25.

Decisions

Saturday, March 30 - 10:00p.m.

Father Lowry received a cryptic e-mail from his friend Cardinal Vilotti in Rome. To most people, it looked like a jumble of disconnected Bible references. Job 30:26, Judges 16:24, Isaiah 48:6. On and on it went, but to Lowry, it made sense. He deciphered it to say that the Vatican had held a holy papal inquiry regarding Mike. It concluded Mike was the Anti-Christ, and should be “stopped” at all costs.

Lowry was surprised. Sure, the newspaper articles were making Mike into a kind of local rock and roll cult hero, but when Mike had visited his church a few weeks ago, he hadn’t seemed evil at all. Misguided, perhaps, but not evil. A papal inquiry seemed highly unusual and he wondered if Vilotti was exaggerating the whole affair. He also wondered how they meant to stop Mike. He decided that he should reserve judgement until he could go downtown and see Mike in action himself. So he changed into plain clothes to blend in, and drove to the Plaza to see the Original Artists. He arrived early, got a good seat, then sat back and observed.

The gig was uneventful. In fact, Lowry really enjoyed it. The music brought him back to his younger days. After the band left the stage and tore down their set, Mike took the stage to do his healing and give his little speech. Lowry sat up a little straighter in his chair to listen.

Mike started with his healing. He embraced five men who were allegedly dying of AIDS. Their skin looked gray, with visible bruises and lesions. After he hugged them and whispered something in their ears, they slumped to the floor as if released from some horrible torture. Of course, no one could tell if they really were healed; only a series of blood tests could determine that for sure. While the men were getting up again, Mike addressed the audience.

“Peace be with you and thank you all for coming. Tonight, you’ve seen God’s work in action. As many of you know by now, I am the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. I remember every detail of my life as Christ and I want to spend a few minutes talking about that life.”

Lowry was shocked at how bold and confident Mike had become. This was a different man from the one who had come into his church looking for answers.

Mike kept talking. “Back then, the world was very different in all respects. The politics were different, and so was the economy, technology and religion. Back then, you couldn’t just hop in your car and drive to the grocery store to buy as much food as you wanted. Cars didn’t exist. Times were tough. There was no technology. There was no electricity, no refrigerators to preserve food in the harsh desert. Life was a struggle to stay alive, and cities were often conquered and ransacked. People survived by believing that God would help them.”

Mike took a deep breath and continued. “I remember that time. As Jesus, I was a Jew, and Israel had been conquered by the Roman Empire. The Jews were looking for a religious leader who could deliver them from their Roman conquerors, much as Moses delivered them from the Pharaoh in Egypt. As Jesus, I thought I could be that leader.”

Mike waited for the audience’s reaction, but they were quiet, focused, so he continued. “Back then, I had a strong connection with God, and I had a straightforward and practical message. Those of you who know the Bible may recall that I only had two commandments: Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as much as yourself. That was it. I instructed my brother James to lead the church after my death, and he did well for a couple years.”

“Then Paul the Apostle came along. Paul, who was a Roman, took my words and twisted them. He didn’t understand me or my vision at all. He used me as an excuse to further his own cause. He preached his own message and called it mine. He taught that women are inferior to men. He demanded that they be submissive, grow their hair long, and so forth. He taught that Jesus was God. I’m here to tell you that we are all God. Women and men are equally God. Black, White, Brown, Yellow, Red: all equally God. You see, God does not discriminate based on gender, race or even sexual preferences, but only upon who you are inside.”

The audience cheered, especially the women.

Mike waited for the cheering to stop, then continued. “Jesus Christ was the most misunderstood person in history. He even said so himself. He was continually chastising his disciples for getting his message wrong. Well, I’m here to tell you, after Christ died, they still got it wrong. Forget the Acts of the Apostles. Judas betrayed me. Peter denied me. Three times, as I predicted he would. Thomas doubted me. And none of them understood what I was saying.”

“I’m here today to tell you that Paul was a Roman who didn’t even know me. Forget the letters of Paul to the Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians and all of his teachings. Forget the letter of James. Forget the letters of Peter, and John and Jude. These people didn’t understand me in life, and they didn’t understand me after I died.”

Lowry was angry. This was worse than mere heresy, this was blatant slander against the Bible.

Mike kept talking. “While you’re at it, forget Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They wrote about me based on rumors about my life eighty years after my death. That’s just like if you were to write a book about Winston Churchill, based not on what you’ve read, but only on what other people have told you.”

Lowry was shocked. The audacity. The outrage!

Still, Mike kept talking. “Go back to the source. Listen to what Christ really said, not what other people said about him. For he said, ‘Don’t forget God the Father in Heaven,’ and I’m here to tell you that you won’t find God in a church, a synagogue or a mosque. You won’t find God by listening to priests, rabbis or clerics. You’ll only find God in your heart. Jesus also said that Love–with a capital L–is all that matters. Build your lives around that. I’m Mike Tomson. Thank you and good night.”

Lowry was pissed. People were cheering at this heresy. Mike was tearing down the most basic beliefs of the Catholic Church, and people were cheering. Clearly, Mike was trying to sway people away from Christianity and supplant the authority of the Church. Maybe Vilotti was right, he thought. Maybe Mike was the Anti-Christ. He wondered what should be done. Should he confront him, talk to him?

Tony Malone didn’t wonder. He had a job to do. He had been sitting in the audience with a smile on his face, waiting patiently for Mike’s performance to end. Mike’s little speech only reinforced the urgency of his task. He had to save the world from evil by destroying the Anti-Christ. He had orders to kill Mike and he had already decided when and where to do it. He didn’t want to shoot him while he was on stage, not only because he would be caught, but because it could create a martyr. He had decided to wait for a more opportune time after the gig when Mike wasn’t surrounded by so many people. He had been watching Mike long enough to know that it would be hard to find a time when Jennifer was not with him. He had decided he would have to do his job in front of her. He didn’t like that idea, but a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do, and after all, it was for the good of the world; he was using his skills for God this time.

Mike left the stage and Jennifer joined him. They headed down the hallway, toward the parking garage of the casino, hand in hand. He said, “I don’t know, Jennifer, something’s wrong. I’ve got this bad feeling something’s going to happen. I can just feel it.”

She said, “You’re probably making enemies, Mike. A lot of people believe that Jesus is God, and people don’t want their belief systems threatened. Maybe you can sense their anger.”

“That may be true, but I can’t let fear get in my way. I can’t be afraid of what people think. I’ve got to tell them the truth as I see it. As it is, they still don’t know half the story. There is so much more to say. I’ve got to tell them what I know about the resurrection.” He looked around nervously. “Let’s just get the hell out of this casino.”

Father Lowry followed them, trying to catch up as they walked briskly down the hall, away from the crowd. He was angry with Mike for his heresy, but couldn’t decide what to say to him or whether to just hold his tongue.

Malone followed close behind them too, an Italian cigarette hanging out of his mouth and wisps of rancid smoke rising into the air. He didn’t know the identity of the other stranger–Father Lowry–who was walking near them, but he knew he might not get a better opportunity to do his job. He knew that he might have to go to prison or even lose his own life, but this was much more important than Mafia Family Business or even his life; this was a matter of saving the world from evil. Reaching inside his jacket pocket for the gun, he shouted, “Mr. Tomson?”

Mike and Jennifer stopped and turned around to see who was shouting.

Everything seemed to be in slow motion when Father Lowry put the pieces together. He saw Malone’s hand pull the gun out of his jacket. Suddenly, Lowry was faced with an enormous decision. He could grab Malone’s arm and save Mike’s life or he could get out of the way and let Mike die.

Time seemed to stand still, but it was running out; he only had seconds to decide. On the one hand, his training as a priest told him to respect all life. One of God’s commandments was, ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill.’ Life was precious and given by God, and who are we to take back what God has given? Shouldn’t he save Mike’s life? Besides, what if Mike truly was the reincarnation of Christ? What would that make him?

On the other hand, what if Mike was the Anti-Christ, created not by God, but by Satan?

Father Lowry asked himself, Can I stand by and watch this innocent man be gunned down in cold blood? And if I am able to prevent it, but don’t, doesn’t that make me just as guilty? Isn’t that condoning murder? Would God forgive me if I don’t act?

There was no time left to decide. Malone’s gun was all the way out of his pocket and aimed squarely at Mike’s chest. A look of horror was on Jennifer’s face and she backed away from the gun in slow motion. Mike looked surprised but not frightened. Oddly, he almost looked relieved. He stood squarely in front of the gun, as if defying its power.

Father Lowry came up behind Malone and shoved him hard, just as he squeezed the trigger.

When the gun went off, a brief silence settled on the casino as the sound of the blast echoed through the halls. The silence only lingered for a fraction of a second before the people started screaming and running away from the sound. Some people in the casino hit the floor.

The deflected bullet ripped into Jennifer’s right arm, shattering the bone, and the pain cut her down. As she grabbed the wound with her left hand, she dropped to the floor in agony.

The noise of the gunshot exploded in Mike’s ears and his world fell strangely muffled, like in his nightmare. He turned and rushed to tackle Malone.

By the time Mike reached Malone, he had turned and started struggling with Lowry. The force of Mike’s impact sent all three of them crashing into a pile on the floor, wrestling for the gun.

Seconds later, five security guards grabbed the men and pulled them apart and the gun was knocked to the floor. One of the guards used his walkie-talkie to get the police and an ambulance.

Mike turned and saw Jennifer lying on the floor, bleeding. He ripped off his T-shirt and scrambled to the floor where she was sprawled. He rolled the T-shirt up and tied it around her arm to stop the river of blood. The blood gushed from her arm, covering his hands and the floor. He looked at his bloody hands, just as he had in his dream, and remembered the words from the Catholic church service: the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all men so that sins may be forgiven.

Jennifer took quick heaving breaths, gritting her teeth against the pain. Her face was spattered with drops of blood and her eyes were drenched in tears, but she forced them open and saw Mike kneeling beside her, stopping the blood with the makeshift tourniquet. She was in too much pain to speak, but her eyes asked him questions that were unmistakable. Am I dying? How bad is it?

He could barely hear his own voice through the ringing in his ears. “You’re going to be okay, Jennifer,” he told her with a calm confidence, although he had his doubts. “An ambulance is on the way. The bullet hit your arm. It’s still in there, so you’ll need surgery. Hang on and we’ll get you to the hospital.”

The pain was too much for her and she passed out.

Excerpt from The Gospel According to Mike

He said, “Be kind to the Earth and remember that you are her guest. For every thing you take, give something back. Don’t pollute. Respect it and treat it with love and she will love you back.”