Did This Really Happen?

Tonight my dad prayed for salvation.

This is the guy who used to ridicule Christianity and Christians. He once called the pope a “fat greasy wop” in order to antagonize my mother and our Irish neighbor. As recently as a few weeks ago, he was insisting his conception of God was much more sophisticated than anything Christians believed in.

People with vascular dementia slip in steps. One day you’re on a certain step, and the next day, you’re on a lower step. It happens that quickly; overnight. You may stay on the new step for a month or a year. Then something happens, and you move to a step which is lower still.

At some point during the last week, my dad moved to a new step. His physical therapist pointed it out. I noticed it, too. Suddenly he was less argumentative. He wasn’t fighting with me all the time. For example, if I said he needed to stop messing with the mail, instead of insisting he was going to continue opening it, he would apologize for forgetting.

He has been contrary all his life. It has ruined relationships for him. Now, suddenly, he is listening.

Yesterday he said he would be willing to learn about salvation. Today I put him in the car and took him to the grocery to pick up something he needed, and I used the time to talk to him about God.

On the way to the store, he agreed to join me in prayer that God would show him he was real. On the way back, he prayed for salvation. He even recited the Lord’s Prayer by heart. I don’t know where that came from.

He wasn’t crying and begging God for forgiveness. He didn’t say he had had a sudden supernatural revelation. He simply said he trusted my judgment. That’s appropriate. We are supposed to be witnesses, and all a witness strives for is trust. New Christians listen to us when we give our firsthand testimony, and God helps them to believe what we say.

He says he’s willing to go to church. I want to find a decent church to visit. A Christian has to know more than one other Christian. Otherwise, the one he knows runs the risk of becoming a sort of idol. My dad needs to see God through multiple pairs of eyes.

I hope he understands what he did well enough for it to take effect.

As far as I know, this is the first time in my life I have gotten anyone to ask for salvation. No one else has ever listened to me. I am the world’s worst evangelist. I’ve laid hands on a couple of people so they received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, but I never got anywhere with salvation.

They say God gives crowns to those who help people to get saved. Maybe I finally have one waiting.

Suddenly, my dad doesn’t look good. He didn’t look good last week, but he looks worse now. He is less sure of himself. The steam has gone out of him. He seems sort of transparent. It’s not pleasant to see. Today while he was out walking, he asked for a ride in my golf cart, but he couldn’t lift his foot high enough to get in.

Maybe I’ll be able to take better care of him now. Cooperation makes a big difference.

I’ll bet God says that about me all the time.