God and Girl–Chapter 12

God and Girl is my first novel, written in 2015. I'll post it, a chapter a day, over the next few weeks.

It is way too early on a Saturday morning in late September.  It is 7:45 a.m. and Ellen and I are sitting in the media room off the auditorium balcony. Dad has spent the last several weeks organizing a pastor’s conference of sorts.  The purpose is to unite and organize and eventually kickoff his “Take a Stand” program with a march to Guntersville and over the big river bridge.

Ellen is here because she wants to be.  Last night was our recurring theme of staying together at either my house or hers and completing our weekly team assignment for Biology class.  For several days we have been talking about this conference and what it stands for and what she will likely hear.  Ellen says she wants to learn more about what I am struggling with in my faith.  I am glad she is here.

Dad had asked me to videotape the conference. He knew I was pretty good with the new system the church had installed a few weeks ago.  I think he also just wanted me here.  Some form of him appeasing his guilt for spending so little time with me.

“Okay, Pastor Williams is about to deliver his sermon.” I said.

“Good morning fellow pastors.  It is an honor to be here with you, and it is encouraging to see so many out today, ready to ‘Take a Stand’ for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Before I get into the scriptures, before I give you a detailed exegesis of why we are right, why marriage is between one man and one woman, let me give you a real short summary of why we are right to be here today and why we are right to take real action to oppose gay marriage.

We have a guidebook for living.  It is called the Bible.  In it we find that God created our world and that he created all living things including humans.  He created Adam and Eve.  Now, they were very different from the birds, the fish, the reptiles, and the mammals.  God created man and woman in His image.  This means He created them with souls. His purpose in creating Eve was to give Adam a helpmate, a partner in life.  He didn’t give him a man.  God knew that only woman could fulfill His purposes for man. God said be fruitful and multiply.  In God’s creation, only man and woman, joined as one in Holy Matrimony, can produce offspring.  So, we know, we easily know, what is true about marriage.

But we also have another question.  What do we do if we face opposition?  If we face opposition that threatens our ability to fulfill God’s wishes, His commands?  We ‘Take a Stand.’  We let the world know God’s plan.  The early Christians had to fight the Roman government and opposing religious sects to build the Kingdom of God.  If they had chosen not to, then we wouldn’t have our freedoms today.

This country was founded by men and women who were Godfearing believers, who had fled England, a place of little religious freedom.  They were fleeing a government-run church.  That’s why they, in our Constitution, gave us religious freedom.  That means they believed, risking their very lives to do so, every man, woman, boy, and girl had the inalienable right to worship as he saw fit.  This sounds as though I am saying that gays should have this right too.  I’m not.  Their marrying isn’t about worship.  It is about rejection and revolt.  They are rejecting the Christian religion.  As we will see in the Book of Romans, homosexuals are denying God.  Our Founders all believed in the Bible as God’s Word.  They never envisioned a day when our government and its Supreme Court would reject the Bible.  There was never a single component of religious freedom, as embodied in the First Amendment, that recognized sin as a form of worship, and therefore guaranteed the protection of the Constitution.

If we do not ‘Take a Stand’ then someday we, as pastors, will be forced by government to marry gay couples.  We will be forced to assimilate gay couples in our churches exactly as we do Christian couples.  Can you imagine going on a marriage retreat to Gatlinburg, like so many of us have done in the past, and sharing a room with a gay couple?

Fellow pastors, if we want to stay in the business of building God’s Kingdom here on earth, we have to shore up our foundations and ‘Take a Stand.’”

Pastor Williams spent the next 45 minutes diligently laying out scriptures scanning the entire Bible, from Genesis through Revelation.  By the end of his sermon he had the entire conference united and chanting ‘Take a Stand.’

The day was long, all the way up to 4:30.  After Pastor Williams sermon, there was a two-hour Q & A with a panel of five pastors fielding questions from the other pastors.  Then we had an hour for lunch.  The afternoon was committee work. All types of committees had been organized—everything from ‘Licenses & Permits’ for the upcoming bridge march, to ‘Media Management’ including how to handle radio, newspaper, and social networking.  Ellen and I had been asked to capture the core of what was going on in these committees all over the church. 

We each had a camera and each a list of committees and their locations. 

She went her way and I went mine.

Dad, Ellen, and I met after all the pastors had left to discuss the status of our media work.  Dad would later have Todd Barrett, the church’s media director, assimilate and edit all segments to prepare a complete video of the entire day.  Dad intended to use this piece to encourage other pastors, even pastors in other states, to start their own ‘Take a Stand’ program.

Dad gave Ellen and me $50.00 each for our day’s work.  I was not expecting this.  He didn’t have to do it, but he did.  And he even dropped us off at Crater’s for dinner.  We had arranged to meet Ryan, Lisa, and Sarah there for our Saturday night hang-out since Ryan’s parents were hosting a Sunday School party in their basement rec room.

Sunday morning came way too soon.  I was still very tired from yesterday’s pastors conference, but I had to stay awake through Dad’s sermon.  He always kept an eye on me to make sure I was truly listening.  I never could figure out how he could see me, at least enough to check my ears and mind to see how tuned in I was, especially with me sitting up in the balcony with Ryan and Lisa.  But, I came to believe he had special powers because sometimes his questions at lunch made me realize I was clueless as to the answer, and that it was probably because I had zoned out during that part of his sermon.

So, I marshaled all my energies to listen.  About halfway through the preaching, my body came to full attention when out of nowhere I heard someone raise their voice at Dad from the congregation.  “Bigot, King of Bigots.”  A man shouted.  Then, like a choir chiming in around him, “Gays are humans.  You say you love them.  So, love them instead of fight them.”  Then the one man repeated his ‘Bigot’ phrase.  It was apparent we had been invaded.  

Dad was ready, well he was ready to press his lifeline button.  A year or so ago, Dad had installed a communication device on the right side of his pulpit.  It was designed to quickly summon the police.  This was precipitated by all the school and church shootings.  I’m confident Dad pressed the button almost before the end of the first chorus. 

In the meantime, a group of men, church members, confronted the group. From where I was seated I could see there were at least 10 of them.  Our men shouted to them to leave, but they refused and kept up their ‘song.’  Then, one of our men, Tom Dalton I believe, grabbed one man standing at the end of a pew and started pulling him out into the aisle.  Before Tom got him out and before he could turn him toward the back exit, I saw another member of the gang jump over the back of a pew and swing a fist at Tom.  A lot more of our men rushed the melee and thankfully before guns came out, the police arrived and took control of the escalating situation and escorted all 10 men to the city jail. All these men were unknown to me and probably everyone else in church.

When the agitators left, Dad asked everyone to return to their seats.  He finished his sermon as though nothing at all had happened, never mentioning anything about what everyone had just witnessed.

After the sermon, Dad, as always, stood at the front of the church and shook hands.  Then, we went home.  It was a quiet ride; only silent words being spoken.

Later we found out that the 10 men gang was not a gay group at all, but a rag-tag group from North Jackson County that had recently affiliated with a new, but growing, national group called ‘Freedom from Religion.’  The national group had a website that declared that religion, particularly the Christian religion, was taking over the entire country and that it was organized to prevent the United States from becoming a theocracy.

Sunday lunch with the family was as quiet as the car ride home.  Getting up from the table and about to head to my room, I turned to Dad and told him that I loved him and that I was proud of him.  He just looked at me and half smiled, and half cried.

I changed clothes and rode my bike to Ellen’s as planned.  We rode our bikes to the City Park and went to our thinking spot.  The one I had for a very long time, my very own personal spot.  Now, it was mine and Ellen’s.  To me, we were one.

“Finally, alone with my love.”  I said after filling her in on what happened at church this morning.  “I feel dirty after being at the conference all day yesterday and at church this morning.  I have never felt this way.  What is going on?”

“Of course, I do not know for sure, but could it be that you are going through a time that milk and baby food is no longer as satisfying as it used to be, and that you are now enjoying hamburgers and French fries.”  Ellen said.

“Great analogy, but it breaks down pretty quick in my mind.  Everyone, did I say everyone, knows that a baby starts off on milk and baby food.  It is a natural part of life, and again, the world knows this.  There is no surprise, and nothing wrong, with a baby growing up and moving onto hamburgers and fries.”  

“You obviously think that there is a right and wrong in your life.  That church and God and heterosexual couples are right, and evolution and homosexual couples, and me, are wrong.  Doesn’t that sum it up right now?  Of course, today, right here, right now, you are greatly questioning whether church and God’s ways are right.  But, still, at your core, you are firmly rooted in your faith. Right?”  Ellen said.

“You are right.  As always.  Ha.  Let’s drop this for now.  I want to concentrate on you.  I have missed you so much.  I have missed your touch, our talk, our time.  By the way, I wrote you a poem.  It is more like a letter than a poem.  Last night after I got home from Crater’s, where we didn’t get much alone time, I just had to express myself to you. 

I hope it speaks to you, honey.”

“Can I read it out loud?”  Ellen said.

“Sure, whatever you want.”

“Lying beside you is a most wonderful, glorious experience.  I love your naked body against mine.  I love our interlocking legs. I love to caress your body.  I love kissing your body.  I love your eyes smiling into me as I kiss your lips, eyes wide open.

But, as heavenly as this is, I’m convinced that dancing, slow dancing with you, my hands touching your hands, is just as good.

As is, riding bikes with you.

As is, singing together, hand in hand, walking in the rain.

As is, reading poems to each other leaning together against our big oak in your backyard.

As is, writing you a poem or a letter,

As is, kissing your picture when I go to bed at night,

As is, pulling your hair outside your jacket when you have forgotten, or when you just want me to notice it there,

As is, your text ‘good morning my one and only,’ every morning at 5:30,

As is, everything we do together and alone.

Because, you are my life, my world, my multi-verse.  You are in every cell of my body.  Everything about you is about me. You make my life worth living.  You give me real purpose.  You hold my world in your hands.

Without you, there is no reason to live.

Thank you, my love, for loving me, for choosing me.  When you could have had anyone else in the world, you chose me.

And, I am yours,

Always and Forever.” Ellen read out loud.

“You are a good reader.”  I said.

“You are a good listener.  So, listen.  I also wrote you a poem.  But, darn, I forgot to bring it.  I want this moment to be equally special for you as it has just been for me.  Would you read this poem to me and pretend I wrote it, because my love, I feel exactly as you do?  Your words are my words.  Okay?”  Ellen said.

“Beautiful.  Sure, I will read ‘your’ letter out loud.”  I said.

And I did, and the sun shone brighter, the wind blew calmer and cooler, and I imagined the rain, wherever it was, fell more sweetly and softly on couples walking down little winding pathways in the woods.  I was happy, happy for these imaginary/real couples, and I was happy for Ellen and me.

I lay in Ellen’s lap for as long as I could.  And talked.  And talked.  Her pulling my long brown hair up and back, across my face and under my nose. And laughed. And laughed.  Holding my hand.  Caressing my side and arm.  Just loving me. And loving. And loving more.

We kissed softly before we left our spot and parted.  Ellen to her house, me to mine.  I hummed Adele all the way home.  Happy.  So very happy.