“Mark!” John exclaimed as he threw wide the door. We embraced and then I was whisked inside. “How have you been? Oh, I see you have been having more adventures, you must tell me everything. We haven’t talked since Sunday, where have you been?”
John was a very ecstatic and energetic man. He was also very simple. He lived in a small rural house that was quite literally in the middle of nowhere. His car was a ’95 Camry that was outdated before he bought it. Everything John owned was simple and functional.
John was the kind of person that was impossible to hate. He always had a smile on his face and genuinely cared for people. He also had that kind of air about him that said that it was ok to tell him anything you wanted to. If you were in his presence a feeling that everything would eventually work out came over you. Instinctively you knew that he would listen to anything and everything you could tell him, and non e of it would be heard by another soul. John was just that kind of person.
“You know I can’t tell you that,” I replied.
“Yeah, whatever. All that bologna about ‘it’s top secret’ and ‘No one can know.’ I don’t believe any of it…” John said with a grin and a wink. I forced a half smile in return. “So how’s things between you and God?” John continued.
“O.K.” I replied.
“Been watching anything you shouldn’t?”
“Nope.”
As John continued through the standard accountability questions I began to dread more and more the last question he would ask. It was always a sore spot in our meetings. Then it arrived.
“Been reading your bible?” John asked with raised eyebrows.
“Ahem… Well… Umm…. No not really,” I conceded.
“Oh really? And why is that?”
“You know why!” This conversation had occurred so many times before that I had lost count. John just sat staring at me waiting for my answer. I sat there and glared back. The tension in the room was beginning to increase rapidly. Finally I gave in.
“I haven’t had time with work,” I grunted.
“So you’ve told me… Is that really a good answer?”
“It is the answer, what can I do to fix it? Nothing!”
“So you are trying to tell me that your job is more important than God?”
“No! That’s…”
“Ohh but it is. You are placing your mysterious job in front of something God wants you to do. You are stating that God is less important than your work.”
“What the heck am I supposed to do? I have a wife and three kids that I need to support. I can’t just quit!”
“Ahh, your wife, that would be why you are really here today, isn’t it. You are not just taking from God; you are taking away from her because you are never around, never tell her anything, and are always storming off.” John had this uncanny ability to know just why people came to him. “I’m worried Mark,” John continued after a pause, “I have a feeling that your world is about to be rocked more than you can imagine. God is going to try and get your attention if you don’t change and you will not like it.”
A break in the conversation occurred. I contemplated what John had just told me. Eventually I decided to play it off as him just worrying about me.
