by Teisha Mott
The message was on Last Day events and Heaven. Klao did not particularly like hearing about the Last Days. She had heard over and over that they were living in the Last Days, and at any moment Jesus would break the eastern skies. She was scared of the pending judgment, because she was sure that she and most of her family would be ‘weighed and found wanting’, as one Minister had pointed out.
Matt never discussed his messages with her, so she was surprised, and a bit annoyed, when she saw the topic of his message, ‘Look Up’ printed in the programme. But Matt had taken another approach to preaching about the Last Days, and the church was on fire. Klao had never been more uncomfortable in her life, but sandwiched between Marvin and Sheena, she could not get up and go outside as she so badly wanted to do.
“… There may be a conspiracy, even among some preachers, that the Second Coming is something to be afraid of,” Matt said. “They say things like ‘I gotta warn ya – Jesus is coming!’ I remember when Mary and I were children, and our parents ‘warned us’. We knew that a warning most times preceded a spanking!” The church chuckled. “There was this ‘warner woman’ who used to walk through the town on occasion with a message of doom!” Matt chuckled. “She used to scream ‘Mandeville, beware!’ over and over again, and when the little children saw her they would dash for dear life! So you get the idea. If you have to warn me that Jesus is coming, then it cannot be something good. But the Bible says ‘look up’, because when we see the signs of His coming, ‘our redemption draweth nigh’, and that has to be a good thing!”
The cries of ‘hallelujah’ and ‘praise the Lord’ rang through the sanctuary.
Matt was telling a story that Klao had never heard before. He was flying home from La Sierra the Christmas of his senior year, when the plane flew directly into a thunderstorm, causing him to experience the worst turbulence he had ever encountered in his entire life. The American Airlines airbus felt as though it was being tossed through the sky. Not even the flight attendants were allowed to leave their positions to serve the food. It did not help that the flight was at night, and outside was pitch black.
“I thought that was it!” Matt told his congregation. “I thought it was time to ‘pray the prayer’—you know which prayer I am talking about – the one we all know we may have to pray one day…”
Klao knew that prayer. The murmurs from the other church members showed that they knew that prayer, too.
“Yes!” Matt continued. “I confess mine was a very narrow prayer. It only included my parents, Mary and me… And the flight just got worse and worse. But as we headed to Miami International, the only thing that gave me hope was the fact that Mary would be meeting me in Miami. The plane landed, and there I was, looking for my sister. All the stresses of being in that plane, being tossed and thrown, not sure if I would see my family ever again in life, did not matter anymore, because I was soon going to be reunited with the person in the world who was closest to me. I got off the plane, and I went through immigration and bag check, knowing that Mary was somewhere in the airport waiting for me. There were a lot of faces in MIA that evening, and none of them looked like mine… But finally….” He laughed. “I don’t say this often, and now that I am declaring it publicly, I am not going to hear the end of it… but I think my sister is pretty. What do you say, church?”
The church murmured its agreement that Mary was pretty.
“I think she is pretty all the time, but that day, when she waved to me across the airport… Whoo! I was so happy to see her that I instantly regretted all those times I had pushed her face down in mud when we were little!”
The church cheered and laughed. Klao smiled. Mary, sitting on the podium, rolled her eyes. Matt winked at her fondly.
“Multiply my desire, church, to see my twin sister that day by 10,000, and then square that number. That will give you an idea of how much I want to see my Jesus! I - I – I just wish everybody loved Jesus, and was as excited for His return as much as I am, because I have had enough of this! I’ve had enough of suffering! I’ve had enough of disease! I’ve had enough of death. Any corner of the globe you go to, there is something wrong. This world will never be perfect again until Jesus comes. And even multibillionaires have sorrow every day that they live, because money cannot cordon you off from the maladies that accompany sin!”
Klao looked at Matt. That was the same thing he had said to her earlier in the week. That was why he was not fascinated by wealth. He appreciated it. His family was fairly comfortable, and he was more than grateful for the contributions her family made to the Inn, but in the final analysis, he told her, money did not matter. It could buy temporal comfort, but it certainly could not buy salvation.
“And I am not warning you today that Jesus is coming again. I refuse to do that. Instead, today, I want to assure you that Jesus is coming again! And the rougher this life gets, the closer He is. And when He comes, all this will be changed. ‘The government shall be upon His shoulders,’ and He shall reign for ever and ever and ever…”
He paused to allow the frenzy of the church to die down. Klao looked at her friend Matt. She did not recognise the man standing there. He was not Matt anymore, who hung out at her house and told her she was the most beautiful girl in the world. He was not Matt who she was totally into; who she looked forward to making out with every evening… Today she was seeing a totally different Matt. There was what Sheena described as a ‘great anointing’ that had come over him. He looked as though he had been transformed. Klao wondered whether it would be possible to relate to him the same way after today.
“Oh beloved!” Matt continued, as soon as he could. “When I think about my Jesus; when I think about Heaven, and being there, and what it is going to be like, something gets a hold of me… I - I - I … I just feel like singing… Bear with me, church, because right now, I just need to sing…”
Klao was shocked to see him leave his position at the podium and relieve the pianist from the bench.
“Just lend me the piano for one second, Brother Steve!”
Steve willingly gave the pastor the seat, and Matt played a tune. Klao instantly recognised it. It was the song the soloist had sung at Andie's baptism -- the one she had heard on TBC the first time she ever gave serious consideration to God. True to his word, Matt began to sing:
“Face to Face with Christ my Saviour! Face to Face what will it be…” He began, and that was enough to set the church off again.
Klao closed her eyes as the music and the lyrics flowed through her bones. She could not imagine Heaven, because in her current state, she knew she would not be there. She could not even think about what she would do when Jesus came back.
“Face to face shall I behold Him
Far beyond the starry sky
Face to face in all His glory
I shall see Him by and by…”
The church was singing along with their pastor. Klao opened her eyes. Next to her, tears were streaming down Sheena’s face. The entire church had been moved, including the Minister, as he played the piano and sang as though he was really imagining, at that moment, how awesome Heaven was going to be. His eyes were closed as he played, and Klao wondered whether he had truly got a glimpse of Heaven. She sat in her seat although the rest of the church was standing, and bowed her head to her hands. She wanted to be able to imagine Heaven and not be afraid. She wanted to be able, like Matt, to be assured that Jesus was coming again. But the surrendering part was just too hard. She imagined how stupid she would look going up to the altar with the rest of the people who were heading up there.
Tattler had eyes and ears everywhere, and it would be beyond embarrassing if he or the ubiquitous Paul Rissoa announced that Klao Persaud responded to an altar call. God knew she loved Him, she tried to rationalise. She did not need to announce her desire to be His to the entire St. Andrew! She did not have to go to the altar to benefit from the prayer that would be offered at the end of the service. She could sit right there in her seat, and her decision w
ould be between her and God. She could tell Matt and Mary about it later. That was her decision, and she was sticking to it. Unfortunately, the nagging voice of her conscience – or the Holy Spirit, she could not decide which – did not agree.
***
“He was on fire today, Daddy!” Mary was excitedly recounting the service to her father, as she and Klao laid out the lunch. “It was as though a piece of anointing had taken a hold on him…. You would be so proud…”
Klao stirred the vegetable stew on the stove, and listened to Mary rant on.
“The entire church went to the altar, and he did not even give an appeal! Trust me, Daddy! You should hear him… … I saw the sermon draft. Half of what he said was not in it… I don’t know… Hold on!” Mary covered the speaker. “Matt, did they tape the service?” She called upstairs. There was no answer. Mary frowned. “I’ll find out if they taped it and I’ll send you and Mommy a copy…”
Klao glanced towards the stairs with worry lines creasing her forehead. Something was wrong with Matt. After the service, he had retired to his office, and had not even come to lesson study. She had popped out of the YAD class early to see whether he was conducting Pastor’s Time, but he was not there. In fact, Elder Maragh was doing Pastor’s Time, and he announced that Pastor St. James would not be preaching during second service, but Evangelist Adams would. When they came back to Long Mountain, Matt did not joke around and tease as he usually did. He just went straight upstairs to his room, and had not come back down.
Klao glanced at the stairs again. Obviously, his message had affected him as profoundly as it had affected her. She wondered whether she could go up and talk to him, or whether she should just leave him alone.
Minx was weaving in and out of her legs, obviously wanting to be picked up. Klao adjusted the heat under the stew and covered the pot. She picked up Minx and kissed him. Mary was still chatting on the phone with her father. It was just the three of them that day. Sheena’s parents were in town, so she and Marvin were having a family day.
“Let’s go see if Matt is okay,” she whispered to Minx. She crept up the stairs and down the hall to Matt’s room, with Minx under her arm. She knocked lightly on the door.
“Yeah?” Matt called.
“It’s us...” Klao cautiously opened the door a crack and peeped in.
“Hey!” Matt was sitting up on his bed, his Bible open next to him. “Come in.”
“Are you okay?” Klao asked.
Matt wrinkled his nose. “Yeah…”
“You were really impressive today,” Klao said. She placed Minx on the floor and took a seat next to Matt on the bed. “Mary is very excited. She is telling your father. He wanted to know if the service was taped.”
Matt did not comment. They were quiet for a while.
“Today was so…” Matt began, when he finally spoke.
“Was so what?” Klao looked at him.
“Overwhelming… I never knew… I never thought…” Matt sighed. “Something happened to me today, Klao. I have never felt that way before…”
Klao could totally understand what he meant. She had not been the one preaching, and she too had never felt anything like that before.
“I could feel God today – more than I have ever felt Him before!” Matt continued. “Like He was right there – next to me… Giving me words, you know… Like Peter at Pentecost… I never knew I could feel like that –or preach like that…”
“Well, you could, because preaching was what you were called to do!” And you certainly moved the church today!”
“Yeah, they certainly seemed moved…” Matt looked at her. “What about you, Klao? Did the Spirit move you?”
Klao looked at him, surprised. What did he mean by that? “What?”
“Do you want it, Klao?” Matt asked again. “Do you want to be in Heaven?”
“Of course I do!” Klao was beginning to feel sorry she had come upstairs. This was supposed to be about Matt, not about her!
“But do you want it enough to do something about it?”
“Matt…”
“I’m not pressuring you or anything. But I don’t like to think that God has given me the gift to help bring hundreds to him, and yet, I cannot move the heart of the person who is most important to me…”
Klao could not look at him.
“You mean the world to me, KoKo!” Matt whispered. “I pray for you every minute of every day. I want to know that I don’t have to worry any moment I am not with you, because if the worst happens, I will see you in Heaven…”
“Matt…” Klao did not know what to say.
Fortunately, she did not have to say anything. Mary burst into the room. She looked at them.
“What is going on up here?” She asked. “I’ve been calling you for ages!” She flung the cordless at Matt. “Mommy wants to talk to you.” She looked from Matt to Klao. “And give the canoodling a break, for Heaven’s sake! It’s Sabbath!”
Matt ignored his sister and took the phone. “Yes, Mother?”
Klao took the opportunity to make a hasty exit from Matt’s room. She could feel his eyes following her, as she followed Mary with Minx tucked under her arm. Obviously he would not buy her chicken decision to accept God in private. He and Mary had said on a number of occasions that it had to be a public decision. And Klao knew it, without them having to tell her. She was not an idiot, and she read her Bible and listened to Focus on the Family enough to know! She was just damn stubborn, and she knew it. Her only hope was that when she finally decided to give in, it would not be too late – that she would not have be knocked off her stubborn horse like Saul before he became Paul.
She helped Mary to set the table.
“It’s strange, just us three without Sheena and Marvin,” She commented, trying to break the silence.
“Hmm...” Mary muttered, as she folded three napkins.
“It would have been nice to have met Sheena’s parents,” She emphasised.
“You know what would be nice?” Mary asked, as she positioned the knives on top of the napkins. “If you would stop being so stubborn and make some sort of decision for God before you meet our parents!”
Klao almost dropped the glass she held. “What?”
“I read you loud and clear, Klao Persaud. You know what is right, and you want to do it, but something is holding you back…”
Klao could not believe this was happening. “What?” She repeated.
“You cannot ‘kick against the pricks’ forever!” Mary said firmly. “Something has to give, and it has to be your stupid pride. And if you want any motivation, I can give you some…”
“Mary…”
“As much as Matt likes you – and trust me, he really does; and as much as you like him, and it is obvious you do; you are not going to have a real relationship until you, my friend, are converted.”
Klao tried to interrupt, but Mary held up her hand to silence her. “And that is not because we are elitist, or because our mother would freak out if he hooked up with a non-Adventist girl. It’s because he is a Christian first and a pastor second, and he will never do the 'unequally yoked' bit. I know it sounds a way, but that’s just the way it is.”
Klao blushed. Mary had a way of saying it 'just as it was'. She was not one to beat around the bush.
“I’m not saying you should join the church for my brother!” She continued. “I’m saying you should join the church for you – Matt is just an added bonus, and God knows I much rather you have him than Georgia Maragh!”
Despite herself, Klao smiled.
“You are a good girl, Klao. And you are the first girl I have ever met who I really want for my sister in law! Don’t mess this up because of your stubbornness! You think about this, and you make a decision fast, because you cannot straddle the fence forever!”
***
“Make-up bag? Check! Suitcase? Check! Dylan and Darrin’s presents? Check! Matt’s one lone, pathetic duffel bag…”
“Check!” Matt res
ponded, as he shoved his tiny, battered overnight bag next to Klao’s Longchamp suitcase into the back of the CRV.
Klao looked at him and rolled her eyes. “I do not understand how you managed to fit everything you want for the entire weekend into that one little old bag!” She said, eyeing the bag with disgust.
“It’s only two days!” Matt reminded her. “How many things could I possibly need?”
“Well…” Klao motioned towards her suitcase, her shoe bag, her cosmetic bag, and Minx’s ‘suitcase’.
Matt grinned. “That is why you are Klao and I am Matt! Get in, please. It’s time to jet!”
Klao rolled her eyes again as she got into the passenger side of the CRV. She peeped over to the backseat to make sure Minx was comfortable in his carrying cage, before securing her seatbelt and settling into the leather seats.
Matt got in behind the steering wheel. “Ready?”
“Let’s rock and roll!” Klao responded.
Matt started the engine and glanced at his watch. “It is nine o’clock now. We should get there by 12:30. Pray us off please, Missy?”
Klao did as she was told. She took Matt’s hand in hers and asked God simply to take them safely to Montego Bay – no tyre issues, no police, no crazy drivers, no falling asleep. Matt squeezed her hand on the ‘Amen’ as he always did, before securing his seatbelt and reversing out of Klao’s apartment complex.
“Are you sure you are okay to drive?” Klao asked as he turned on to Millsborough Avenue. “I don’t mind chauffeuring you, y’know!”
“Of course I am fine!” Matt told her.
“Well, given what Mary said about your night vision issues…”
“Mary talks too much!” Matt said firmly. “I can see – trust me!”
Klao trusted him. And deep down, she was glad she did not have to drive. She was tired from a long day at work, and it was comforting to know that she had a man to drive her places. Klao beamed to herself in the dark of the car. She had a ‘man’. God had finally answered her prayers and sent her a man, and he was the best thing in her life right now. He was a kind, compassionate, sweet, sensitive, yet manly man. He was almost as blind as a bat, but he had no hearing or listening problems. Klao could tell him anything, and he would always be there to hear her out or give her advice. The June Charles matter was over, but Mrs Reyes was becoming an increasing pain in her rear. For the past few weeks she dreaded having to go to work, and wondered what would happen if she gave her three months’ notice. Sometimes, she felt that going to work for the couple hundred thousand dollars she earned per month was not worth it, but knowing that at the end of the workday she would be with Matt made Klao think that life was worth living indeed.