“I think an atheist is simply a seeker who is hoping God will show up.”
“I heard someone else say something like that.” George wasn’t ready to tell Hal about his relationship with Willow. Especially since he didn’t understand it himself.
“So are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Hoping that God will show up?”
George folded and refolded his napkin then looked at Hal. “Do you think God could speak through music—more specifically, through Simon and Garfunkel?”
Hal grinned. “You bet I do.”
George felt a bit of relief as he told the pastor about listening to “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” “It’s embarrassing to say, but the song completely unhinged me. I honestly felt like I was having a nervous breakdown, like I’d wake up in a straitjacket or in a padded cell in Crestview.”
“That’s a wonderful song, George. Every time I hear it, it’s like God is singing directly to me.”
“You too?” George felt a small wave of relief.
“It’s a song about being in pain, being alone, being tired and down ... and then this amazing friend is going to lay himself down for you—like a bridge over a raging river—just so you can get across. To me that’s like Jesus. He laid himself down to get me through all that pain and loneliness ... to get me safely to the other side.” He took a sip of his frothy coffee with a look of deep contentment. George wasn’t sure if it was from the “dessert in a cup” or from what he’d just said.
“Do you really believe that?” George studied him closely.
Hal set down his cup firmly. “You bet I do.”
George slowly shook his head. “Well, I’ve always been a follower of Ralph Waldo Emerson. At first I thought it was because of the name ... because my last name is Emerson.But the more I read about Ralph Waldo, the more I identified.”
“How so?”
“Well, we have many commonalities. He was a teacher. And he experienced a lot of losses—his father died when he was a boy, his first wife died at the age of twenty, his brother...”
“Have you had a lot of loss?” Hal’s pale gray eyes looked kind.
George quickly listed his lost loved ones.
“I’m sorry.” Hal shook his head. “I’m sure that’s taken a toll on you, George.”
“But that wasn’t all I liked about Emerson,” George said quickly. He didn’t want to talk about his personal pain ... didn’t want to break down here in public. “I embraced Emerson’s general philosophy. Independence, self-reliance, a literary man in need of no one. A man who shunned religion.” George studied the pastor, curious if he’d offended him, but not particularly concerned if he had.
“Admittedly, I don’t know a lot about your Emerson, but I have studied him some, and I think he must’ve been a lonely man.” Hal smiled sadly. “I can appreciate how his anti-God rhetoric might’ve been related to the church of his day. I don’t disagree with his opposition to a church that had grown rigid and judgmental and, in my opinion, not particularly Christlike. To be honest, I’m sorry to say there’s too much of that in the church today.”
George felt his brows arch. “But you’re a pastor of a church.”
“That’s true. And our church has its problems. But I like to think we are trying ... that we are being sincere and honestand genuine ... attempting to live in a Christlike manner even if we stumble a bit.”
“What do you mean when you sayChristlike?”
“That’s a very good question, George. Not easy to answer, but simply put, I think it means we believe in Jesus and trust him enough to follow him, to imitate his example.”
“What does that mean? What kind of example? I went to church as a kid, but I found it confusing. Lots of rules and laws—do this, don’t do that. Act like this, not that. Say this, not that. Frankly, it was a relief to let the whole religion thing go.”
“That’s the problem with religion, George. And the very thing that I’ll bet Emerson rejected. As a matter of fact, I do too. Emerson and I agree that religion basically sucks.”
“But you’re a pastor.”
“Just for the record, George, Jesus wasn’t a fan of religion either. The religious leaders of his day were bogged down in it, and they were crippling the people with their laws and restrictions. But Jesus only gave us two rules.”
“Yes?” George thought this sounded vaguely familiar but couldn’t really remember.
