Riding high on his Harley, Dwayne had no reason to think about how his life would end or what would come after. Suddenly plastered against the side of a semi-cab, Dwayne had no time to think about how his life would end or what would come after.聽
Weeks later, now a paraplegic in a rehab bed, Dwayne had no wish to think about how his life would end. And especially not about what would come after.
And that鈥檚 when the Preacher and I met Dwayne鈥攆eisty, determined to get back on his bike one day, and constantly upchucking. The two men shared time on a rehab ward. Every so often they exchanged greetings when their wheelchair and stretcher passed in the halls. The greetings evolved into in-room visits, then into long conversations about life as it once was and as it may be.
Weeks later, doctors told Dwayne why his nausea wouldn鈥檛 leave. Diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer, given weeks to live, Dwayne had no option but think about how his life would end and what would come after.
鈥淒wayne,鈥� asked the Preacher one day, 鈥渄o you ever pray?鈥�
鈥淩ick,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 sixty-three years old. Never been to church in my life. Why would I call on God now that I鈥檓 dying?鈥�
It wasn鈥檛 Good Friday that day, but the Preacher told Dwayne about the condemned thief who died on a cross next to Jesus鈥攖he one who, recognizing Jesus as undeserving of a criminal鈥檚 death, pled for mercy.
鈥淒wayne,鈥� he said, 鈥渇ar as I can tell, the only time that thief ever prayed was when he was dying. Yet Jesus told him 鈥榯oday you will be with me in Paradise. 鈥欌�� He let that sink in, then asked if Dwayne would like to pray too.
In a shattered voice, the man on the bed, eyeball to eyeball with death, answered, 鈥淩ick, I don鈥檛 think I have enough faith.鈥�
Following inner directive, the Preacher told Dwayne about four friends who the Bible says carried a bedridden friend into Jesus鈥� presence for healing.聽 鈥淒wayne,鈥� he said, 鈥淒o you have enough faith in my faith, that what I believe is true for you too? Enough faith to let me carry you into the presence of Christ?鈥�
Weeping, Dwayne agreed, and the Preacher led him in a simple prayer for mercy and salvation. In the following days, Dwayne learned that other friends had, through their prayers, been carrying him to Christ too鈥攕ome for years.
On the day an ambulance took Dwayne home to die, the Preacher sat in the door of his ward room. As the gurney rolled past, Dwayne smiled, stuck out his hand, grabbed the Preacher鈥檚 and聽 squeezed hard. 鈥淩ick,鈥� he said, his voice confident. 鈥淵ou I WILL see again.鈥�
Riding high on something better than a Harley, plunked down in the presence of Divine Hope and Forgiveness, Dwayne had no reason to worry about how his life would end or what would come after.
We heard later that right to the end he didn鈥檛.
