Jan 21
11
In The Beginning (29)
NINETEEN
We agreed that our “communion” shouldn’t be any more elaborate than what been started several years ago at what had, then, been just Brad’s place, a little south of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, which Brad had also used as a model in that first novel Leapfrog.
“We started that,” Brad explained, “shortly after Bob and Colin moved in with me. Bob had sold his tour bus business down in St. Augustine and Colin had sold his shop out of which he operated a kind of general mechanical repair business for large generators, and air conditioning equipment and had been pretty much in demand to do consulting and repair stuff for the resorts and larger homes in the area.
“We had all been married, but were now single. I met Bob first and he introduced me to Colin. We shared roughly the same religious beliefs, although Bob had a Baptist background from which he had escaped; Colin was still a practicing Catholic; and I had been a business consultant during which I sort of drifted into being a self-supporting missionary and wound up being ordained as a pastor and for a time and was even the co-pastor of a Pentecostal church.
“The three of us were equally disaffected from any part of organized Christianity. How we became close friends is that Colin had chronic back and feet problems and was completely healed and thought I was some kind of a saint as a result; it took me several weeks to convince him otherwise. Bob had been healed of asthma and afterwards was just plain interested in whatever I had to say, until he realized also that I was no saint and he could do the very same things if he followed Jesus’ instructions …and did.
“When I told them I was thinking of selling my house on the beach, one thing led to another; they both were fairly well off and I don’t even remember how we made the decision to pool our funds and live in that house instead of my selling it, but we just gravitated to it; Bob, who’d been a CPA prior to becoming a partner with a client in the tour business and then buying him out; took over the management of our money and my business; while I maintained some of my clients who were now located literally all over the world and which kept us supplied with an income stream; and Colin took over the maintenance of the property.
“We started hiring people to work at the place who worked either under Bob’s or Colin’s supervision depending on their individual roles; and we were always inviting people to come to visit and the stuff that was in the first novel all began developing, slowly but surely, into a healing center of sorts and, well you’ve all read about that and grew into the ‘group of twelve plus one’ and now thirteen,” he said this as he reached his arm around my shoulders and kissed me warmly on the cheek, and I leaned into him in total response.
“Spirit just led us a step at a time, Brad continued, “just as you guys started as three, with Jeff, Rob and my love, here,” he squeezed me and I wanted him so badly right then, I almost burst; “then grew quickly to the group of five with the addition of Walt and Jan and now we are the group of six with the addition of yours truly.
“Here’s what I’m sensing; and you guys, please, tune in and give me confirmation or correction, as you already know and we agree, we have ONE Leader and Teacher, period. You already know the crazy ritual we got into there on the beach in Florida. Let’s not start a ritual, but let’s go in our place and dig out the jug and whatever we decide to eat and, as Walt said, ‘let’s meet with Jesus’ and see what’s next.”
“Please tell us that we don’t have to sing hymns or anything,” Rob said drily.
Jan added: “You just did the invocation, Rob …and Brad went over the announcements; Walt already told you we’re going to spend my grocery money on dinner so we don’t need to take an offering …let’s go do whatever and see if we get the go-ahead to take a nap and also do …you know, ‘whatever.’”
We had a great laugh and then a great time “meeting with Jesus,” during which there were two interesting surprises: One was that Walt drank a little too much Chianti, which loosened him in considerable enough fashion to display humor, over which Jan exclaimed, in between bursts of laughter, that she had never witnessed before in all of their years together. We were to see this side of him many times in the future. She told him that he had not only been healed of eyesight problems, but “over-soberness.” She then added, quite suggestively, that she anticipated other signs of new vigor and vitality. This brought us, as a group, to that same therapeutic, but convulsive laughter that Brad and I had experienced on our first night together.
The second surprise was the introduction from SPIRIT to an understanding that none of us had ever even dreamed before. It would command our attention for almost three hours during our dinner later that evening.
First, however, came the nap for which we agreed to allow two hours and we all went to our separate quarters – and as Jeff later quipped, “Well, Brad, I knew you were going to be a welcome addition, but from the look of satisfaction on everyone’s face I had no idea just how welcome!”
Jan added, “Yeah, man, what a beginning! You created a good humor man with vitality,” and more laughter.
I thought, “It can’t always be this much fun can it?” …and received a stern, but gentle and loving reminder what our Friend already had taught me about being careful how I worded questions even in my thoughts …the lesson ending with, “Bring every thought captive, Jeanne.”
To which I voiced a loud and heartfelt, enthusiastic, “Thank you” and “yes!”
Rob, said, “wow, you too, eh Jeanne?” …which created another swell of laughter.
I didn’t bother to explain, after all, that was true as well.