Page 80 of To the Moon and Back
“Yes.” Jag turned to him again. “Come to remember. Leave with resolve.”
Brady hadn’t heard that. “I thought I knew everything about this place.”
“It’s on their website.” Jag hesitated, his eyes locked on Brady’s, like the guy could see straight through his sunglasses. “You’ve spent a lot of time here. Remembering.”
How did the guy know? Despite the summer sun, a shiver ran down Brady’s spine. “How . . . ?”
“You lost your mother here. I know that.” Jag put his hand on Brady’s shoulder. “A lot of people lost much on these grounds.” His look grew more intense, and at the same time, more peaceful. “Leave with resolve, Brady. Resolve to move on. Resolve to make this world a better place.” He paused. “Resolve to believe. You know why?”
“Why?” Nothing about the conversation made sense. How did Jag know him? And how could he know about Brady’s beliefs?
“Because . . . God loves you. More than you know.” Jag stood.
“How do you . . . ?” Brady’s voice trailed off. He had a dozen questions, but before he could ask a single one, Jag shook his hand again. “By the way, there are a few saplings at the main office.”
“At the office?” Brady’s head was spinning. The man knew about the saplings?
“You were looking for one, right?” Jag smiled.
“Yes. For a little girl. But there weren’t any left until . . .”
Jag took a step back and pointed to the museum. “I found two. They’re holding them.”
“I . . . that’s amazing.” Nothing about this made sense. Brady felt tears in his eyes. “Thank you.”
“I gotta go.” Jag stepped away. “See you around, Brady. Leave with resolve.” With that, the man turned and walked off toward the museum.
“See ya . . .” Brady’s words became a whisper.
Brady stared at the time stamp on the wall. What in the world had just happened? How had the stranger known him when he was little? The guy couldn’t have been more than ten years older. And what about the two saplings?
Brady turned to look at Jag again. The guy should’ve been twenty, thirty yards ahead on the sidewalk. But he wasn’t.
The path was empty.
Another shiver ran through him. Where had the guy gone? Nothing about the last few minutes made sense. Brady blinked a few times. Could the guy be an angel? He let that thought sit for a few seconds. No. That wasn’t possible.
For the next hour Brady stayed there, sitting on the bench, thinking about Jag and his words. Leave with resolve . . . Resolve to believe. Whoever the guy was, his message came at the exact right time.
Suddenly the words from Jenna and Ashley ran through his mind.
Words from the Bible.
In this world he would have trouble. That was true, right? That was the whole problem, the trouble in the world. The way evil seemed to win far too often and pain seemed ignored by God.
If there was a God.
But what if there was? What if He really was the way Ashley had described Him? Brady felt the warmth of the sun to the center of his being.
Or maybe that was the conviction spreading from his heart to his soul.
Could they be right? Jenna and Ashley? Was it possible that God loved the world so much that he sent Jesus? Not to protect people from the pain of earth, but to save them from it? Not as the reason for the bad things in the world.
But as the rescue.
Brady pictured his mother, the hazy memory he still carried with him. Yes, her body had been destroyed by the bomb. But because of her faith, Jesus had rescued her. Lifted her right out of the rubble and into His kingdom.
Life to life.
