Chapter 17

The two men sat across from each other in the train. Steven was facing the way they were going, while Oliver looked back at what they had already passed. It suited Steven, as he was looking forward to arriving in New York and being reunited with his wife. Oh, how he had missed her during the last two months, and especially the past few days, as he had tried to reach her before Christmas even though his unit had not been due home for another week at least. Still, he had made every effort to be with her.

It would be their first Christmas together, and they had already had a rushed wedding because of his deployment. He wouldn't let this special Christmas pass by with the two of them apart because of a logistics issue. He had made every effort to reach an airfield from where he could hitch a ride with an Air Force freight plane. He had travelled almost the whole time, catching a few hours of sleep whenever he could. He had intended to take a commercial flight to New York as the last leg of the trip, but then the snow had put a stop to that.

It had surprised him to find doctor Crane at that airport as well, and when the plan had occurred to them to take the helicopter, he had naturally volunteered to take the doctor with them. Not that they were the best of buddies, but they did occasionally talk to each other when they happened to be in the same room. To converse for the whole trip home, however, was not something that came naturally to either of them. They were convenient though unexpected travelling partners, but did not bother each other beyond that.

However, what had happened at the Turner family's house had caused Steven to take more of an interest in the doctor. He had never really paused to think about the doctor's faith, or lack thereof, but last night's events around the kitchen table had confronted him with it in a way he could not deny. He remembered the way the Turners had taken them in when no hotel had been available. With a lopsided grin he was reminded of the fact that Jesus had been born in a barn, because no place had been available in the hotels.

That wasn't what stood out the most about last night though. When Jenny, that young girl, had suddenly focused her attention on the doctor, and had asked him if he had understood everything in the Christmas story, the New York doctor had gotten a deer-in-the-headlights-look in his eyes. Instead of helping the man out of that somewhat embarrassing position – embarrassing at least if you didn't believe – all the adults had waited for his reply. Why the girl had singled the doctor out and had not asked Steven, he didn't know, but fact was, she had singled out the one person in that household who probably understood the least of the whole Christian faith. Even Jenny, with her few years, understood so much more of God's divine plan than the doctor who had lived through quite some more years than she had.

Significant had been the moment where Jenny had said, "God's pretty smart, don't ya think?". Steven had recognised a particular look in the doctor's eyes. He'd recognised it for he had gone through a phase during which he'd asked himself that same question. The question which was a question everyone asked him- or herself at some point. If God existed, why did so many bad things happen?

He himself had found his answers through reading the Bible, but he wondered if the doctor would even contemplate the idea of reading God's word.

"What are you looking at?" Oliver's voice suddenly interrupted the silence. It didn't come out quite as scathing as it would normally have come out, but it still conveyed the annoyance Oliver felt at being scrutinized.

"I was just thinking about what happened at the Turners."

"About 'what happened'?" Oliver questioned slightly on the defensive side.

"Yes. I am very impressed at their open hearts, for both adults and children," Steven replied, not in the least intimidated by Oliver's tone. He'd survived boot camp, and had had enough superiors and subordinates communicate both their likes and dislikes through intonation to be able to ignore it.

"I would think that the young girl, Jenny, has touched a chord even with you," Steven observed, hoping to draw some response out of the closed-mouthed doctor.

Oliver pursed his lips, but didn't reply just yet. Suddenly he burst out. "I don't understand those folks! How can they be so full of the love of an almighty God Who allows them to go through so much pain and suffering?"

"Bad things happen, doctor Crane, but it is not because God causes them. We can never fully grasp just how God can mould certain events – good and bad – in a way that they work for the good. Yet He does! He takes those events and moulds us to become the person He wants us to be. We so often ask if our difficulties can just be removed, yet that is the wrong thing to be asking. We should be asking God to help us through those experiences and use them for the better."

"Yeah yeah yeah," Oliver snorted, glaring at the military officer across from him. "That doesn't explain why He allows them to happen. If He really exists, He could have stopped them from happening!"

Steven shook his head, wondering how he could get through to the man. Then he realized he was going about it the wrong way… he should not try it by himself… He said a quick prayer in his thoughts.

"You know what makes us different from animals, Oliver?" he asked after a couple of moments. "We've got our own free will; animals only have instinct."

Oliver's eyebrows rose, and annoyed he asked, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You asked why God does not stop things that hurt us from happening. I'm telling you, we chose for it."

"Oh please!" Oliver said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm sure you're familiar with the story of Adam and Eve," Steven continued. "Just think about it – God created us with a free will. We could either choose to be with Him, or without Him. When Adam and Eve did what God had forbidden them to do, they effectively separated themselves from God. If God had stopped them, or had not even planted that tree, there would have been no choice to make."

"So you're saying we brought it all down on ourselves," Oliver said, his sarcastic tone impossible to miss.

"The Devil certainly had something to do with it; but in the end, we all have to make our own choice. Jenny seems to have made hers, as did the rest of the Turners… and I."

For a moment, Steven's mind drifted off as he remembered the moment he gave his heart to Jesus. He'd seen a lot of ugly things in the military, and he certainly didn't understand everything, but he knew that he was safe in God's hands. There was of course always the possibility that he would not survive an assignment, but his soul was secure with God.

Oliver regarded the military officer for a moment, seeing he was lost in his thoughts. He contemplated the words the man had just spoken. Could there be truth to them? But then he shook his head again. That just seemed so far-fetched. No, he couldn't believe that. But what if…?

TBC