Roger arranged for a two week vacation shortly after the Easter Holiday, and Jimmy called Dan Sommers and told him that he didn't want to deliver a sermon, but he would appreciate it if he could say a few farewell words to the congregation. Dan was sure that it would be all right, but he gave him the new minister's telephone number so he could make sure that Jimmy was part of the service. "His name is Mark Sommers," Dan said. "He's my nephew actually.
There was a small one bedroom apartment attached to the rear of the church which had served as Jimmy's home for the five years he had ministered there. He wondered if Mark lived there now.
When he called Mark's number a sweet feminine voice answered. "Pastor Mark's residence."
"Is he at home?" Jimmy asked.
"Yes, may I ask who is calling?"
"This is Pastor Winningham."
"Oh yes. We've been expecting your call. It is so lovely to talk to you. Please hold. I'll get my husband right away. He's playing with our son in the back yard."
While he waited, Jimmy thought, They have a back yard. It doesn't sound like they live behind the church.
"Hello Jim," a friendly voice said. "I've heard so much about you. I'm delighted to be speaking to you." If he heard so much about me why is he delighted to be speaking to me? Jimmy wondered.
"It's nice to speak to you too, Mark. First let me ask you something. Is my apartment behind the church being used by anyone?"
"No, no, Jennifer and I have our own home. The apartment was too small for us and our son, and we have another one on the way."
"Wonderful, wonderful," Jimmy repeated. "Congratulations! Here's my plan. I'll come this Saturday evening and stay in my old apartment. I don't have many things, but I'd like to pack up what I need and take it back to Atlanta. I'm not going to deliver a sermon. It's going to be more of a farewell speech, so I think speaking after you will be appropriate, if that's all right with you."
"I like your plan," Mark said. "Is there anything I can do for you while you are here?"
"No, I'll be fine thank you, but I'll be bringing a guest, if you don't mind. He's a minister also and he has been my main caregiver all through my hospital stay and after my release. In fact, I am living with him right now."
"He sounds like a saint," Mark said. "I look forward to meeting both of you."
"Same here! God bless!" Jimmy signed off.
"He sounded very nice," Jimmy said to Roger. "I'll bet they all love him and were glad to see me go."
"I think that when you say goodbye to them, they might have a change of heart. From everything you have told me, you are not the same you."
"That's for sure," Jimmy agreed.
Jimmy found the key to his apartment under the welcome mat where he had always left it. He and Roger entered, and Jimmy turned on the light. It wasn't working.
"Oh great," Jimmy lamented.
"Is there a hotel we can go to?" Roger asked.
"Yes, about five miles from here. I always kept some candles and matches in a kitchen drawer. Let's see if they are still there before we go running off."
Sure enough, Jimmy found some candles. He lit one, and with its light, he retrieved a candle stick holder from a cabinet. With the aide of the lighted candle he led the way to the bedroom.
"Very romantic," Roger quipped. "It's a good thing that we are lovers or one of us would have to sleep on the floor." He turned his head toward the cot size bed.
"It'll be fun," Jimmy said, "but we won't be able to pack until dawn, and if we don't finish, we can continue after church. Just let's make sure to get out of here as soon as possible. I'm beginning to feel very apprehensive and uncomfortable."
"Yes, I promise. We'll get us out of here as soon as possible."
They woke early and packed Jimmy's meager belongings in the car. They were finished before the sun had fully risen. Then they went to a coffee shop to have a little breakfast.
Roger and Jimmy stood outside the small church as inconspicuously as they could. Jimmy was eyeing the crowd, looking for Dan Sommers. All the while, several people approached them, offered a handshake and welcomed the `strangers' to their church. Nobody recognized the stylish, young Jimmy Winningham. Jimmy didn't realize that they didn't know who he was and he assumed that they had totally forgotten him in so short a time. He wanted to cry, but he heard Robbie laughing.
What's that about? He mentally asked Robbie.
No answer!
Jimmy was shocked to see a few black couples in the crowd. Then he spotted Dan and his wife walking from the parking lot. He started to walk toward them. He extended his hand and Dan looked at him quizzically.
"Hi Dan," Jimmy said. "It's so good to see you."
"Hi, young man, do I know you?"
Jimmy began to laugh heartily and with good humor. "Dan, it's me, Jim Winningham."
"Oh, my God! In a million years I would not have recognized you." Dan stared in amazement. "I know you had a heart transplant, but I didn't know it included plastic surgery."
"Not plastic surgery," Jimmy replied. "Just happiness, contentment, love, and an amazing care giver."
"You've met someone then. How wonderful!" Dan said.
"Miraculous," his wife said facetiously. Everyone ignored her.
"I'd like you to meet someone who has come to mean a great deal in my life," Jimmy told Dan and his wife. Taking hold of Roger's arm, he said. "This is Father Roger Graham. He's a chaplain at the hospital where I had surgery, and we have become intimate friends."
Mary Sommers looked at the handsome priest and her animosity disappeared. She took his hand to shake, and said, "It's so nice to meet you Father."
"Just call me Roger, please."
"I think it's time to go in now," Dan said.
Roger could not get over the simple service and wondered if it would even last an hour. He expected that Mark's sermon would be the better part of it.
Mark ascended to the pulpit, and smiled broadly at the congregation. He welcomed everyone to the little church and especially welcomed the visitors among them.
Once again, Jimmy wondered why he had never welcomed his flock. He guessed that it was like a given that they had to be there, so why waste the words?
Mark's sermon was short and sweet. It concerned charity, not only the money and the assets you give to worthy causes, but the charity you show to your fellow man. "That's the charity you give of yourselves to others. The more love and support you give to your fellow man, the more comes back to you."
When the congregation said `amen' nobody said it more fervently than Jimmy.
At the conclusion of his sermon, Mark smiled at the congregation and said, "I have a wonderful surprise for you today. Our former pastor, Jim Winningham, has returned to us and would like to say a few words."
Jimmy distinctly heard a few groans and he also heard Robbie laughing. He hesitated for a few moments, and then rose and approached the pulpit. Instead of groans, there was a loud gasp from the assembled. They could not believe that the handsome young man approaching the dais was Jim Winningham. To add to the drama, Robbie walked beside him, and there appeared to be a light shining from Jimmy's body.
Jimmy had not confided in Roger, so Roger had no idea what his lover was going to say. He sat stiffly and expectantly in his seat.
"Thank you, thank you all," Jimmy began, "for welcoming me back." I promise to be brief. I know you all have your Sunday lunches waiting for you, and I have to return to Atlanta when the service is concluded.
"I just wanted to ask you all to forgive me." Jaws dropped all over the church. "I was a preacher to you, yes, but I was never a spiritual leader. For that I apologize. Recently I heard a sermon delivered by my good friend, Father Roger. This morning I heard another sermon by your wonderful pastor, Mark. Each in his way urged you to love and to be charitable. What a wonderful message, but hardly new.
"These are the lessons of Jesus, which these two fine young men have taken upon themselves to teach, and to spread the good word to all who will listen. I distorted everything, every text that God gave us. I am aware that I preached hatred. I don't know what I was thinking. Again, I ask that you forgive me. I am truly changed. I have often heard the expression, `born again.' If there is such a thing it happened to me.
"The new, healthy heart which beats inside of me was given to me, in an act of pure charity, by the parents of a teen age boy who was beaten to death. He was martyred for what he was, and Jesus surely wept at his death. That young man walks beside me, holds my hand, and guides me. I hear his voice and I know that he is my guardian angel. I promise you that I have learned love, charity and forgiveness, but I need you all to forgive me so that I can move on, and make my ministry meaningful."
Jimmy started to leave the pulpit, but to his surprise, Mark came to him and embraced him. When the congregation, including Mary Sommers, saw this they stood and cheered and yelled, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Jimmy was crying on Mark's shoulder as Roger took his hand and led him back to his seat. Mark chose a hymn of thanksgiving to close the service. Nobody sang louder or more joyously than Jimmy.
After the service he was surrounded by his former flock. Everyone wanted to shake his hand and wish him well. Others talked to Roger. They wanted to know about his church, and what magic he used to bring Jimmy to his senses. Roger just laughed and attributed the miracle to Robbie Cutler and Jesus Christ.
Mark could not get close to Jimmy so he approached Roger. "Please," he said, "it's not often I can sit and chat with fellow clergymen. Would you and Pastor Winningham come for lunch? Just give me an hour. There is so much I want to ask you."
"It would be an honor," Roger answered for both of them.
Jennifer Sommers served egg salad and chicken salad on a bed of lettuce. She provided biscuits with honey in true southern style. Everything was delicious. After lunch, Mark invited his two guests to sit with him on his veranda before they left. Jennifer served them iced tea and then left them alone.
Mark smiled at Jimmy and asked, "You said that your heart donor was martyred, Jim. How was he martyred?"
A tear came to Jimmy's eye. "He was gay and he was beaten to death. He was also Jewish, but there were a lot of Jews in his high school. He was often abused because of his sexual orientation, not his religion, so we are sure that was the reason for the attack. Members of Robbie's temple generously contributed blood to me to make sure Robbie's heart lived.
"But the real miracle came after the surgery." Jimmy continued. I met Roger and he began to minister to my spiritual needs. He visited me every day. His second in command was Robbie's Rabbi, Joe, and last but not least, a black, male nurse ministered to all my physical needs. From the start, Mark, I began to hear Robbie's voice. He assured me that his heart would last my lifetime, and it would be a long life. He told me that God had blessed me and to go out and preach love, not hate. He was gay and he was in heaven, not hell. What an eye opener. Speaking of eye openers, I looked in the mirror and saw that I had changed physically too. I was actually handsome and my face was full of peace. I hardly recognized myself. It seems most of your congregation didn't recognize me either."
Jimmy seemed to have finished his narrative, and Mark looked him straight in the eye and asked. You two are a couple aren't you?'
Jimmy panicked, turned red and was speechless. Roger took his hand, and Robbie told him to calm down. "Yes, we are," Roger stated. "Given that Jim is a former homophobe, how did you know?"
Mark smiled. "My Uncle Dan has two brothers, my dad and one other, Paul. Paul is gay. He came out in high school, and he too faced daily abuse. Just imagine what it's like growing up gay in the Bible belt."
"I don't have to imagine," Roger said.
Mark went on. "Everyone in our family, my dad, Uncle Dan, and Jen and I, love Uncle Paul and his partner to death. If those two guys go to hell then I will stop believing in my faith. Somehow you two just reminded me of them."
Jimmy was cringing. He wanted to vomit. He thought back to all the times he had raved and ranted against gays, and Dan was sitting in his church all the time. How did that make Dan feel? Without realizing what he was doing, he began to sob and he yelled out. "Forgive me, please forgive me."
Roger and Mark jumped up and surrounded him with hugs.
"Not to sound like a Catholic Priest," Mark said, "but I'm pretty sure you were well forgiven in church this morning."
"Amen," Roger said.
When Roger and Jimmy went to their car to begin the ride home, Mark made them promise to stay in touch.
"And please let us know when the new baby arrives," Jimmy begged.