Easter with Ollie

The black suburban parked in front of my house exactly at 8:45 am. The driver did not come up and ring my doorbell, probably because he knew my camera surveillance system would notify me of their arrival, or perhaps more likely, he knew I would be looking out my window watching for them.

I walked up to the suburban, and the driver opened up the door in back, but before he let me in to join Ollie, he patted me down pretty well to make sure I was unarmed. Then, he let me get in and I sat next to Ollie.  He was wearing a nice jacket and tie, with shiny oxford shoes.

“Happy Easter Carson!  The Lord has risen.”

“Happy Easter to you too Ollie. Yes, he has.  How have you been?  Have you been on any interesting adventures lately?”

“Well, I did take a trip last month to visit the President.  It was a waste of time for me actually. I’ve met multiple presidents over the last 80 years, and once again, I learned that our best and brightest do not usually occupy the oval office, and that politics is not meant for honest men.”

“I see, but then how did you —”

Ollie changed the subject immediately and clearly didn’t want to talk about it.  “Carson, as you noticed, we are not driving to the small church near the beach I took you to last summer.  This is a much larger church with a congregation in the thousands, and I thought I would blend in better here and not cause too much commotion and hopefully, the pastor will not call on me to say anything in such a large congregation.”

“Blend in?  You don’t blend in anywhere on this planet Ollie.  Well, maybe you would blend in if you were in a large room of 100 wavy white-haired Einstein look – a – likes.”

“Good point.”

The driver pulled us up in front of the church, opened the back doors on each side, and made sure he didn’t help the old man get out.  He learned to never do that because Ollie never accepted assistance, even when he may have needed it.  We walked in to the church and sat in the back, and Ollie propped his cane against the seat, in between us. I looked around for the ever-present shadow man, and easily found him, one pew back, on the end, about twenty feet away.  No one else will notice him but me. I learned how to pick them out, simply by their look and the air by which they held themselves.  We stood and sang as the pop band played, and although I knew Ollie couldn’t stand for a long time, he stubbornly did it, leaning on is cane a little more than usual, I thought.

We sat down and listened to the sermon and the pastor did a good job. He reminded us of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, who although apparently members of the San Hedrin the tried Jesus, never the less, were responsible for giving Jesus a proper burial after his crucifixion.  Interestingly, these two men apparently did not give Jesus this kind of attention or acknowledgement when he was still alive, due to fear for their lives.  The pastor was asking us essentially if we would still acknowledge Jesus tomorrow and if we would change and acknowledge him in public.  It was an excellent challenge.

At the end, there was some quiet time for prayer, and Ollie suddenly brought himself to his knees, and since it was not a catholic church, there was not a knee bar, but that didn’t matter.  He brought his rickety old knees to the floor and prayed silently, and I could see his breathing become heavy as he immersed himself into his communication with the Lord.  I realized that old Ollie, at 103, was the only one in this large congregation, on his knees praying.  Without question, he was also the only one there who has seen so much, experienced so much, and saved so many lives with his sacrifice in his life, and yet, he wanted no attention.

We left and the driver picked us up and drove me home.  Of course, as always, I never asked Ollie where he was going.  The car was completely quiet, for about ten minutes, and eventually asked me, “Do you believe Carson?  Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, who came to earth as a man, to die for us to release us from sin and provide everlasting life?”

“Yes, Ollie, I believe.”

“Good.   I’m feeling energetic now, refreshed in spirit.  I want you to go out and do good things and make a difference for others, even when you are fatigued or feeling weak — and when you see evil, you need to get mean and kick evil’s ass.  I know that is what I will do.”

I laughed at that.  “Yes, do good things and then kick evil’s ass.”

“If you need me Carson, I am here for you, as long as the time I have remaining.”

“Thanks Ollie, but I do not know how to find you, you know, with all that secrecy stuff surrounding you.”

“I will find you Carson.”

© SRCarson Publications, 2023