The Coyote Roadshow is coming to your baseball town!

Their parents talked to Paster Mike about their concerns for their children. They didn’t understand what was going on and asked if he could meet with them and see for himself what was happening.

      Pastor Mike was a good man. He was a man of Love. He cared about everyone who attended Church regularly, knew many of the people who didn't, and when he felt blessed he would go down to the ‘bohemian’ neighborhoods and preach. Not in an evangelist style but just as a human being that naturally loved and cared for all other people. Animals and Nature too.

      Pastor Mike's style was to start with a simple hello, and then ask questions. Lots of questions. Then he listened. Listened to everything each person wanted and needed to say. Acknowledged their answers and then asked another question.

      Pastor Mike rarely talked about God or any religious teachings. He was a man of action, gentle action, small nudges that slowly moved The Mountain.

      Pastor Mike's flock was mostly quiet folk with joyful attitudes. When Pastor Mike spotted one of his parishioners that wasn't joyful, that person became Pastor Mike's new best friend.

Some were very serious about their religious beliefs, but most were more lighthearted, enjoying the comradery and sharing. Pastor Mike's enthusiasm and positive attitude empowered each of his followers.

      He loved children and hosted a Children’s Circle on Saturday mornings. Also a questions and answers group for teenagers. He knows most of them come just to meet new friends, but that was fine with the Pastor. It was a sacred circle and that makes the Lord happy, to see children honoring Him together.

      Both April and Bill attended Church irregularly. Both their moms went all the time and belong to the Social Club. April and Bill grew up with Pastor Mike. They both liked to attend his sermons sometimes, and he was always very excited when they did. He makes a point of acknowledging them when they come. He usually makes up a funny story about what he needed to do to get them to come.

      “Yes, April and Bill are with us today. Praise the Lord. No, I don't know if they came on their own will, but what I do know is that the Lord’s powers have been in action. You felt that strong wind coming up this morning? Yep, that was a vortex created by the Lord just to suck Bill and April into Church. Do you believe?

      "And maybe that wind caught some of you too,” he added.

      Everyone laughed and started chatting, "Was it you that the wind blew in?" "Maybe, I don't know, where am I?" 

      "Big wind, couldn't help, it blew me right here." 

      “I’m not in Kansas anymore?”

      Pastor Mike was awesome.

      He didn’t talk about what his flock should be doing, he just joined in and helped them do it.

      Pastor Mike didn't just preach ‘love thy neighbor’, he did it, and encourage others to do the same. He had a wonderful sermon a few weeks ago where he preached ‘love thy neighbor’ and Bill and April were so happy they were there.

      “The sin of humanity is the sin of indifference. The sin of an uncaring, cold love that freezes rather than melts the human heart.

      “When our buddy Jesus saw how poorly people were treating each other, he was troubled by the people’s intention. 

      “He thought, ‘The Lord had created each human being as a unique person, no two are the same. But a group is all about agreeing to the same, specific values and goals. A single person is all alone in his or her beliefs.’ 

      “So Jesus didn’t just tell his followers to ‘love their neighbors’. Low. He went to the most disloved in the group, Amir, and said, ‘Why do you hate your neighbor? For his actions?, the actions you hate?, or just because you hate him as a person?’”

      “‘That ugly-faced Ibrahim? He’s just no good,’ Amir’s dark heart said. ‘An evil soul. I don’t respect him so therefore I cannot love him. I’m sorry. But I cannot do the Lord’s work. Not with a piece of garbage like that old man.’

      “And Jesus smiled. He knew of Ibrahim’s troubles. And he also knew those troubles were the troubles of each and every other person on God’s Earth.

      “‘You are correct, my friend,’ the enlightened one agreed. ‘The old man’s actions should be hated. And the Lord blesses you for calling him out. Confronting his evil is a holy action.  Amen!’

      “Amir smiled with satisfaction. He knew he was in the right.

      “‘But what of the old man himself? What about your neighbor's soul?’ Jesus suggested, ‘Is it not worthy of your effort to cleanse the little bit of evil that has captured Ibrahim’s thinking mind?’

      “‘Why would I do that?’ he asked.

      “‘For your own, selfish benefit,’ Jesus smiled, ‘For you to prosper.’

      “That put a big question mark on Amir’s face.

      “‘Loving the man, not his actions, will make you both friends. He will treat you differently when you treat him differently, he will be easier to talk to and reason with. Ibrahim wants to help his neighbors but Ibrahim is afraid of his neighbors. Love him and he will stop fearing you and the others.

      “‘And Low. You can’t lose. Any action you take will make things better,’ Jesus said with a confident face. 

      “‘Maybe, okay,’ Amir agreed. Loving your neighbor was much better than hating him or letting him hate you. Low. It just made common sense. It felt natural.

      “And Amir did and of course you know the ending. They became true friends, joked about their differences, and shared their families with the community. A happy ending. Jesus always does that.”

      April and Bill liked all the analogies. Hating someones actions because they were stupid or foolish, verses hating the person just because he’s stupid or foolish? They both thought that was a stupid and foolish feeling to harbor.

      April and Bill had watched and listened to Pastor Mike when he preached. And it seemed to them that Pastor Mike was able to ’shape-shift’ into a different person: from a gentle teacher to a powerful ‘’Teller of the Truth’. He would act as if his role was that of ‘deliverer’ instead of ‘receiver’.

      April and Bill started to take mental notes of the words that made Pastor Mike change into a preaching monster. 

      “Watch,” Bill whispered nudging April. “Every time he says ‘sin’ he changes. Watch.”

She did and the Pastor did. Bill was exactly correct.

      ‘Sin’ and ‘sinner’ were his most common key words. Bill and April could hear the Devil, not in the Pastor’s voice or his words themselves but in the way he spoke them, “Because he was a sinner, God would not hear him… and because he was a sinner the Lord said you shall not pass! All sinners shall never be free!” 

      ‘Belief ‘and ‘forgiveness’ were two other words that had the power to shift Pastor Mike into Hell.

      “For the non-believer shall bear the wrath of the Lord God and he shall not be forgiven. Low. He will suffer for all eternity. So followers, make your bed. Believe in the power of our Lord and free yourself from sin.”

      Pastor Mike was easy-going and mostly a quiet guy. But he loved to preach. He had said, “I don't care for preachin’ much, but the Lord told me quite directly, ‘Yes Michael, you will preach.’"

      Then the preacher paused. It was his signature move, like Bill’s curveball. Giving the audience a space in their mind to think about what's been said and what is about to be said.

      "So I thought about it, did some cursing, some really good cursing now, but in my closet. And then bought into God’s idea. It wasn't the Lord's decision or direction. I just decided to become the most honest, truthful preacher a human being could be.

      "So let's go!" He shouted and the band and the singer took their queue. The music was loud and louder still when everyone started singing along.

 

 

                                                                                        * * * 

 

 

April and Bill stood in front of the double doors to the Church. Inside Pastor Mike was waiting. Neither kid felt ready.

      "Just go and see what he has to say,“ said one dad and the other dad just pointed out, “Hey, this is Mike. He knows you, he's known you all your life. He just wants to know what's going on. He really cares about you and our family."

      "That was a great sales job," both of them enthusiastically agreed.

      "You go first," April said. 

      “Why me?”

      “Because I just don't want to be the first," April said a bit frustrated.

      "Then let's go in together," Bill suggested.

      "No way," April said, then turned away from Bill and stood still, looking down at her shoes.

      Bill opened the big door and walked in then held the door open for his best friend.

      "Thank you, Bill," April said in a polite voice.

      Bill knew that that was her way of saying, "I'm sorry."

      Pastor Mike greeted them with his usual enthusiasm. He always enjoyed being with both of them together.

      "Bill, I'm guessing your life has gone crazy. Huh?”

      The three of them talked for a long while. Bill told him parts of the story about the Code and April added her point of view and ideas about the future. Pastor Mike was impressed that this was a global event. It wasn’t about Bill or April or their dreams. This was big. This was God’s event.

       “Do either of you think God is involved? I mean more than his usual involvement in everything.”

      They shook their heads and said in agreement, “No.”

      It was a global event but it was all happening naturally. No human had any control of the future, and they thought, not any god either.

      “I think Mother Nature is more likely to catch the blame.”

      April had discovered another one of Pastor Mike’s favorite preaching words, a rare but powerful trigger word, ‘miracle’.

      Pastor Mike stood up, walked a bit, and slipped into a brief sermon, “Sounds like it will take a miracle to survive if it really is that powerful of a Storm. A miracle is what we need. With one of God’s holy miracles we can all survive the Storm, and perhaps a blossom of love will show God’s miracle and that will be the critical choice. Love God and his miracle of our lives, or die and live in sin and forever exist in shame and hopelessness rather than in God’s loving miracle.”

      April and Bill sat quietly and eyed each other with invisible smiles.

      “But it was a miracle not an everyday action that changed his life. It was a miracle that created the world and a miracle that created the first humans. It is only because of a miracle that you are here today.”

      “It will be a miracle if we can get out of here without too much sinner-debris,” both teenagers thought.

      Pastor Mike’s lecture turned sermon wrapped up and April and Bill both could see Pastor Mike rebalancing himself and coming back to ‘happy’. 

      “So with that I offer you, April, and you, Bill, a special blessing.”

Bill and April stood up and stretching their legs never felt so wonderful. They both bowed their heads.

      “Lord our God, hear my prayers for my brother Bill and my sister April. Bless these two souls, oh Lord. Bring them the Truth they need and protect them against evil and temptation. In the name of the…”

      Bill interrupted with a whisper, “And the game too?”

Pastor Mike let out a wild cackle of a laugh, “I almost forgot! The Lord was about to play a joke on me, but Bill, you saved my butt!”

      April and Bill cracked with relaxing laughter. As crazy as Pastor Mike might be, he was also the best: the funniest and most honest person either of them had ever known.

      “Warning! Do-over in action! Please Lord, allow me to amend my last prayer. Amen! Bless and look over the Coyote Baseball team, especially their number one pitcher and their favorite fan. Thank you, oh Lord, for your prayers and for being with us here now, in this holy house.”

      “Amen,” they all spoke together.

Bill and April turned to leave and Pastor Mike left them with the best prayer he could think of, “Good luck with the championship game,” he said with true sincerity. “Me and the Lord will both be routing for you.”

      “Thanks, Pastor, with the Big Man on our side, how can we lose?” It was a nice sentiment but in Bill’s head Coach replied, “By not throwing, catching and hitting the ball?“

      “May the Lord be by your side.”

      “Amen,” they all squeaked out in unison.

      Bill opened the big door and he and April both felt the fresh air blowing on their skin as they left.

      Outside on the porch landing, they looked at each other with great relief. That had been a challenge but they both felt that they had done very well. Both the Pastor and their parents would now be happy and content.

      “Walking with the Lord,” April mumbled, a little vague on the concept.

      “So we’re walking with the Lord now?” Bill repeated with sarcasm. 

      April then understood. Her concept of the ‘Lord walking with her’ was self-evident. She looked Bill in the eyes, “My Lord.”

      He got the joke and gazed back into April’s eyes, “My Lord.“

      They took each other’s hand and walked down the steps and onto the big field of royal green grass. Then they stopped and held both hands. 

      Both repeated, “My Lord,” “My Lord.”

      Then they squeezed their hands tightly together, let them go, and ran to their bicycles and got on.

      “Hey my Lord, how about some food?” 

      “Holy food, what’s that? Magical fish maybe?”

      “Don’t talk like a sinner. Pizza!”

      “Yes my Lord. I only spoke in jest. Please forgive my ignorance.”

      “Yes I may, but only if you know the sacred choices of toppings.”

      April peddled faster to get ahead of Bill, “The sacred toppings? Now what could those be? Are there more than one?”

      Bill then raced ahead of her and yelled in passing, “You better be correct or the Devil will surely get you.”

      Then April sped up. She knew if she got the jump, she could stay ahead of Bill for a long time. And she knew Bill hated that. He always wanted to be first, the winner.

      “Pepperoni!” she yelled and accelerated to top speed.

      “What else?” Bill demanded, now shouting from behind, “What other toppings?”

      “Toppings? Hot fudge! and whipped cream! and nuts! and a cherry on top! After the pizza we’re devouring ice cream!”

      Both April and Bill agreed, walking with the Lord was a good thing. But walking, or riding your bike, with your best friend was the best.

      “Yes we are,” Bill said to himself, realizing that he was never going to catch April.

 

 

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