Chapter 0
'Buzzzzzzzzzz, slap,' silence. 'Was it 5 a.m. already?' Surely that infernal alarm clock was wrong.' Johnny thought as he stared at the green florescent numbers on the clock. He was beginning to feel the effects of tiredness on his body. He buried his face in his pillow and wished he had just five more minuets to sleep. He couldn't recall the number of times throughout history that he had heard those exact words from people of every race, creed, and color. 'How easily they tire.' he'd thought. And now, as the words droned in his head, he understood their meaning all to well.
He fought the covers, which seemed to ensnare him like a spider's web would a hapless insect. Finally, breaking free, he rolled out of bed, stood up, and, lifting his hands toward heaven, he blessed the Lord. He began to sing songs unto the Lord and to lift up the name of Jesus. Soon, the tiredness he had experienced vanished. During his praise to God, he was rejuvenated. He heard someone coming through his front door. 'Hey Johnny, where are you?' It was Michael. Johnny turned and looked at the clock, it was now 6 a.m. 'Wow, time really does fly when you're having fun.' he said with a hearty grin. 'I'm in the bedroom, Michael.' Michael charged in full of pep and vigor. 'Good morning!' he said. 'Hey, why aren't you dressed? Aren't you running today?' 'Yes , I'm going to run. It won't take me but a minuet or so to get dressed.' Johnny answered. 'Well let's shake a leg partner, we've still got to pray you know.' 'Yes sir, I know.' Johnny said as he playfully saluted Michael.
'Say, how's Nancy doing?' 'About the same.' Michael said. 'She still hasn't accepted the fact that I've changed. She thinks that at any second, I'll be my old self again.' 'Do you talk to each other?' Johnny asked. 'If you want to call it that. She's aloof when I try to talk to her. It's like the words are going in one ear and out the other. Sometimes I felt like plugging up one of her ears as I talk to her so that what I'm saying will at least have the opportunity of circling her brain one time before seeping into the atmosphere. Since she hasn't made up her mind about our marriage, she's apprehensive about talking. It's like living in the twilight zone." 'Well, considering the circumstances, that's normal.' Johnny said. "If you say so.' Michael answered. 'Come on now, Michael, if she had been the one to make a hundred and eighty degree turn, instead of you, wouldn't you be just a little suspicious?' Smiling, Michael said, 'Well, since you put it that way, maybe I'd be just a little suspicious.' 'Just give her time, she'll come around.' 'I hope so.' Michael said. 'I know so. Say, are you ready to pray?' 'Am I ready? Michael asked. I've been waiting on you.' 'Do you have your life's confessions together, Michael?' Confidently, Michael replied, just listen and agree with me as I pray.'
They joined hands, bowed their heads, and Michael started to pray. 'Father, Most High and respected God, we come now to you in the name of Jesus. We give thanks for your mercy toward us and all mankind. Father, I ask that you will look upon and bless your children all over the world, that they should become the head and not the tail in all that they fix their hands to do. Bless everyone who occupies a seat of authority, and in all things they kingdom come, thy will be done, in Jesus' name, Amen.' 'In Jesus' name.' Johnny repeated.
'And now Father, I agree with your word. I thank you for revealing to me that death and life are in the power of the tongue, and that through the words I speak, I can and do shape my future. Thank you for revealing to me that my daily, verbal confessions of life, increase my faith. For your word says, 'Faith cometh by hearing.' So, as I confess, I hear; and as I hear, I strengthen my faith. Therefore, I confess that I am the head and not the tail. I am blessed going out and coming in. I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me. My marriage is blessed. I am all that you say that I am despite what I see with my natural eyes, for I walk by faith and not by sight. I further confess that, by your spirit, I am moved to act on what I confess; for I know that faith without works is dead. Therefore, I shall receive the promise because I faint not. Thank you for opening my eyes, in Jesus' name it's done. Amen!' "Amen!' Johnny shouted. 'Let's hit it brother.' Michael said. 'Alright, I just hope that you can keep up.' Johnny laughingly said. "Don't be a wise guy, Johnny.' Michael said. They both laughed and headed out the door.
They finished the three mile run with little difficulty. In between pants, Michael told Johnny that he'd see him after work for their afternoon prayer and workout. 'I'll be waiting.' Johnny said as he darted into the house. Michael went home, showered, and got dressed for work. Before leaving, he told Nancy that he loved her, and gave her an affectionate kiss on the cheek. 'Bye honey.' 'Bye.' She said rather dryly. Half aloud and half under his breath, Michael uttered, 'I walk by faith and not by sight. Thank you father, my marriage is blessed." With that, he trotted out of the house.
Johnny was hungry. There was nothing in the refrigerator to eat so he decided to go out and buy some groceries. He reached in his pants pocket and pulled out two crumpled twenty dollar bills. At that instant, it hit him, he needed money to survive on earth. The money he had been given to start off with was all gone with the exception of the forty dollars. 'Ding, ding, bong.' The doorbell sounded and filled the house with melodic chimes. He got out of his easy chair, stretched, yawned, and scratched all in route to the door. There was a young man outside of his door holding a clip board and a newspaper. Johnny opened the door. 'Yes, may I help you?' 'Yes sir, I'm looking for Mr. Johnny Angel.' 'That would be me. How can I help you?'
'Mr. Angel, I'm here to collect for the daily newspaper.' 'Newspaper? What newspaper?' 'We only have one, sir. And it says right here, he shifted the clipboard so that Johnny could see it, that you agreed to subscribe to the paper at our special introductory price of twenty dollars for eight weeks of daily deliveries.' 'Oh, right.' It had slipped Johnny's mind, he had called the paper just the other day to start delivery. Although it wouldn't be much, he had decided to subscribe as a way of helping the old paper man, which made him ask, 'what happened to the older guy who had this route?' 'He still has it. I'm just filling in for him for a couple of days.' 'Is there anything wrong with him?' Johnny asked. 'Not with him physically, somebody in his family got beat up real bad and he's with the family at the hospital. That's all that I know.'
He politely handed Johnny the days' newspaper and without saying another word, he stood there. Johnny took the newspaper and with a quizzical look on his face, he asked, 'Is there something else?' Smiling nervously, the young man said, 'You haven't paid me, sir." 'Oh. Forgive me, I'm sorry. How much did you say that I owe you?' 'Twenty dollars, sir.' Johnny ran his hand into his pocket and pulled out one of the twenty dollar bills and handed it to the young man. The paperboy wrote out a receipt, thanked Johnny for his business, and trotted off to the next house.
'Well,' Johnny said through a deep, heavy sigh, 'now all I have is twenty dollars. What must I do?' The Spirit of the Lord answered, 'Pray.' Johnny got down on his knees and began to pray, 'Father, thank you for the opportunity to see your mighty hand move once again. I know that just as there is no lack in heaven, there is none in earth to those who believe. You said to ask and it shall be given, so I'm asking you for instruction and guidance concerning my financial status while I'm on earth. Father, what would you have me to do?'
He waited and listened quietly for a response. Soon he heard the voice of the Lord speaking to him again. 'Sell that you have and start a business.' Jumping to his feet, Johnny said, 'that's a good idea Lord. Hmmm, what could I sell?' He began to look around the house for something of value. A large painting caught his eye. He studied the signature and made it out to be Lamour. 'Now what?' he thought to himself. 'Call some art dealers.' the spirit said. After calling around, he found an art dealer that was interested in seeing the painting. 'I'll be right over.' he told the man. The dealer's gallery was a good ways from where Johnny lived. 'Nevertheless, if he buys the painting, it would have been worth the trip.' he reminded himself.
Once there, he carefully removed the painting from the trunk of the car and took it into the dealer's gallery for his inspection. The dealer
was very impressed with the painting and
offered Johnny $2,500 dollars for it. $2,500 dollars sounded good to Johnny, he was about to accept it when the Spirit said, '$5,000 dollars, not a penny less.' 'Huh?' Johnny said aloud to the Spirit. Thinking that Johnny hadn't heard him, the dealer repeated, 'I said, I'll give you $2,500 dollars for your painting. That's as high as I can go; and I really believe that that's a bit too much, but you seem like such a nice fellow.' Johnny looked him square in the eye and countered, $5,000 dollars, not a penny less.' 'Why that's absurd. My dear fellow you won't find a better offer than mine anywhere. So let's not haggle, after all, I am the expert you know?' Without saying another word, Johnny slowly, methodically began to wrap the painting. The dealer looked at him; somewhat flustered, he said, 'Really, Mr. Angel, what on earth are you doing." Johnny never answered, he merely continued to wrap the painting. Upon finishing, he politely thanked the man for his time, lifted the painting, and headed for the door.
'Alright, I'll give you $3,500 for the painting.' Johnny kept walking. '$4,000.' he shouted. By now, Johnny had reached the door. He thanked the man again for his generous offer and bid him farewell. He waited just outside the door to see if the dealer would call to him once again. Since he didn't, he continued to his car. He was about to drive off when he heard someone yelling, 'Mr. Angel, Mr. Angel.' Looking through the passenger window, Johnny saw the dealer running toward the car. Johnny eased the window down, 'Yes?' 'You win, I'll give you $5,000 dollars for the painting.' Johnny smiled, whispered 'Thank you Lord,' and went back into the gallery to finalize the transaction. This time, when he emerged from the gallery, his face was plastered with a big smile and his pocket was filled with five thousand dollars, cash.
'Now I've got some bargaining money for a business." he thought. He drove back home, sat down, and leisurely flipped through the newspaper to determine if there were any worth while business investments available. As he turned the pages, one of the headlines jumped out at him. 'BLIND WOMAN SEVERELY BEATEN, DOG FOUND MUTILATED'. Johnny skimmed through the story. There was something about it that made him spiritually uneasy. 'BA-el.' he thought. The name brought with it a sudden rush of fear. 'Satan, you're a liar. God has not given me the spirit of fear, and right now, I take authority over fear. I bind fear and render it harmless and ineffective against me, in the name of Jesus.' He began to relax, 'Well, at any rate, he thought, I haven't encountered BA-El directly up to this point and there's a solid chance that I won't have to. After all, I am progressing in the restoration of Nancy and Michael's marriage.' He dropped the front page section of the newspaper onto the floor. 'Enough of the depressing news, on to the future.' he said. He leafed through the paper until he found the business section. While trying to read every
advertisement headline, without giving his attention to any, one hooded his attention. 'START YOUR OWN BUSINESS. $5,000 DOLLARS MOVES YOU INTO A STURDY BUILDING LARGE ENOUGH TO CONDUCT MOST BUSINESSES. SOME REPAIRS NEEDED. FOR MORE INFO. CALL JERRY @ 872-9281'.
'That's it!' Johnny shouted. I'll take the money and use it to buy this property and then I'll start a business.' In his spirit, Johnny heard, 'NO!' 'No? Why not Lord?' he asked. The Spirit of the Lord spoke again, 'Take the money to the church named True Liberty. It's not far from here; there's a mid day service about to take place. Put the money in the offering." 'What!' Johnny was outdone. 'Lord, surely you don't want me to pass up on this good opportunity, do you?" There was silence. 'Father?' The Spirit said nothing more. Johnny dropped his head, and though he didn't understand, in a faint whisper, he said, 'Yes Lord.' As an angel, he never had to think or reason, only obey. But there was something about flesh that made it question God's commands. He thought it would be better to use the money on the building rather than giving it to a church, nonetheless, he knew that obedience was better than sacrifice, or in this case, a building.
After changing his clothes, he looked in the telephone directory for the address and phone number of the True Liberty church. He found it and called for directions. He found the church with ease, it had only taken him fifteen minuets to get there, and when he arrived, service was just getting under way. He had said to himself that he would sit quietly in the back until the offering plate was passed, then he would deposit the five thousand dollars, and exit as inconspicuously as possible. That was his plan. However, as soon as the music started to play, and the praise team began to sing, he was reminded of the celebrations in heaven and how they danced and shouted for joy around the throne of God. Instantly, he was on his feet singing, dancing, and praising the Lord. He wanted to sit down, in fact he tried, but something, like fire shut up in his bones, wouldn't permit him to pass up the opportunity to praise God.
Finally, praise and worship ended. Visitors were welcomed to the church and the offering was collected. Everyone was asked to put their offering in a tithe envelope, which could be found on the back of each pew, and to write their name and number on the envelope. Johnny pulled out one of the little envelopes from the rack on the pew directly in front of him; and, rather then supplying the requested information, he wrote, 'From an obedient angel of the Most High God', on the back of the envelope. Next, he pulled out the wad of money, and crammed it in.
An usher standing nearby gawked at the large roll of money being stuffed into the little envelope. Johnny tried to seal the envelope but it was too full; he decided to divide the money between two envelopes but by that time the offering plate had reached him. He dropped in his money, said a prayer over it, and passed it on to the next person. 'Now what?' he asked under his breath. Silence. 'Are there any more offerings?' an usher was asking. 'The twenty dollars, Johnny.' 'The twenty dollars!? Lord, that's all the money I have left.' The Spirit spoke again, 'Give, and it shall be given unto you.' He sat motionless for a second, breathed a deep hissing sigh, pulled out his last twenty dollar bill, and held it up for the usher. The same one who had noticed him earlier was at his side with the offering basket. Johnny held his hand over the basket, struggled with letting the bill go, and, as he did, he watched it float, in slow motion, to the bottom of the basket. He watched solemnly as the usher walked down the aisle with his last money on earth.
After the service, Johnny went back to his car bewildered. He sat there for a long, long time watching children laugh and romp on a nearby playground. They were so carefree, so full of life and joy. 'What a blessing.' he thought. 'Hmp, here I am weighed down by flesh, broke, and sought by killers from hell.' 'Aaahh, ha, ha, ha.' Johnny heard the rich laughter of the Spirit. 'It's not funny, Lord.' he said. 'Yes it is. Ha , ha, ha. Remember, no matter what it looks like, all things are working together for your good. So, rejoice. Again, I say rejoice!' Johnny thought about it, the idea that having someone out to kill him and being financially destitute were merely temporary circumstances that God chose to use for Johnny's good, was so far fetched that it was hilarious.
Johnny burst into a loud round of laughter with the Lord. The children stopped playing, looked in the car, and slowly eased away as they thought for sure that he was losing it. He looked at the clock in his car, he had been there for well over an hour. 'Oh well, I'd better get on home.' he chuckled. As he was driving, the Spirit of the Lord said, 'Turn Here.' He turned, and, following the Spirit's instructions, he ended up on a bank's parking lot. "Now what?' he thought. 'Go in and apply for a business loan.' the spirit said. 'They'll throw me out of there.' he thought. 'I don't even have a birth certificate.' 'Just go.' Reluctant, he got out, and, walking as though his shoes were filled with cement, he trudged in.
Once inside, he stood in the doorway and watched as people hurried from one spot to the next. Customers were furiously filling out deposit and withdrawal slips at a table in the center of the floor. They acted like they were in a heated competition with each other as they jockeyed for favorable positions in teller lines. One teller would leave the window, another would return, each in search of valuable information for their customers. Tap, tap, tap, the sound of computer keys bein
g pushed, click, click, click, the sound of teller's shoes
walking across the steel gray, marble floor, swish, swish, swish, the sound of money being counted; like bees flitting from one flower to another. To Johnny, the bank was a place of buzzing, humming noises and perpetual, nonstop motion. Fascinated by the whole thing, Johnny was caught up, lost in the moment. He had stood there dazed long enough to attract the attention of a nearby guard. The guard walked over to Johnny and asked, 'Excuse me sir, do you need some help?' Startled, Johnny searched his mind for the reason that he was there. 'Huh? Oh, yes. I'm interested in applying for a loan. Who should I speak to?' The guard looked around the bank to see if there were any loan officers available. At the instant, a well dressed, slender man walked through the bank. 'Mr. Olsten.' the guard called. The man turned to see the guard and Johnny. The guard was waving his hand frantically for Mr. Olsten to come over to them. As Mr. Olsten approached them, his eyes widened when he realized who Johnny was. 'This man is looking for a loan officer; the guard said, will you show him where to wait until one becomes available?' 'I'm not busy, I'll help him myself.' Mr. Olsten replied. 'Good.' the guard said, then, turning to Johnny he continued, 'Go with Mr. Olsten; he's the senior loan officer. He'll fix you right up.' Johnny vigorously shook the guard's hand and thanked him for his help. 'Right this way Mr. ahh. . . ' "Angel, Johnny Angel.' Johnny said while extending his hand and a smile to Mr. Olsten.
Neon Nights Page 8