Daniel was surprised to see only Alex walk in after lunch.
“Where’s Mom and Dylan?” he asked.
“Bonnie took Dylan to get ice cream. I didn’t really want any, so I had her drop me off.” Alex shook her head with a smile. “Your mom is spoiling my son rotten.”
Daniel chuckled. “Well, she’s been wanting grandchildren for quite a while now, so I think she’s using Dylan as a surrogate.” His humor faded. “I know that she wanted a big family, lots of kids.” He sighed. “It would have been nice to have brothers and sisters.”
Alex nodded. “I sometimes wish that Dylan had a little brother or sister too, though it’s hard enough taking care of one child as a single parent. I’m not sure I could handle more.”
“Oh, I think you’d do fine, Alex. Besides. . . .” Daniel’s voice trailed off.
“Besides what?” Alex prompted.
“Nothing. I was just going to say that things may change for you in the future.” What he was actually going to say was that she wouldn’t be a single parent forever, but he had decided that might lead to something he wasn’t ready to discuss yet.
The minister changed the subject to something safer. During the conversation, Alex noticed Daniel frequently touching the bible that sat on his lap, and it seemed to her that he was a little sad. Finally, she asked him what was troubling him.
The minister sighed deeply. “Tomorrow is Sunday,” he stated quietly.
“Yes, it is. What. . . . Oh. Sunday services.”
Daniel nodded. “This will be the second Sunday that I’ve been unable to conduct services. It bothers me. I kind of feel like I’m letting my congregation down.”
“Daniel, I am positive that they don’t feel the same way. Stuff like this happens. Ministers and priests get sick and hurt like everyone else, and, sometimes, they have no choice but to forego conducting services for a while. Before you arrived, the Protestants had to attend church on the mainland every Sunday. I’m sure that they don’t mind having to do it again for a little while.”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right. But I’ll still be happy when I can get back to doing my job.”
After Bonnie and Dylan returned, they all spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and playing games. Alex, Dylan, and Daniel’s mother got something to go for dinner and ate it in the minister’s room.
It was around seven o’clock that evening when the phone rang. Daniel answered it, thinking that perhaps it was his father. Cliff had called last night to ask how Daniel was doing and had said that he’d call again tonight. But when Daniel answered the phone, he learned that it wasn’t his father calling.
“Reverend Cooper? This is Joseph Mann again.”
“Hello, Mister Mann,” Daniel greeted, his eyes meeting Alex’s. “Are you calling to talk to Alex again?”
“Yes, but I also wish to talk to you about what we discussed before. Frank and I talked with Doctor Watson, and we have made arrangements for the expansion of the clinic that will work out for everyone.”
“That’s very good news. Do you mind me asking what arrangements you made?”
“Not at all. We’re going to donate the cost of materials, labor, and equipment and write it off as a charitable donation.”
Daniel smiled broadly. “And declare it as a tax deduction.”
“Exactly.”
“Well, I’m glad you worked something out. Would you like to speak to Alex now?”
“Yes, I would.”
Daniel handed the phone to Alex.
“Hello,” she said into the receiver.
“Good evening, Ms. Stone. I assume that Reverend Cooper told you about the situation with the committee.”
“Yes, he did. I’m not happy that it won’t work out like I was hoping, but I appreciate you at least allowing us to try to discourage unwanted buyers.”
“Well, since this is your community that Hope Gardens will be a part of, we agree that you should at least have some influence in who moves there. I am sorry that things couldn’t be worked out the other way, but we obviously can’t leave ourselves open for lawsuits. I’m sure you understand.”
“Yes, I do.”
“I wanted to let you know that Frank and I will be arriving on the island Monday afternoon. We want to be there for the vote.”
“Thanks for telling me. I guess we’ll see you then.”
Alex said goodbye and handed the phone back to Daniel, who hung it up.
“They’ll be arriving Monday afternoon,” Alex told him.
The minister nodded. Alex had decided earlier that, since she’d have to be there for the vote on Tuesday, she might as well remain on the island after taking Dylan back tomorrow. She’d return to the mainland Tuesday afternoon before Bonnie left to go home.
“Was it the clinic that you two were talking about?” she asked him.
“Yeah. They’re going to donate all the costs of expanding the practice and declare it as a charitable donation.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. Business owners are always looking for a way to reduce their taxes. So, I guess the final big stumbling block to this thing has been smoothed out.”
“Does that mean the place is going to be built?” Dylan asked.
“That’s going to be up to everyone on the island,” Alex replied. “We’ll all be voting on it Tuesday morning. If the majority of people vote for it, then it will be built.”
“Would you cast my vote for me, Alex?” Daniel asked.
“Sure, I can do that. We’re just going to have people put their votes on slips of paper, so just write yours down, and I’ll stick it in the ballot box.”
“Thanks.”
The phone rang again, and, this time, it was Daniel’s father. They chatted for a while, Daniel telling him about the call from Mister Mann and how things were progressing with his therapy.
“Daniel, I want you to know that if there is ever anything I can do for your church or Hope Island, all you have to do is ask,” Cliff told him. “It’s your home now, and I want everything to go well for you there.”
“Thank you, Dad. It means a lot to me for you to offer that.”
They talked a while longer, then said goodbye. Daniel, Alex, and Dylan then played a game of Chinese Checkers, Dylan having brought the game with him. Like before, Daniel won easily.
“One of these days, one of us is going to beat you, Daniel,” Alex said good-naturedly. “We’re just going to have to practice a lot.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Alex,” Bonnie said, smiling. “Daniel was beating me at that game by the time he was nine years old. He also plays a pretty fair game of chess, as I recall.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve played chess. The last time was with Judge Bradley.” A look of sadness crossed the minister’s face.
“What is it, Son?” his mother asked.
“His was the first funeral I performed the services for. It wasn’t an easy thing to do.”
Bonnie nodded, her eyes looking at him in sympathy and understanding. “I remember Cliff’s first funeral service. It wasn’t easy for him either, especially since it was for one of his favorite parishioners.”
They played another game, this time Old Maid, which Alex won. After that, it was time for everyone to leave. As Alex and Dylan left the room, Bonnie told them she’d be right with them, then turned to her son.
“So, what’s wrong, Daniel?” she asked.
Daniel met her eyes for a moment, then smiled faintly. “I can’t get anything by you, can I.”
“No, and you shouldn’t even try. I’m your mother.”
The minister sighed. “I’m just a little down about not being able to give services tomorrow.”
Bonnie sat on the edge of the bed and laid her hand over his. “You are so much like your father was when he was a young man starting out in his ministry. He loved his congregation and preaching to those people every Sunday. They were all his friends, like your congregation is to you. But, unlike your father, you have no ambitions for more. You love preaching right where you are. It makes you happy.”
“Yeah, it does. Oh, I wish my congregation was a little bigger, if only for the fact that it would bring in more money to the church, which I could really use for repairs and such, but I love that church. I love Hope and the people there. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”
“You are very lucky to have found a place you love so much, a place that gives you what your heart needs. You would never have been truly happy if you’d stayed at home. Hope Island is where you belong.”
“Yes, it is. I know now that it’s where God wants me to be. I knew that for a certainty when all the islanders gave me money to keep me from losing the church.”
Bonnie gave her son’s hand a little squeeze. “Don’t let your inability to hold services tomorrow upset you, Daniel. Your congregation will be waiting for you when you go home. I think they’d wait for you no matter how long it took.” She got a thoughtful look on her face. “Perhaps it would help you feel better if you went ahead and wrote a sermon as if you were going to give one. Knowing you, you’ll be up at the crack of dawn. Why not spend the time until we get here on a sermon? You could use it as the next one you give. In fact, you’ll probably be up for another hour or so. You could get started on it tonight.”
Daniel smiled. “Thanks, Mom. That’s a good idea. I think it would make me feel better.”
Bonnie stood and gave him a kiss on the cheek then said goodbye.
Alone, Daniel pulled out his writing pad and pencil. He stared at the paper for a while, then, with a soft smile, began to write.
**********
Sunday morning dawned with Daniel already awake, his pencil busy writing down the words that were coming to him. When Alex, Dylan, and Bonnie arrived, he set aside his notepad and focused on them.
Bonnie picked up the pad and glanced over it. “Is this your sermon?”
“Yeah, and it did make me feel better to write it, a lot better. I’ll be looking forward to giving it. Funny thing is that it usually takes me a good part of the day to write a sermon, but that one came so quickly. And I didn’t even have my guitar with me.”
“I’m glad it made you feel better, and I know that your parishioners will love to hear it.”
The four of them chatted quietly, Daniel finding his eyes going frequently to the clock on the wall, counting down the minutes to nine o’clock, when he would usually be in his church singing hymns and preaching to his congregation.
It was twenty minutes to nine when Daniel was shocked to see Ruby, Bonita, Marcus, and Callie come walking in his room.
“What are you doing here?” the minister asked. “Shouldn’t you be heading off to church services?”
“We’re on our way now, but we wanted to stop by here first,” Callie said, smiling broadly.
“Well, it’s great to see you,” Daniel said. “Did the rest of the congregation come to the mainland for services?”
“Yes, I think so,” Marcus said. “I believe I saw all of them on the ferry.”
“That’s good. I’m sure you know how much I regret not being able to hold services today.” As he said the words, Daniel thought he caught a fleeting grin on Dylan’s face, but when he glanced at the boy, Dylan was staring down at the floor.
“We know, Daniel,” Ruby said soothingly. “And there is no one else that we’d rather have give us the sermon. Very soon, you’ll be out of this hospital and back home where you belong.”
“We have something we’d like to show you,” Bonita told Daniel. “We think it will cheer you up.”
“What is it?” Daniel asked, wondering what they could possibly want to show him.
“Come and we’ll show you,” Ruby said with a big smile.
Marcus and Alex helped Daniel into his wheelchair, then, with Marcus pushing him, everyone headed down the hall. They took the elevator to the floor that the ICU was on.
“What’s on this floor that you’d want to show me?” Daniel asked, puzzled.
Shortly after the question was out of his mouth, they turned a corner and there in front of them was the hospital’s chapel--and in the chapel was Daniel’s congregation. The minister’s mouth fell open.
“What’s this?” he asked, astounded, as he was wheeled into the chapel.
“We’re going to have our services here, Daniel,” Molly said, coming forward with a warm smile. “And we want you to give them.”
“What? But . . . but how? I mean, how did you arrange all of this?”
“It was your mother and Alex, Daniel,” Bonita told him. “They called us last night and asked if we’d like to do this. Of course we said yes.”
Daniel’s eyes went to his mother and the redhead, who were both beaming at him.
“I talked to some people here at the hospital, and they said that there would be no problem with us using the chapel,” Bonnie said. She looked around the room, her eyes suddenly bright with unshed tears. “This is where we all prayed that you would live when you were in surgery, and it’s where we found out that you were going to be all right. It feels right that you should give a sermon here.”
Daniel blinked back his own tears. “I don’t know what to say. This means so much to me. Thank you, Mom.” His gaze went to Alex. “And thank you, Alex. I can’t say enough that you would do this for me.”
Alex nodded, giving him a smile.
Nub came forward with Daniel’s guitar and hymnal. “Here you go, Daniel. We can’t have services without music.”
The minister stroked the red cover of the hymnal. “No, we can’t, can we. Thank you.” He looked up at his mother. “My sermon and my bible. I’ll need them.”
“I’ll get them,” Alex said. She hurried back to Daniel’s room. Seeing the joy on the minister’s face had made her glad that she’d been a part of getting the services held at the hospital chapel, but, now, she had a problem. How was she going to avoid attending the services without Daniel’s mother noticing and wondering why? The woman was going to expect her to be there. She suspected that Daniel didn’t want his parents to know about her views on religion, at least not yet, and she didn’t want to cause trouble between him and his father, not after they’d finally found each other. But she couldn’t think of a way to avoid the questions that were bound to arise because of her absence during the services. Alex sighed. There was nothing that could be done about it. She would just have to hope that Bonnie chose not to ask about it.
When Alex got back to the chapel, she saw that someone had brought Daniel’s ministerial robes, and he was now wearing them. Someone had also apparently made a makeshift pulpit that was low enough for the minister to use in his wheelchair. She brought the bible and notepad up to him. Daniel thanked her and looked deeply into her eyes. He could see her discomfort and concern and knew what was causing it.
“You go on, Alex,” he said softly, with an understanding smile. “Don’t worry about it. It will be all right.”
Alex nodded, returning his smile. Giving Dylan a brighter smile, she walked back down the hall and left the chapel. Daniel watched her go, wishing she had stayed, but not disappointed that she hadn’t. He knew that Alex Stone had to find her own path in life and couldn’t be forced to follow the one he would like her to.
Hope Island’s minister looked at the faces of the people sitting before him, his throat tightening. They were all here, every member of his congregation. They’d come to hear him preach. Daniel also noticed several unfamiliar faces. Some looked like patients, those who sat beside them likely relatives. There were also people dressed in clothing that identified them as hospital staff. How did they find out about the services? He didn’t know nor did he care. They were here to listen to God’s word. That’s all that mattered.
“Thank you so much for coming, all of you,” Daniel said to those assembled. “It means more than I can say that you are here. God works in wondrous ways, and I know he had a hand in bringing you here today. To start out with, let’s all sing number six nineteen, Healer of Our Every Ill.”
As Dylan handed Daniel his guitar, everyone who was able to rose to their
feet, Daniel’s congregation members sharing their hymnals with those who did
not have one. The notes of Daniel’s guitar began to play and everyone
lifted their voices in song.
Healer of our every ill,
Light of each tomorrow,
Give us peace beyond our fear,
And hope beyond our sorrow.
Once the song was over, Daniel gave the guitar back to Dylan. He gathered
up his sermon notes and looked at them for a moment, then he set them aside,
deciding that he wanted to speak the words as they came to him. “One day
during Jesus’s ministry,” he began, “a ruler of the city’s synagogue, a man
named Jairus, came to him. The man’s twelve-year-old daughter, his only
child, was deathly ill. The man fell at Jesus’s feet, begging him to heal
her. Moved with compassion, Jesus immediately went to the man’s house.
But when they got there, someone came out and told the man that his daughter
was dead, that it was too late; he shouldn’t bother Jesus anymore. Yet,
Jesus did not turn around and leave. He did not give the man words of
condolence and return to his preaching. Instead, he said, ‘Fear not.
Believe only, and she shall be made whole.’ He then went into the house
where he found everyone wailing and crying in grief. He told them all
not to weep, for the girl was not dead, only sleeping. This caused everyone
to laugh at him in scorn, for they knew that the child had died. Yet,
still, Jesus did not turn around and leave. With the child’s parents and
three of his apostles, he went into the room where the little girl’s body was.
There, he reached out, took the child’s hand and commanded her to arise.
With his words, the spirit of life flowed back into the little girl, and she
sat up, healed by faith and the power and mercy of God.”
Daniel looked about again at the people in the chapel. As he’d spoken, more people had quietly entered and were now seated, listening to him intently. Swallowing the lump that was beginning to form in his throat, he continued. “Less than two weeks ago, my life was placed in the hands of God and the doctors here in this hospital. Some have told me that my survival was miraculous, yet that was not the true miracle. The real miracle happened when, on the night I had my surgery, the night that I hung between life and death, hundreds of people, including most of you here today, people of all religions and beliefs, set aside their differences, gathered together, and prayed to God for my life. On that night, it did not matter what religion you were, what personal beliefs you had. Petty differences and personal interests were left behind as you joined together with one voice, one heart. You did not care about those who might scorn you for your beliefs. You did not care that the man or woman standing beside you might not worship the same way you do. You put all your faith in God and trusted in him to listen to your voice. And he did. I feel in my heart that it was because of your prayers, your voices, that I am here with you now.”
Daniel swallowed again, steadying his voice, which had grown rough with emotion. “No words can describe the wondrousness and beauty of the miracle that happened that night. It is one that I will hold in my heart until the day I die . . . and beyond. Just as God and his mercy was with Jairus and his family that day so long ago, he was with me, my family, and all of you.”
Out in the hallway, hidden from view, Alex stood leaning against the wall, tears sliding down her face. She had made it only halfway to the cafeteria, where she had planned on waiting for the sermon to end, when something made her turn around and return to the chapel. She had stood out in the hallway, listening to Daniel talk about that night everyone prayed for him. Despite the religiousness of his sermon, his words had seeped deep into her heart. That night had been a miracle, regardless of whether it had been one wrought by a god she was still not ready to return to or one created by the people of Hope. It had shown her again how wonderful the people of the place she and Daniel called home could be, how incredible a thing the human heart was. Hope Island had truly earned its name that night, when everyone joined together with a single hope and purpose.
As the sermon continued, Alex left and went to the restroom to erase the traces of her tears, then she went outside, a smile in her heart.