BooksBarbecue
Back The Last Christian
Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. Other Books by This Author
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Prologue
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. 46
  54. 47
  55. 48
  56. 49
  57. 50
  58. Author’s Note

“Daddy, not my pirate set! I’ll choose another toy. Any other toy.”

“Too late for that, Hutch. You should have chosen to serve God in the first place. ‘If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.’ John 12:26.”

Hutch cried silently all the way to church. His mother remained wordless in the front seat. Once there, his father strode across the parking lot, into the foyer of the sanctuary, and dropped the set into a large container marked Love Gifts. Hutch shuffled behind him. His father grabbed him and dragged him to his Sunday school class. “Maybe here you’ll learn to love like Jesus loves.” He opened the classroom door.

“Good morning, Elder Hardin,” the teacher intoned.

“Good morning, Judy.” He smiled broadly. “The Lord blessing you this week?”

Hutch never forgave him, just as his father never forgave Hutch for leaving the church—and the faith—when he was seventeen. His departure forced Thomas to resign his prized eldership. He was now one who couldn’t “manage his own household,” as the apostle Paul had written, and he was therefore unfit for leadership.

Hutch left home and worked his way through college and law school, never accepting another penny from his parents. He saw them on holidays, observing his father’s spiral from church elder to Sunday school teacher to pew sitter to a bitter man who stayed home Sunday mornings, watching football. In the end, of course, there were no churches to return to even if he had wanted. But by then his father had turned his back on God permanently—or God on him. Was there any difference? Religion was all a mind game, anyway.

16

Hutch looked around at the thirty or so mourners who had braved the central Texas sun: half a dozen longtime acquaintances of his father’s, a few relatives Hutch hadn’t seen in years, some locals, Lauren and Sabin, and Lauren’s cousin, Abby, whom Hutch had suggested Lauren invite. He wanted to assess her for himself.

The funeral officiant walked to the casket and cleared her throat. “Welcome to all of you who are here to celebrate the life of Thomas Hardin. The very elements of his being, the atoms of his body, were given birth in the middle of distant stars eons ago. The universe itself gave him what we call life. Now his elements assume a different form in that universe, and we remember and celebrate the being we knew as Thomas.

“There was a time in his life, a darker time, when Thomas had fallen prey to the former myths of Western civilization, myths that upheld us and united us when we were young as a society but which we finally outgrew. Thomas outgrew them too. He emerged as a man who was whole, at peace with himself, at peace with life itself, giving himself to the betterment of society around him.”