By this time Dan was seriously struggling to stay standing. He had never experienced this much power. He allowed himself a look over his shoulder to the congregation. He wasn’t prepared for what he saw. Bodies laid on the floor of the sanctuary. He hadn’t noticed that the murmur had stopped, too wrapped up in his own thoughts and concentration. There were maybe 10 people total still conscious besides them at the altar. But even they were bowed down, heads on the ground, prostrating themselves towards his friends. They fainted? They all fainted? He had only experienced the Spirit fall on an ENTIRE sanctuary once. He was in college and the choir he was a part of attended a benefit for one of their members who had been in a really bad accident. He saw the Spirit hit everyone in a wave from the front of the church to the back. He wondered if that’s what had happened here. Before he could worry or think too much a squeeze on his hand brought him back. Cade looked up at him with uncertainty as he saw the minister heading towards him. I can’t freak out right now. I can’t falter in front of Cade. Dan squeezed back and smiled reassuringly.
Eli’s father made it to Cade. “Now I haven’t heard much about you. The Spirit’s telling me your name is Cade though right?” Cade looked surprised but nodded shyly. Eli’s father could see the boy was practically shaking. Being the obvious youngest of the group, Eli’s father figured the kid must have been confused. He put his hand on his shoulder. “Young Cade. Still trying to find yourself. Still trying to figure out who you are…what you are. Conflicted and content. And I keep hearing something about a cat?” Cade’s eyes widened and Dan chuckled slightly. Then the tone in Eli’s father’s voice changed. It was soft, almost like the tone a mother would take to sooth a child. “You have always been curious about the mysteries of this world. Always finding comfort in fantasy and art. God is willing and ready to show you a world filled with more majesty and fantasy than any video game or cartoon. And you won’t be alone. You will never be alone again. God will never unaccept you or misunderstand you. But this is all your decision to make. You can refuse if you are not ready. Do you accept that God has a great work for you to do? Do you agree to allow him into your mind, and to let Him show you the links and tethers that He created between all things?”
Cade looked down and thought. He was so unsure. He didn’t like the attention. He didn’t like having to make decisions. He usually left that to the others in the group. He looked down at his other friends but they all seemed to be struggling with their own thoughts. He looked over to Dan who was sweating and obviously trying to control his breathing. This wasn’t normal. But then his mind drifted to something strange. He thought about all the video games he’d played and anime he’d watched. How the main character didn’t always start off super powerful. How sometimes it was this shy nobody who got the opportunity to show everyone what he could do. And he had friends and people to help him reach his full potential. He had wished that he could get such an opportunity. Maybe this was it. Should he take it? “I’m not sure,” he said in a whisper not too unlike his normal tone. “But I want to try. I don’t want to be left behind. And if God truly sees something…more in me, then I am willing to give it my all. So yeah, I do.” Cade felt proud. He felt happy. He felt certain. That is, until his head began to hurt. It started as a small ping but grew rapidly into a blaring migraine. He fell to one knee holding his head with his hands on both sides.
Don’t give up. Sort through the noise. You detach yourself from people all the time. Find a high ground in your mind. Go above the pain.
Cade heard a voice trying to guide him. He was used to being in his own head but he found himself literally trying to traverse his own mind. But he was trying. And the more he tried, the less pain he felt.
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