Riven - Jerry B. Jenkins [190]
Thomas chuckled. “Theologians have been doing that forever.”
“Well, I’ve been looking at when Jesus died on the cross. And it’s just so different, really reading how it looked to them.”
“Different from what?”
“Different from what I remember. Whenever I heard about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, I saw pictures of Him hanging there like some angel. It was sort of heroic, I guess. I mean, it was heroic, but those pictures made it look all saintly. Then there are the paintings of His friends taking Him down. And of course Him rising from the dead. In a way I suppose I knew that it had to hurt. There was talk of agony and pain and thirst.
“But, you know, now that I’m reading it straight out of the Bible and really studying it . . .” Brady had a faraway look.
“I see,” Thomas said. “It isn’t so pretty, is it?”
“No, and I wonder how many people are so used to hearing about it and seeing it in paintings and movies that they think they know what it must have been like. It makes me wonder if people really understand. I mean, okay, Jesus died for our sins and we’re all happy about that. But I think we say it too lightly. It was an awful, horrible death. To me, that makes it mean so much more.”
Thomas could only nod. What a joy to see this young man grow. The change from the wasted, lonely, broken boy to this vibrant young man astounded him. Brady’s eyes seemed alive, and while there was—as he himself had described—a deep sadness over what he had done, Thomas was certain that what he detected in the man was hope.
Later that afternoon, Thomas caught himself rhapsodizing while recounting his conversation to Ravinia.
“The son you never had, huh?” she said. “And he’s become what you always wanted me to become.”
“I’m sorry, Rav. I’m just trying to encourage you about your client. Nothing and no one can ever rival your place in my heart.”
She looked at him as if trying to formulate a response. “Well, anyway . . . ,” she said. “It appears I’m in trouble with the federal appeals court. They assigned an independent auditor of sorts who informs me I’m suspect because I don’t appear to be performing to the best of my ability for Mr. Darby. He accused me of being late on filing appeals, which we weren’t, but also sketchy and seemingly not interested in the process, both of which are true.”
“No such quarrel from the state?”
“Are you kidding? We have a hanging judge for a governor, more so than any since Andreason. The state review board is quicker to dismiss these appeals the more you push them. I gave them no reason to give it a second look, but they didn’t even give it a first. This federal thing is the last hurdle, and then Mr. Darby gets his fondest wish.”
“His fondest wish is that he could change history, take it back, make it so it didn’t happen.”
“Yeah, okay, and short of that he’ll take death because he now has fire insurance.”
“Brady insisted on death long before he came to faith.”
“Fair enough,” Ravinia said. “This guy is deeper than what meets the eye.”
“So what are you going to do about this challenge to your work ethic?”
“Take it to the Honorable Jonathan Allard, I think. Once the governor gets wind of what Washington is trying to do to one of his state’s inmates, it’ll be newsworthy and could be noisy. All I need is Darby’s permission.”
Thomas shook his head. “I don’t know, Rav. I mean, I’ll let Brady speak for himself, but I don’t think all this publicity is good for him. It frustrates him that he’s not free to speak for himself. He wants everybody to know his motives now and to assure them that he’s seeking no favors, no privileges because of what’s happened to him.”
“Then this will be exactly what he wants. No, he won’t likely be quoted. But Governor