Mountain Top(53)
Mike saw Sam out of the corner of his eye. The old man was sitting with his eyes closed, patting his stomach.
“Did you pay Sam when he was preaching here?” Mike asked.
“Yes,” Larry said. “A hundred dollars a Sunday.”
“Did you pay him by check?”
“Yes.”
“From the operating account?”
“Yes.”
“Did he know about the building fund?”
“Yes,” Larry said, shaking his head with obvious regret. “He told us five years ago that a greater harvest was coming, and we needed to build a bigger barn to hold it.”
“Was he right? Has the church grown?”
“Yes. Sam knows what has happened.”
Jesse grunted. “Don’t come in here with that soothsayer stuff.”
“No, Jesse,” Larry said. “We agreed that I would do the talking.”
Jesse stood and stretched out a meaty hand clenched in a fist at Sam. Raising his voice, he thundered, “He came in here like a fortune-teller and fooled everybody! I warned them, but they wouldn’t listen to me! Then he tried to make it look like I was the one who done wrong!”
Jesse took a step toward Sam. Larry jumped to his feet and reached out, but Jesse pushed him aside. Mike stood and stepped between Jesse and Sam, who pushed his chair against the wall.
“Don’t! You’ll be sorry!” Mike yelled.
Jesse came directly into Mike’s face. “And have to hire some dirty lawyer turned preacher!”
Mike felt a hand on his back.
“Now,” Sam said softly.
Mike stared into Jesse’s face and knew the threat of harm wasn’t a bluff. Suddenly, involuntary tears filled Mike’s eyes. The room blurred, and if Mike had wanted to block a blow from Jesse, he couldn’t have seen clearly enough to do so.
No blow came.
Mike rubbed his eyes with his hands, but the tears continued. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried in public or private. The emotion he felt at Danny Brewster’s memorial service was the closest he’d come to tears in public since he was a teenager. Mike groaned. The tears continued to flow. He sobbed with an agonizing groan that embarrassed him even more. He heard Larry’s voice.
“Sit down, Jesse.”
Mike held his sleeve against his eyes. After several moments, he took a deep breath.
Sam spoke. “Papa’s heart breaks when His children hate. Those were His tears for us.”
Mike looked up. Jesse had returned to his chair. The large man sat with his head down, staring at the floor.
“It’s the Spirit of the Lord,” Bob said simply.
Mike could feel the tears drying on his cheeks. Larry turned to Bob.
“What are we supposed to do?”
“Quit talking and go back to praying,” Bob replied.
Larry motioned toward Mike and Sam. “With them?”
“Yes.”
Jesse stood up and quickly moved toward the door. “I don’t want any part of this! A lying spirit has come on all of you!”
Larry reached toward Jesse.
“Let him go,” Bob said.
Jesse left the room, leaving the door open behind him. Without another word, Bob slipped to his knees in front of his chair. The other men and Sam did the same. Mike hadn’t prayed in a kneeling position for years, but he joined them. The room was silent for several minutes. Then, Mike felt the heaviness he’d experienced the previous Sunday in the Little Creek sanctuary.
“Oh, God; oh, God,” Larry began.
For the next hour, Mike listened as the men cried out to the Lord in a way he’d only imagined. Mike didn’t believe emotion moved God’s heart, but he suspected the three deacons didn’t agree with him. They acted as if the future of the Almighty’s will for Sam Miller and the Craig Valley Gospel Tabernacle depended upon their zeal. Sam didn’t speak, and Mike wondered if the old man prayed the same way. The deacons’ words built to a zenith and ebbed several times before Larry said, “Amen and amen.”
Mike opened his eyes. Everyone rose from the floor.
“Thanks for meeting with us,” Sam said. “The time will come when we will break bread together.”
“The light will come; the truth will be known,” Larry said. “My heart is clear.”
“Amen,” the other two men echoed.
“Who should I contact if I have other questions?” Mike asked.
“Me,” Larry replied.
MIKE AND SAM WALKED THROUGH THE SANCTUARY. SAM TURNED and faced the pulpit.
“I’ll be back,” he said then turned to Mike. “You, too.”
When they sat down in the car, Mike took a deep breath and exhaled.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but that was different,” he said.