The Man with A Sign (Part 1)

The Atheist:

He stood up gently from the bed to get a glimpse of the beautiful day from the hospital window. It’s been almost four hours since the doctor insisted, he should be admitted for a few hours to monitor his recovery. A sunny day it is, looking out the window. Life seemed normal outside the walls of the hospital, but nothing felt the same for Liam, taking into account the terrible morning he’s had. Patients and staffs are walking in and out of the hospital building, the traffic on the road has lightened since he was admitted at 7 am. It was then he realized his window is facing the bridge where he had the accident. The accident didn’t matter much right now, the man on the bridge with the sign did.

“How did this happen? Liam sighed at the thought. My week has been great until this Wednesday morning.”

***

One month before the accident:

Liam’s Twitter page…

‘I cannot stress it enough, those who believe in God are dumb!’ Leo typed a new post on his twitter page. Who in their right senses believes in something and someone they cannot see, feel or touch? Total waste of time, resources and talent serving something unreal. Be enlightened people!

The comments came flowing in, ninety percent in favor of his post. Not surprising as his page attracted fellow atheist who were actually a great number, and they always stood in agreement with him. Leo’s heart was gladdened to see that at least a thousand of his followers are not blinded to the so-called Christianity.

“shout it from the rooftop bro” one commented with five microphone emoji at the end of his sentence.

“I agree, they are really dumb… open your eyes people!” Another commented. Leo smiled as he kept scrolling his phone.

“I keep telling them to talk to the scientist for some level of understanding, but they won’t listen. O WELL! ”. That one made Leo laugh.

“These Christians provoke me even with their very breath. This same God who they claim exists somewhere is just folding his arms watching what he created fall apart, and does nothing about it. Who does that? Makes me sick.” Came another comment.

‘The comment section is the best,’ Leo said proudly to himself as he put the phone down to get his jacket and keys. It’s lunch break, time to get some fresh air from a slow day at work.

Can it be 4:pm already so I can go home? He sighed, combing his hair with his fingers as he headed down the elevator. Wednesdays seem to be the longest day at work for Leo. For some reason, it’s always slow. He prefers busy days where time seems to go by faster.

***

It’s a new day, the usual routine begins as the sun rises and the alarm clock rings Liam out of dreamland. Quickly finishing up his morning routine, Liam backs out of his driveway quickly. He is late for work.

If he aims at getting to work early and beating the traffic on I-495 highway, 6:20 am shouldn’t clock with him still inside the house. It was already 6:30 am and counting and he was looking for one leg of his red stripped socks.

“I need to do my laundry better or get a partner that will help me put my life together,” he hurriedly put on the first set of socks he could find, not minding the different designs of black socks he ended up choosing.

It’s all black, who cares. He headed to the car and drove off.

Driving over the Quinn-Holmes bridge is a must when heading to work. The man who is always holding a sign at the end of the bridge cannot be missed. For a couple of weeks, Liam noticed a certain man who makes it a point of duty to stand on the sidewalk of the bridge with a sign as early as 6.30 am. The very first time he saw the man, his sign read “HONK FOR THE LORD, GOD IS GOOD.”

“Seriously?… You will obviously get nothing from me.” Leo mocked as he drove by the man. The man waved at every car that drove by and Leo could hear a car honk behind him.

“Frigging useless people who can’t get a decent job, said Liam wishing the man could hear him from his wound-up window. You prefer to stand on the bridge and expect money from people. A very pathetic way of begging,” Liam’s anger was rooted on the sign.

Morning drive over the bridge is even more irritating for Liam on days with heavy traffic where he couldn’t hurry past the horrific sight of the man with the sign. He blamed his frustration on this particular human on the bridge who seems to be living in the lies of Christianity, wasting precious time on imaginary beings. What is this world turning into?  Liam imagined.

Another beautiful summer morning and the order of the day had just begun. Approaching Quinn-Holmes bridge meant Liam is approaching the worst sight of his day. With hands steady on the wheels and feet propelling the accelerator to move to the speed of the heavy traffic. Quite aware of the drivers in the left lane who always want to suddenly jump into the right lane, Liam made sure he watched out for any fast drivers. He too was in a hurry, just like them.

Something looked different today. Liam became distracted seeing the man on the bridge holding something different. Quite curious to see what the new sign read. Before he could comprehend the full sentence on the sign, he heard a prolonged honk and a painful push on his side of the car. You’ve just been hit! his brain relayed the message.

A truck driver who was in a hurry to enter the right lane hadn’t seen Liam’s car on time and hit him, pushing his car into the curb. Both cars came to a halt as people pulled over to help.

What just happened? Liam tried to open his eyes amidst the painful ringing in his ear. He tried to open his door, but it wouldn’t budge. He looked up, the man with the sign had moved to a corner and was carefully putting his sign away.

How selfish. Instead of helping someone in need, you are tucking away a cardboard. Liam despised the man even more as the pain shot through his head and left shoulder.  A lady in a very bright blue gown came to the passenger’s door and asked, “are you ok man?”

‘I can’t open my door,’ Liam replied.

“Thankfully, we are right by a hospital, she said pointing to the hospital sign post which was about 300 feet away from them. You will be ok.” She assured him.

That was no consolation, going to the hospital wasn’t on his agenda. Notwithstanding, Liam lifted his eyes to look at hospital sign post the lady had pointed to. His attention quickly diverted to the sign the man had laid at the corner, it read:

“Are you serving God or the devil? Come to Jesus today. Jesus saves.”

Each word struck Liam’s heart, leading to more questions. If God doesn’t exist, does the devil exist? Liam suddenly felt afraid, but couldn’t explain why. He could only question himself, what if I had died at this accident? Someone was right there to give him an answer, not one he wanted to hear. The words came from the last person he expected to speak to, the man with the sign.

“You are ok my man, God is good, He is with you.” The man’s face was full of smiles clearly showing he loved every word he spoke to Liam.

This wasn’t a time to argue, Liam convinced himself. He only wished the man would understand from the look on his face that he doesn’t believe in the God he believes in… not in a million years to come. How could he tell someone trying to comfort him at a terrible time like this that his life is literally useless for believing in a God that doesn’t exist?

The ambulance and police car came to Liam’s rescue, both from the accident and the sight of the man who believes is a nonexistent God.

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