The Other Side of Darkness (12 page)

“Oh, didn’t I tell you that?” I close the dishwasher and rinse my hands in the sink.

“No, you didn’t.”

“Well, Colleen called to tell me about it a few days ago. I must’ve forgotten to mention it.”

“You forgot? I thought Colleen was your best friend, Ruth. Seems like you’d remember something as important as that.”

“I’ve had a lot on my mind.”

“Dennis also mentioned that Colleen thinks you could get her job if you wanted.”

“Yes, and I told Colleen I’d probably look into it.”

“Probably?” Now Rick is looking at me with one brow slightly arched, his skeptical look. And I wonder exactly what he’s getting at. Why doesn’t he just come out and say it? Why play these silly games?

“Like I said, it’s been a busy week, Rick. There was the whole concert thing and—”

“And
that
turned out to be a colossal waste of time,” he reminds me, making me wish I hadn’t told him the whole story last night.
Although if I hadn’t, the girls surely would’ve told him about it this morning anyway.

“It’s not like I knew that was going to happen. No one did.”

“The weatherman did. He’d been predicting rain for Friday since midweek.”

“And how often is the weatherman right?”

“I’m guessing his prediction record is a whole lot better than Glenn Pratt’s.”

“Rick Jackson!” I narrow my eyes at him. “It’s a wonder the Lord doesn’t zap
you
with a lightning bolt.”

Rick just laughs. “It’s a wonder God missed Glenn Pratt last night since he was obviously aiming at him.”

“What an evil thing to say.”

“Not according to what Dennis McKinley told me today. He said—”

“If you’re about to repeat gossip, I am
not
interested.”

“Dennis says that your good Pastor Glenn has been having an affair, and it’s—”

“Stop it! It’s bad enough that you listen to such lies, but you don’t have to bring them home with you.” I can hear Matthew snickering behind me. I didn’t realize he was in the kitchen. “See what you’re doing, Rick?” I shake my finger at my husband. “The kind of example you’re setting for your son?”

“He’s old enough to know the truth.”

I feel close to tears now. I can’t believe I’m being subjected to such evil talk and in my own home too. “You used to care about the spiritual welfare of our family.”

“Who says I don’t care now?”

“Your words say it clearly enough.”

“Not that you ever listen to me, Ruth.”

“Why should I? Look at the kind of spiritual leader you’ve been lately.”

“Seems to me like you’re the one doing all the spiritual leading. And you refuse to listen to my thoughts on the subject anyway.” He pulls out the sports section and begins to study it. Just then the phone rings, and relieved for the distraction, I answer it before anyone else has a chance.

“Oh, Ruth!” exclaims Cynthia. “I’m so glad I caught you. Are you busy?”

“Not really.” I walk the cordless phone into the living room, where I hope to have a little more privacy.

“You’re not going to believe what happened.”

“What?”

“Maybe you should sit down first.”

I sink into the couch and brace myself. “What is it, Cynthia? Did someone die?”

“Worse.”

“Worse?” I try to imagine something worse than death.

“The council has fired Pastor Glenn.”

“You’re kidding!”

“How I wish I were. No, it’s absolutely true. Kellie called me only a few minutes ago. She’s brokenhearted. The council called Pastor Glenn into an emergency meeting early this morning, and then they let him have it. Kellie said he took off in their car, very upset and distraught, and she hasn’t seen him for several hours. She’s worried sick.”

“Oh dear!”

“Anyway, I thought you’d want to know … so you could be
praying for him in this time of need. It’s so unfair. The poor man is devastated.”

“Of course. Do you think he’s in any danger? Would he, well, you know …”

“Oh, I think he’s just off travailing in prayer, Ruth. Probably trying to see what the Lord would have him do about this.”

“What can he do?”

“I don’t really know. Kellie seems to think there’s no recourse. She said the council and elders have the authority to hire and fire as they please.”

“Is this because of the concert last night? Because of the storm and the rain?”

“That certainly didn’t help matters. But to be honest, I think they’ve been looking for a reason to get rid of the poor man.”

“But why?”

“Why …” She seemed to be thinking about this. “Sometimes, Ruth, when a man is called to serve the Lord, and he’s a godly man, and he refuses to bend to the power of other, less godly men, well, sometimes that rubs people the wrong way.”

“It reminds me of some of the old prophets,” I say in anger. “They were misunderstood too.”

“And so was our Lord Jesus,” adds Cynthia. “Look what they did to him.”

We talk a bit more, and finally she tells me that Kellie asked for this matter to be kept private. “I know I can trust you, Ruth.”

“Of course you can.” I consider mentioning the nasty rumor that Rick just told me, but it seems like adding insult to injury now.

“I’ll keep you posted,” she promises.

“And I’ll be praying for Pastor Glenn.”

By now it seems that my house is overflowing with activity. Everyone is home, and due to the wet weather, everyone is inside the house. Although the living room is the least busy, I can still hear the hubbub of Sarah and Mary arguing over whose turn it is to feed the dog, and Rick is watching a football game on the family-room television. And Matthew is making one of his protein drinks in the blender.

Desperate for quiet, I slip out the front door, then go around back and into my garden shed, where I sit on the rough wooden bench. It’s cold and damp in here, and I wish I’d brought along a sweater, but no matter if I get chilled. It’s more important to pray than to be comfortable.

I feel brokenhearted over Pastor Glenn’s firing. Oh, I might not have agreed with every single thing he ever said or did, but he was only thinking of his sheep, trying to serve the Lord, and doing his best. And to think that my own church’s leadership couldn’t recognize this is terribly distressing. How is it possible that I can be part of such a blind church? And how can the councilmembers and elders possibly call themselves Christians and then pull something like this? It’s so wrong!

So I pray to the Lord, begging him to straighten out these so-called leaders. Make them see their blunder and admit they’ve made a mistake. I ask the Lord to chastise these people who are being so critical and judgmental of a man who only wanted to see our church grow both in spirit and in size. What on earth is wrong with that? And to blame poor Pastor Glenn for last night’s weather? Why, that’s absolutely crazy! I’m half tempted to drive over to church right now and demand a chance to be heard. But the council and
elders probably aren’t even there. They’re probably all at home, plopped in front of their televisions just like my own husband, turning into regular couch potatoes while they watch the local college game. How very spiritual!

By the time I finish praying, I am thoroughly enraged. How dare the leaders of our church pull something like this? If they want to fire Pastor Glenn, they should put it to a vote. Let the whole congregation decide. This decision is too big to be left to a handful of narrow-minded people.

I storm back into the house and call Cynthia. “Sorry to bother you,” I say quickly, “but I am really getting aggravated about this situation with Pastor Glenn.” And then I begin to spill all my doubts and concerns about the lack of discernment among our council and elders. I even share a few personal observations and some things I’ve heard through the grapevine—things that prove that some of these men aren’t very godly. “What makes them think they’re so much holier than the rest of us? Why do they get the final say on Pastor Glenn’s fate? And the fate of our church?”

“You’re not alone, Ruth. A number of us are very concerned.”

“Should we try to arrange a meeting to talk to them?”

“Carl has already tried.”

“And?”

“He has been officially excused as an elder.”

“Oh!”

“But I do have some good news, Ruth. I’m glad you called.”

I sink back down into the living-room couch again, releasing a loud sigh. “I’d like to hear some good news.”

“Pastor Glenn made it safely home not long after I spoke to you. I just got off the phone with him. He’s the one who told me about
Carl’s dismissal. And, bless his heart, Pastor Glenn is not holding a grudge against the elders and the council. He says he thinks he can see the Lord’s hand in all this and that everything is going to be just fine.”

“How?”

“Well, as he was driving around town, he stopped for coffee. He said it was this little coffee shop on the edge of town that he’d never been in before. And you’ll never believe what happened. Right there in that very coffee shop was an old friend of his, a woman he’d gone to Bible college with. Her name is Bronte Wellington, and it seems she had driven to our town on something of a mission.”

“A mission?”

“Yes, she said that the Lord told her to come here to build a church.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Isn’t that exciting?”

“Well, yes, I suppose …” I’m still thinking about the council and elders and how I’d like to give them a piece of my mind.

“Anyway, let me cut to the chase. Pastor Glenn has asked me to call all those who may sympathize with his cause, the ones who believe that the Lord has called him to be their pastor, and he wanted me to invite them to come to a meeting tomorrow. Naturally, that includes you, Ruth.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes. He wants to hold it at ten, the same time as church would normally be, and he wants everyone to come prepared to partake in a very exciting adventure.”

“What about children?”

“Children are invited too. So, do you think you’ll want to join us? Or do you plan to continue going to VBF?”

“Well, I, uh, I don’t know …”

“Do you mean you’d consider remaining there? After this?”

“Actually, I’m not sure what Rick will think.” I don’t admit to her that I usually have to drag him to church anyway. “And I also have to consider my daughters. I’m not sure what they’d think about going to a different church.”

“Oh, it’s not a church yet. The meeting is just to gather and prayerfully consider this possibility. But if you think you and your daughters are better off at a place like VBF … if you believe that’s acceptable, well, I can’t—”

“No, I’d like to go to this meeting,” I say suddenly. “I’d like to hear more about it and to meet this woman.”

“Oh good. I’m thinking this is going to be like one of the early churches. One of the ones the disciples set up. It’s going to be so exciting, Ruth!”

Then she tells me the location and invites me to help her with the phoning, giving me a list of ten people to call. I thank her, then take the cordless phone into the master bathroom, where I run water, hoping the background noise will camouflage my conversations since I’m not sure I want my family to overhear any of this just yet.

It takes me about an hour to complete the phoning, and I feel dismayed at how negative most of the responses were. Out of ten phone calls, only one person, Carrie Epson, expressed any desire to come. Her response didn’t surprise me much since I’ve suspected for years that she’s nurtured a secret crush on Pastor Glenn. She used to come to the same Bible study as I did, and the way she would gush about our “attractive and talented” pastor was almost embarrassing at times. But then she is single and lonely, and I suppose it’s only natural that she would look up to him. With my task completed, I
finally emerge from the bathroom, but I feel like I’m emerging from a battlefield.

“You okay?” Rick asks when I finally come out. He’s sitting on the edge of the bed, changing his shoes.

“I’m fine.” I watch him tugging on his laces. I consider telling him about Pastor Glenn’s dismissal, but I’m afraid he’ll be glad. He might even gloat. And I’m not ready for that. Nor am I ready to tell him about tomorrow’s meeting. I’m still processing all of this myself.

“Matthew already left for work, and now the girls are trying to talk me into taking all of us to a matinée.”

“What movie?” I ask absently.

“That new animated one that’s been advertised for the past few weeks.”

“The scary one?”

“Well, Halloween is just a few days away.” He shoves his foot into the second tennis shoe. “And it’s only a cartoon, Ruth. How scary can it be?”

“I don’t know …”

“Well, the truth is, I already promised them we could go.” He looks at me with slight exasperation as he pulls the laces tight. “You can come with us or stay home. It’s your call.”

I feel torn. Part of me wants to be with my family, and it’s not often that Rick offers to take the girls and me to a movie. The other part of me is worried that this movie is going to be worldly and evil and that Satan will be glorified. But if I express my concerns to Rick, he’ll only make fun of me.

“I don’t know …”