“You may not see me, but I am near.Travel through time.Travel through space.Travel through eternity.Some have entertained me, but were not aware.The infants, ill, and dying see me most, as I bless them with the heavenly hosts.You are not alone, we are around you, just as we stand before his throne.I repeat, you are not alone.Messengers of love and truth walk among mortal men.You are not alone as we guide you home.”

“The problem with churches of all sorts,” he continued, “is that so often they ignore the key teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, like the doctrine of love. So often we ask God to be on our side instead of asking that we be blessed enough to be on his. That said, the wheat and the tares must grow up together, and in the days of harvest they will be separated properly.”

“He advocated that all who follow Jesus are priests, not just the official clergy. Much of what he said made sense, as did his kind manner. But why was he here now? Had this persecuted recluse emerged just to speak to me?”

“Father, I serve the Messiah, the Christ. Not any Caesar. His kingdom is not of this world, and no man need fight for it. All empires will pass away, but Christ lives. He is love and peace, and his kingdom will last forever.”

“Jesus is a descendant of David, the beloved of God. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God who was born into this world and died and rose again. Saint John calls him the Word and the Light. When he died, he did so as atonement for our sins, and when he rose, he did so to defeat the power and curse of death and hell on this once-holy world. Do you believe in him?”

“If you tell me, I will leave you alone," I said. "And if you don't tell me, I am going to grab the nearest ghostwritten James Patterson romance novel and I am going to follow you through this store reading it out loud until you relent. Would you prefer me to read from Daphne's Three Tender Months with Harold or Cindy and John's House of Everlasting Love? I guarantee, your sanity and your indie street cred won't last a chapter. And they are very, very short chapters." Now I could see the fright beneath the defiance.”

“Attach yourself to truth, not to me. For I may die before you, but the truth will accompany you to your death.”