Chapter – 36 ‘Reuben back at work’
The day was a Friday; it had been four weeks since Reuben had left the Gorsech home and returned to work. His first day back on the job had been eventful; his boss had assigned him to a midnight shift to work on the last phase of the experiment. The word around the lab was that the sponsors were getting restless; they wanted to see, for themselves, an update or outcome with something visual from all of the data that had been collected.
Reuben’s friend Jenny was working day shift and for lack of inner motivation, neither of them had attempted to contact the other. Today was going to be different; Jenny had set her alarm for 4:00 a.m. and was at work half an hour before Reuben was supposed to end his shift.
As he was finishing his data entries into the computer he noticed a shadow standing next to him; he started to stand and turned his head to look. “Oh no, he thought, it’s really her.” What should he say? He didn’t get the chance, she spoke first, “Rube, have you been neglecting me for some reason? I thought we were going to be friends.” He told her that he had intended to contact her but got nervous when he actually started to make the call.
She told him to meet her at the Civic Center the next evening, Saturday, at 7:00, she had tickets for a musical. He responded, “Sure thing, it sounds fun.” They talked for several minutes, that is, until their group leader, the boss, showed up for work, then they separated.
***
Reuben was at the auditorium at a quarter till and Jenny was waiting. The evening went quick and it was time to leave. “Now what, he thought, should I ask her for coffee?” He didn’t get the chance, she said, “I baked cookies this morning; how about a glass of milk and a cookie or is it too late for you?” He told her that he didn’t have anything planned so it sounded ok. “Actually it sounds great,” he exclaimed! “I like being with you.” She put her hand through his arm and spoke, “Thanks, I like hearing you say that.”
It was close to midnight when Reuben left Jenny’s small apartment. He had asked her if they could do something the next Saturday and she had agreed.
The next morning Jenny was up by seven and dressed for church. This would be her third Sunday of attending the morning service. The pastor had a good message. He had called the topic; ‘the Sword of the Lord’. He had used an opening remark something like, the Word of God is what we all need to use as our internal sword to fight off temptation. He had mentioned that there were forces in the world; one was good and the other was evil. He had commented, “Conviction from within is good, a lack of conviction from within often leads to evil.” Then he said something that Jenny wondered about, “If every world leader was convicted of good, would we be having wars and trouble in many parts of the world?” Then the pastor concluded, “If every person living, in their own language, would read the ‘Sermon on the Mount’, which is written in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7, many would be convicted. The Word is the Sword that pierces the heart to do good.” Jenny thought as she walked toward her apartment, “If we humans did what was in the sermon, there would be no murder, no adultery, no divorce, no retaliation, but there would be more love. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
Over the following weeks; the data from the experiment wasn’t giving the results wanted or needed to present to the sponsors on the project. Reuben’s boss was under pressure and finally instructed Reuben to adjust his data to show a positive end result, for the sponsor to review. There was a standoff between Reuben and his boss; would right or wrong prevail?
Two days later Reuben was once again in the office getting the third degree but he stood his ground. He commented, “I understand what you are asking but there is no way that I will sign-off on the results you are asking for.” The boss yelled and spoke a few choice words before he said, “This project is going to be shut down in a few weeks if results to date are not positive; do you get it?”
Reuben responded, “I get it but you don’t get it. I will not falsify or lie to save this project. All of us have given our best effort in the lab but something is not working; using the data originally provided by you; theory and an actual end result in a lab, must be missing an ingredient or equation not thought of.” The boss slammed a book on the desk and screamed once more. The three ladies out in the lab heard the conversation, including Jenny. She thought, “You are right Rube, don’t back down.”
What do you think? Can wrong ever truly be right? Is telling a LIE right or wrong?
Scripture reference
John 8:44, Jesus talking to the religious leaders, “You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desire of the evil one. He [Satan] was a murder from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth….. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” [Does the secular world care if the truth is stretched? What about Politicians?]
Colossians 3:9, Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with evil thoughts and practices.. [Is it ok to lie if it will save your hide?]
James 3:14, But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.
Revelation 22:14-15, Jesus speaking, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the ‘tree of life’, and may enter heaven by the gates into the city. Outside the gate are the ….unsaved, and everyone who loves and practices lying.” [The narrow gate is the gate into the city of God; Comment?]
DG