The Common Prayer (Serial Novel) -- Episode 11

8/11/2019 The Common Prayer (Serial Novel) -- Episode 11

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-common-prayer-serial-novel-episode-11 1/17





We have followed too much the devices and desires of our ownhearts…

Restore thou them that are penitent…

Chapter 31

The school year went by fast and plans for graduation were falling

into place at Connecticut Community College. The three students

who had been brought to Barry’s attention did not meet graduation

requirements in physics and in a couple of other classes. The threat

to boycott graduation was still hanging over Barry’s head as he was

reminded of it again by a phone message left at his office the day

before graduation: It’s not too late to give us a ‘C’ , the caller had said.

Barry had asked for plain clothes policemen to be on campus in

case things got out of hand. bout twenty minutes before

commencement, fifteen students including the three students who

had failed were silently marching in front of the main auditorium. They

held up placards with the words:

Give us a break!

!C’ or not—graduate! Rubik, don’t be a prick!

We deserve diplomas too!

reporter from the local television station, a newspaper

"ournalist, and a photographer were present. bout five minutes

before the commencement ceremony began, the protesters started

chanting: C or not—graduate! C or not—graduate! #hen asked by

the reporter the reason for the protest one of the fifteen said: $#e "ust

believe that if a student disciplines himself and attends all of their

classes, turns in all assignments, takes all tests, he or she should be



given a diploma and be allowed to graduate.%

“#hat if that student’s grades fall below the minimum !C’, should

that student be allowed to graduate&% the reporter asked.

“'es. (efinitely. )ome people learn by reading the book* others

learn best by hand’s on. The important thing is that the student

attends classes and participates in all required activities. )teve +obs

and Bill ates dropped out of college and look how well they turned

out.%

“#hy didn’t you "ust drop out then and pursue your dream&% the

reporter asked.

“- am going to pursue my dream, but - have been advised to get

my diploma as well.%

The graduation ceremony began inside the auditorium without

any disruption from the protesters apart from the chanting that

sometimes echoed through the closed double doors. The president,

the vicepresident, the provost, and others took their seats on the

podium, and as Barry was about to give the commencement speech

before the graduates marched, ten graduates "umped out of their

seats, held up placards, and started shouting:

‘C’ or not—graduate; Rubik don’t be a prick!

!C’ or not—graduate; Rubik don’t be a prick!

“/uiet down0% Barry said. $1et’s have order in here0%

2veryone looked on an3iously waiting to see what would happen

ne3t. The reporters were busy scribbling down details and the cameramen were snapping photos. s the chanting on the inside increased

the chanting on the outside increased as well.

“1et’s have some order, please,% Barry repeated.



The ten protesters ran to the front of the auditorium and started

marching across the stage. $’C’ or not—graduate; Rubik don’t be a

prick!”

The fifteen protesters from outside barged into the auditorium,

chanting as they marched down the aisle,$ell, no! We on’t go! ‘C’

or not—graduate!”

“-’m asking you all to please leave quietly so we can continue

with our commencement ceremony,% Barry said. $4isitors, family, and

friends, please be patient with us.%

“ell, no! We on’t go! ‘C’ or not—graduate,” the protesters

chanted even louder. few returned to their seats, picked up

te3tbooks and started throwing them at Barry and those on the stage.

Barry signaled for the policemen to remove the protestors. )ome

of the protesters fell on the carpeted floor squirming and kicking atthe plain clothes policemen who tried to put a stop to their protest.

fter one officer was kicked by one of the protestors, the officer sat

on top of him and handcuffed him. Three of the protesters ran up and

down the aisles to avoid the officers. The police were able to squelch

the disturbance within a few minutes and the graduation ceremony

proceeded as planned.

“+ust a wonderful ceremony0% Barry said to his wife as they drove

home later that evening. $- told you this year’s graduation was going

to be great* we even had the press there.%

The 5ubiks received several phone calls that evening from

people e3pressing how meaningful the ceremony had been.

“ ll - can say is, praise the 1ord,% Barry said to his wife as they

watched the local news coverage of the event. $1et’s have a rela3ing

four weeks of vacation and get rested up in preparation for another



great school year.%

#hile they were ending their third week of vacation, Cecelia

started to feel e3tremely weak, constipated, and e3perienced pain in

her back and legs. )he tried to bear it without complaining, but

couldn’t hold out for long. They cut their vacation short so she could

make an emergency visit to her doctor. The doctor had a grim look on

his face as he shared the news with them.

“The cancer has returned at stage three and the tumor has now

grown into your uterus. 'ou can do chemo, but my advice would be to

remove the entire womb6everything.%

“2verything0% Cecelia said in horror.

)he burst into tears as soon as they returned home. $7ow all my

hopes of having children are gone,% she said sadly. $That has been

my heart’s desire ever since we’ve been married. -t has been mydaily prayer. - could never understand why od gave children to

mothers and fathers who only mistreated and neglected them. ll

those mothers out there killing their children, killing their newborns*

and here - am wanting a child to love and take care of, and yet -’m

unable to have one. That’s not right, Barry.%

Barry could only hug his wife as she poured out her heart.



Chapter 32

#ith graduation and vacation behind them, and in spite of

Cecelia’s deteriorating health, the 5ubiks looked forward to an

e3citing second year at Connecticut Community College. 8owever, it

seemed as though one obstacle after another kept blocking their

path. #ord started spreading around campus that $the new president,

Barry 5ubik, was discriminating against 8ispanic students.% list ofthings supporting this charge was sent to the school board, to the

vicepresident, to the dean of students, and to others who held

notable positions at the college. These charges included: harassing

8ispanic students about their immigration status* referring to them as

!wetbacks’* and routinely investigating the citi9enship status of

students’ parents.

The school board called for a meeting with him to address the

charges.

“r. Cromwell, - have no idea what you are talking about,% Barry

said after the director of the school board read the contents of a letter

that he had received. $- have always shown the same respect to all

the students and - have never thought about discriminating against

8ispanics.%

“#ell, who do you think would do this&% r. Cromwell asked.

“- have no idea,% Barry said. $;nless the same students who

wanted to force me to allow them to pass last year are planting this

information to get revenge. That’s the only e3planation - can come up

with right now.%

“- see,% r. Cromwell said. $7ow you know these are serious



accusations considering this is a federally funded institute of higher

learning.%

“'es, - know,% Barry said. $ll - can tell you is they are false

accusations. 'ou can ask my wife, the previous colleges - have

taught at, my former pastor at the church - used to attend before

moving here, and even the pastor of the church - am now attending.%

“- do know you came highly recommended,% r. Cromwell said.

$But if these accusations keep coming in, - hate to say this, but we’re

going to have to give you a temporary leave of absence until we get

to the bottom of this matter.%

Barry shook his head in disbelief.

Two days later, while he was going over a few things with his

secretary, Barry began to feel di99y and passed out. fter being

revived by the college nurse, he called Cecelia to drive him to thehospital. 8is doctor ran a series of tests and kept him in for overnight

observation.

“ ll the tests came back negative. y best guess is stress. -

know being president of a college can be highly stressful, but you

must learn to rela3. Cut back on your hours.%

Barry began to think that taking a leave of absence of his own will

as the board chairman had suggested might not be a bad idea.

Cecelia’s health was not showing any signs of improvement. But

she kept her aches and pains to herself not wanting to add any e3tra

stress to her husband. general tiredness seemed to stay with her

no matter how much rest she got. Chemo did not seem to be doing

any good.

“rs. 5ubik, - deal with reality as you well know,% her doctor, (r.

<ritchard, said with a grim look on his face. $- can’t even guess at



how much longer you have left to live6maybe three to si3 months. -t

is not looking good. s uncomfortable as it is, we’re going to have to

increase your chemo if you’re even going to have a chance.%

Cecelia had to leave her "ob as the chemo left her feeling too sick

to do much of anything. To make matters worse, the week Cecelia

received the negative news of the returning cancer, Barry received a

letter of suspension from the school board.

Barry showed his wife the letter.

“-t seems like we’ve had nothing but one obstacle after another

since we’ve been here,% Cecelia said. $-’m beginning to believe we

made the wrong decision to move.%

“e too,% Barry replied thoughtfully. $- really do not know what

od is trying to tell us,% he said more to himself than to his wife.

“#hat am - going to do in three to si3 months&% she said to her

husband.

“#hat can we do, but to number our days and redeem the time

as <aul said= and continue to pray for your healing,% Barry sighed.

Barry put in application after application for teaching positions at

various schools from elementary to high school to colleges, but

nothing opened up and there weren’t signs of anything opening up

soon. >ut of frustration he walked into the local 'C after noticing

the $now hiring% notice on the marquee. 8e was hired on the spot.

“- never saw myself working fulltime at a 'C6maybe as a

volunteer, but definitely not as my main source of income,% Barry saidto his wife.

“#ell, at least it involves teaching6something you love to do,%

Cecelia said. $Those boys are searching for good role models and for

someone to genuinely love them.%



“'ou have a point there,% Barry said, $even if the pay is way less

than what -’m used to. #ith your medical bills, we’re probably going

to have to move into a smaller place.%

>ne )aturday before church visitation, Barry confided in <astor

)mith about the series of unfortunate events that had taken place

since he and his wife had moved to Connecticut.

“'ou know,% <astor )mith said after thinking, $- believe od is

trying to get your attention.%

“#hat do you mean&% Barry asked.

“5emember - shared with you that you are a natural soulwinner

and you have the gift of evangelism& 'our former pastor even said

so. - believe od wants you to quit your "ob and go into fulltime work

for 8im.%

“mm,% Barry said.

“8aven’t you felt a calling to go into Christian work& 8aven’t you

felt a strong urging to go into ministry fulltime&%

“-’m not going to deny that,% Barry said. $-’ve felt an urging for

some years now and it has gotten stronger recently. - "ust keep

pushing it to the back of my mind.%

“'ou’re acting like +onah,% <astor )mith said. $od told +onah to

go to 7ineveh and preach to the people so they could have a chance

to get saved. +onah said, no, and went somewhere else. 'ou’re doing

the same thing. od has been calling you to preach the ospel full

time and you have been running away.%

Barry thought back to the very first time od started to speak to

him about leaving his teaching position while back in 7ew 'ork and

going into ministry fulltime.



“ s you know, +onah tried to hide from od and od caused

some unfortunate events to come his way: first the storm, then being

thrown into the raging sea, then being swallowed by a great fish, then

been spit up on dry land in 7ineveh 6 the very place od told him to

go to. od had to bring +onah to a low point in his life before +onah

surrendered to him. That’s where you are, Barry. od is bringing you

to your lowest in hopes that you will surrender to 8im. - hate to even

think this, but if you don’t respond to od in the way 8e wants you to,

od’s getting ready to take your wife away from you through death.%

“But this is between me and od. #hy would od cause my wife

to suffer for my disobedience&%

“- think you know the answer,% <astor )mith said. $od will

remove from you that which is dearest to you in order to get your

attention. (o you remember <haraoh& od took his son6the thing

dearest to him6to show him 8e meant business when he told him to

let the children of -srael go.%

Barry nodded.

“#e can do what we want, but od has a specific "ob for each of

us to do and we will do that "ob one way or another6either willingly

or by force. 2ither way is fine with od,% <astor )mith said. $5ight

now you’re being forced in the direction of obedience.%

<astor )mith remained silent to let his words sink in. $There’s a

?amily 1ife )eminar coming up at the end of ne3t month. -’ve

encouraged all of the members of the church to attend. -’d love for

you and your wife, if she’s up to traveling, to "oin us this year. -t will bea blessing to you.%

“#e’d love to,% Barry said.

“Come by the office on onday and pick up two tickets. -n the



meantime, ask od to help you make the right decision. By the way,

the position is still open for our 2vangelism >utreach inistry.%



Chapter 33

Barry was in deep thought on his drive home. 23amples from the

Bible kept coming to his mind. "eter returned to t#e $is#ing business,

but %esus came and called #im back to be a $is#er o$ men&

God anted 'oses to deliver is people out o$ bondage, but

'oses anted to do it #is a(& God #ad to sit #im don until #e

became #umble and learned to do t#ings God’s a(&

I #ave been )ust like %ona#—knoing #at God ants me to do

but anting to do m( t#ing—anting to keep m( career above

serving God $ull*time; not anting to leave m( com$ort +one&

“(ear od,% Barry prayed silently, $'ou have been telling me to

go into fulltime ministry for 'ou, but - have chosen to ignore 'our

voice. 7ow, 'ou have placed me here at 7ew +erusalem ospel

Chapel with an open position on staff for someone to head their

2vangelism and issionary >utreach inistry, and - still won’t accept

that position. +ust as +onah’s disobedience "eopardi9ed the lives of

the sailors and 'ou had him thrown overboard, likewise, my

disobedience has "eopardi9ed the life of my wife and everything -’m

involved in. #e might lose our home* we are constantly having car

problems* my health is in "eopardy* -’m about to lose my wife to

cancer. There has been nothing but problems since - took over as

president at the college. #ho ever heard of boycotting a graduation&

1ord, forgive me for ignoring 'our voice* it has cost me dearly.%

#hen Barry got home, he shared his thoughts with his wife and

was surprised at her response.

“#ell, nothing’s holding you back now from filling that position at



the church. 8urry up and call <astor )mith and tell him you accept

and let’s get going so that whatever months or weeks - have left, -

can use them to win some souls for +esus.%

lthough Cecelia was not feeling well, she insisted on going to

the ?amily 1ife )eminar. They were blessed. s the seminar speaker

shared with the attendees:

“#hen od calls you to do a "ob, 8e wants you to do it and no

one else. 'ou can respond to 8is call in one of two ways: 'ou can

hear 8is voice, listen to 8is voice, and obey 8is voice and reap the

blessings from doing so. >r, you can break bad by choosing to ignore

8is voice and be cursed. - always tell people - counsel, when

ine3plicable bad things begin to happen to them6your new car

breaking down, sudden death or illhealth, people hating you for no

reason6- always tell them to check their personal life first to see

whether or not they are walking in obedience to od. (isobedience

to od will bring a world of trouble upon you.%

s the speaker spoke, Barry and his wife were able to see

themselves. They knew what they needed to do going forward.

“#elcome aboard0% <astor )mith congratulated him when Barry

shared with him his decision to accept his offer to head the

2vangelism and issionary >utreach inistry. $od will bless you.%

The ne3t )aturday after Barry made the decision to go fulltime,

he was out with the church witnessing and inviting people to church.

8e came upon a group of five teenage boys standing around

laughing and "oking while listening to some hiphop music blaring

from their music bo3.

“8ey, guys,% he said as he approached them. $- have some good



news for you.%

“ re you going to tell me how - can win a million dollars&% one of

the boys said.

“7ot quite,% Barry laughed. $y news is better than that, and it

begins with these words of +esus from +ohn @:A: !?or od so loved

the world that he gave his only begotten )on, that whosoever

believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.’%

The boys turned the music down and gathered around Barry and

listened intently to his words.

“'ou are in the world, so that means od loves you. -t also

means 8e gave 8is only )on, +esus, to die for you and for all your

sins that you have committed* and we all have sinned. That’s what

has separated us from od* but +esus paid for those sins. ll od is

asking you to do now is to believe that +esus Christ has paid for yoursins. od wants you to believe on the 1ord +esus Christ so you can

be saved from your sins and from the punishment of sin which is hell,

and live with 8im forever.%

The boys nodded.

“)o all - have to do is believe that +esus loves me and that 8e

died for all the bad things -’ve done&% 5on asked. $)hoot0 That’s easy.

- thought it was harder than that.%

“That’s what the devil would have you to believe,% Barry said.

“- know all about the devil,% another one of the boys said

laughing. $#hen - do something wrong, my grandmother alwayshollers at me !the devil is making you do it.’%

Barry and the boys laughed.

“7ow which of you are willing to acknowledge that you are a



sinner, and are willing to believe on the 1ord +esus Christ, and ask

8im to come into your heart and save you from sin and hell& -f you

do, "ust bow your heads and pray with me.%

“#e gotta pray right here&% another boy asked. $- thought you

had to pray in church for od to hear you.%

“>h, no. +esus answers your prayers no matter where you are. -

asked +esus to save me at a youth camp in the woods and 8e did.

nd 8e’s answered many of my prayers outside of the church,% Barry

shared with them. $re you willing to pray and ask +esus to save you

right here&%

The boys looked at each other then nodded. $- do,% they all said

one after another.

Barry led them in prayer.

“(ear od, - do thank 'ou for loving me enough to send 'our

)on, +esus Christ, to die for my sins6past, present, and future. - do

believe and - ask 'ou to forgive me of my sins and save me from my

sins and from hell. <lease come into my heart and save my soul and

change my life so - can have everlasting life. -n +esus Christ name -

pray. men.%

“That is good news, r. Barry,% llen, the quietest of the five boys

said.

ll five boys visited the church on )unday.

The following week, Barry took his wife in for her scheduled

doctor’s visit to be followed by chemo.

“This is ama9ing,% (r. <ritchard, said. $- don’t see any signs of

cancer. -’ve double checked all the tests. 2verything is gone.%

Barry and Cecelia, although surprised, knew the reason, but did



not go into any e3planation.

“od will bless you when you obey 8im,% was all Barry said as he

shook (r. <ritchard’s hand.

“- can’t wait to see what else od has in store for us,% Cecelia

said as they drove home.

Documents

The Common Prayer (Serial Novel) -- Episode 11