DUST ON THE BIBLE

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Note: This story is just one of twenty taken from a novel by JAlexander called “SHIPWRECK”

Hot tempers cause arguments, but patience brings peace (Proverbs 15: 18)

When David finally made it back to “Anger Street,” he was surprised to see an ambulance pulling out of house number three. This was to be his next stop, but he hesitated going in, knowing the people who lived there would probably not be receptive to a stranger dropping in to have a little chat. What he did know, was that he needed to finish his assignment. His new burden “Anger” had given him strict instructions to follow and so far, he was making good time, with only three more houses to visit.

David was talking to himself saying, “I’ll just say hello to the home owner and tell them that I can come back at a more convenient time.” He had his head down as he walked toward the house and didn’t see the woman standing at the top of the front steps.

As she started walking down to meet him, she said in a low voice, “I’m Jan Bushnell, how may I help you?”

Looking up, David smiled and answered, “I was wondering if we could arrange a meeting to talk about ‘Anger’?”

“Well young man; this could be your lucky day. I was just about to call my daughter Doreen ‘little Miss Anger herself’ to tell her that her dad had a heart attack and is in the hospital. She won’t be happy to get my call, because she doesn’t care about him; as a matter of fact, as far as she’s concerned, he’s already dead. She’s been consumed with hatred towards him since she was a little girl and then to make matters worse, he just walked out one day leaving us to fend for ourselves. She could never understand why he treated me so cruelly and I couldn’t bring myself to tell her about his childhood and why he had so much anger and hurt inside of him.”

She stood up and said, “Let’s go inside and I’ll give her a call. I hope you don’t mind but I won’t tell her that you’re here. She definitely won’t come, if there is a stranger in the house. When she gets here, I’ll say you’re from the University, doing research on “Anger” for your master’s degree.”

The phone rang a few times and then a young girl’s voice said, “Hello, I’m not available, you can leave a message but, I probably won’t get back to you.”
“Hi Doreen, this is Mom; your father has been visiting me for the past week and today he had a heart attack and is not expected to live. Give me a call when you get this message.”

Not even a half hour had passed before Jan heard someone coming in the front door. Doreen yelled out, “Mom where are you, are you okay?”
“I’m in the living honey and I’m fine!”
The first thing Doreen wanted to know was, what was “Dad” doing here?

“Mom, did he hurt you?”

“He just came to see if we were okay.”

“Did he say why it took him twenty years to find remember where we lived?”

“I think you could show a little more concern; after all, he is your father!”

“Mom, we’ve been through all this before. I told you that he stopped being my father the first time I saw him lay a hand on you. I’m sure there’ll be a time when I will forget what he did to you, but I’ll never forgive him!”

“Doreen, he’s lying in a hospital bed dying; so, for your sake, I think you should forgive him. You have no idea what he went through as a child and I could never tell you, because it was too gruesome. Besides, you had so much hate for him that I didn’t think it would make a difference.”

“Well, you got that right, Mom, so let’s not talk about it now.”

“We need to talk and get everything out in the open.”

“Mom, I’ve told you a thousand times, as far as I’m concerned, he’s been dead for years.”

“Please Doreen, just go to the hall closet and bring out the old brown suitcase; it’s on the shelf next to the box of Christmas decorations.”

Doreen turned around but stopped when she saw

David sitting in the easy chair next to the big living room window.

“Who in the … are you and what are you doing in our house?”

Jan got up quickly and stood in front of Doreen and said, “This is David McMaster, he’s from the University. I’m helping him with his Master’s degree; it’s on ‘Anger;’ as a matter of fact everyone on ‘Anger Street’ is assisting him. After all, he’s one of us, he lives at No. 7, don’t you David?”

“Anyway, just forget he’s here honey; now please get the suitcase and let’s talk.”

Pointing to the closet Doreen commented, “Mom, I’ve been in that closet a thousand times and I have never seen a suitcase.”

I know honey; but I knew you would come when I called, so I brought it down from my bedroom. I’ve kept it hidden all these years because I knew you wouldn’t want to see it if you knew it belonged to your father. When he left he told me to put it in the garbage; he said it brought back too many bad memories.”

When Doreen came back into the room, she looked at her mother and told her, “I don’t want to do this; not now, not ever.”

“Well, you’re going to young lady. I should have shared this with you a long time ago, but I could never bring myself to tell you about your father’s tragic life.”

Opening the case, Jan took out an old Bible and handed it to Doreen, saying, “I want you to read what’s written inside the front cover.”

“Okay, I’ll read it, but it won’t change the way I feel.”
Doreen started reading to herself, but Jan touched her hand and insisted, “Out loud please.”

To My Darling Son Donny

I’m sorry I couldn’t protect us from your Father and now I’m too tired and I have no fight left in me. I want you to promise me that you’ll get as far away from your Father as you can. I pray that you will forgive me, so we can spend eternity with God in Heaven.

Love Mom

Doreen closed the Bible and asked, “Mom, what does this have to do with Dad beating you all those years?”

“You need to understand that your father had a lot of anger in him and it got worse every time he remembered his dad hitting his mom. He had to leave us because he was becoming more and more like his Father every day.”

“I’ll tell you the story just like your Father told it to me.”

One day when he arrived home from school, he found this Bible on his bed. When he read the writing inside, he started to cry and called out for his mom. He dropped the Bible on the bed and started running down the stairs calling out to her. When she didn’t answer, he started to panic. After searching every room in the house, he then ran out into the yard and through his tears, he kept calling for her. When he got to the two big wooden barn doors, he knew something was wrong because his mother would have come out as soon as she heard him calling. Wiping his eyes on his sleeve, Donny slowly opened the barn door. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw his Mom hanging from one of the wooden beams. Falling to his knees, he kept saying over and over, “Mom, why did you leave me here all alone?” He stayed on his knees until he heard his father’s pickup truck entering the yard. Donny knew even before he went outside that his father would be “drunk as a skunk.” Stumbling out of the truck and almost falling to the ground, he saw Donny standing there.

“What are you doing boy?” Go and tell that no-good Mother of yours that I’m home and I want my supper!”

Donny looked his father in the eye and said, “I guess you’ll have to fix your own supper, Mom’s gone away. This time she’s finally rid of you.”

“Don’t talk to me in that tone of voice, you rotten kid; go tell your mother that I’m home.”
Donny pointed his finger and yelled, “Go tell her yourself; she’s just hanging around in the barn!”

Doreen felt chills going up her spine as her mother continued to tell the story.

“I think your dad lost his ability to show any emotion after that day. Apparently, he never left home like his mother asked him to. He stayed close by and watched his father slowly kill himself with alcohol.”
 “I was shocked when your father told me he enjoyed watching his old man die. He said he spent every day sitting across from his Dad so he could keep him drunk twenty-four hours a day. When his father would get sick, your dad would pour him another glass of booze; if he said he didn’t want any more, your father would hold his nose and force him to drink. Then with a big grin on his face, he would just sit there and watch his father cry out in pain.”

“Your dad knew it was just a matter of time before the alcohol took its toll and he was determined to help speed up the process so he could get on with his life.”

“One morning your Dad woke up early and looked over at his pitiful father sitting in the chair across from him. When he didn’t see any movement from the big fat belly, he smiled and looked down at the ugly twisted face of the man he hated saying, “I hope you rot in hell you … because that’s what you deserve!”

Doreen had tears in her eyes as she held the Bible close to her chest. “Mom, I think I finally understand. Dad went away because he didn’t want to hurt you anymore. Come on Mom, let’s go to that little country Church so I can pray for Dad and then I want to go to the hospital and tell him that I love him and ask for his forgiveness.”

David walked out of the house and stood on the veranda waiting for Jan and Doreen, but when they finally came out, they just walked past him as if he wasn’t even there.

“The Golden Bench”
Prayer is when we raise our hearts to God, and His spirit catches us, and begins to propel us to where, we is going. That is the biggest adventure you`re ever going to have in your life. I`ve said it before, I believe the local church is the hope of the world. And if it is the hope of the world, it`s because of prayer. You see, prayer is not the spiritual equivalent of the chess club. It`s more like rugby. It`s where the battle is fought and won. Prayer is what sends the Devil running. Prayer is what mobilizes God`s people. Prayer is how we find out where God wants us to be in His grand adventure. Then things start to happen that are beyond all we could ask or even imagine according to the power that is propelling us, and we start to do things and go places that we never dreamed possible before.

John 15:5 – Apart from me, you can do nothing!

By JAlexander