Tribulation House: Reloaded

Chapter 28

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- 28 -

“You can’t do this, Hank. It’s too risky.” Sven Surtees set down the coffee mug labeled BETTER WITH BARTON, echoing the slogan on the banner draped behind him. “At the very least, you need to hire bodyguards or something.”

Sitting at the new headquarters for candidate Hank Barton, surrounded by unopened boxes and unfurled posters, Sven at the table with his longtime friend Hank, and the two men’s wives, Wendy Surtees and Lisa Barton. The room was dark, moonlight coming through the storefront window. The volunteers all gone for the night.

Three sets of eyes boring into him, waiting for his decision, Hank shook his head. “No.” Stuck out his chin, striking a pose of strength. “No. I will not bow.”

Lisa gently put her hand on his. Her voice trembled a little. “But to be threatened by the Mafia—”

Hank pulled his hand from hers. He pushed back from the table and stood. “We don’t know that it’s organized crime. Look, we don’t even know it’s a threat.” He turned from the table and walked tentatively over to the moonlit window. He looked out to the street, gazing at the passing traffic. Checked his gut, held in his own fear. Kept his voice calm. “It could be nothing.”

Sven walked over to the window and stood next to his friend. “You don’t know that it’s nothing.” He looked back at the women at the table, then back at Hank. He put a hand on his friend’s shoulder and sighed loudly. “Right after they talked to you, you sure thought it was a threat.”

“That was before I had time to think about it. I must have misunderstood them, that’s all.” He turned and looked Sven in the eye. Smiled weakly. “Besides, even if it is trouble—if God be with me, who can be against me?”

Lisa’s voice shook. “God didn’t ask you to take on the mob.”

Hank turned and chuckled. “In the Bible, the men of faith took on mobs all the time.”

“That’s not what I mean!”

“I know, honey.” Hank nodded, furrowed his brow. “But it’s the same thing. Daniel survived the lion’s den. David survived Goliath. Shadrach, Mesha, and…” He shrugged. “Those three guys survived the fiery furnace.”

Sven frowned. “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?”

“Right. Those guys.”

At the table, Lisa bit her lip in tearful silence. Wendy leaned over and took Lisa’s hand. “That was in Bible times, Hank.” She turned and looked at him with stern eyes. “Don’t be a fool.”

“I don’t know if I agree with that.” Hank fairly puffed out his chest. Anger rising. “Is He God or not God?”

Sven touched Hank’s shoulder. “Easy. We’re not saying that—”

“No, seriously.” Hank’s eyes held flecks of rage. “Is Jesus Lord or is He not Lord?”

“But you’re not Jesus.”

Hank felt the faith rising up in him. He privately hoped it was not false bravado. “I have a mission. I have a purpose. I have a plan. And I cannot lose heart at the first sign of trouble.” His voice dropped low, controlled. “I cannot be swayed by the first sign of opposition.” He started pacing in front of the window, forming a sharp silhouette in the moonlight. “Anything worth doing is hard. If it weren’t, more people would do the right thing. But the church has spent the past thirty or forty years disengaging from the culture—removing its influence from entertainment and art and science and the ordinary lives of ordinary people. Not being light. Not being salt. Hiding its light under a bushel.”

The others watched him pace, saying nothing. He was on a roll. No stopping him now. “In 1962, they banned prayer from schools. Without that influence, the country was soon broken forever.”

“How can you say—”

“Starting in 1963, there was the murder of JFK, the murder of Martin Luther King Jr., Vietnam…” Hank wheeled toward Sven, pointing a finger. “Did you know that until the 1960s, the church actually had a say in the ratings of movies?”

Sven shrugged. “Hollywood stopped listening.”

“No.” Hank shook his head, eyes lighting up. “The church walked away. The church chose to stop speaking into the film industry. And if you look at your film history, you can see the decline in values from that point.”

Wendy sat up straighter. “Are you serious?”

“I am very serious. In centuries past, all the real advances in the arts and sciences and humanities were the result of the church. Or, at least, church influence.”

“You mean, they were all invented by Christians?”

“Not necessarily. But they were created in a biblical culture. In the environment of decency and wonder provided by a healthy presence of the church.”

“Don’t tell that to Galileo.” Sven grinned. “He might pick an argument on that point.”

“That was not Galileo versus the culture of the church, that was Galileo versus the specific leadership of the church at that time. He still made his discoveries inside a Christian culture.”

“I don’t know.” Sven shook his head. “If the church leadership—”

“I never said the people were infallible.” Hank stopped in front of the window again. He looked out, found himself imagining all the lost souls who passed by on the sidewalk from day to day. “We can make a difference.” He turned back to the room. “We can do this. We need to do this.”

The other three let their arguments drop. Hank could still see flecks of doubt in their eyes, but they slowly, finally nodded despite their reservations.

He looked back out the window. Still thinking about the mob.

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