Rooms - James L. Rubart [97]
Rick eyes drilled into Micah’s, but he didn’t comment. Micah thought he didn’t understand.
“I’m not saying I got in a little trouble out there. I’m saying I truly came within a breath of dying.”
“What were you thinking as you were about to be smashed against the rocks?”
“I felt like an alarm went off and I was finally awake after years of sleep. I haven’t felt that alive in years. As crazy as this sounds, even though a big part of me was scared out of my mind, another part of me loved it.”
“On the edge of life.”
“Exactly.” Micah picked up a handful of sand and let it slide over his fingers. “Ready for the weird part?”
“Sure. After you tell me about the normal parts of almost dying.”
The comment lightened the moment just enough.
“At the point I knew I was going to bite it, the waves tossed me against the current. Makes no sense. Then I look up and someone’s standing on the beach. Two seconds later? Gone.” Micah glanced at Rick before continuing. His face showed no expression.
“The thought riveted itself in my mind that this person standing on the beach and the waves saving me were connected. But after I get to shore, when I look for tracks, nothing’s there. So was the person a ghost? A hallucination?”
“Was the sand too hard to take a footprint?”
“It took mine. In the same spot I saw the person standing.” Micah pulled a long sliver of wood off the log he and Rick sat on and pushed it into the sand at his feet.
“Your conclusion?”
“He wasn’t there physically.”
“You mean it was all in your mind?” Rick said.
“No, and that’s where it gets strange. I saw someone. No question. But maybe what I saw was a vision. Maybe whoever it was, he doesn’t exist on a physical plane.”
“Or he didn’t think you’d see him. Forgot to leave footprints.”
“You lost me.”
“Could have been an angel.” Rick stood and stretched his hamstrings.
Micah chuckled but Rick didn’t join him. He glanced at his friend to see if he was joking. He wasn’t.
“You’re serious,” Micah said.
“Get sappy, pop-culture angels out of your mind. I’m talking about the fierce warriors you find in the Bible.”
“Warriors?” Micah stood and joined Rick in stretching his legs.
“Read Daniel 10 or 2 Chronicles 32. Angels are intense creatures with battle on their minds. God gave them incredible powers, and they continually wield that power on Earth.” Rick began stretching his back. “The Bible tells of angels taking on human form and people not knowing it. So I think it’s possible what you saw on that beach was an angel, sent the instant you called out to God. Was it God, a weird current, or an angel? Don’t know, but it’s worth considering all possibilities.”
Micah stared at the sand crystals at his feet and thought back to the times over the past four and a half months he had called out to God and how the answers had come. Could Rick be right? Angels? Micah couldn’t get his mind around it.
“So let’s pretend for a moment it was an angel,” Micah said. “Why did it only come after I called out to God? Why not act before?”
“Ah, you presume to know more than you do.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’re only looking through the eyes of your own experience. Your mind couldn’t contain all the times God or His angels have acted on your behalf when you had no clue He was doing it and you didn’t call out.”
“You got an example?”
“I don’t need to come up with one, just point out a few you know yourself.” Rick laughed. “Wake up, boy!”
“Fine.” Micah glared at Rick. “How ’bout telling me what I already know.”
Rick’s smile faded. “Has life changed since coming to Cannon Beach? Do you have more freedom? Are you closer to Jesus? Had any powerful experiences? Who got you here in the first place? Did you just up and one day decide, ‘Hey! I think I’ll take a little road trip to Cannon Beach?’” Rick finished stretching and jogged lightly in place.
Micah’s relationship with God, the healings in his soul, the painting, Sarah, all flashed into his mind. And yes, he was freer than he’d ever imagined possible.
“Micah,” Rick said softly as he stopped warming up and