Life, Etc. -- Twenty-seven

After the last of the members left the church, the elders looked around uncomfortably and one-by-one left.  Isabelle, Diane, and Megan rose from their pew.  Stephen walked toward them and each of the women reached out to hug him.

Megan, feeling a distinct need for comic relief, said, “I think this calls for a drink!”  They all laughed and felt the tension lessen.  “Who can come to my place while I throw together some spaghetti?”

          “I’m not sure my stomach will take any food right now, but the company will be great!”  Stephen’s face looked ashen.

“Emily is spending the day with Kelli.  Where’s Rachael, Isabelle?”

“Well,” began Isabelle, “Rachael asked me if she could stay home from church today.  I think she felt guilty that I was attending alone, but she’s getting to the age where she has to make some choices of her own.  None of us fared well in that department when Roland was with us.  Anyway, she’s doing some homework.  They’re really working her at high school—and she loves it!”

“I’m no parent,” said Stephen, “but I do think it’s important for kids to make some choices.  I’m happy she’s making friends and enjoying school so much!”

                               

Once at Megan’s, they all pitched in and created a more than edible meal.  The downstairs door bell rang and Stephen offered to go down as Diane, Jeremy and Jordan started up the steps.  “Hi, Boys—hope you like spaghetti!”

“Cool, I love it!” Jordan’s face lit up.  “Mom brought some rolls.”

The boys headed into the living room with their kids’ DVDs.  “Not until after lunch, Guys!” Diane yelled as they ran past.

They talked and laughed as they finished lunch preparations.  The earlier tension Stephen felt had dissipated.

With everyone seated, Stephen offered a prayer of gratitude for his friends that he would now be leaving.  Megan felt tears well up in her eyes.  She realized that Stephen’s friendship felt even deeper knowing it would never be romantic.

After lunch, Jeremy and Jordan asked to be excused to watch a movie.  Megan suggested they all take their coffee out onto the deck—after all, 55 degrees didn’t often happen this early in the year.

 

Stephen shared in more detail his upcoming plans.  A sense of melancholy permeated the small group, but they also believed that he was doing what he needed to do.  “OK, enough focus on me.  Isabelle, have you heard from Roland?” 

Megan observed the ease with which her friends moved from one subject to another.  It had been a long time since she’d had such intimate friendships.

“Yes, I got a letter from him a couple of days ago.  He’s insisting that we join him—it’s my Christian duty, etc.  I decided to wait a day or two to respond, but I plan to get a letter off to him tonight saying that I will not be moving from here.”

Megan couldn’t hold back.  “Isabelle, I am really proud of you.  It takes a lot of courage to hold your ground.  I believe your mother’s letter has had more affect on you than you realize.”

“I’ve thought so much about my mother in the last few weeks.  I’ve been reading—finally got myself a library card and I’m checking out books on indigenous beliefs.   They are fascinating.  I’m amazed how much similarity there is with Mayan beliefs.”  Isabelle looked over at Stephen whose eyes stared off as if he were miles away.  “Stephen, I hope I’m not offending you.”

Stephen looked back quickly toward the group. “Absolutely not!” he responded with enthusiasm.  “I’ve had a major problem with the narrow belief system I've been a part of as I’ve tried to deal with my own personal challenges.  It’s as if Christianity has taken very good values, but put them into such a narrow structure—so that in order to fit, our lives must be lived within the smallest framework possible.  Then you have hundreds of different Protestant belief systems and that alone makes each system smaller yet.”

Megan blurted out, “Stephen, how in the hell—pardon my language—have you remained in such a narrow belief system for so long?”

Stephen sighed and drew in a deep breath before responding.  “The more conservative the belief system, the easier it is to hide.”

Megan and Diane looked at Stephen.  Isabelle gave him an affirming look and said, “Stephen is so right.  I believe there are wonderful and very sincere people within Christianity—people who need structure in their lives.  And as a result of that structure they learn to live good, caring and compassionate lives.  But there are also people who use the rules to hide from issues—abuses, addictions, etc.  As long as they follow the rules, there is no need to look deeper.”

Diane and Megan sat taking in what they heard.  Could this actually be coming from the pastor and head elder’s wife?

 

Isabelle continued.  “Much of Christianity teaches that we are born sinners; that we are nothing without Christ, yet when we follow the rules we still cannot acknowledge any personal value.  They preach about the power of the Holy Spirit, but if that isn’t God-ness or, at the very least, goodness within us, what is?”

Just then Megan heard the phone.  She excused herself and went into the kitchen.  Damn, why the interruption when the conversation was just getting interesting?  Megan picked up the receiver and heard Emily’s laughter.

To be continued...