Part 13 of the story of how Gary's life changed. You could call it From Beer to Eternity. There might be 20 ar so of these to make up the whole story. Links to other parts are on the right.
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Once alcohol is out of me, I can think. I'm kind of an analytical, maybe a little intellectual and you could say I'm free to be myself more than I was with alcohol. So I begin to think and process in ways I hadn't been able to.
For some reason I occasionally ask Brenda, "so tell me about Jesus." It's just a casual question. One time I ask our 10-year old daughter Emily the same question. She can't believe it -- she suddenly has one chance to save her daddy from the bowels of hell and she panics and can't think of a single thing in the Bible. She quotes the only thing that comes to mind, a Sunday School song, "Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see." She says it very serious-like, because, you know, there's a lot at stake.
About a year later we move to Iowa. Brenda asks me to go to church with her until she gets to know someone. No big deal -- I'm totally neutral. I hear a bunch of sermons and we make a few friends. I keep going to church; I don't know why. Brenda isn't bugging me about church or Jesus at all like the old days. There's a small spot inside me that wants to say, "Don't you notice I'm still going with you? Don't you notice the questions I'm asking?" She seems oblivious.
At church one Sunday, one of our friends, Karen, comes clear across the room during the invitation at the end, grabs my arm and pleads, "Gary pleeeaaase, pleeeease..." She tells me I've got to go up and get saved or whatever. It's a bit of a scene. This is an unbelievers nightmare -- the thing you always know is gonna happen if you go to church. For some reason, I'm not embarrassed and I'm not upset with her. I know she really cares, she's just delusional. Besides, I like her husband Mike. He's not pushy at all. But there is something about him that's different, that's appealing and interesting -- quiet, confident...I don't know, just...something.
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