After Story: Determination

Chapter Twelve: Counseling Pastor

"Well..." he started as he settled behind his desk. "...it actually goes back to high school. I was seeing this girl and she invited me to her church."

"Suckered in by a pretty face, huh?" I quipped.

"You might say that," he replied with a self-conscious smile.

"Shut it, Tomoya," Kyou scolded while her sister giggled. "Go on..."

"So, I got into the Bible, studying it to impress this girl, and...well, somewhere along the way, I got hooked."

"Hooked?" Ryou asked.

"Truth be told, I had no interest in religion; I thought it was just a bunch of stories people told themselves to make themselves feel better. In the end, like C. S. Lewis, I was dragged into the faith 'kicking and screaming, a reluctant convert'."

"Wow," Kyou breathed, and I noticed that her smile looked so...feminine? I didn't know it was possible.

"I know I'm nowhere near as smart as Professor Lewis was, but I couldn't fight the logic and the facts before me. In fact, I made the mistake of reading his book 'Mere Christianity', which sealed my fate, so to speak."

"What about the girl?" I asked.

"Rebecca? She eventually dumped me," he said simply, leaning back in his chair. "At the risk of sounding prideful, I started talking about stuff that was apparently way over her head; I guess she just wanted the 'safe' Christianity, which just focuses on good behavior and family as opposed to the Christianity that takes risks and explores philosophies and goes out into the world to 'make disciples of all nations'."

"What's wrong with family?" Kyou said, sounding a little defensive.

"Nothing," he replied, shrugging. "It's just that that's not what Christianity's about; it's about following God, loving Him and doing what He says in order to come in line with reality. He made reality, after all."

"So how do families fit in to that?"

"He told Adam and Eve to 'go forth and multiply'," he said. "The family is the logical and natural result of that multiplication. But what's happened is that – at least in Western Christianity – the family has become the center instead of God."

"Western Christianity?" I asked.

"Never mind," he said, waving his hands. "That's another long story that I'd love to tell, but I'm getting off-topic. Anyway...after getting dumped, I looked into seminaries, applied to one, attended, and earned my degrees. Not long after that I was ordained by my pastor and started preaching." His eyes appeared to lose focus. "It wasn't long after that that I started having disagreements with my denomination on certain doctrines, and..." He rubbed his nose. "Yeah."

"Are you okay?" Ryou asked with a concerned expression.

"That's...another long story," he replied, and I could have sworn I saw another flicker of pain cross his face, even if just for a moment. "Anyway, I've droned on long enough. It's not Sunday, after all," he quipped.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Ryou asked. "It can't be good for you to be shut up in here, alone like this."

A smile crossed his face as he sighed heavily. "Push, push, push..." he chuckled. "It really bothers you, doesn't it? All right; I'll come with you, but don't blame me if I spoil your fun."

I grinned as the girls raised their hands and promised to not blame him if he spoiled their fun.

***

"What about this, Ryou?" Kyou gushed as she held a blouse to herself. "Isn't it cute?"

"It's definitely your color," the younger twin replied. "But doesn't it show too much of your chest?"