“I’ve come up to be this man’s servant,” Jeremy replied, not hesitating an instant. “Whatever he needs, that’s what I’m there for.”
“I see,” he said, not showing any surprise. “And have you had a vision too?”
“No sir, Reverend, never have.”
“And yet you’re willin’ to drop everything, pick up and move to another city, just like that? I find that very interesting, Mr. Hughes. I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but I find it very interesting.”
“Well, sir, Reverend, it’s like this. I’ve known TJ Case for almost twenty-four years. We’ve worked together, on and off, for all that time. And we’re friends. Been friends ever since the first day I met him, seems to me. I don’t recall havin’ met all that many folks in my life who could say they’d worked with a person for six months, much less two dozen years, and stayed friends. But there you are. I know his wife. I know his family. And I respect them. No, respect’s not the right word—I’m sorry Reverend. I’m not an educated man.”
“You’re doin’ just fine, Mr. Hughes. Just fine. Please carry right on.”
“From the first day I met TJ, Reverend, I knew I was standin’ in the presence of an honest man. I can’t tell you why I felt like that, but I did. I knew it. Here was a man who was honest with himself, with his family, and with God. He loves the Lord, Reverend. You just stay ‘round him for a while and you’ll see it for yourself. TJ Case is a gentleman who truly loves his Lord. So when my friend told me he’d had a vision that called him to Washington, I knew in my heart that I had to go with him.
“It wasn’t all that difficult, I’ve got to admit. My wife’s been dead quite a while now, and I’ve got some young folks in the business who run it better when I’m not around to poke my finger in the works and get in their way. So maybe I was just lookin’ for an excuse to move on, but I don’t believe so. I’d like to think that the Lord’s just helped to make my way up here a little straighter.”
There was a warm glow to Reverend Wilkins’ gaze as he nodded in time to Jeremy’s words. “It takes a strong man to follow the quieter voice of our Lord.”
“I wouldn’t say that, Reverend,” Jeremy replied. “Seems to me the Lord uses the voice He wants for the message He needs to get across.”
They shared a long comfortable gaze before Reverend Wilkins said, “We’re certainly glad to have you join us, Mr. Hughes. I hope we’ll be seein’ more of you around here.”
“That’s very kind of you, Reverend. Thank y’all very much.”
Reverend Wilkins turned to TJ, said, “Mr. Case, havin’ a vision ain’t nothin’ that unusual. It’s not somethin’ that happens every day to everybody, but that don’t make it not real. Paul was clear as day ‘bout that in Romans.
“Now the first thing I look for when one of my people come in here and starts talkin’ ‘bout visions is, am I talkin’ to a person who’s listenin’? You see, Mr. Case, when a person gets all excited and starts runnin’ ‘round talkin’ ‘bout how the Lord’s done come down from heaven and spoke in their ears, screamin’ up a storm and all set to go out and tell the world how great they are, you know what I’m talkin’ about? Well, sir, when that happens I just tell ’em to go home and take two aspirins. Don’t matter how real that vision was, long as that person wants to go ‘round blowin’ their own trumpet, they’s no chance the Lord’s work is gonna get done.
“This is not what you’re on about. I’ve been sittin’ here listenin’ to you with my ears and with my heart, if you see my meanin’, and my heart’s been tellin’ me this is a man who really believes the Lord’s done talked with him. And I believe it too, Mr. Case. I really do. It ain’t no matter of logic. I just feel like the Lord’s called you to do a service.
“And I understand what’s botherin’ you. Least, I think I do. You’re not doubtin’ the Lord. No sir. You just haven’t found any purpose big enough to justify you being called to drop everything and come to Washington.”
“That’s it exactly,” TJ said, enormously relieved that he had found someone who understood. And who believed his story. It was incredible how much that meant.
“That’s entirely natural,” Reverend Wilkins said in his deep, hoarse voice. “But you got to remember, now, that maybe you don’t need to know what that purpose is. The fact that you’re here, doin’ whatever comes up in front of you, may be all the Almighty wants you to know. You do what is there to do. The Lord’ll open the doors when He’s ready. You see what I’m sayin’, sir?”
“Yes, sir, I certainly do,” TJ replied.
“That’s fine. Now the other thing you got to keep in mind is, be patient. Wait upon the Lord. Let the Lord tell you what He wants, when He’s ready to tell you. Maybe you’re just not ready, did you ever think of that? Maybe you need to get your feet on the ground, get yourself some experience. God may be preparin’ you. When He’s ready, when He thinks you’re ready, He’ll let you know. You can count on that, Mr. Case. He’ll let you know what it is that needs gettin’ done. You just concentrate on gettin’ yourself ready.”
Chapter Nine
Early Monday morning TJ entered the empty outer office, opened his own door, stopped cold. “What on earth?”
Bella was there to greet him. “I thought it needed a little dressing up.”
There were two hanging plants at each corner of his window, an orchid blooming in all its glory from a terra-cotta bowl beside his desk, and a vase of fresh flowers beside his telephone.
He looked at Bella.
She pointed to the sign on his desk. “I found that yesterday in a religious bookshop. Passed by and felt like there was a hand pulling me inside.” Her chuckle rasped from a thousand cigarettes. “Guess you never get too old for miracles.”
The sign was a polished wooden slab with a brass front reading: “Carpenter From Nazareth Seeks Joiners.”
He turned to her, said softly, “No, I guess you don’t.”
She shared with him the quiet joy of giving and being appreciated, said, “I’ve invited a couple of friends to join us this morning. Hope that’s okay.”
“Fine with me,” TJ replied.
“I think they mostly showed up out of curiosity. Or disbelief. You know, what’s got the Dragon Lady smiling?” She gave another of her coarse chuckles. “I smiled at somebody in the hall on Friday, and looked back to find him standing there with his jaw on his chest.”
TJ laughed, said, “Well, praise the Lord.”
“If you’re ready, they’re all waiting down in the conference room.”
“All?” TJ picked up his Bible, followed her out. “How many are there?”
“At last count, just over a dozen.”
****
The numbers at their morning sessions continued to grow, slowly but steadily. Tuesday it was fifteen, Wednesday around twenty, and by Thursday they had the table in that large conference room almost full. TJ did not want to let the people think he was counting prizes, so he did not take an exact number; but he would have guessed the total at over two dozen. It was gratifying to see so many faces returning day after day, especially with all the difficulties TJ was facing with his work.
There was a note on his desk Friday morning from Bella: “Spoke with a few more friends about your devotional. Invited them to show up. Hope it’s okay. If even half do come, it’ll be too many for the conference room. Got permission for us to use the small cafeteria.”
As he walked downstairs, his main concern was that Bella would not be too disappointed if the number was small. Anyone who had set up prayer groups or Bible studies knew how tough it was to bring people in, especially in the beginning. Like a little seedling, the plant first had to grow roots and take hold before the blossoms could come forth. This was tough for new converts to understand, as TJ knew from bitter experience. Still flush from that first miraculous contact with the Holy Spirit, they realized that here lay the answer to all the world’s problems. Here was what the whole world had been waiting for. All they had to
do was just let people know how wonderful it was, and everything would be fine. Nobody would dream of turning down something as great as this.
Wrong.
It was a sad and painful experience at times, this first confrontation with this lack of concern. TJ had struggled many times with new believers who felt so crushed by the world’s rejection that they too felt pulled from the Way. He was so worried about finding Bella in such a position that he could not concentrate on what he was going to say.
The hubbub was clearly audible before he reached the downstairs landing. He walked toward the small dining room, the one usually reserved for private luncheon meetings, wondering what on earth was going on. Then Bella popped out of the main cafeteria laden with a trayful of cups and saucers, nearly colliding with him.
“I thought the least we could do was wake them up first,” she said, fire in her eyes.
TJ tried to count the cups stacked almost to her chin, said, “You’ve got this many here?”
Her chuckle was something out of a thirties’ movie. “Honey,” she said, briskly leading him down the hall, “this is the third tray.”
The room was jammed. People mingled and chatted and watched him curiously as he entered. He followed Bella up to the front where a table stood loaded with a coffee urn, cups, saucers, milk and sugar. He put his Bible down and busied himself over coffee. Anything to fill his hands and keep from needing to meet anyone’s eyes.
He sent a swift little prayer heavenward, panic hovering around the edges of the words. Lord, what on earth am I supposed to tell all these people?
Bella’s preamble was as abrupt as everything else about her, and the room fell silent. “This is TJ Case, the fellow I was telling you about. I know everybody’s got a busy day, so we won’t waste any more time.”
TJ looked up, saw that more than half the people had no chairs and that everyone was staring at him. There was a lot of skepticism in their expressions, a lot of cynical little half-smirks on their faces. He set his cup down, trying to still the sudden shiver in his muscles, and picked up his Bible. He did not know what he was going to say.
“In my church back home we used to have a little morning prayer group that met most days,” he said, and felt a sense of calm enter him with these first words. “We never met for more than a few minutes, just long enough to have a Bible reading and a little prayer. The idea was to kind of anchor the day with a moment of fellowship and communion with our Lord.”
He stopped. It was not a conscious pause, rather one that seemed somehow called for. Be still, a silent voice seemed to say in his head, and TJ stopped.
And the Holy Spirit came into the room.
He could see that it was not just for him. The change was in all their faces. All their faces. Not only were they listening. They were joined. The group felt the silence. They were brought out from behind their masks of fear and cynicism and illusions of worldly power. They were listening.
TJ knew what was to be said. Not a conscious thought, it was a gift that came with the presence of the Spirit. There was no room for doubt, no need to question. He opened his Bible to the book of Mark, found the passage, and looked up.
“It has always helped me to see the Bible as one unified whole,” he began. “It does not stand as separate passages, but rather as building blocks that together form a single structure. They all support each other, just as the individual bricks of a building are built one upon the next. For this reason, we can choose a single theme and see how it is woven throughout the entire Bible. Together these individual passages, these separate little bricks, build a holy shelter. If we can learn to dwell within this House of God, we are protected from the dangers and temptations that constantly swirl around us.”
He looked down, continued. “I am going to read three passages this morning. They are from three different books, but all deal with one particular theme. Watch and see how they strengthen and support each other.
“The first one is from the twelfth chapter of Mark:
“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’
“‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these.’”
Quickly TJ turned the pages, found his second passage, noticed that the room was totally silent. There was not even the sound of clinking cups.
“The second reading is from the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
“Love never fails.”
TJ searched, found, said, “The final passage comes from the fourth chapter of First John:
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another….
“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. Love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
TJ closed the Book, felt the Spirit strengthening and intensifying in him. It is only by giving that I can receive, he thought. Thank you, Father, for this chance to give.
“Let us pray,” he said, knowing the words were there for him to speak, to pray, to give.
“O Lord, Heavenly Father, we are so weak and so afraid. To love in a world like this means to take a terrific chance. We don’t know how it’s going to work out, or how the other person is going to react. Yet you do not tell us to think of such things. You tell us to love. How is this possible in such a world, Father? How can there be hope for the world unless we learn to love, yet how can we love when all about us there is only hate, and when there is so much fear in our hearts?
“The answer is so very clear, so perfectly visible if only we are willing to see. We are incapable of loving without your guidance, without your presence in our lives. We cannot do this alone, Lord. We must turn to you. It is only in you that love is possible. It is only when you are in our hearts and lives that the impossible is done, and the fearful know love.”
He had to stop. He could not go on. There was such a burning in his chest that for a moment he could not breathe. It seemed as though a beam of light was extending out from the center of his chest, bathing the room in a holy fire. He loved, and yet it was not he who was loving. The divine flame of love rushed through him, filling him with an intensity that immobilized him.
He could not move, he could barely concentrate on his own voice. But the words were again there in his mind, and they needed to be spoken.
“Heavenly Father, help us to know love. Help us to know your healing embrace, the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us be filled, and in so doing know the inexpressible joy of giving with love to others. With love, Father. With love. Let us know your divine love. In Christ’s holy name. Amen.”
The group remained very quiet. People moved with reluctance, standing and walking slowly from the room. TJ fought back the urge to turn and flee, knowing his place was by the door, meeting the people’s eyes, shak
ing hands, thanking them for coming. The gazes were thoughtful, the voices subdued. Someone asked if he was going to do it again on Monday, and the entire room paused to listen to his response. I would be happy to, he said, and he was blessed with a grateful smile.
He started to help Bella and a few others gather cups, but was shooed away. As he departed, a man fell into step behind him, asked if he minded a little company. TJ recognized Carter Williams, the black man who had walked with him from the cafeteria that first day.
“Man, I gotta tell you,” Carter said. “I came because I was curious. You know, here the Dragon Lady herself starts smiling at people and spouting all kinds of wild stuff. Coulda knocked me over with a feather. Lotta people here this morning, they’re like me, gotta find out what you did to make the change.”
“I didn’t do a thing,” TJ said mildly.
“Yeah, yeah, I kinda see that.” Carter Williams sobered. “My grandmother was real religious. She tried to knock some of that stuff into me, but you know, I just wasn’t into it. Never really gave it much thought. Too busy trying to prove I was as good as the next man, white or black.”
“The whole world’s out there screaming for our attention,” TJ agreed. “And only one little voice in our heart is whispering, the answer’s not out there. It’s in here.”
The man nodded several times, clearly wanting to take it all in. “I like the way you say that. Makes a lot of sense. You say you’re gonna do it again Monday?”
“Every day anybody wants to listen,” TJ replied.
“Yeah, well, count me in.” Carter slapped him on the shoulder, turned away, said in parting, “It’s nice to know somebody’s up there who cares. Been a long time since I felt this good.”
****
Congressman John Silverwood entered the congressional hearing rooms that Friday afternoon a very troubled man. He had expected the luncheon with TJ Case to be a power play. The new man was to be shown who held the keys to turn policy into legislative reality. TJ needed reminding how much he owed Silverwood, and in whom his first loyalty rested.
The Presence Page 15
