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A Turning of the Cards
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One busy night, the young man was
drinking a beer. He had wandered to the back to see the band that was
playing and came up to the bar to get another beer. Sipping on it, the
Lord asked the young man to pretend like he was playing cards. So the
young man began to shuffle an imaginary deck of cards. Mind you, this
was extremely out of character for an otherwised, reserved and shy
young
man. But trusting in the Lord's words, he did as told. |
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Within a few minutes, one of the
managers of the bar comes over and asks him what he's doing. He tells
him he's just playing cards. The Spirit of the Lord tells the young man
to drop one on the floor and pretend to look for it. He does. The
manager comes over and says "what are you looking for?" The young man
states that he's lost the queen of clubs and can't find it. The manager
states, "she's in the back" and points to the rear of the bar. |
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The young man turns toward the back
of the bar to find the bartender with the long hair and pony tail
standing next to the beautiful blonde female bar tender. She was
dressed
in a beautful white dressed. He hair glowing and shimmering in the
ambient lighting. It was like a warm glowing dream come true. The male
bartender, with his left arm on her left arm gesured with his right
hand and without speaking a word, the young man instantly knew the
meaning. "Here she is, you want her?" It was the moment of temptation.
Or, at least, it should have been. Rather, it was a moment of
awareness. With all that beauty and the warm ambieance of the room one
thing stood out to the young man. An imaginary price tag haning off her
dress. It read "you can't afford this." And immediately, a Lowell
George song from Thanks I'll Eat It Here began to play in the young
man's mind. "There ain't no such thing as easy money." That and a flash
of "Lady with a Fan" from Terrapin Station and the young man knew this
is what the Lord wanted him to see. |
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In the moment of what should have
been sheer temptation, the young man turned and headed back to the bar
as if nothing ever happened. After all, nothing did. At least to the
casual observer. After a little while, the young man grew curious and
walked to the back of the bar to see if the young lady and the
bartender
were still back there. After all, the only public entrance was at the
front of the bar and they would have had to pass by the young man to
enter or leave. Apparently, they had used the service door because they
were nowhere to be found. The young man stood for a little while and
the manager came over to the young man. The young man asked where the
young lady had gone to which the manager responsed that she was gone.
The young man retired for the night pondering the events of the night. |
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Normally all this would have made no
sense but it was to become a bible study lesson for the young man. The
Lord God led the young man to the reading of Proverbs Chapter 5 and
Chapter 7. The lesson, the Strange Woman who's path is the path of
death. The young man, as he pondered the scriptures was reminded of
another Grateful Dead song, Terrapin Station. "While the storyteller
speaks a door within the fire creaks suddenly flies open and a girl is
standing there. Eyes alight with glowing hair all that fancy paints as
fair she takes her fan and throws it in the lion's den. "Which of you
to
gain me, tell will risk uncertain pains of Hell? I will not forgive you
if you will not take the chance." The sailor gave at least a try the
soldier being much too wise strategy was his strength and not disaster." |
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Immediately the young man is reminded
of the bar tender who left the impression of a sailor upon him. This
all
seemed strangely prophetic. But the young man was hardly a soldier. He
was a college student in a college dorm. And yet, it all seemed to bear
this strange feeling. It was as if the young man were painted into a
picture without knowing how or why. But now, the pieces of the puzzle
were starting to come together one small piece at a time.. |
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The young man continued in his
efforts to know God better. He became a regular at bible study and was
soon meeting others who shared the same interest in Christ. One such
person was named Tenny. She was a young lady in her mid-twenties. It is
believed she is separated from her husband and living at home with her
parents. One night, at a bible retreat on a cold winter night, the two
got into a discussion about the Word of God and redemption. One of the
topics discussed was how God cared so much for all his creations that
he
would allow so many people to suffer and die. Certainly, God could have
ended it all a long time ago but, then again, God has a purpose in all
his work. It was an interesting discussion that went long into the
night. At one moment during the conversation, the young man was struck
by a thought that God was trying to reform not just all men but one of
his angels that had fallen from him. That perhaps all this humanity was
about showing his great love not only for us but for this one spiritual
entity that had fallen from his side. It was a clear thought that came
out of nowhere but a thought that would linger with the young man for
man years to come. |
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Back at the Depot, the young man no
long was attempting to understand the events around him. God had fully
explained the details of the efforts to seek his soul and now the young
man understood that the Depot was nothing more than a custom made dream
designed to be bait in exchange for the soul of an unsuspecting man. It
was now clear to all that the young man was not interested in taking
the
bait. On the contrary, the young man, doning a scarf wraped around his
head to appear as a bandana with a very long tail that wrapped around
from the back where it was pinned together down the front of the right
shoulder about 20", would sit in the bar and continue to observe. Now,
studying the Word of God and waiting upon God's words to him. Over the
radio would play "No, I'm never gonna do it without the fez on, oh no."
It was strangely appropriate. |
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Strangely, God spoke to the young
man. Told him to write a verse of scripture regarding the Strange Woman
on the napkin. Not the entire section but just the verse number. The
young man left the napkin under his drink and headed back to his room.
He wondered if that was the card that had to be played next in this now
strange turn of events. |
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It was spring break and the young
man was hanging out in his dorm room with another person he had met at
his bible study. There was no one else on campus anywhere except a few
administrative personnel. The two were casually talking when the a
strange feeling came over the young man and he was led to pull back his
opaque curtains look out his window. Outside, he sees two police
vehicles parked in the center of the parking lot. Like a premenition,
the young man instantly realized that the police officers would be
arriving shortly at his door so the young man propped the door open and
continued his conversation with his bible study friend. |
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When the police arrived at the room,
they kicked in the open door and entered with their guns drawn. Keep in
mind that the student was in his own dorm room with his curtains drawn
and had only been there approximately 15 minutes. Nonetheless, the
policemen asked the young man what he was doing there. He replied that
it was his dorm room and he was staying over during the break. This was
allowed under school rules. The policeman responded by stating that
"you'll have to come with us to the police station." The young man,
having never had to deal with the police before, instantly stated "I
won't be able to answer any questions until my lawyer arrives from
D.C."
The young man didn't have a lawyer. The words simply came to him. The
policemen leave the young student in his dorm room but take his bible
study friend in for questioning. What made the timing so curious was
that this was one day after the note was left under the napkin at the
bar. Coincidence? Probably so. The young man never heard from the
police again. |
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A few weeks after this time, the
young man became very ill. He developed a fever of 105 degrees. The
fever lasted a full week before the antibiotics the medical clinic gave
him kicked in. Nonetheless, for the next two weeks, the young man
remained bedridden, unable to study. He, instead, focused on reading
the
Word of God and nursing himself back to health. In the process, it
became evident to him that school was no longer where his heart was and
that it was time to return home. The young man made arrangements to
return to the Washington, D.C. area. |
