Illumination



Posted: Saturday, June 27, 2009

by Chris Cole
George Cole

"Holy cow what is that?" I yelled one blistery summer afternoon.

We both saw it and we both knew I would be the one to retrieve it.

"Looks like one of us is going dumpster diving" Steve stated matter of fact while viewing the greatest treasure a twelve year old mind could fathom while perusing our neighborhood alley.

Being the smallest, I shimmied up the side of the dumpster and plunged feet first into a bliss of bacterial orgy. I had to negotiate Old Man Borchert's week old cottage cheese-encrusted beer cans just so I could hold my nose to not inhale Ms. McDaniel's ten pounds of used kitty litter. I quickly discovered that little Frisky McDaniel did more than just purr.

"Dude, this is just sick. I am covered in Frisky goo and what appears to be cottage cheese. Is this really worth it?" I asked while in an odorous haze.

"Quit your bitchin' and hurry up, you cheesy cat lover, you," Steve stated with his usual sarcastic-slant.

I finally uncovered the holy grail of twelve year olds around the world: Playboy magazine. Though some portions of the informative publication were covered in beer and cottage cheese and a few pieces of cat litter, we were ecstatic to say the least. I leaped out of the dumpster and handed Steve the magazine like a spy delivering secret documents. We immediately ran to our clubhouse and lost our innocence to the nubile gaze of Miss September 1977.

During August 1979, Steve and I lived our simple lives to the fullest because the world as we knew it was going to end in approximately two weeks (when the new school year resumed). I was entering Jr. High School and Steve was entering High School.

We survived many end of the worlds, or better yet "New School Semesters." The public school years gave way to the apocalyptic semesters of college. Little did we know, we were on the merry-go-round of life with the revolutions being spun at the speed of light.

I accumulated my childhood and adolescent days like poker chips and cashed all of them in on a losing lottery ticket of worldly vices and addictions. On the other hand, my friend Steve, ended up going to college twice. He received his J.D. and practiced law for awhile before going back to computers. It seemed that he got the good end of the stick for awhile.

I knew I lost the lottery when I felt the lines of hell etched in my face twenty-eight years later. I looked in the mirror and did not recognize my reflection. I was forty years old and had nothing to show for it.

Sure, I knew the exact amount of pain killers and vodka to mix in order to obtain entry into my pleasure zone, but it did not compare to the peace and living joy I received approx. thirty years later in the wooded hills of Fredericksburg Texas .

It is Fredericksburg where I found that the grass really is greener on the other side of the proverbial fence. I found the arms of Our Lord and Jesus Christ to be more comforting and sustaining than the temporary effects of drugs and alcohol. While in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, Christ enabled me to shed my bondage to alcohol, prescription drugs, tobacco, sex, and just about all secular music (and if you knew my musical tastes, you would be amazed).

I did not want to be one of those people that would walk up to you in a double-breasted suit and breath smelling of Scope and solicit, "Would you like to meet my Jesus at my stadium church?" I wanted Christ in my life as the real deal and nothing fleeting like the temporary effects of drugs, sex, and rock and roll music. I did not want to be a "fake person" anymore. I wanted my yes to mean yes and my no to mean no without any underlying meaning. I wanted to be able to stand on my own two feet with Christ as my wingman.

There, I found the loving arms of Christ and knew absolutely nothing about the early first Christian Church and how important Apostolic Succession is to a Christian. Without going into a lot of history, I will say I am very happy that Christ is using Orthodoxy as a tool to reshape my life.

Praise Jesus for the changes He has affected in life! Christ has risen! Indeed He has Risen!

George "Chris" Cole experienced life as a law enforcement officer with a tour of duty lasting over ten years in law enforcement. He is the survivor of two marriages, and continues to meet new people that provide inspiration for many of his articles and short stories. Many of his articles have appeared in national and local publications.

In 2008, Chris abandoned West Texas and its' "Wal-Mart Trees" (Mesquite bushes that grow plastic bags) to move to the green pastures and real trees of Fredericksburg, Texas. Chris continues to work and hone his writing skills while breathing the fresh air of the hill country.

Mr. Cole can be contacted at kriskohl333@gmail.com.

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