Keepers of the Truth

I'm hoping to take advantage of the number of people visiting the site currently and the fact that many of them have religion on their minds by posting one of my stories. I would love any thoughts on the story itself (The beginning is weak), but I'd truly love ideas for a title (My brother once gave me an idea that was really good, but I forgot it. I'll have to ask again.). Below is the story:


Jeremy sat down at the table and hoped that his headache would go away. The last thing he wanted to do today was sit through a boring dinner meeting, but unfortunately he had to attend or he knew there was no way he would have a chance to be promoted through the company.

A tall thin man sat down across from Jeremy at the table. He smiled and nodded to Jeremy as he adjusted his knife and fork. He was the kind of guy that would always be sucking up to the boss. This guy was the kind of guy that kept getting promoted while Jeremy sat at his job just hoping that he didn't get fired. What was it about those neat people who always made it to the top?

Looking down at his watch Jeremy wished that he had brought his flask along to this meeting. With a shot or two this meeting would not have been so hard to sit through. The main speaker was one of those motivational speakers who would stand up at the podium and tell everyone with a big smile on his face that getting ahead in business was as easy as getting out of bed in the morning. All they had to do was to keep a positive attitude and then everything would fall into place.

As dinner was being served, Jeremy noticed that he and the thin man were the only two people sitting at the table. The other tables were sometimes filled, but it seemed that the planners had hoped from more people to be here today. Jeremy just hoped things would be over quickly. He had already taken his fourth aspirin as he sat there and knew that before the end of the event he would be swallowing more.

"Excuse me," said the man. "My name is Richard David." He extended his hand across the table and Jeremy shook it.

"My name is Jeremy Johnson." He smiled at the man in that business smile he know how to do so well. He looked at the polish on the other man and wondered how it was he hadn't already made it to the top of the ladder.

"It's nice to meet you Jeremy. I was wondering, would you mind if I said a little prayer over this food before we began eating?"

"I'm not a religious man, so if you would like to say a prayer, you won't really be bothering me at all. You'll just have to forgive me for not joining you because I'm quite famished and I think that lack of food is causing me to have a large headache."

"Jeremy, I don't like to be one to preach, but I'd like to tell you that there is much more to life than getting ahead in business, but if you do want to get ahead, the lord is a great gateway to success."

This was the last thing that Jeremy wanted to be talking about. To make his point he grabbed his fork and began to spear baby carrots with it. He was hoping that if he just didn't show any interest in this discussion, then maybe the guy would just stop talking.

"Have you ever heard the story about the last supper? I think that might be an appropriate story for today. One of the apostles didn't want to wait through the blessing then either. He had plans of advance on his mind. He was more into thinking about how to get ahead than thinking about what the Lord could do for him."

"But didn't the Lord forgive him for his sins? Isn't that what the whole thing is about? You don't have to believe. You don't have to go to church. All you have to do is just show up at church every once in a while and you are saved. What's the point of all this praying?" Jeremy really just wanted to eat his dinner in silence and then take a nap while the man spoke, but somehow this man was getting to him and he wasn't going to take it.

Richard straightened up in his chair and began swishing his chicken around in the white sauce. "While it is true that God is a forgiving being, he tends to favor those who keep him foremost in his mind."

"Well, what about you? If God is so easy on those who are always thinking about him, why aren't you sitting up there at the front table?" Jeremy could feel the pounding in his head become more intense and he tried to massage away some of the pain.

"There are things that the Lord has for each of us to do. It's my job to sit here with the working class and help them find the true path. Maybe I'm here to show that there can be happiness in just doing the job in front of you." He was now talking with his fork. Jeremy could see Richard standing behind a podium telling everyone that things would work out for them if only they believed in God.

Looking around at the other tables, Jeremy saw people eating and laughing enjoying the company of the others around them. 'How come I had to sit at the table with the freak?' He thought to himself. 'This is just the way things have been going for me lately.' The last couple of weeks had been rather under productive and now he was hoping things would straighten out before people started to notice. That was one of the reasons he had come tonight. At least if they did notice then he could say he was trying to improve his performance by going and listening to the speaker.

"If everything was just as simple as believing in God," Richard was saying, moving closer to Jeremy, "and never being tested, then what would be the point? We all have to question our faith. The lord works in many different ways. Have you ever had a bad week at work?" Jeremy was so drawn in to the conversation that he actually found himself nodding without even thinking about it. "That's just him telling you that you have to work harder, and if you believe in him, he'll help you.

"I remember when I was having a bad time once. I wasn't getting all my deadlines and people were starting to complain. That's when I asked God for help. I mentioned something about my troubles to the guy in the cubical next to mine one day just in passing and he showed me a great way to save time and get my stuff done on time. All I had to do was ask the Lord and he showed me the way."

"The Lord showed you the way?" Jeremy almost spat out the piece of bread he was chewing on. "You said yourself that you talked to the guy next to you and he told you how to get your work done. What are you talking about, the Lord showed you the way?"

"Yes, the Lord, after I asked for his guidance, showed me the way. I would never have mentioned my troubles if the Lord hadn't prompted me to at that time, and He did so because He know that man could assist me."

"That's a big bunch of junk. You asked another human for help and they helped you. That's not a divine doing, it's just one person helping out another. It's just natural human kindness."

"You are wrong. There is much more to it than that. God works through the people and he shows them how to find the path, not by just pointing his finger and making everything easy, but by making us find the answers ourselves. There is more to the story than just that though." Richard stopped and drank a little of his water before he continued. "When I later talked to the man next to me it turned out he too was a God fearing man and was looking for a new church to attend. After I told him about my congregation he began to attend. That was the real reason that God made me talk to him. I was to show him the way into my church."

"Well, I don't want directions to your church. I just want to finish my meal and listen to the speaker and leave. I have no use for divine beings that think I have to fear them in order to make it through to the next life. If I lived in fear of things, I would never get anything done."

"Is that so? Do you not fear you will lose your job if things don't go right? Isn't it fear that makes you come to work every morning? Fear of paying the bills, fear of not being accepted by the people in your neighborhood?"

"I don't care what the people in my neighborhood think of me. I don't care if they think I'm sort of loser who can't hold a job. Sure I sometimes think about getting fired and what that will do to me, but I don't worship my job."

A smile was settling across Richard's face as he took a bite of his chicken. He chewed it slowly and looked at Jeremy. "Let me just say, Jeremy, that you should take the time to examine your life and look at all the ways that God has helped you. I'm sure that you have seen His influence in the things that have happened."

Jeremy wiped his chin on his napkin. 'Lord,' he thought, 'if you are up there, let me just ask you. Show yourself. If you will just stop this guy from bothering me then maybe I'll start to think about you more.'

"Another thing you have to do is start to look to the lord for answers to your questions. He is always willing to help those who are in need the most. Like when I was having trouble, I just asked the lord for help and he showed me the way. That's all..."

"Ladies and gentlemen," said the man who was now standing behind the podium, "I would like to welcome you all here today at our meeting on work productivity. The idea behind today's meeting is to give you all some new ways to beef up your productivity so that you can achieve more out of your workday without increasing your work."

As the man continue to speak Jeremy sat back in his chair and thought to himself, 'Thank God.' He then allowed himself to drift off to a near sleep state where his mind could relax in the gentle utterances of the speaker's voice.