The Lingering Cloud

The realization of one's dreams while awaiting life to start usually begins to unfold in the late teens to early twenties … the marrying years. Also the time when schizophrenia was most likely to surface in the lives of its victims.

Angelic and demure, Rebecca seemed to be the perfect bride for a young preacher just out of seminary. They had a lovely traditional wedding but before the day ended, Mack knew his wife was very ill. The following days revealed increasingly strange behavior. The magic pill to right the workings of her misfiring brain cells was nowhere on the horizon. So, after sixteen months of unsuccessful outpatient treatment, her psychiatrist had her placed in the state mental hospital.

One evening after being called to the home of a newly bereaved young widow, Mack was blindsided by temptation when―weeping―she held her arms out to him and falling into his arms, she begged him to hold her.

Deeply remorseful, Mack repented with bitter tears. Though the Bible assured him of pardon, he couldn’t forgive himself, but he diligently sought to live a life more pleasing to his Lord. In time, he went on to become one of the city’s most outstanding speakers, ultimately accepting the call to pastor the area’s largest, most prestigious church.

When Rebecca's memory began to fail, eventually leaving her unable to feed herself, she was placed in the best nursing facility to be found for Alzheimer’s patients. Mack faithfully visited his angel until her death from aspiration pneumonia.

Time passed and the following year while on a hiking trip to Mt. Rainier, Mack's path on the trail briefly encountered that of a beautiful, somewhat flirty young thing. Stirred by her warmth and sparkling eyes, he began to consider the possibility that back home, there might yet be a lady with whom he could share his life and his mission.

At age thirty-five with the encouragement of his deacons, Mack’s life began anew with the most unexpected and welcome turn of events.