Davy smiled. “Danny, you’re right. What we did should have been done centuries ago. It should have been started as soon as the first copy of the Bible was glued together, but it wasn’t. Then again, shouldn’t somebody have sailed west a long time before Columbus did? It wasn’t a big thing. All he did was sail west. Not a big thing, but it changed the world. Shouldn’t somebody have developed the printing press long before Gutenberg? All he did was made little blocks of wood with the letters higher than the background. Not a big thing, but it changed the world. Danny, there’s so many things we could say weren’t a big thing that changed the world. And, we can wonder why they didn’t happen before they did. What we can’t do is change when it happened.”
“Yea, you’re right, but why you and me?”
“I don’t know, Danny, but I believe Rhett Butler said it best when he told Charlotte, ‘Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn’. And, Danny, I don’t give a damn. We did it and if it brought a few people closer to God, I’m glad we did. We grew up ringing bells and helping pass out communion wafers. We went to school and learned our religions, but you know, for the life of me, I can’t remember any of that changing anybody’s life. The only change happened when we did what we wanted to do.”
“You mean when we wanted to sail west?”
“Yes, exactly, when you and I decided to sail west.”
Neither one of them said anything for a long while. Then, Davy walked toward the side of the road and sat down on the ditch bank. He pulled a piece of wheat, stuck the stem in his mouth and looked up at the stars. “There is a God, Danny. All this didn’t just happen by itself.”
“I agree, Bro, I agree,” said Danny as he sat down beside Davy.
“I don’t know if we can talk to him, maybe all that praying stuff is just silly. Look out there, there are millions of worlds with million and millions of I guess you would call them people, people sort of like us. You think all of them are praying?”
“I don’t know, but for me, a prayer isn’t so much what it is for a lot of people. A drowning man prays for help. Sometimes there’s help, sometimes there’s not. No, when I pray, I’m just giving thanks to the one who made it all happen, the one who created it all. For some people, every prayer is asking for something. They ask for everything from an extra few dollars to world peace. To me, I just can’t think of God as Santa Claus. I think he deserves more. If he hears my prayer and hears my little token, good. If he doesn’t, I know I did it and it makes me feel good.”
Davy nodded, looked into the sky one more time then stood. “Come on, it’s getting late.” He stretched out his hand and pulled Danny to his feet.
“So, are you going to work with Billy-Bob this week?” asked Davy.
“I believe it would be a good idea. He’s wanting to do a thing on the woman at the well. I guess I’ll take the Bible reading and Billy-Bob will do the sermon.”
“Either way. It will be up to him. I’m telling you, the kid is good at either part. So are Dominick and Gorge. We may have created a monster,” said Danny as he mimicked a Bella Lugosi voice.
That night, Billy-Bob came to Danny’s cabin. The two moved outside to the same white oak rocking chairs that Danny and Davy had occupied for so many hours.
“So, you want to do something on the woman at the well?” began Danny.
“If that’s okay with you?”
“That will be great. You want to do the scripture or the sermon?”
“That’s up to you too.”
Danny smiled. Are you that good? You feel confident to do either?”
“Yes.”
“Your sermons are second to none.”
“As you wish, I’ll do the sermon. I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”
“Billy-Bob, it’s not that big an honor.”
The man looked Danny straight in the eye. “It is to me.”
“Do you want to rehearse?”
“Do you and Pastor Davy rehearse?”
“We never have.”
“Then we won’t.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“If you need me, call me,” said Danny, “But other than that, I’ll see you Sunday morning at the Methodist church.”
Billy-Bob stood and grasped Danny’s hand. The lad’s grasp was firm. Danny didn’t have a doubt in his mind that Sunday morning would go well.
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