing, playing softly and praying once again with the guitar providing background.

“Lord, we worship you. Lord, we worship you.”

By the time he had spoken the second ‘Lord,’ he was singing the words. He continued on one note, speak/singing his words along with the music.

“We worship you. We worship you. We lift you up. You’re in the highest place, and we worship you. You alone are worthy. You alone are Lord. You alone are worthy. We look to you, we look to you.”

The song began to take shape, to acquire a melody as Bobby added notes, first down, then up.

“You alone are worthy. You alone are Lord.

“You are magnificent. We worship you, we worship you.

“You alone are worthy, you alone are Lord,

“You are magnificent, we look to you, we look to you…”

The last line did not resolve, but ended on a note that suspended the congregation in expectation, or the suggestion, of more.

Then Bobby sang the last words higher, emphasizing:

“We look to you, we look to you, we look to you…”

And the congregation followed.

“You are magnificent,”

And up again:

“We look to you, we look to you, we look to you!”

And the congregation followed.

Then it seemed that the congregation really did start looking to God as they were singing the words, because people started drifting off on their own, some singing, some speaking their own words to God. Yet as their movements flowed together without being planned, so did their song and their praises, no one rising above another for more than a moment emphasizing a phrase that sounded fraught with meaning, or singing a word or a note that blended beautifully. Not all voices were perfect, but all were edifying. Not all sounds were harmonious, but they were glad.

Lenny closed his eyes and swayed with the singing, saying under his breath nice things to God. After a generous amount of time, Bobby began to play another song that people apparently already knew, singing with him and carrying the song in the chorus while he dropped back and let them lead themselves. After a while everyone seemed to have had enough, and Bobby brought it way down, saying a final prayer of thanks and blessing. Caroline, still hopping slightly, said encouraging things to Bobby about how much she had enjoyed ‘their time in the Lord.’ He chuckled, said thanks, and put up his guitar while Craig came up front to join him.

“Aw, that was good!” A man with a big voice and an even bigger smile spoke up from the small congregation.

“You like that, Bill?”

“You betcha! That just made me feel so good. I can hardly explain it.” He looked at Craig with his beaming face, and took a breath. “But I’m gonna try.”

“Go right ahead, Bill,” Craig said.

“All I know to tell you is I feel clean, clean like a fresh wind blew through me.”

“Mmm,” Craig’s deep hum. Others exclaimed, too, a lively interaction.

“Hallelujah!” a sole voice in the group said, followed by claps, hums, and amens.

“Feels good?” Craig said. “That’s God! He feels good!”

People started exclaiming and moving and ‘woo-hooing’ and saying, ‘Yeeeah!’

Craig leaned back and admired it. “Well, you know what, I’m not going to get in the way. Let’s just praise God!” Those folks started jumping and hollering.

Gradually though they began to quiet themselves. They closed their eyes and began to focus on the presence of God they felt in the room with them. It was as if their faith in God being there was making him real.

Then it was as if the movement and the calamity gave way to stillness. People barely made a sound as the room was filled with a heavy weight. It was heavy in the air. It was as if God weighed down on them like a blanket.

Lenny felt it. It wasn’t unlike the times he’d spent with God alone. There was something different about it, though, something stronger, sharper. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew it was God. There was a kind of expectation of him in this presence. It felt like God was a moving force that required him to move with him. It was active. It felt like questions behind a vail drawing him to go and learn of the mysteries behind it and deep things that could only be found in God.

Lenny sensed a vail.

He was surprised when he felt a gentle touch on his arm. His eyes flew open to see Craig looking into them, whispering something to Lenny.

“What do you see?” Craig said.

“I see a vail.” Lenny was shocked the way it shot out of his mouth, but Craig had known the exact question to ask him. How did he know he’d seen something?

“I didn’t know,” Craig said. “I just said what was in my heart. That’s what you should do right now. Just say what you hear in your heart.”

Lenny’s voice wavered as it came out, but it was strong. “I see a vail. It’s blue and velvet, a beautiful vail, and behind it is the Spirit of God. He’s saying come in. He’s telling us to come in.”

Lenny stopped himself. That was all he had heard, so that was good.

“Oh, Jesus!”

Another man beside him exclaimed like Lenny had just opened a door and let him through.

“I see that vail!” he said. “It’s blue and beautiful. I’m going in. I’m going in!”

The man moved his hands like he was pulling back a curtain, and started to exclaim, but went immediately silent. Only faint murmurings slid past his lips, an enraptured gibberish.

Others were already there. Some swayed ever so slightly. Some looked as if they were concentrating on the private things God was telling them.

Craig squeezed Lenny’s shoulder and moved on, leaving him in God’s capable hands. Lenny looked inside and spoke to God as the others were doing, speaking low as if God was in his chest to hear the words before they even came out. Inside himself the words sounded resonant, echoing in the space provided by God’s singular attention. Lenny did not know that this place of trust and companionship with God in his heart was the key to everything. He would know it one day, but it would take time. For now it sufficed to be satisfied in it.

To be spiritually minded. It was the thought that woke Lenny up in the morning. To be spiritually minded was life and peace. That was what Romans chapter eight said. Then there were Jesus’ words from Matthew 6. “Take no thought for your life, for what you shall eat or what you shall drink, or what you shall wear. Is not the life more than meat, and the body more than raiment?”

These words had always captured Lenny’s imagination. He remembered them from his once in a blue moon attendance of a Methodist church when he was younger. The few times he had heard these words, they had stuck in Lenny’s mind. They had not always been remembered, but when he was reminded of them, they grabbed his attention, saying ‘this right here is from God.’

There was an ache that came from these words. It was a truth greater than himself, that went beyond his understanding. How could he be sold out to God like this? He could see in them was the promise, the possibility of God providing for him like he did for the “lilies of the field,” and “the birds of the air.” In them he heard a life lived so close to God that the whole world depended on him. There was a utopia in them, a possibility of God being truly Lord over all people, and all things.

Lenny’s walks were usually trips to the store or walking to work, but today he was just out to see the world. He started on his usual route, but when he got to the corner he would turn to go to work, he kept going, heading towards downtown.

By the time he got to city-center, there were people coming and going from every direction. It was the late morning rush when some were just getting to work, and others were making a quick run for breakfast or coffee in one of the many shops.  One person lugged a long canister to the print shop, moving quickly. Others walked slowly in groups of three or four fanned across the walkway with the shorter shapely women in attractive skirts on the inside setting the pace.

Lenny followed one of these groups into a coffee shop, thinking to himself that he ought not be motivated by the sight of those ladies to do so but couldn’t be sure that he wasn’t. As he waited in line with the ladies inching their way towards the counter just a few feet in front of him, he busied his mind with other things and kept his eyes, for the most part, elsewhere. His ears on the other hand were pricked by some of the conversation between the ladies and the two men who accompanied them.

He kept hearing snatches of ‘God-this,’ and ‘Jesus-that,’ which of course made him curious. He sidestepped a little closer to hear more clearly what they were saying.

“Don’t you think he knows that?” one of the ladies said, only slightly under her breath, but loudly enough for anyone interested to hear. “He does know, and he cares.”

“I know he does,” her female companion answered.

“Right, he’s always there for you,” the deep voice of the taller of the two men cut through, a resonant low hum.

“I know he is. Sometimes I just need—sometimes I just need a reminder.” You could hear her voice becoming stronger. “You’re right, of course you’re right. Sometimes I wonder what I could be thinking.”

Lenny saw the other woman’s face turned half towards him now to speak clearly to her friend. He could see her smile beaming confidence, but mostly exuberance, a glow which he believed immediately was God shining out of her as she echoed her friends sentiment.”

“That’s how we all are sometimes, Caroline.”

‘Oh, yeahs,’ comforting, coming from the two men.

“That’s why we need Jesus. We all need help sometimes. We never stop needing help.”

A little chuckle escaped her friend. “You think it’s always going to be like this?” A full blown laugh came out of her now. “You mean I’m always gonna be falling flat on my you-know-what and having him come along and pick me up. ‘Come on, Caroline. Get up here and dust yourself off.”

She had the other three laughing now.

“You know what it’s like.”

She had caught the attention of the man in the line in front of her with her giant laugh and he was looking hard at her now.

“C’mon, buddy, I know you’ve fallen flat on your butt before. We all have.” Caroline smiled warmly, pausing to see how he would respond.

He gave Caroline a cool, passionless stare and huffed. “Fallen on my butt, alright, but ain’t nobody come along and picked me up,” he said, drawing back resentfully.

Caroline, two seconds before almost blubbering into her sleeve, reared back to let him have it.

“Got yourself up? That’s what I thought, too, at first, till I wound up turning right back around and falling down again. C’mon pal. You don’t really think you’re getting yourself up all these times. Haven’t you learned by now you’ve got to have help?”

“Help, shmelp,” he said. “You got to help yourself. Ain’t nobody gonna help you till you help you, that’s what I know. Why,” he sniggered, “You really believe in that God nonsense? What a load of shit.”

He sauntered backwards with a look on his face like he’d just flattened Mike Tyson. He duckwalked a couple of small steps in place with what he considered a convincing swagger and might have plinked a chaw of tobacco into the back of a spittoon if it had been a hundred and fifty years ago.

Caroline sized him up. “That’s alright. You keep thinking that. God knows how to get through to you.”

“I ain’t scared of him!” he bellowed defiantly for the whole world to hear.

“Scared of him?” Caroline looked surprised. “It’s nothing to be scared of. You think God’s up there keeping score, trying to decide who to strike down next? God’s not like that.” She took a step back now and brought it down a notch. “That’s alright. He’s going to help you. He’ll show you when you least expect it. And don’t worry. You won’t even mind by the time it comes. It’ll just be a gentle whisper—” She looked euphoric now. “He’ll speak so soft and nice to you, he’ll be able to knock you over with a feather.”

And with that Caroline reached out her hand and touched the man’s arm as gently as you could imagine. He tensed up for the briefest second, and then froze.

“Get off me, lady,” his voice boomed. He jerked backwards and stumbled away from her. Every eye in the place was on them now.

 The tall guy with the group Lenny had followed into the shop shook his head, smiling. “Caroline,” he said, and shook his head some more, moving slightly towards the agitated man to impose himself between them. He looked back at Caroline and said in a low voice meant only for her, “That’s why you’re our little evangelist.”

“We’re sorry, sir. Caroline just gets a little carried away sometimes. But nobody’s hurt, right?”

The man stood up straight and shook himself. “Naw, man. I’m fine.”

“Okay.” He moved in and offered his hand to shake. “No hard feelings.”

“No, no hard feelings.” The man shook Caroline’s tall friend’s hand.

Lenny was flabbergasted. He took it all in like a little bird being fed worms from his mother’s mouth. He had never seen such a bold, amazing witness to God. He didn’t even have a concept of a Christian who lived and breathed so simply and securely in God that he or she could walk though life minding their own business, and be so prepared at a moment’s notice to move smoothly in response to the world’s opposition. They were unfazed, he realized, as he watched this little group continue on, paying for and gathering up their coffees, casually make small talk with their regular inside voices, and generally set the whole shop full of people at ease who were only a moment before nervous and a little afraid.

He watched them walk away from the counter hoping he didn’t miss his chance. After getting his coffee, he saw that they had found a table in the shop. He spotted a seat next to them and took it. A month ago he might not have felt comfortable introducing himself, but in the same way that the Word of God had given him the thing worth talking about, it gave him now the reason for sharing with who he was hoping would be his new friends the joy of the Word, and the companionship of Jesus which he was sure would not be unwelcome.

Before he spoke though, Lenny was stilled with the thought, I am a different person now. I feel like something. I feel like I can talk to these people, and that I have something to say, something worth saying. I’m not even intimidated by that pretty girl, because I’m not talking to them because of that. I’m just interested in Jesus. How did this happen?

He realized instantly that it was God. God had changed him. In his mind he spoke to God. God, you took nothing, and made it into something. It was a surprisingly profound thought, so in his mind he said it again. You made something out of nothing. Thinking about himself of course, Lenny was amazed that he felt so differently. He could see that he had actually changed.

“At least that’s what this guy right here knows, isn’t it?”

Lenny was woken up by the voice of the man sitting closest to him. It was the shorter of the two men who Lenny had not heard speak up till now. Lenny looked to see his face smiling genially, his stubbled chin poking out, looking unabashedly at Lenny with a comfort level that made him feel accepted, even before he opened his mouth. The man’s other three friends all looked expectantly at Lenny with the same expression on their faces.

“Don’t you?” he said. “You know what it’s like to know God.”

Lenny’s whole face blossomed into a smile. How did he know! If nothing else, this was the highest compliment.

“Oh, yes,” he said. “Yes. How did you know?” Lenny shook the startlement off himself. “I don’t know how you knew, but I was just sitting here thinking about talking to you, and I knew we would be friends.”

The group looked slightly amused, each looking from one to the other with small exclamations of surprise. All except for the man closest to him who had started the conversation. He looked decidedly unsurprised, staring at Lenny with the confidence of one who had seen what he had seen and was instantly convinced. He looked unflinchingly at Lenny, a wide, matter-of-fact grin, as if he’d known him his whole life.

Lenny didn’t even wait to be asked, but scooted his chair over to their table.

“Oh, yes,” Caroline echoed. “Come and join us.”

“I believe I will!”

Lenny was surprised at the jovialness with which he spoke, so earnest and casual. My, he had changed!

The tall man with the deep voice spoke. “You know Caroline already,” motioning to her. “My name is Craig. And this is Bobby and Cammy.”

Cammy was the pretty one. Lenny did note that in spite of himself.

“Lenny.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Lenny,” Craig continued.

“You, too. Nice to meet y’all.”

He took a polite second to look at each face around the table and land on Bobby sitting next to him.

“And you,” he said. “Why do I feel like I know you already?”

Bobby smiled a little wider and rocked in his seat. “Maybe you do.” He looked around at his three friends and they shared a laugh. “Why does it seem like you know us already?”

Lenny thought. He didn’t know why, but he did feel that way.

“I don’t really know, but I do.” He had to think a little more, looking from face to face, considering his emotions. This was something he wanted: friends. Also, friends who had more experience with God than he did.

His eyes narrowed a bit as he started to say something, pausing under the weight of it.

“I’m a new Christian. Up till now I haven’t had anyone to talk to about it. There’s my friend, Bill, but he doesn’t understand. I’m just giving him time.”

Lenny looked down, thinking. Looking back to his new friends, he continued.

“He’ll come around. I know he will. God promised me—”

Lenny stopped himself.

“That’s alright. You can say that. ‘God promised you,’” Bobby encouraged.

Lenny was startled he had put it that way. “Yes. God promised me that he would do his part. He kept telling me…” Lenny realized at this moment how strange it sounded to say that God was talking to him, but knew that his new friends probably knew exactly what he was talking about, and gained new confidence.

“He kept telling me to be patient and wait. He would get through to Bill if I left it alone.”

Bobby said to Lenny, “Some plant, some water—”

“But God gives the increase!” Craig’s low hum finished his friend’s sentence.

Wow. They knew that verse, too.

—

Lenny spent an hour or more talking to his new friends. He told them about his new experiences with God, and they amazed him with tales so similar to his own that he learned God helped other people in the same amazing way that he had helped him. Their stories were unique in their own ways, but the same in so many more. God was always kind. He was always patient. He was always helpful, teaching them how to know him, how to get the truth from him when the whole world lies to you. God was a Father, a hands-on Father with his children.

There was only one interruption to their euphoric little chat. On his way out of the coffee shop, the illustrious customer who had objected to Caroline’s evangelical laugh planted himself at the end of their table on two widespread feet and tried to lambast them again. Each person in their little group seemed to have something to say to him, calmly for the most part giving him their reasons for loving God the way they did, dismissing most his objections to the existence of God with testimonies of wonderful things he had done in their lives.

“How do you know that was God,” he would ask. And they would tell him in no uncertain terms exactly how they knew.

By the end of it, huffing and puffing, he stormed out of the shop, slightly less full of himself and a little cowed. As before the four friends set everyone at ease with their light manner for a couple of minutes before they gathered their things and left, Lenny in tow.

On the street the conversation continued as the little group took in the sights. The culmination of their afternoon was an invitation to come to church with them, which Lenny had made up his mind to accept even before they offered.

Lenny’s walk home was filled with the thought that he could hardly wait.

The rest of that afternoon and into the evening, Lenny opened up to Bill as he had done many times before. He had no idea all the things he had to say until they began to pour out of him. When Lenny told Bill about finding that verse while he was watching the house in the mountains, his journey through the Bible over the following weeks trotted out behind it. His discovery of stories in the Bible he never knew were there came out. Finding phrases that had always meant something to Lenny when he’d heard them in passing, and then discovering that they were there in the Bible had him shaking his head and clasping his hands, struggling to make Bill see.

Bill was seeing a new person. He was seeing the Lenny that he always knew was there, hidden away from the world. At first he was worried, but as the confidence in Lenny became clearer, and the colors which he’d seen faintly became brighter, Bill became convinced that his friend was experiencing something real. He had heard stories about this. He had just never seen it before, and in a friend, it was mysterious and rattling, because Lenny was not making this up. Bill knew that, and in Lenny’s words was beginning to be opened up to him the possibility of a bright world gradually shining through and overcoming his own lackluster reality.

Was it too much to hope for? Could this bright, perfect place be his too? He was curious, curious in a way that made him really want it, but he had no idea whether he might ever know it for himself. It seemed beyond him.

Lenny saw the inward struggle of his friend, and his heart went out to him. He wasn’t sure if Bill needed reassurance that he was alright, or if was just judging him, but he chose to believe the most hopeful version of Bill’s needs which he felt as a glimmering possibility deep in his heart.

 “Hey, Bill,” Lenny said, a fountain of love welling up inside him. “You know, you can have this, too. And then we can be brothers in this, like we already are in life. We can get to know God together. I’ll do my best to show you how. It’s not even hard.”

Lenny had not thought about this before, but he was seeing just how much of this had been God’s leading. To try to tell Bill how to do it would basically be saying, ‘Trust God to show you.’ He wasn’t sure how helpful that would be.

“Bill, you just talk to God. He’s listening, right now even before you say anything. He knows you’re going to say it. Just talk to him, and see if he doesn’t answer.”

Bill twisted his mouth and jerked his head backwards, a heart full of doubts.

“Just talk to him? It doesn’t seem like it should be that simple.”

Lenny thought about his own experience.

“It is that simple. That’s what happened with me.”

Lenny turned his eyes away for a moment. He remembered having that thought, ‘What if God was really in your heart,’ and tried to recall what happened next, or what led up to it. He remembered he had corrected himself for looking up. He had told himself that if God was in his heart, he need not look up to see him. He looked right there with him. He had believed God was right there with him.

“The most important thing you can do is look for God to be right here with you. That’s where he is, not somewhere else, not up in Heaven. I mean, I suppose he is in Heaven, but he’s here with you, too, and he wants you to know he’s there for you in your heart already. He wants you to know him there. Here…” Lenny said, looking at Bill and holding his hand over his chest. “He wants you to know he’s right here, and he’s here for you to know.”

“Don’t I need to get saved first?”

Lenny thought about himself. He had not had some conversion experience the way they preach it in church. He had not said, ‘Lord, forgive me for my sins.’ The truth was he already believed in Jesus before God ever spoke to him. It was why when he heard God, when he looked for God in the air around him, there was no question in his mind that his experience was with Jesus. Lenny knew that Bill was the same way. Lenny and Bill had always believed in Jesus.

So Lenny asked him, “Aren’t you already saved?”

Bill faltered a bit. “Well, yeah, I guess I am. But I mean, don’t I have to go up in church and pray with the preacher or something—no, wait a minute.”

It was filtering it’s way through Bill’s head.

“I know better than that. You’re right, Lenny, we’ve always known God was real.”

Bill looked between his knees at the lake, glistening beyond the deep blue shadow of trees.

“I just didn’t know he could talk to me.”

—

Lenny’s heart went out to his friend, but he had no clue what to do other than to leave him in his dilemma. He didn’t feel much like joining Bill in drinking the rest of the beer, which after the two Lenny did drink, Bill made up for by drinking until he passed out slobbering. He couldn’t help feeling a little bad for him, but at the same time he also felt he had to maintain his own commitment to God, and had a tinge of resentment, not towards Bill, but towards the idea of blurring his senses to avoid the clear, sweet influence of God in the sober and pristine night. He watched his own vision blur as he drank his beers and began to drift into a wavering state, and couldn’t escape the distinct impression that what he was feeling was a cheap substitute for the blessed calm of knowing God. He had finished the first one and just started on the second when he decided he didn’t want any more. It didn’t have the same appeal as it once did.

Lenny volunteered to drive when they went home the next morning. Even after a sobering crisp sunrise and a delicious, hearty meal of lovely trout, Bill was just a bit shaky still. Lenny would have offered even if that wasn’t the case, though, to try to make up for the state in which he felt somewhat responsible for having put his friend. He took it easy over the bumpy dirt road which stretched about five miles to the highway in solemn silence.

Bill’s head dipped low and he napped.

Lenny stopped at a gas station for refreshments, the first sugar he’d had since they left. He loved that the air was still crisp as he tromped through the lot into the store and filled the tank. He opened the truck door with a creak and threw a pack of Funions at his friend which he knew were his favorite. Bill startled awake, said thankyou, popped it open and poked two fingers inside.

Bill looked quizzically into his bag of chips. “Why’d you let me drink so much last night? I could’a used a chaperone.”

“I tried to stop you. You feeling better? I got you a water.”

“Oh, fair to middlin’.” He scooped another chip out of the bag contemplatively. “You know what I was thinking? I was thinking you ought to be a preacher or something.”

“Oh, stop it!” said Lenny.

“Yeah. You’d make a good one, up there with a white suit, preaching in parking lots and TV and whatnot. You’d be a right good old one.”

Lenny glared at his friend.

“No?” Bill asked. “What’s the matter, you don’t want to be a preacher?”

Lenny started to respond, but caught himself. He wouldn’t let himself be baited. Bill had tried this last night, but he was drunk then, so it didn’t amount to anything. Now when he said it, it sounded a bit mean.

 —

Lenny had been through things like this with Bill before. Most friends had. He knew the best thing would be to let him cool off. They didn’t say much the rest of the way home, but Lenny prayed under his breath. Bill tried a couple more barbs and went silent.

When the sun was at it’s warmest, Bill seemed a bit more coherent. They agreed to disagree for the time being. Though Lenny still held out hope, he realized his friend had to make his own decision. Lenny couldn’t make him talk to God, or be the one who talked for God. It was between Bill and God alone.

He’d said his peace. Still, it was his best friend in the world. His emotions told him to try harder, but in his heart there was a definite something holding him back. It told him to wait. It made him think of something he’d read: “Some plant, some water, but God gets the increase.” The Bible always seemed to make Lenny feel better. This time it made him feel he had done his part. Be patient, and let God do his.

Start at the beginning: https://plainspeakingministries.wordpress.com/category/lenny-and-god/

Cozy in their spot, Lenny and Bill watched the tranquil lake and dozed a part of the afternoon away. When dusk began to settle, they uncovered their canoe from its hiding place and set on the water a while with their reels propped against the side, lines dangling, drifting lazily.

Now seems as good a time as any, Lenny thought. Then he remembered he was supposed to be waiting on God’s leading. Lenny became agitated because of it. He had not learned yet how to yield to God in a challenging moment.

God gave him a little help, then, reminding Lenny of his favorite verse.

He that humbles himself… came to Lenny’s mind. He looked inwardly with a feeling of being caught in a wrong. He focused on the words and purposefully submitted himself to God in his heart, picturing the little child. He imagined the simple, obedient state of mind of a child quietly submitting to his mother or father. Then he thought of it being Jesus. Can you imagine Jesus being the one who called you over? The gentleness of his command, the unquestionable goodwill, the certainty of his authority easing you into calm would pull you in. Lenny imagined that even as he felt that very pull bringing his mind into trusting innocence. Then his heart settled willingly into sync with God, and he was fine again.

The lake was beautiful as always. Lenny sat admiring it. A little fish turning on its side and darting downward plopped his tail on the surface, and Lenny listened to the sound flee over the ripples it had created to the farthest edge of the lake and return to him hollowly, turning the calm expanse into nature’s subtle drum. The lake mirrored pale yellow the slanting light of the late day. The canoe bobbed gently. The small licking sounds of water focused his attention on the extreme lack of noise where, with eyes closed, the few audible reminders of the water’s presence left a cool, reverent hush.

It was very quiet.

When he thought about it, Lenny realized he was at peace in a way he’d never felt before. He was always at peace at the lake, but now he didn’t dread going back to anything in his regular life. Whatever worries had remained at the back of his mind even when he was out here had dissolved. He realized he had let go of stress over regular life issues. He wasn’t worried about his job. God was taking care of him. He wasn’t worried about what his family would think of him. God approved of him. What more could he want?

To his eyes there was a glow in his surroundings, calm in his very own perfect place in the world. There was nothing to dread. He was completely secure in God. The God of all Heaven and Earth held Lenny in the palm of his hand. He felt that. He leaned back and gave a big, long sigh.

Bill looked at him.

“What are you thinking?”

Lenny didn’t answer. Another plop from a rogue fish, and his mind was suddenly filled with an image of Jesus pushing a small boat out from the water’s edge to speak to a crowd gathered on the shore. Lenny saw Jesus standing in a boat in the middle of the lake speaking to people hidden in the dusk among the trees, barely above a whisper at times, yet heard clearly by the silent listeners laid bare with every word.

‘That’s why he did that,’ he thought. ‘Like every little sound out here, his voice would carry across the water!’

He remembered the time he went camping with the Scouts as a boy. There was a mountain which, when he was about halfway up, from a clearing among the rocks, you could speak, and the boys at the bottom could hear you clearly, a natural auditorium.

He thought of Jesus speaking to a crowd from the side of a mountain with the same gentle tone that he imagined his voice would be carried across the water, and realized the Master of the Universe knew how to use his created wonders to amplify his voice as well as any modern sound system would today.

The world must have been much quieter then.

“What is it?”

Brought back from his reverie, Lenny stared wide-eyed at Bill, and for a moment his mind would not comprehend. When he did, he looked at Bill, calculating his response. He couldn’t say anything without letting on about his secret. But then he and Bill had always talked about God up at the lake. Before he could second guess himself, he found himself saying simply what was on his mind.

“Jesus spoke to people on the water.”

“He did?” Bill said, recoiling a bit with the sudden reference.

A small laugh escaped Lenny’s lips as he looked at Bill with smiling eyes.

“Yeah. He would get in a boat and push off the shore where he could talk to the people across the water. Listen.”

Lenny paused to let the sounds of the lake illustrate.

“You hear every little thing out here. Right?”

Amidst the lap of the lake and the tweets of birds echoing sharply from places invisible across the great leap from the covering of trees on the far side, Bill’s face showed steadily progressing signs of comprehension.

“Oh, I see! He could talk from that boat, and everybody would hear him!”

“That’s right.”

“Well. That’s really something.” Bill was intrigued now. “What made you think of that?”

“I don’t know. I was just sitting here, listening to the sound of that fish plopping on the surface, and it came to me. It came to me. I could just imagine how his voice must’ve carried across the water, and then I imagined he knew what he was doing—and then I saw the whole thing, and Jesus was walking on the water, and speaking from the mountain, and his voice was echoing down in the canyon…”

Lenny stopped short. He looked at Bill with his wonder-filled eyes, then looked away, withdrawing into himself again.

“All that.”

Bill wasn’t sure what to think. He’d never seen this side of Lenny before, and that was saying a lot.

“What’s going on with you, Len? How do you know all that?”

“It’s in the Bible.”

“Since when do you read the Bible?”

Lenny realized it was out now. Feeling the release, he addressed Bill matter-of-factly.

“Since a couple of weeks ago. Bill, I had something happen to me. Something good. Real good.”

“Something happen to you?” Bill looked concerned. “What do you mean?”

 “Lenny had never said this before. He had not considered the words he would use. When they came out of his mouth, he wondered how he came by them.

“I had an encounter with God.”

“An encounter?”

Bill almost sounded mad, but Lenny knew better than to think that.

“He came to me.”

Lenny paused, thinking he sounded like one of those kooks. That wasn’t the way he wanted his friend to see him. So he tried to lead Bill into it the way he now knew the Lord had led him into it.

“Have you ever had the thought, what if God was really in your heart, you know, the way they say he is?”

Bill relented a little.

“Yeah. I’ve heard ‘em say that.”

“Well, he is! That’s what I found out. I talked to God in my heart, and he answered.”

“Aw, c’mon now.”

Lenny realized that wasn’t any better.

“Look. I was walking down the street one day, just walking to the store. And I started thinking about it, and I realized God was there to talk to if I wanted. It just happened. So…”

He paused to let it come out as gently as he could.

“I started talking to him, and he answered.”

“Aw, c’mon, Len. You know what they say about people who say stuff like that. They say they’re crazy. You’re not crazy. I know you.”

“Yeah, I know you do, and I’m not crazy. You’re right. But it’s real.” Lenny looked up into his friend’s eyes. “Bill, God is real.”

Bill sat back in his seat a little bit. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. Len, we always thought God was real. I mean, look around! You can’t doubt God is real when you look at all this. I know you’re right. But this… Len, I don’t know.”

Lenny couldn’t help a little smile. He knew exactly how Bill felt.

“Hey, I felt the same way the first day. I didn’t know what to think. But God got me through all that. Now I’m as happy as I know how to be. Happier even.”

Lenny shook his head in awe, thinking.

“It’s just amazing. God has changed my life.”