Chapter 38

'Berto

Tyrone now turned to Roberto. "What is your intention?"

"You know where I stand on God. And so you know that I don't even believe in sin, at least not the way you do. To me, living with Toni isn't wrong, and so I'll keep on doing it."

"Pardon me for indulging my personal curiosity, but if you see nothing wrong with simply living together, why do you want to marry Antonia?"

"Because I love her, and I want to be with her forever, and I want us to be ... a family, I guess you could say. Living with someone is transient. Marriage is permanent. And I want permanent."

"Given that half of all marriages these days end in divorce," Tyrone said, "I'm not sure that marriage is all that permanent, but I understand what you're saying. And I don't disapprove." He thought for a moment. "Let me tell you what our consensus was as we came into this meeting.

"We've been discussing this matter for two weeks now – no, nearer three weeks. And though we hadn't made any final decision, we were leaning toward granting your request. We still haven't made a decision, that has to wait on this meeting and our discussion afterward, but I have to say that your intention – yours and Antonia's – to continue living together is something we have to take seriously. Here is my personal position at this moment, which may change as we elders look at things. I am not your judge. There have been times, just two or three, but far too many, during my time as a leader of this church when I have had to participate in public disfellowshipping – the formal announcement that one of our church family has sinned and is unrepentant and has become to us as a Gentile and a tax collector. In other words, that the church has no choice but to regard that person as a lost sinner in need of salvation.

"But I have no wish to sit in judgment upon you. At the same time, I cannot lightly disregard a stated determination to continue in sin. I must denounce that determination. But I temper that with the fact that your purpose here is to end the sin, to become a married couple. My personal position, then, is to recommend that we allow you to use our building for the wedding."

"Thank you, Tyrone. I admit I don't understand everything you're saying, I don't understand your reasoning, but I can tell that this isn't easy for you."

"No, it's not. And there are four other elders who must contribute to our decision. We decide such things unanimously, as I believe Jim has told you – and that means that if we do not unanimously decide to grant your request, we'll have to turn it down."

"I understand. And I think Toni does too." She nodded, her eyes on the elders. "Would it be okay if I asked a question, or maybe several?"

"Certainly."

"What exactly was it that happened here with Toni? I mean, I know she forgave herself, and I'm real happy about that, but what was it?"

Tyrone smiled. "There are many facets to it, and many things we can call it. Let's just say that it was a sheep returning to the flock ... or, if you remember last week's sermon, a prodigal child returning to her Father."

Roberto looked at his beloved, noting how she seemed to glow with happiness although she wasn't smiling. "I don't know if you can see it, but I can – she hasn't been so ... so joyful since I've known her. Do you think that God had something to do with it?"

All the elders nodded, and Tyrone said, "God had everything to do with it. You may think it was our words, but it wasn't – it was the Word and the Spirit of God. We can persuade, but only God can change someone. Only God can cause the kind of fundamental change in attitude that we've seen in Antonia here today."

"Could God change me?"

Tyrone smiled slightly. "Do you realize what your question implies?"

"Implies? Excuse ... oh, I see. The way I said it sounds like I do believe in God."

"Exactly."

He took in a deep breath. "I said earlier that I don't, but that I'm more open to the idea than I used to be. Do you think you can convince me that God exists?"

"Don't let me forget the previous question, Roberto." Tyrone tapped his fingers on the table for a minute. "Can I convince you? No. I can give you what I believe are very good reasons to believe that God exists, and that He is almighty, and that He is interested in every detail of what we're doing here today. 'Come now, and let us reason together, ' is what the Bible says. Tell me, Roberto – where did all this come from?" Tyrone's gesture took in not just the room they sat in, but the valley of the Rio Grande, the Albuquerque Volcanoes, and the hulking mass of the Sandia Mountains.

"Well..." Roberto reconsidered. "I guess you're not looking for a recap of what I learned in school, about how galaxies formed and planets formed and all that."

"No."

"But evolution has to come in – evolution of planets out of dust and gas, evolution of life from basic chemicals, all that stuff."

"Evolution has holes in it, as one of our men puts it, that you could drive a truck through."

"It does?"

"Certainly. When I was young there was much talk of a 'missing link' between apes and men. But the theory is full of missing links. And the transitional forms that fill those gaps – if evolution is true – are in fact creatures that couldn't exist, because they couldn't live. Something which no longer can do one thing, but can't yet do another thing, is a monstrosity which will quickly die. Roberto, neither of us probably has the time or the stamina for a long discussion of evolution right now, so let me remind you of something you probably learned in school.

"I'm talking about the Drosophila experiments. They took these fruit flies, which lived quickly and therefore produced many generations in a short time. They then bombarded these fruit flies with radiation of some sort, I don't remember what, and observed the results. They got mutations, of course. There were no beneficial mutations. Some of the mutations were neutral, and some were harmful, but none improved the fruit flies. And not one mutation produced a new species; all the scientists got were mutated fruit flies. And yet if evolution really happens there should have been beneficial mutations and new kinds of flies."

"I do remember that, but the teachers never drew that conclusion."

"I know. I went to public schools too."

"So if evolution doesn't work..."

Tyrone's voice was gentle, as it had been throughout, but there was authority in it now. "Draw the conclusion, Roberto. You can't be intellectually dishonest now."