"Is that so? How's that working out for you?" I rejoined playfully.
He reached out and grasped the back of my neck and pulled me forward for a kiss that I got lost in. He pulled back and just smiled. I resettled down into my seat and silently acknowledged a point well taken.
"Well Miss Lisa ready to begin your life of crime?"
Heck, why not, I thought impulsively. I reached forward and got my sunglasses off the dash and put them on and then met his matching polarized stare. His mouth was twitching a little and broke out into a full fledged grin as I said, "Put it in gear!"
We were on the edge of the city, when my convictions got the best of me, "You're not really involved in criminal activity are you?"
He looked over at me with a smile, "That would be a matter of perspective, now wouldn't it? I can tell you that we are highly regulated." He finished in mock seriousness.
"Regulated by who?" I asked skeptically.
"Why by our own strong moral consciences."
"Yeah, right!" I looked away out into the passing scenery smiling.
Several hours later Flint made an abrupt exit off the freeway and onto more rural looking roads. I sat up and looked around with concern. "Why did you get off here?"
"It's Sunday." He said the day of the week like that answered something.
I glanced at the clock it read 10:25 and I glanced back up at him. He wasn't seriously going to…here?
He pulled into the crowded parking lot of a church. He took his glasses off and glanced over at me as I stammered out, "But I'm Catholic!"
He snorted, "Exactly!"
He got out and opened my door and waited expectantly for me. Hesitantly I got out, "But I'm not dressed to go to a church!"
I protested as he took my arm.
"You'll find out that protestant churches for the most part don't mind what your dressed like so much as that you come regularly."
"Protestant!" I whined.
Couldn't he have taken me to something at least Orthodox. I was pretty sure this was a sin of some sort.
"Evangelical to be exact."
I groaned out loud. "Flint this is against my beliefs!"
He stopped and regarded me seriously. His fingers reached out and pulled the golden cross out of my shirt from where it had been nestled and fingered it for a moment.
His words were full of intense meaning and I felt them rock me to the core, "This is a very pretty necklace, which I realize has a lot of special meaning to you, but do you know that some of the very worst villains that I've ever encountered in my life wore crosses around their necks just like you and thought they were justified to receive an eternal reward because of it, regardless of the atrocities they committed daily? This necklace and the rituals that go with it aren't going to save you from anything Lisa. It's not enough to believe that Jesus merrily existed once and that by acts of service in His name you gain eternal favor. You need a relationship with your Savior. Your faith is not justified by your works, but rather your works should bear testimony to your faith, which you should be actively pursuing in relationship with God every day and not in the recitation of litanies to saints that have taken the role of false deities. Now everyone's been given a choice to make in life Lisa, so you can stay out here and continue to believe that the proof of your faith lies around your neck and in the prayers you recite or you can come with me and start learning that your Savior is a far more personable Infinite Being than the symbology of someone forever nailed to a cross with no further interest in your daily walk other than to remind you of how much He once suffered for you. What's it going to be?"