Story-A-Day #153: Redeemer

REDEEMER

He wasn’t a religious man, but he appreciated the comfort that could be attained through the pursuit of beliefs in a higher power. Why not? Life was full of hardships and challenges and if you could blame the bad times on the will of a higher power, then why not do so? It seemed like a straightforward solution to the age-old question: why me?

On thing he never understood, was attributing the good fortunes as a result of hard work to those higher powers. That one escaped him. He was a hard worker. He had raised three intelligent and loving children and was still married to his beautiful and gracious wife.

They were a team. The five of them set out to confront any challenges they might face, and they were all the happier for it. Still, there came a time in a man’s life when he needed to turn to the unknown for the solution.

There was a young girl at the office, not like a teenager or anything, but young enough that her attentions towards him were quite baffling. He was a decent looking man, charming and intelligent, but this vivacious young woman had no reason to express her interest in him, just as he had no reason to reciprocate.

Still, she had made her interests clear, and had continued to do so for nearly three months now. He loved his wife, and he loved his family, but it was hard not to notice the press of her firm breasts against his shoulder when she leaned over him at his desk; the sweet vanilla aroma of her long cascading hair as it brushed across his cheek.

He had no intention of pursuing her, but his mounting attraction was getting harder to deny. He had asked her to back off, and now at the advice of a friend, he would ask for additional support.

There was a man who attended this church on the second Wednesday of every month, and he had been told that this man could help him with his problem. He found it hard to believe that things had come to this point, but he was running out of will power. Something needed to be done, and this man was the one who could help.

He braced himself for a moment, then stepped through the heavy wood doors at the side of the church and walked down to the basement. It was just as his friend had told him it would be and he could hear the anticipated refrain as he slowly descended the steps to the basement: “God give me the strength…”