The congregation stands up and Mark is blushing with a suppressed smile. His mom sees this and smiles. As the congregation stands up, Mark’s dad arrives at the church and walks towards the seat gestured to him by Mark’s mom.

“What did I miss?”

“Oh, nothing, Georgie.”

“It seems to me that there is, you’re smile gives it away.”

“We’ll talk about it later.”

“O-k?”

The worship starts and the congregation sings through the lyrics on the television up above and in front of them. Mark and Samantha worship the Lord with all their hearts, not minding each other’s presence but the Lord’s.

“I’m happy, Georgie,” says his mother to his father.

“What? What happened?”

“Our son is beside his crush.”

George leans forward to see his son and whoever is beside him. He smiles and stands straight.

“It’s like when we were young and in church, haha.”

“It’s wonderful that our son experiences the exhilarating feeling of romance.”

They continue to worship the Lord as the atmosphere suggests.

When the worship was done, the pastor of the church stood at the podium. He tested the microphone if it was good and then he started to preach.

“Ok, saints. I’m gonna teach you love which the Bible commands us to do. Jesus says, ‘Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength’. This is the greatest commandment of all. The second one is ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’. Jesus also says, ‘Love your enemies’. And he also says, ‘Those who do not love, do not know God; because God is love’. God says to love everyone. Even though they are your enemies. If someone does you wrong or hurts you, forgive and love them. Jesus says that the only way you could be better than them is not by answering back with an eye for an eye or life for life, but by loving and forgiving them. In that way, you could embarrass them because you have done nothing evil or bad that could merit their insults and mistreatment towards you. You can win people over to believe in Jesus just by loving them despite them abusing you.”

‘Do I have to love Junrey and his thugs? It seems to be,’ Mark thought.

“Loving your neighbor also needs loving yourself. If you don’t love yourself, what love can you give to others if you don’t have it yourself? You have to also forgive yourself so that you can be better than who you were yesterday. You are thought by God and he breathed you out to your earthly vessel or body. He already knows you before you are born. You are precious to him, you are like the pupil of his eye. If you have done wrong yesterday, don’t run from him, but run towards him. Whatever you have done, forgive yourself because he loves you more than you could ever know.”

‘Huh. Loving yourself is also essential in loving others, interesting.’

“This reminds me of some friends of mine who are a married couple. She was an alcoholic and he was a heroin addict. They were so messed up that he could barely talk and she was skin and bones, and this went on for 15 years. When they gave their hearts to Jesus, they stopped doing these things and started getting better mentally, physically, and spiritually. They then started preaching the Word of God together in prisons. Their testimony is powerful and they are faithful to the Lord. They were winning prisoners, drug addicts, and alcoholics to Christ. Ten years later, she went back to her old habit which was being drunk with alcohol. She neglected the Word of God. She got so busy, that she forgot to pray.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“One day, the man calls me crying, telling me that his wife went back to being drunk with alcohol and that she stays out at night. The husband would get in his car and then go around the streets and check the barrooms. He usually finds his wife in the bar with other men and he has to go in, telling them that she is his wife. He has to force her to come and she comes. This has been going on for months. It’s breaking his heart. I said to him, ‘Why don’t you leave her? Why don’t you let her go?’ He said, ‘I can’t let her go. Pastor John, I love her.’ The reason he called me is that he can’t find her. She’s been gone for two or three days. He’s at the end of himself. He said, ‘I’m depressed; I’m so down.’ I said, ‘I want you to come to my house.’ He then came to our house. For three or four days, he would just cry. My wife and I would minister to him. I said, ‘James. If that was my wife, I could never ever accept her back. After all that Jesus has done for her, ten years of ministry, she sleeps with other men and walks the streets. I couldn’t accept that.’ He looks at me and says, ‘Pastor, I can’t explain it, but I love her, and I want her back.’

“We got a call while he was at our house, and it was Mary, his wife. He said to her, ‘Where have you been?’ She said, ‘I’m in the hospital.’ She had been beaten up and left beside the road. Someone picked her up and brought her to the hospital. That’s why he couldn’t find her. Mary said to him, ‘James, do you still love me?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ She said, ‘Come and get me, please.’ I sent James back and picked her up. She was so frail that he had to pick her up. When she came to our house, it was frightening to look at her. She was black and blue, her face was swollen. He was holding her by the hand. We had a guesthouse, they went into the guesthouse. I went to my room and said to my wife, ‘Honey, I don’t understand this kind of love. I couldn’t do that. I don’t even want to look at her. To love a woman who has been passed around; molested, beaten, and drunken.’ For the next two or three days, my wife and I watched in wonder. He puts hot towels on her face. He weeps and prays, ‘Heal her, Jesus.’

“After a few days, my wife and I went to their place. I said, ‘Mary, are you ready to pray with us now?’ She said, ‘Pastor John, I can’t. There is no way Jesus could forgive me for what I’ve done. I have sinned against the Word of God. I’ve been down in the depths of Hell and I knew the Scripture. I was filled with the Holy Spirit, no one can forgive me. Jesus can’t forgive me.’ She couldn’t believe that James was forgiving her.

We went back the next day into the room. I said, ‘Jesus still loves you. He loves you now more than he has ever loved you.’ She said, ‘I can’t pray; I don’t know what to say.’ I said, ‘Say Jesus, help me.’ Very slowly she said, ‘Jesus, help me.’ About saying it the third time, the tears started flowing. James put his hands around her and the Holy Spirit came; and brought her back into the precious arms and comfort of Christ. She accepted the love of Christ. I don’t understand that kind of love. It’s just he’s loving something beyond human love, it was the love of Christ that was in him. For the next week, we watched them holding hands and walking down the road. If that isn’t a perfect love story, I don’t know what is.”

‘Huh, the perfect love story.’

After the service has ended, people are now starting to get out of the church. As Mark and his parents started to get out of the church, Samantha leaned over to him.

Samantha whispers, “Let’s talk a bit.”

‘Ok?’

Mark says to his parents, “I’ll be there with you, I’m just gonna stay here for a while.”

George looks at him and Samantha then smiles, “Good luck, kiddo.”

Mark smiles back while his mother smiles at him too as they are going out of the church.

A few people are now in the church talking to each other, Samantha and Mark sit down on the chairs.

Mark says to her, “So, what do you want to talk about?”

Samantha says, “What did you want to say earlier before the worship started? I wanna know.”

‘Here it goes, Mark. No turning back. This is your chance to tell her your feelings.’

“I just want to tell you, Samantha, that…”

The world seems to be slowing down. As the wind blows on their faces, Mark could picture a world where the two of them are together forever.

‘This is my chance, my vindication.’

“I just want to tell you that I li-“

Just as he is about to say something to Samantha, someone barges in and says, “Hi, Samantha. How are you today?”

Samantha turns to see, “Cesar! I’m fine, thank you. How are you, by the way?”

‘Huh. I guess it’s not meant to be.’

Mark stands up and says to them, “I’ll leave you two here, I’m gonna go home.”

Samantha waves at Mark and says, “Bye, Mark. Have a great day.”

Cesar also waves and says, “Bye, Mark.”