AntiLite: Chapter 9 | Hope And Suffering

AntiLite

Theodore was startled, he heard a knock at the door.  Nobody ever visited him since his tragic injury.  Aside from work he had resigned himself to be abandoned to his lonely, confused thoughts.  He was certain he would never sort them all out.

Theodore answered quickly.

“Who are you?” Theodore demanded.

“My name is Nelson.” the man replied.  “I understand that this is strange, but if you will give me a minute, I can explain everything.”

“Go for it.” said Theodore.  He didn’t have anywhere he specifically needed to be until this catastrophe ended.  If it ever did.

“You and a friend of yours were discussing the things of God outside St. Paul’s earlier.  When he threw that rock through the sanctuary window, I was awakened by the noise and came out of my recesses to investigate.  Then I followed you home because you were easier to track than the other lad.”

“Have you come to punish me Father?”

“I’m Church of England, lad.  No need to call me Father.  Alternatively I have come to bring you hope.”

“Hope?” asked Theodore.  This was the last thing he had expected.

“Everything your grandmother has told you about the Lord is true.  He made everything you used to see all around you, each person, including you and me.”

“If God is in control of everything, why is all of this happening with the darkness and no electricity except your sign?”

“God has been in control this whole time.  Especially in this chaos.  Jesus said things shockingly similar to what we are experiencing right now would happen.  Take Matthew 24:29 for example.”

Nelson began to recite scripture from memory.

“Immediately after the distress of those days.

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

The sun has obviously darkened.  I would not be surprised if the rest was soon to follow.”

“Does that mean all the stuff in Revelation is also true.   The lake of fire, judgment, sinners going to hell?”

“Yes, Theodore  and it may come sooner than we expect  Though no one but God the Father knows when.  However,  there is hope.  When Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead three days later.  He paid the price for the sins of all the world.   He took the very punishment we deserved to make things right between those who accept his saving gift and the Lord God Almighty.  Those of us who can identify as vile sinners are then in line to receive the grace and salvation we absolutely don’t deserve and can’t do anything to get.  In short, when judgment day comes and you’ve accepted Christ’s gift. You will be with Him in paradise, just like the thief on the cross next to him.  You also won’t be burning in Hell.  Which is where you would end up anyway if not for Jesus’ gift, so it’s a pretty good intensive I’d say.  Especially in these dark times.”

“No kidding.” said Theodore. “I thought you had to be perfect to go there.”

“None of us can be that perfect.  That’s why we needed Jesus’ perfect sacrifice.  And if you think you’ll never sin again after accepting Christ’s gift of salvation, you’d be wrong.  We are all worse sinners than we know.  Especially me.”

“Wow, where’s the hope in that then?” questioned Theodore.

“We cannot be perfect on our own.  The devil is crafty and devises seductive ways for us to slip up.  The Lord still calls His followers to be Holy however, and that is to be taken seriously.  In spite of ourselves.  In spite of all the temptations out there.”

“There are so many out there, and they all feel so good though.  How is it possible to live the way Christ wants me to?” asked Theodore.

“When you are tempted, pray to the Lord for help and He will always give you a way out.  If, however, you ignore the way out and commit the sin anyway, whether knowingly or unknowingly, do not give up hope.  Jesus died for all the sins you’d ever commit, Theodore, instead stand up again and continue to fight the good fight.  It’s a war out there for your soul.  The devil wants you to fail.  God wants you to win, and He has given you all the resources to do that if you take advantage of the gifts He gives you over time.”

“Fascinating!” exclaimed Theodore.

“In these trying times I cannot afford to miss an opportunity to tell people of the hope I have, and they can have too.” said Nelson.  “I must share it!”

The two talked throughout the night.  Nelson answered all of Theodore’s questions as best he could and salvation came to Theodore’s house that day.

Several hours passed, there was another knock at Theodore’s door. Five slow knocks.

Theodore rushed to the door and opened it.

“Agent 5!” exclaimed Theodore.

“Theodore! The tides are rising significantly higher than usual at the Dover cliffs.  The moon is all out of wack!”

“Come in and sit down, friend.  I have someone here I’d like you to meet.”

***

Kirkland was irritated, he had just gotten into his night robe and now he had an intruder knocking at his door and disturbing his peace.

He opened the door to pitch blackness.

“Hello Boss!”

Kirkland immediately recognized the voice as Bradley’s.  However, before he could do anything, Bradley had quickly removed his knife from it’s sheath and ran it through Kirkland slicing his Aorta in half.

Blood began to spurt everywhere.  Kirkland screamed in pain.  However, he noticed that he did not crumple over, and certainly did not go unconscious.

This was very strange.  Then again nothing Kirkland had seen in the last week had made sense to him.  Perhaps he was invincible!  No, that can’t be it.  He wouldn’t be in excruciating pain

Bradley was also confused at this unexpected turn of events. The one person he wanted to kill most in his entire life would not die.  Bradley thrust again amid protests from Kirkland.

Amidst the blind hacking, Bradley cut off Kirkland’s ears for good measure.  Kirkland suddenly went deaf.  At least that made sense.  But none of the rest of it did.

Bradley went away disgruntled.  Kirkland frightfully went away to find some way of bandaging his wounds.  He would have to learn how to get by without sight and hearing now.  Accidentally drinking his own blood was also a possibility now.

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