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Not Romantic, Fickle Love

Pastor Greg made his way to the pulpit to deliver his sermon.

“And now we come full circle on the Advent wreath. The fourth and final Sunday of this season of penitence and preparation is about God’s love for us and ours for God.”

He scanned the congregation for reactions. Finding Jeb sitting by himself, he pressed on.

“This is not romantic, fickle love but rather the steadfast and enduring love of chesed and agapē. Now, those are words you might not have heard before but they express ideas of Godly love. That is to say, God’s love for us and how that frames how we should love each other. From the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells us very simply ‘‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.’.”

“Moses brought us the Ten Commandments. The Levites brought us, well, more rules than you can shake a stick at. Jesus boiled it all down to two for us. Why?”

The pastor looked around at the inquiring faces. He didn’t see Aundrea among them.

“Because that’s all it really takes, folks. Love God and all the people He created.”

Pastor Greg scanned the uplifted faces for a sign of Trilby. Surprisingly, she was tucked away in the back instead of taking full advantage of Aundrea’s absence.

“Jesus kept it simple because the Apostles were simple people. Truth be told, very few of us today are much better. I’ll be the first to admit that I can be a complete blockhead. Be honest, folks. You all have your moments, too. Don’t you?”

Sheepish grins and guilty chuckles gave him his answer.

“Even so, God loves us. Always has. Always will.”

Even so, Jeb looked more glum than he’d been in months. The pastor pressed on with the rest of his sermon in the hope that something he had to say would lift his friend’s spirits.

As always, he stood by the exit to bid a fond farewell to the congregation. As always, they shuffled slowly from the nave in a long stream of well-wishes and light humor. He exchanged pleasantries with Mr. and Mrs. Kwock but no breakfast plans were made today. Marta and Trilby each smiled politely and bid him farewell. He waited for Jeb to make his way up in line, but he never arrived.

Once all the day’s tasks were attended to, Greg left it to the sexton to clean up and lock up. He headed out to his car. The recent coating of snow had been plowed from the parking lot but it provided a background of sharp contrast to Jeb’s green truck.

‘Interesting.’ Greg thought as he stowed his briefcase in the trunk. He locked up and headed over to Jeb’s truck.

Jeb rolled his window down.

“Having a relapse, buddy?”

“Not exactly. Well, yes, but I caught myself.”

“We’ll call that progress, then. I noticed that nobody shared the pew with you today.”

“I noticed that, too.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“I don’t know what there is to say, really. Last week, Aundrea and I went back to her place.”

“Just give me the PG version, okay? I don’t need details.”

“We talked.”

“And?”

“It was really great. I got to say all the things I ought to have told her back when we were kids. She told me about how the bakery was going and I told her how my woodcraft business is going. We caught up on all the stuff that happened while she was away at culinary school.”

“That sounds very nice. I’m sensing that another shoe is about to drop.”

“Well, something dropped but I don’t think it was a shoe. After we had our time together, I went home. I haven’t heard a word from her since then. I went to the bakery to drop off some pieces and she won’t come out of the kitchen. I figured she was busy, so I stopped back another day. She won’t see me anymore and I don’t know why.”

“That is strange. What’s even stranger is that Trilby didn’t press the advantage.”

“I guess you could say she did.”

“Really, she wasn’t sitting with you today.”

“Well, she’s probably embarrassed.”

Greg stifled a laugh with his gloved hand. “Oh, don’t leave me hanging.”

“Your nose is getting kind of red. Why don’t you jump in?” Jeb put his window back up and waved for Greg to get in.

‘Oh, Jeb. What did you do?’ Greg wondered as he walked around to the passenger side. “Wow, it’s nice and toasty in here. Now spill.”

“So, Trilby called up and asked if I’d mind some company. I invited her over for dinner on Friday so she could see my lights and everything.”

“It’s the ‘everything’ that has me concerned.”

“Well, it started off innocently enough. I made some dinner.”

“Oh, what did you have?”

“Well, I checked with her friend to see if she was on any kind of a special diet. Turns out she’s allergic to just about everything.”

“So, what did you settle on?”

“I did some farm-direct porterhouse steaks with organic vegetables and some kind of tea that she really likes. I made a loaf of rice flour bread. I made sure there wasn’t a single artificial ingredient.”

“That’s very nice of you.”

“Well, I want her to be my friend. Why would I feed her something she can’t eat?”

“It’s a fair question, but it speaks volumes about your character. A lot of people wouldn’t be as accommodating. I guess that part went alright, then?”

“Yes, dinner was nice. She told me all about the library and what she does there. Did you know she has a Master’s Degree in Library Science? I didn’t even know being a librarian was a science.”

“I knew some people who studied that at the college I went to before I attended seminary.”

“I see. I never realized how detailed it was.”

“Yes, it’s one of those things that just seems to happen on its own unless you’re the one doing it. So, what happened after dinner?”

“Well, it was very dark out by then. The trees were all fully lit. She was really excited about that and that I had used LEDs and solar to power it. We walked around in the snow, looking at the lights while she told me more about herself.”

“So, not a lot of talking on your part?”

“She seemed pretty happy talking about herself and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“She’s interesting to listen to.”

“I can see that getting old.”

“So can I.”

“What happened next?”

“I saw she was getting cold so we went to the workshop. I showed her the bear.”

“How’s that coming along?”

“Almost done. I’ve got some finishing touches to do tomorrow but it needs to be delivered the day before Christmas Eve.”

“Are you going to be back in time for the Christmas Eve Ball?”

“I don’t know, Greg. I’m not much for dancing.”

“You weren’t one for talking not too long ago. Please. As a favor to me. I can’t run a ball where nobody comes.”

“Well, if you put it that way. Sure, I’ll be sure to make it back in time. Is it formal?”

“It’s not Black Tie but I’d recommend that you dress to impress.”

“Who am I impressing? The girls who were interested in me last week are giving me the cold shoulder now.”

“We’ll worry about that on Christmas Eve at the ball. What happened after you showed her the bear?”

“The short version is that she bent over a lit candle in some kind of artificial silk shirt and it went off like fireworks. She ran outside and dove into the snow to extinguish herself. She’s so petite that she went into hypothermia. Until I got her back in the house and warmed up, she was done.”

“What do you mean ‘done’?”

“She was all worn out. I tucked her in and she slept it off. Poor girl was so freaked out that she couldn’t even remember half of what had happened in the morning.”

“How did you leave things?”

“I dropped her off at her place and told her I had a nice time. In spite of the drama, I actually did have a nice time. Well, except for when she caught fire, but…”

“Wow. It’s never a dull moment with you, Jeb.”

“I don’t get it, Greg. I’m not even doing anything and all heck breaks loose.”

“Relationships are messy and complicated things. Each one has its ups and downs. There’s no one solution that fits all.”

“Except for what you said in your sermon. That quote from Mark.”

“You’re exactly right, Jeb. That’s definitely a one-size-fits-all kind of solution. Not sure how that applies here.”

“Even if they feel differently about me now, I don’t. I like them as much as before. Maybe more, now that I’ve gotten to know them a little better.”

“Well, just meet them where they’re at for now. If you’ll promise to come to the ball, I’ll see if I can figure out where you stand with the girls.”

“I’ll do my best, Greg. I do have to get to Wyoming Pass with that bear first. I may be late but I will do my best to get there before it’s over.”