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started talking Scripture, that’s when I begin to listen. I had little tolerance for stories like driving a car to communicate a point. With his Bible open, he continued, “In Matthew 9 we find a ruler who is asking Jesus to lay hands on a deceased daughter. Blind faith. In Chapter 9 we also find a woman with such a strong faith that she believes just touching the edge of His garment will heal her. Blind faith.”
    I knew the stories by heart, but I couldn’t help but snicker under my breath a little at the connections this guy was trying to make. It was cute for a twenty-something-year old kid to get up and talk in front of all of us men, but the connection wasn’t there in my mind. I could tell he caught my laughter, but he didn’t address it on the spot. He continued the talk with us until arriving at his final conclusion.
    “I believe blind faith will find us all at different points in our lives. Sometimes it’s evident, other times not right away.” He looked me in the eye, and then he continued his gaze across the room. “Let us pray.”
    After the prayer and breakfast was over and everyone was getting up from their seats, Jacob approached me.
    “Hi . . . ?” he said, extending a hand as he waited for a reply.
    “Rick Alderman,” I replied, shaking his hand.
    Jacob cleared his throat and said, “Hi, Rick. I noticed that you laughed while I was teaching . . . which is fine with me. But, could you explain why? I’m kind of curious.”
    Shaking my head, I put my hand up and tried to shoo him and the awkward situation I had found myself in away. “No, it’s nothing.” I tried to leave the table since all my other buddies had already left.
    He caught my arm in a non-aggressive way to stop me. “Please?” he asked. “I’m new at this. I can handle constructive criticism well, and it’ll help me for the future . . . if you don’t mind?”
    I pursed my lips together to form a thin line. Then, I looked at my watch. I had a few moments to spare for the young man.
    “Okay. Well, those people and stories you referenced . . . I don’t think they really had blind faith . They already were interacting with Jesus. They were trusting in what they already knew to be true.”
    Jacob raised an eyebrow at me as he nodded slightly. “Do you feel that you don’t practice blind faith, Rick?”
    I shrugged. “I don’t think so. I’ve been a Christian for a long time. I feel like I know what I believe pretty well and that term—blind faith—has always been a bad one from where I come from.” I looked over at a couple of guys that were lingering in the back of the room who seemed to be waiting to speak with Jacob. “Ya know, a term for people who don’t understand what they believe—following blindly like an idiot.” I nodded my head toward the guys in the back. “Looks like you have a couple of guys waiting for you. I’ll let you go.”
    Jacob nodded and turned to look at the gentlemen in the back of the room. “Okay. Well, thank you for indulging me in that. I appreciate it, Rick.” He shook my hand again and I left.

CHAPTER 5
    D eciding to stop in at my favorite diner—Heidi’s—on the way home from the men’s breakfast for another cup of coffee, I was glad to see my favorite parking spot was open. I already had java that morning, but it wasn’t about that. It was about good conversations with good people. The whole crew knew me well, and the owner and cook, Ron McCray, was like a father to me. He was the main reason I had been going there at least once or twice a week since I was just a lad. He was an older gentleman, in his late seventies now, but one of the wisest men I had ever met in my life. He was practical, down to earth, and the type of guy that would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. Our relationship went clear back to when I delivered newspapers to the diner as part of my first morning paper route when I was twelve.
    Pushing open the glass door, I made my way over to my