he knew that if those dark ugly clouds decided to drop their load he would be soaked, and too his laptop and the few groceries in his backpack
it was late and he just wanted home
..
aaaghhh!!
he hit down hard
very hard
his head took on a piecce of road and everything went numb
mumbled and all jumbled into a thousand pieces of light and sound and think ..
.. so even though he recognized he was being kicked and hit over and over like to never stop, it was almost like a dream
almost ..
and then pure black
..
someone had jumped out of the roadside bush right in front of his bike, hands flailing, and all he could (not) think to do was swerve
they beat him
badly
they wanted him out while they took his stuff
..
the rain did fall
it washed away some blood but some red water still stood still close by
..
some time later Preacherman drove that piece of road
it was quite dark by then and his lights hit on Christian's limp form ..
he slowed
cautiously
opened the window and scrunched his eyes in an effort to see as he got closer ..
he recognized the human body, saw there was no movement ..
quickly he scanned the area where his carlights shone, looking right left rearview mirror ..
nothing
and nothing near the body save a stout stick
he imagined the person had either been hit by an automobile or beaten ..
probably beaten, badly too, he reckoned
" he's probably dead ..
i'd better be gone before they come back .. jump me!"
he paused for a second, maybe 3
and then accelerate .. "outa here!"
..
twentsomething minutes later another car
Theo the Bibleman almost had to swerve to miss the body .. he'd been thinking on a comment some self-righteous idiot had made on one of Theo's recent blog posts, and he wasn't totally focused ..
he stopped the Audi, stared into the rearview, then shifter to R to bring up the reverse screen on the dash ..
nothing moving
he reversed till he was across from the body ..
"blood .. and a bloodied stick .. no movement .. this dude's dead! .."
he checked the mirror again, looked around as best he could .. no sign of life anywhere, no car lights ..
"I'm gone! Outa here!"
..
it rained again
.. lights ..
Christian's eyes were still closed, but the light penetrated his eyelids enough to ignite his brain ..
he barely opened his eyes, then immediately shut them tight .. light too bright ..
he tried to move .. his right leg complied, barely
the car slid to a stop and he heard a door open
the lights were full-on, blinding
someone stepped into the light, crossed over
then again, this time silhouetting ..
"hey .. can you hear me? .."
then he was being examined, head, neck, arms, legs ..
and Christian's lights went out again
..
the door opened and Christian turned too sharply .. ugh!
he'd only been awake .. what? a few seconds? a minute? 10?
a woman crossed over to his bed .. " you're awake .. good!"
he mumbled some jumbled thing or other as she put her hand on his forehead and then took his pulse ..
he had soup that day
later he drank juice and spooned gobs of peanut butter into his starving mouth
"wow .. never been this hungry."
..
when Christian was confident enough to open his mouth wthout saying something stupid he asked the nurse how he'd come to be in the hospital, and how long he'd been here, and what happened, and did he say anything stupid ..
she said someone had brought him in 3 days ago, in his arms .. "like no stretcher nor nuthin' .. crazy."
said he'd found Christian in the road out by Holy Creek ..
she said he'd been beaten badly
amazing he lived through it
his head had taken a couple blows, hard blows .. "only God's mercy.."
"who?""who?" she asked
"who brought me here?"
"Never saw the guy. Alls i know is he signed the papers 'Hussein Muslim' ..
and he left money for your treatment .. crazy .. who does that?"
..
.. . .... . .. .. .. . . . . ......... .. .
one day an expert in theology looked to test Jesus
"Rabbi .. what should i do to inherit eternal life?"
..
"well .. what does the holy Law say?"
"love the Lord God with all your heart and soul and strength and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself."
"absolutely", Jesus said ..
but the theologian looked to justify himself, so he said "and who exactly is my neighbour?" ..
and Jesus told a story
about Christian
and Preacherman
and Theo
and Hussein Muslim
..
and when he'd finished Jesus asked the expert " which of the three d'you think was neighbour to that man?"
".. the one that helped him i suppose .."
"absolutely .. now, go and love like that."
..
there are other versions to the story
the original that Jesus told involved a hated smaritan and 2 jews - a priest and a levite, both holymen in their religion
but we can readily (?) substitute for the samaritan ..
the refugee in europe, or america
the black in the south, or the city
the homosexual, or the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender
the addict, or the drunk
the homeless, or the poor
that woman that had an abortion
the man recently released from jail
the whoever-we-scapegoat to justify us/me
who then is my/our neigbour?
..
and Jesus looked at me and said "now go, and love like that .. "
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