Friday night was a rough one for Max, which began like so many others recently with too many things running through his mind, like a carousel spinning out of control, and sleep was just an innocent kid trying hard to figure out a way to hop on. But what made this night different was that Max had finally made a decision and that decision comforted him. The carousel stopped and sleep took over.
On Saturday morning, he stood in the barn ready to implement his decision. The hammer came down hard on the first emitter, breaking the casing and sending shards of plastic in all directions. The second blow completely separated the casing, and the exposed inner mechanics were no match for the third and fourth blows, which made the remains unrecognizable, much less operational. The second emitter suffered a similar fate.
Max scooped up all the little pieces and took them, along with the lead ball with the metal rod wrapped in plastic-coated wire, and deposited them into the trash receptacle out by the side of the road. Then he went back into the barn and disconnected everything from the amplifier and stacked it neatly in a corner of the barn.
He breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Since he still had an hour before he had to leave for work, he decided to go back in and cook breakfast for his mom and dad. Twenty minutes later, the smell of bacon and eggs filled the little house as his mom and dad wandered into the kitchen with stunned expressions.
Max turned and handed them both a cup of coffee, each already prepared the way they liked it, and then turned back to the stove.
“What’s gotten into you?” his mom asked after taking her first sip of coffee.
“Don’t jinx it, Honey,” his dad said with a smile.
Max knew he had better say something or they would keep on asking. “I just got a good night’s sleep and feel brand new.”
“Finally starting to get used to all these hours you’ve been putting in?” asked the reverend.
Max nodded as he set the bacon on the table.
They sat and had a great family breakfast together until Max left for work.
The rest of his day was the same; it seemed everyone at work could sense that he was more focused, attentive, and seemed to be his old self again, and it carried over through Sunday.
Sunday after church, Julie and Max sat watching TV until his mom and dad left to visit members of the congregation. As they went out the door, Max and Julie embraced. He was still too embarrassed to kiss her in front of them.
“Wow,” Julie said, pulling back with a surprised look on her face. “Where did that come from?”
Max smiled as if he didn’t know what she was talking about.
“What’s up?” Julie pressed. “You seem to be in a good mood for a change.”
“Have I been in a bad mood?” Max asked.
“Well, not necessarily. But you sure seemed out of it lately, like you’ve been really stressed.”
Max smiled. “Well, I apologize.” He leaned over for another kiss.
“Not so fast,” Julie teased. “What’s the deal? Why were you so distracted for the last two weeks? Oh wait, did you figure out how to make lead magnetic?”
“No,” replied Max. “I didn’t solve anything; I just finally accepted something.”
“What does that mean?” Julie said with a frown. “Are you giving up? I thought succeeding in Professor Stoner’s Near Impossible Assignment has been your goal since you visited campus.”
Max nodded. “But I didn’t like how it was taking my attention away from the really important things in my life. Like…” He leaned in again and this time Julie obliged.
As they paused, she laid her head upon his chest. “Since you seem to be your old self again, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”
“What’s that?”
“Well,” Julie started off slowly, “you know Brad is not coming back this semester. They’re letting him finish a correspondence-type program from home. Since it was the friction that bothered you and also the others giving you the big head for taking on Brad, and that was the reason you didn’t want to come to Bible study anymore, well that is no longer a problem.”
She paused at that subtle segue for Max to take over. He did not, so she continued. “So, will you start coming to Bible study again?”
Max wasn’t sure what to say, as he wondered if the professor would even want him to come or even want to keep him in his class. He wasn’t sure how he would react to his decision about the experiment. The best he could do was to tell Julie he would think it over. He would have his answer soon enough.
The weekend passed and Max drove to Cedarbluff and walked the all-too-familiar route to Professor Stoner’s office. He began to feel a little weird standing outside the professor’s classroom very early on a Monday morning yet again. It marked the third time in eight days.
As he waited, even dreaded, the professor’s arrival, his mind drifted back to elementary school and the only time he had ever gotten into trouble. Mrs. Birch, his fifth-grade teacher, had sent him out into the hall to wait for the principal for pulling a little girl’s hair. Max was not the guilty party, but decided accepting the punishment was more honorable than being a stool pigeon. That same feeling he had then of impending doom mixed with a heaping dose of anxiety was the same feeling he felt now.
“I’m going to have to give you a key.”
Max looked up to see the professor walking toward him and smiling. He unlocked the door, and they entered the classroom and he invited Max to join him in his office.
“Wow.” That was the only thing the professor could say when Max told him his decision.
“You’re not angry?” Max asked.
The professor was still speechless as he looked down at his desk, and you could tell from his expression and eye movement that he was still trying to let it all sink in.
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“Professor?”
“Huh? Oh, no. No, no. Of course, I’m not mad,” the professor finally said as he realized his thoughts had lured him away from the conversation. “I told you it was your decision, and I stand behind you. Wow. You really are a man of conviction.”
The professor’s smile finally put Max’s nerves at ease. They sat and talked and joked around for another thirty minutes. They parted by shaking hands and Professor Stoner reminded him that he would see him in Bible study Thursday night.
***
Rollo smiled and got out of his chair as Max and Julie entered the student center for Bible study. Rollo threw his hands out in the air and started bowing in an exaggerated movement. “We’re not worthy. We’re not worthy.”
Julie clenched her lips and gave him an evil stare, which Rollo recognized right away.
“Kidding with you, dude,” he said, shaking Max’s hand. “Glad to have you back.”
Max noticed that all the same people were there, including Jenny, the girl who had started the same day he had. His old seat seemed to have disappeared as Jenny and Rollo now sat beside each other. Julie’s seat across the way was still there and empty. The only other empty chairs in the circle were beside Professor Stoner, which is where Brad and his girlfriend had been sitting. Max was relieved. He half expected a monitor to be there with Brad joining them via conference.
The professor motioned for them to take those seats, which they did.
“Okay, we’re all glad to have Max back,” the professor began. “Let’s begin with Trish. Your topic was about salvation. Remind us again what it was.”
Although he never caught her name before, a girl who had been there during each of Max’s visits spoke up. “My question was: When we die, if we are awarded eternal life, will we go to Heaven right away or only after judgment day?”
She paused to look back at the professor who added, “Go ahead. Tell us first what you believe.”
“Well, I can only go by what our preacher says. He says the spirit goes right away to be with the Lord, and the bodies are reunited at judgment day for eternity―either eternal punishment or eternal damnation.”
Professor Stoner held up his Bible and tapped the cover with his fingers.
“Oh yeah,” Trish said, looking back at her notes. “Luke 23:42-43.”
Another one of the ones that Max didn’t know by name was first. He read, “Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’”
“2 Corinthians 5:6-8,” Trish added.
Julie was first. “Therefore, we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
“That’s about it,” Trish concluded. “He said all of Revelation 20 and 21 also.”
Just like before, slight nods of agreement circled the room. Just like before, the professor asked if everyone was in agreement. And just like before, all eyes instinctively turned to Max.
Max looked out over the group with a sudden auspicious familiarity. “It is Revelation that makes me think the opposite,” he began. “I think we mentioned this verse before when talking about faith and deeds. Revelation 20:13.”
Everyone started flipping except Julie who just seemed happy that Max was here.
Jenny read, “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.”
“I see you have a Kings James Bible tonight,” said Max.
Jenny blushed. “I couldn’t find my NIV.”
“No, that’s good,” Max said. “That helps me make my point. This is talking about the dead being called back to be judged after the thousand-year reign. When the Bible was translated into English from Greek, the word ‘Hades’ got translated to ‘hell’ most of the time. Yet Hades only means grave. This is one of those verses that really show that. But in the NIV, it has been translated back to Hades.”
Everyone was now on the verse, and you could see their heads tilt as they verified what Max was saying.
“So,” Max continued, “if you go by the King James version, it makes it sound like you go to Hell before you are judged. That doesn’t make sense, does it? If a person lived on earth for seventy years, did everything right according to the Bible, and was certainly going to be rewarded eternal life, why would they first have to endure one thousand-plus years living in Hell and being tormented by Satan?”
Max looked around the room, making eye contact with those not still reading the verse to make sure everyone was following. The nods and smiles gave him that confirmation.
“Following that same train of thought, according to what Trish has said, or her preacher has said, if a person has lived seventy years and intentionally ignored the Bible and maybe even killed, raped, stole, et cetera, then when he dies, he will go to Heaven to be with God for the next one thousand-plus years before his body is called back to join his soul and be judged.”
The room was completely silent.
“I just don’t think that will happen either,” Max continued. “I think you are judged once, and that is to determine between Hell or Heaven or at least between eternal life and eternal death.”
Kenneth smiled a really big smile. “Max is no longer a Mormon. He’s now a Jehovah’s Witness.”
Light laughter filled the room, which grew in intensity as Max asked, “Really?” When the laughter died down, Max added, “It’s just that wherever the Bible mentions going to be with the Lord after you die, none of the places say it is immediate except when Jesus told the guy beside him on the cross that he would be with him in paradise that very day. Maybe Jesus made a special arrangement for him. Maybe not. Maybe we do go straight away. I don’t have the answers; I can only tell you what I read from it.”
“So, you believe our bodies and our souls will rest for one thousand years and be called back together?” asked another one whose name Max had either never learned or could not remember.
“I don’t know about our bodies,” said Max. “The Bible says the dead will be called back. And notice that it says Hades and the seas will give up their dead. If a person has been buried for one thousand years or died at sea, then there would be no body as we know it. And why would our bodies need to be judged when they are only vessels? It is our soul or spirit that is judged.”
Everyone sat there pondering Max’s words.
“Do you have other scripture to back up your views?” asked the professor.
Max thought for a second. “1 Thessalonians 4:13-17.”
Trish was first. “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
“Job 14:12,” Max said.
Kenneth read. “So he lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep.”
Max concluded, “I think when Paul refers to those who sleep in death, that’s what he is talking about. And he says that those of us who are here during the second coming of our Lord will not precede those who have fallen, but the dead in Christ will rise first. So, all of this coincides with Revelation 20 saying that we are all called back after the thousand-year reign of Christ, and only then are we judged and only then we will be awarded eternal life or eternal death.”
“That makes sense to me,” said Trish.
This brought laughter again from the circle of students.
“Wait,” said the professor. “He’s arguing with you. He’s saying you’re wrong. How can you agree with him?”
Trish was grinning and even blushing a little. “I’m just saying it makes sense.”
The rest of the Bible study session was the same. Max differed a little with others, but they all had a good time discussing their different views. It was a peaceful and serene experience for Max, one he needed and appreciated.
There was no tension, no bad karma, no yelling, and not once did the professor have to put a stop to the discussion. There was only a shared feeling of joy that seemed to radiate from the circle as if it were an electrical impulse being transferred from one seat to the other as it circled through every student there. This was the feeling that Max remembered from other Bible study groups. He wondered how a Bible study class or any group of people who came together to talk about the Lord could not result in a feeling of joy.
He inhaled deeply as if he could actually breathe the feeling into his lungs. He reached over, took Julie’s hand in his, and gave it a slight squeeze as if to thank her.
This is what Bible study should be, he thought.
