Read Online When Lightning Strikes by Brooke St. James - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Brooke St. James
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provided garments for all the guests, but this man, for whatever reason, chose not to wear his. The king asked where his wedding attire was, and the man didn't have an answer, so he was thrown out. It's the same with heaven. Jesus is like the coat. He's the covering we need to wear to get into the feast. He's available to everyone. Everyone has a choice. You can either put on the coat or not put it on, but without it, there's no entry. It's as simple as that."
"You sound so sure of yourself," he said, smiling at me like I was cute.
"I'm a hundred percent sure," I said.
We were getting close to my house, and I started to feel embarrassed and shy about lecturing him the whole way home.
"I guess I'll see you for some more ink when you get back from your trip," I said. I didn't have plans for another tattoo, but I wanted to say something casual like that to lighten the mood.
He didn't respond to my statement—at least not right away. I started to think he was going to ignore me, but then he finally spoke. "I'd like to kiss you when I drop you off," he said.
I thought I'd done a thorough job of making myself unattractive to him, so I couldn’t believe the request.
"Seriously?" I asked.
"I really like you, Mia, and I'd love to kiss you."
He pulled to a stop in the driveway behind my jeep. He cut his engine, but left the stereo going. He looked over the console at me. I'd never in my life been so attracted to someone, and there was absolutely no way I was going to refuse him a kiss.
"Does it bother you that we don't believe the same things?" he asked.
"No," I said, even though it did. Somewhere deep inside I knew I could never agree to start a family with someone who would tell our kids there was no God. And, while we weren't starting a family right this second… it still seemed like a waste of time to get all worked up over this guy. That's what my logical side said, but then I looked at his face. His eyes were so dark they were like staring into a midnight sky. I stared into them thinking that's how unreachable he seemed, but I couldn’t make myself deny him a kiss.
"Doesn't it bother you ?" I said, trying to put the blame on him.
He shook his head. "Not at all. It baffles me that someone like you believes it and is so open about it, but at the same time, you're not scared of me. Anytime someone who's a Christian finds out I'm an atheist, they run off like maybe I'm contagious." He laughed. "I try not to talk about religion at the shop because it chases people off. One time Shane brought up some stuff and it came out that I wasn't a Christian, and the client I was working on got up and didn't let me finish the tattoo."
"It's like rats," I said.
"What?"
"Rats," I repeated. "You know how everybody hates rats. Well, I heard somewhere that people aren't scared of rats themselves. They're not scared of the creature or the things it might do to them, they're scared because they know they have to kill it. It's knowing the rat's doom that freaks the person out, not the creature itself."
"So you're saying Christians aren't scared of me, they're just freaked out by the idea of my fate?"
"I can't speak for all Christians, but yeah, I think it's fair to say that. Once you believe that heaven is real then hell being real goes along with that. If someone openly says they don't believe in Christ, then the first thing that crosses our minds is what we believe your fate will be." I smiled shyly, looking straight ahead at the stereo. "Which scares us into acting like douche bags half the time."
"Basically, it's out of love that they run from me then," he said.
"Definitely."
He cocked his head at me, which made me glance up at him. "Then why aren't you scared?" he asked. "Do you not care about my fate?"
"I do, it's just that me caring isn't gonna make a difference in what you choose. You're gonna believe what you want to believe regardless of what I say. In fact, my crappy preaching probably just managed to push you further
"You sound so sure of yourself," he said, smiling at me like I was cute.
"I'm a hundred percent sure," I said.
We were getting close to my house, and I started to feel embarrassed and shy about lecturing him the whole way home.
"I guess I'll see you for some more ink when you get back from your trip," I said. I didn't have plans for another tattoo, but I wanted to say something casual like that to lighten the mood.
He didn't respond to my statement—at least not right away. I started to think he was going to ignore me, but then he finally spoke. "I'd like to kiss you when I drop you off," he said.
I thought I'd done a thorough job of making myself unattractive to him, so I couldn’t believe the request.
"Seriously?" I asked.
"I really like you, Mia, and I'd love to kiss you."
He pulled to a stop in the driveway behind my jeep. He cut his engine, but left the stereo going. He looked over the console at me. I'd never in my life been so attracted to someone, and there was absolutely no way I was going to refuse him a kiss.
"Does it bother you that we don't believe the same things?" he asked.
"No," I said, even though it did. Somewhere deep inside I knew I could never agree to start a family with someone who would tell our kids there was no God. And, while we weren't starting a family right this second… it still seemed like a waste of time to get all worked up over this guy. That's what my logical side said, but then I looked at his face. His eyes were so dark they were like staring into a midnight sky. I stared into them thinking that's how unreachable he seemed, but I couldn’t make myself deny him a kiss.
"Doesn't it bother you ?" I said, trying to put the blame on him.
He shook his head. "Not at all. It baffles me that someone like you believes it and is so open about it, but at the same time, you're not scared of me. Anytime someone who's a Christian finds out I'm an atheist, they run off like maybe I'm contagious." He laughed. "I try not to talk about religion at the shop because it chases people off. One time Shane brought up some stuff and it came out that I wasn't a Christian, and the client I was working on got up and didn't let me finish the tattoo."
"It's like rats," I said.
"What?"
"Rats," I repeated. "You know how everybody hates rats. Well, I heard somewhere that people aren't scared of rats themselves. They're not scared of the creature or the things it might do to them, they're scared because they know they have to kill it. It's knowing the rat's doom that freaks the person out, not the creature itself."
"So you're saying Christians aren't scared of me, they're just freaked out by the idea of my fate?"
"I can't speak for all Christians, but yeah, I think it's fair to say that. Once you believe that heaven is real then hell being real goes along with that. If someone openly says they don't believe in Christ, then the first thing that crosses our minds is what we believe your fate will be." I smiled shyly, looking straight ahead at the stereo. "Which scares us into acting like douche bags half the time."
"Basically, it's out of love that they run from me then," he said.
"Definitely."
He cocked his head at me, which made me glance up at him. "Then why aren't you scared?" he asked. "Do you not care about my fate?"
"I do, it's just that me caring isn't gonna make a difference in what you choose. You're gonna believe what you want to believe regardless of what I say. In fact, my crappy preaching probably just managed to push you further
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