Curt, feeling a strange sensation like an elephant had been lifted off his chest — no, lifted off his soul — smiled through the still flowing tears.
With choking, happy emotion, Curt said, "Wow! It's like the old Curt's somebody I don't even know anymore. He's like gone. I can't even relate to him. I am truly like what you said — 'born again.' I feel brand new."
~~~
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV
~~~
"Welcome to God's family. You now join me and several hundred million more across the planet as believers in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior." Kevin grinned and gave a gentle slap to Curt's shoulder.
"Now when I call you 'bro' it'll have a whole new meaning. You and I are now true bros —true brothers in Christ — related to each other as members of God's family. Capiche?"
"Yeah. Yeah. I understand. I do understand," and then Curt added with a huge smile and the new awareness of the meaning, "Bro."
"I wish I had your faith; you know, your understanding of things," Curt replied.
"You can. You should. You will. Remember, you are now a child of the King."
"Can you explain that some more?" asked Curt.
"Well, I can try. See, when you asked Jesus to be you Savior and He came into your life — into your heart and soul — you became a child of His. In the third chapter of John, the Bible calls what happened to you a few minutes ago being 'born again.' Think about it — you were just born but in the spiritual sense.
"Now," continued Kevin, "here's what's awesome: The Bible says Jesus Christ is King of kings — there's like no royalty or power anywhere higher than Jesus. Here's the thing — as a newborn babe in Christ, you were like adopted into God's family; you became a child of the King of kings!
"Every time I think about that, I get goose bumps.
"But what I want to say is that, bottom line, right now you're like a baby in the faith, but the more you read the Bible and pray — and prayer is simply talking to God — and the more you fellowship with other like-minded Christians and get in a good Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church, you'll grow spiritually from being a baby into being a mature Christian.
"Here, take my New Testament and read it whenever you can. I have no doubt but that the Holy Spirit will direct you to the spiritual 'food' in the New Testament that will get you growing from a spiritual newborn to a mature Christian. Okay?" and Kevin handed his New Testament to Curt.
"This is awesome!" replied Curt. "For sure, I want to learn more as quickly as I can!"
And, with Curt's response, Kevin said, "With God's help, you will. Let's pray about it together.
They prayed. Kevin thanked God for his and Curt's kinship as children of the King of kings and as brothers in Christ. He asked God to help them both — and especially, Curt at this time — to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the Christian faith and walk. Kevin said that although neither he nor Curt knew what plan God had in mind for each, nevertheless, they trusted God and His perfect will. Kevin ended the prayer by acknowledging God's sovereignty over all things, and praying that God's will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
~~~
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: John 1:12 NKJV
~~~
Although the camping experience had proven memorable for many reasons, from the encounter with the shepherd to the unintentional trespass onto the Indian burial grounds to the gastronomical delights of trout baked in the coals of the campfire to the encounter with Blackie earlier in the day, nevertheless, and not surprisingly, the discussion around the nightly campfire following Curt's conversion revolved around Curt's insatiable thirst to know more and more about Jesus and what it meant to be a Christian.
By the flickering firelight, Curt, at Kevin's suggestion and the Holy Spirit's urging, read aloud the first three chapters of the gospel of John. Kevin's intent being to give Curt a biblical account of Jesus, and who Jesus was and is. In addition, Kevin knew that the third chapter in itself would give Curt a solid understanding of the born-again experience as Curt had experienced it that afternoon.
Curt's questions were few — he felt more like a spiritual sponge, soaking up the words on the page as he read them aloud — words that before his conversion would have seemed words with little or no meaning, but now the words resonated deep and warm within Curt in a place that had not existed before.
He yearned for more.
Kevin then explained to Curt that the apostle Paul had mentored in the faith a young disciple named Timothy. Kevin said that the Bible contained a couple of letters that Paul had written to Timothy.
As Kevin was telling Curt about Paul and Timothy, he reached for the New Testament in Curt's hands and began fanning the pages until he found Paul's first letter to Timothy.
Kevin turned to chapter six and handed the New Testament back to Curt, saying, "Here, my brother, read in chapter six what Paul told Timothy about being a Christian. Don't get put off by the first verse that talks about slavery because slavery was a cultural thing back in the first century — Paul's not stating an opinion about slavery, he's simply talking about the relationship of a Christian within the culture of the time. But what I want you to concentrate on is the rest of the chapter. I think you'll get a better sense of what it means to be a Christian."
Kevin sat cross-legged in front of the campfire, marveling at the words he had used just now with Curt, and marveling even more that he knew about chapter six of Paul's first letter to Timothy. I feel like the Holy Spirit has led me in what to say and in where to direct Curt this evening, Kevin realized, and he whispered a silent prayer of praise.
As Curt read and Kevin listened, an occasional cracking sound within the campfire would generate a half dozen or more red, glowing sparks taking a brief ride on the campfire's thermal column before winking out in the darkness.
Curt finished reading and handed the New Testament back to Kevin, saying, "Thank you for sharing that with me and mega thanks for all that you have done for me today. I cannot begin to tell you how special this day has been!"
"Well, I appreciate that, but all I did was show you the way. God led you to the decision you made through the Holy Spirit, and, of course, what was done was done because Jesus paid the debt for sin on the cross two-thousand years ago.
"Anyway, this New Testament is yours. A gift from me," said Kevin as he handed back the New Testament to Curt.
"Oh, wow! Thanks! That's a special gift I'll treasure always. I really appreciate that. Now tell me, God? Holy Spirit? Jesus? I'm a bit confused," replied Curt.
"I understand. There is something called the Holy Trinity when Christians think of God. It's difficult to explain and many a whole lot smarter than me have tried without much success, but let me put it this way: God is a single entity made up of three Persons: God the Father; Jesus Christ, God's Son; and the Holy Spirit
"The Holy Spirit is God as the active Person in our lives and who indwells within us when we accept Jesus as Savior."
"Hmmm. I don't quite understand it, but I do understand it. Does that make sense?" asked Curt.
"Yes, that makes sense. It's the Holy Spirit confirming to you the validity of the Trinity even without you understanding it fully," replied Kevin, again, hearing himself talk and yet feeling like he was observing someone else because the way he was talking — the words and sentence structure — were not part of his usual speech pattern.
Kevin and Curt lapsed into silence and stared mesmerized into the campfire as each mentally and spiritually reflected on the day's events, Curt's conversation, and the Bible reading that had just taken place.
~~~
Suddenly Curt whispered, "Look! Look!" and inclined his head to his right where a movement of white just outside the light cast by the campfire had caug
ht Curt's attention.
No sooner had Kevin noticed the movement when a skunk, apparently female as evidenced by the three baby skunks no larger than hamsters that waddled closely behind mama skunk came into full view opposite Kevin and Curt on the far edge of the pool of light from the campfire.
Curt clapped his hands loudly and shouted, "Shoo!" to which the skunks paid no heed whatsoever, neither pausing, looking around, or acting threatened, or threatening but instead kept rooting, noses to the ground, for insect snacks attracted by the campfire.
Kevin whispered, "Well, that didn't work. What should we do?"
"Just sit tight. Hopefully, they'll go away in a few minutes."
"They sure are brave… or deaf… or blind," ventured Kevin.
"Well, they are nearsighted, so they probably don't see us, but, you're right, they act like they own the place, and I guess in a way, they do," chuckled Curt.
"You continue to amaze me with the trivia you know. How do you know they're nearsighted?"
"I don't know. Read in a book or on the Internet. Stuff like that interests me and sticks with me, that's all."
"I hope you're right; I mean that they'll go away soon."
And, after about ten minutes, during which time Kevin and Curt watched warily, the unconcerned and unflappable mother skunk and her brood wandered off into the darkness.
~~~
Kevin glanced at his wristwatch and saw it was 9:22PM. He said, "You know, I'm hungry. Really hungry."
Curt said, "Well, we got more MREs…."
"No, I mean hungry. Like for a big, juicy hamburger."
"I wish you hadn't said that. Now you got me missing that kind of stuff," sighed Curt.
Apparently, Kevin and Curt's caloric intake was suffering or their teenage metabolism simply craved the fast food cuisine of a Bob's Big Boy or Lotaburger, but all it took was the mention of hamburgers — big, fat, juicy hamburgers with all of the fixin's, and their conversation lightened and turned to things gastronomical.
The source and merits of various french fries gave way to opinions on the best tacos and burritos.
Soon Curt was emoting about and describing in detail the succulent delights of each food item that Kevin would mention in a grinning effort to challenge Kevin to top him in teasing about yet another fast food they were missing.
In addition, although the taste of the water purification tablets dissolved in the stream water in their canteens had made the water potable, it was less than palatable, which, when the fast food tease efforts began to wane, led to the next subject of the evening — a mutual longing for an icy, cold NeHi orange or lemon-lime or grape or strawberry soda.
From the subject of soft drinks, the young men transitioned into the relative merits of vanilla-, cherry-, or chocolate-laced Coca Cola, which, in turn, led to the relative merits of a Fitzgerald's malt versus a Creamland Dairies malt, which led to whether a malt is to be preferred to a shake.
And then there was the Orange Julius discussion. And then the iced-mug of A&W root beer — complete with a foot-long hot dog, a combination known as suds and pups — at the drive-in and hangout down on 14th street in Albuquerque — a memory that, along with all the other food fantasies, turned the whole of the evening's remaining conversation into a good natured exchange of laughter and nostalgia, in turn, triggering growling stomachs and over stimulated salivary glands.
Like their dying campfire, their conversation eventually died down as the night wore on. In the resultant silence, each lost in thought, each reflected on what had been an extraordinary day, each comfortable and certain in their new kinship with each other, a relationship that both sensed transcended spoken words.
As a single remaining flame of the campfire became ever smaller, Kevin said, "It's getting late. Let's pray and thank God for this special day."
"Agreed. It's been an awesome day for me, for sure," replied Curt.
"And for me, too," said Kevin.
Kevin prayed. At the end of the prayer, Curt echoed Kevin's "Amen."
~~~
Not realized by either Kevin or Curt at the time, the shared spiritual experiences of the day coupled with the skunk encounter and the laughter and fun of the evening's banter about food was a time of special bonding that only one of the two would cherish in the coming years.
Chapter Six
Day Five: The Fateful Fork in the Road
The next morning it was obvious that Kevin and Curt's black and white campsite visitors of the night before had returned sometime during the night, re-explored the campsite, and left a "calling card" nearby.
"Whew! That is strong!" exclaimed Kevin as he laced up his boots outside the tent.
Curt had risen a few minutes before Kevin and was busy rekindling the campfire. "It's not too bad. Smells like whatever they did, they did it a ways from camp. I'll get some smoke going and maybe that'll help mask the smell," replied Curt.
"I hope it'll work!"
"You know, I was thinking about yesterday and what a special day it was. I really do feel like a new person, but I was thinking about my parents and how they're going to react. You know Dad — he's of that mindset that if you can't prove things — he uses the word 'empirically' — then it doesn't exist. I know that's somehow because of his upbringing by my grandparents. I don't think they every darkened the door of a church or thought much about God. Then, you know, Dad got his undergraduate degree — bio-engineering — and then a Master's and then his career — you know, the work he does at Sandia Labs and all that science stuff — and, well, it just seems like, I don't know, it's like all of that has separated him from looking for or even thinking about God. And Mom just kind of goes along with Dad.
, Curt, poking at the campfire, continued, "You know, even the notion of God has been absent at home. Darwin, yes, but God, no. I mean, if there was talk about that kind of stuff, it usually was during the nightly dinner on TV trays in the den in front of the television while we were watching some 'discovery' channel — you know, programs that were usually about the paranormal, or extraterrestrials, or evolution, or the supposed 'myths' and 'fables' of the Bible.
"But, I hadn't realized until now how those programs influenced us and how our family discussions, although maybe intellectually stimulating in one sense, seemed always — I don't know how to say it — always just seemed empty. You know, not satisfying. Know what I mean?"
Kevin had been listening to Curt while at the same time watching a Monarch butterfly flit around a half dozen milky butterfly weeds at the edge of the trout stream, momentarily landing on one, wings quivering only to fly off to yet another.
Kevin stood up and said, "I understand. Look at it this way: God has a plan for your life and it could very well be that your born-again experience and walking the talk — and by that I mean, walking with the Lord as a Christian example and showing God's love in your life and how you've changed because of Jesus in your life — well, maybe God intends you to be a witness to your parents — and maybe a whole lot more people — and eventually your dad and mom and a bunch of others will become believers too. Wouldn't that be cool!"
Kevin's words struck a chord deep inside Curt like an electrical jolt. The thought that God had a plan for Curt's future momentarily took Curt's breath away.
Suddenly, Curt experienced a spiritual and intellectual awareness that Kevin's words rang true — God did have a plan, a great plan, for Curt and his future, and Curt realized it and whispered to God that he would embrace whatever direction God intended for him.
"You know, Kevin, you're right. I sense it — or maybe a better way to put it is that the Holy Spirit has confirmed to me what you just said."
Kevin smiled and said, "God's in-charge."
~~~
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time… 1 Peter 6-7 NKJV
~~~
"You know, Curt, not only did you become a new creature in God yesterday, even your deme
anor — I mean, even your way of talking, your perspective on things, even the words you use, has changed. God indeed is working in you. And that is so-o-o awesome, my brother!"
~~~
Conversations about the nature of God and the Christian faith now occupied Kevin and Curt during almost every waking moment as they hiked and explored their immediate environment, always in a direction opposite from the Indian burial ground they had discovered on their second day in the wilderness.
Their routine had become one of awakening at daybreak, often to the noisy chatter of squirrels or the screeching of Steller's jays or both, taking care of personal needs, stoking the campfire, having a prayer session, having a breakfast MRE, tidying up the campsite, dampening the campfire, and heading out on an all-day hike with their day-hiking backpacks, a couple of MREs, and full, iodine-laced canteens.
~~~
On Day Five, Kevin and Curt crossed the stream in mid-morning and began a hike upstream, passing their campsite on the opposite bank.
They had hiked halfway between their campsite and the tent of the sheepherder who had been so kind on their first day when, as they were about to exit the forest growth and once again step out onto the bleak basalt and its water pits, they came upon a barely visible side trail that skirted the edge of the forest.
After a brief discussion, they decide to take the side trail to see what they could see and where it led. After a half-mile or so on the trail, and having hiked deeper into the mountains, they stopped. At that point, the trail forked; the main trail went straight ahead toward a saddle in a distant mountain and the lesser trail angled left.
They paused to consider which fork to take, and Curt, always ready to inject a bit of humor into things, said, "Well, we've come to a fork in the road, and you know what the comedian said, right?"
"No, what did the comedian say?"
"The comedian said, 'When you come to the fork in the road, take it,'" and Curt laughed and laughed.
"Okay. I get it. But I think it was Yogi Berra who first said that. Anyway, let's go left. It's angling toward that kind of cliff area over there," replied Kevin, pointing to a long, rough-looking outcrop looming over the near stand of pines, "and that looks like it might be interesting."