Race the Sky by Michael Galloway

Author:Michael Galloway [Galloway, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Candlepower Publishing House
Published: 2016-01-30T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

John was not used to getting up this early on Sunday mornings, unless it was a chase day. He let it be known in not-so-subtle body language that he preferred to be somewhere other than sitting in a wooden chair for an hour. With his arms crossed, legs outstretched, and his head tilted back, he sat next to Madeline, who sat next to her mother, Evelyn. Jared paced through the aisles of the sanctuary and dropped off piles of brochures into the ends of each row. As Jared passed by, John could hear him humming the song “Silver and Gold” by Burl Ives.

John reached over, picked up a brochure, and studied it. He found it to be similar to the one Captain picked up at the China House Restaurant in Canton. As he set it back onto the chair at the end of the row, he noticed something sparkling on the seat next to him. He swept his index finger across the seam where the seat cushion met the chair frame and held it up for Madeline to see. There, on his fingertip, was gold dust.

The service opened with music he did not recognize, and from the looks of it, Madeline did not recognize it either. Alicia stood in front of her microphone, strumming a guitar, but her eyes shifted back and forth across the crowd with a nervous regularity. The crowd rose to its feet, and many put their hands in the air, including Evelyn. John remained seated and kept his arms crossed. He looked twice at the exit sign in the back corner of the sanctuary.

As the music dragged on, John felt his eyelids become heavy, until the final song. All John heard was the phrase “Spirit of the Living God” repeated over and over, slower and slower. In between the repetition the percussionist swept her hand across a set of studio chimes. At the end, Madeline elbowed him in the side and he woke up just as everyone was sitting back down again.

Once again Jared paced the stage like an irritated lion. He eventually returned to the podium. After some introductory remarks from the head pastor, he immediately launched into a sermon. “I’d like to start this morning by asking you all a question. How do we know we’re walking with God? How do we know we’re not just getting in the way of the grand plan? The other day I was meditating in my office and it occurred to me: years ago I thought I was walking with God. I read my Bible, went to church, sat in a chair or a pew, just like you. Heck, I even gave money to the local food shelf.”

He paused for effect and gazed out upon the crowd as if he contemplated his thoughts. “But there was something missing. Everything started to feel like work. Who’s with me?”

A smattering of voices said amen.

“But God wasn’t interested in that. How do I know? I know because one day God gave me a wakeup call.

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