Not Angels or Demons

“Knock knock,” came a voice from outside Patrick’s office, as Franklin peaked his head in the door.

“Hey, you,” Patrick responded while shuffling through some paperwork. “How goes it?”

“It’s…it’s going. I had dinner with the kids last night. I find that I am having a harder time leaving my grandson’s side, you know?”

“I can imagine, Franklin. How’s he holding up?”

“Well, it’s hitting him really hard. You know…not having the scholarship anymore. I just can’t believe that MIZZOU treated him like that. They don’t care that he really didn’t do it. They ain’t considering letting him back in that school, either. It’s demoralizing him to the bone.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t make any sense. Is there anything that Jeffrey and Michelle can do to…I don’t know…protest the decision?”

“Well, that’s just it. It wasn’t like there was any actual decision. The school just says that it’s a policy they have, even if the student turns out not to be guilty. They say that they have a whole school to think about. It’s a bunch of crap if you ask me.” Patrick could sense Franklin’s frustration. It was another one of those moments that Patrick could only provide a listening ear to, as he had no idea what to say to make Franklin feel better. “So, what about you, ‘Chaps’? I see you are still hear. Maybe there is a ‘God’ after all.”

“Yeah, just ‘maybe’,” Patrick giggled. He took a deep breath before he continued. “I spoke to Chantelle, yesterday, while it was quiet in the center. She explained why she reacted the way she did.”

“Really? I’d like to hear that story.”

“Well, she has been through hell, there is no doubt about that.”

“Oh, I believe it.”

Patrick told Franklin the story that Chantelle had shared with him. Franklin looked dumbfounded at every description that Patrick used regarding his conversation with Chantelle.

“That is crazy,” Franklin responded, overwhelmed by the details of Patrick’s description of Chantelle’s experiences. “I absolutely cannot imagine going through that. But…that does ex-plain a lot. I mean, she really doesn’t talk...to anyone. She always keeps to herself. She must be carrying so much pain.”

“I believe she is, Franklin. I did some research on her and I can’t find any evidence of family or extending family. Shoot, for that matter, I don’t think she has ever been married. What a traumatic event she must have gone through to alter her life like that.”

“Well, I am glad that you had the ability to reach out to her, ‘Chap’s’. Maybe that will help ease the tension between you and the ‘bosses’.”

Patrick smiled at Franklin’s comical approach to the stress that Patrick experienced with Chiquita. It helped him feel a bit more at ease at work. “Brother, I’m afraid it may take more than that to help ease that tension. I guess I never would have imagined that serving God would create so much controversy.”

“Maybe it’s because some people have a warped way of what it means to actually serve Him, Patrick. People don’t seem to quite understand ‘God’ and ‘Jesus’. Many folks seem to throw around the verse about how you are supposed to love your neighbor as yourself, but I have yet to hear anybody stress that you should love God with all your heart. With the way we act down here, one might say that we have made it so difficult that those two verses may actually conflict with one another.”

“What do you mean, Franklin?”

“Well, it’s like we’ve discussed before. If we are so focused on loving your neighbor as yourself –as Jesus clearly commands- but our love for God is overshadowed by our individual justification of sin, then how can one truly love others if one can’t live by God’s Will? How is it so easy for so many to point their fingers at those who actually try to live for God, and accuse them of hatred simply because they won’t accept a lifestyle that is contrary to God’s Word, simply because they are just trying to honor God?”

“Believe me, brother, I understand, completely, what you mean,” Patrick sighed.

“We have fallen so far away from God as a nation and as a people. We have our own sense of justice that is so perverted, we don’t even understand what ‘justice’ is any more. To many in society, ‘justice’ means rioting, looting, burning cars, creating havoc, and spreading vio-lence…and the only justification we ask when that happens is that one simply disagrees with an-other. It is a shame. This is what we have come to. We witnessed that all over the country. We’ve seen it here, in Ferguson.” Franklin knelt forward on his chair, consumed in deep thought and consideration. “I have prayed for so long that God would act and show His Hand in these trying times.”

“I believe that He has, Franklin. I do. I really do.”

“Thank the Lord for His grace and forgiveness! We all need it!!”

“Amen, brother! Amen.”