As James vacuumed the carpet in the hallway of a doctor’s office, he listened to a a podcast of Pastor Preston’s sermon from the prior Sunday. Pastor Preston said, “Brothers and sisters, I know there’s been a lot of talk about Karen Holloway, and some of you might still be on the fence about her and her decision. But I’m here to tell you today that the Lord has spoken to me, and he’s told me that we have been given a glorious miracle right here and right now. Karen Holloway, whether she knows it or not, was moved by God’s perfect grace to save the life of that child. She was an enemy to our Holy Father. She was an agent of Satan. We all saw that, and we all feared what she might do to that poor helpless soul, but Jesus Christ wouldn’t let that happen. And it wasn’t because of money, it was because of prayer. I know I prayed every day for that baby’s soul, and I know you did, too, and now—”
James took his earphones out. He couldn’t tolerate the hypocrisy of Pastor Preston’s sermon. It was Pastor Preston who had condemned Karen Holloway as an agent of Satan and declared her unborn child to be the Antichrist, but now, as she was on the verge of delivering that child into the world, he seemed to have changed his position. James knew that Pastor Preston wasn’t as devout as he once thought, certainly not as devout as himself. But he knew, even as he thought this, that he was wrong in judging Pastor Preston. James reasoned that a man who had spent his entire life in the service of Christ couldn’t actually be at fault. The sermon and Pastor Preston’s change in attitude must have been the work of Satan, who was clearly muddling the minds of as many people on Earth as he could to prepare them for the coming of his son, the Antichrist. If not even Pastor Preston was safe from the Devil’s trickery and manipulation, then James knew he was in even greater danger. He rationalized that he might be the last agent of God left on the planet who hadn’t been duped by the evil plan of the Devil, who might still have the ability to stop Satan from carrying out his own plan to usher in the Antichrist. He might be the last hope for the entire planet, and because God told him nothing to the contrary, James felt this must be true. He said a quick prayer asking God to grant him strength and to help him overcome every obstacle Satan might place in his path.
Although he was now absolutely certain his purpose in God’s plan was not only to find Karen Holloway but also certainly to stop her from delivering her child into the world, James felt he was growing closer to knowing how he would be called to do that. He was convinced that it would be through testifying to Karen Holloway, showing her the true power of the Holy Spirit and ultimately converting her to Christianity. Once converted, she would see how she’d been manipulated by Satan and seek to have the child baptized, at which time the satanic spirit that dwelled within it would be destroyed. But he wasn’t sure why he had not yet found his opportunity. He waited for signs from God, and he knew they were right in front of him, but Satan was obscuring them. His task was difficult, but he would remain vigilant.
As he turned a corner with his vacuum cleaner into the first room off the hallway, he entered a room full of file cabinets. James saw that one of the drawers near the bottom of one of the file cabinets had been left ajar. As he bent down to slide it shut, he noticed that the drawer contained patient medical records. He knew this was no coincidence, and he checked the other drawers. They were all unlocked. This was another sacred boon from God. This was the result of God’s own hand. He took a brief moment to wonder if God himself had been in that room only seconds ago, and then he wasted no more time searching through the cabinets for Karen Holloway’s information. He wasn’t sure that she was even a patient at this specific doctor’s office, but he thought it was very likely that she was, or God wouldn’t have sent him there, wouldn’t have guided him into that room, wouldn’t have left that one drawer open and the rest unlocked. He vowed to God that if he was able to find her records, he would take it as an undisputable sign that he was brought to Los Angeles to stop her from bringing about the end of the world by giving birth to the Antichrist.
James stood in front of the file cabinet containing the records for patients with last names ending in G, H, and I. He pulled a few files out and sorted through them, sure that he was about to uncover the home address of Karen Holloway. But before he could get through the files, his supervisor walked into the room and asked him what he was doing. James didn’t want to lie—he knew it would require him to break one of God’s commandments, one of God’s perfect rules—but he saw no other option. He reasoned that God would forgive him this one sin if it was in the service of his greater purpose. He told his supervisor that when he came into the room there were some files on the ground and he was merely trying to put them back in the correct place. The supervisor explained that she’d been standing there for more than a few seconds and she witnessed James looking through the files. She knew he was lying, and it couldn’t be tolerated. She terminated him without hesitation and told him that someone from the cleaning agency would contact him to let him know when he could collect his final paycheck. She then demanded that he turn over any keys or access cards he might have on his person as well as his employee identification badge. For a brief second James thought about withholding some of his access cards, but he immediately fought this dishonest impulse, silently cursing himself for lying in the first place.
James offered no defense for himself. He knew that what he had done was wrong. He knew that the open drawer and the unlocked file cabinets were all more tricks of Satan. He knew that he had lied to his supervisor only because Satan had tempted him. In the elevator, he cursed himself for being so stupid. Why would God ever want anyone to lie on his behalf? He should have known at the moment he felt the urge to lie that Satan was behind it. Who else but the Father of Lies? He hated himself for having come so far, having done everything right along the way, only to have his purpose invalidated by the very being he was fighting against.
He dropped to his knees in the elevator, clutched his hands together as tight as he could, and wept. James begged God for forgiveness. He apologized for succumbing to Satan’s will without even knowing it. He admitted that he was nothing more than a weak-willed human being, fallible and prone to mistakes. He urged God to give him one more chance to carry out his final goal, which he was convinced involved stopping Karen Holloway’s evil plan. He pleaded with God to take mercy on him and allow him to prove his obedience. He promised God that he would suffer anything in his glorious service as long as it meant that he was forgiven and considered righteous once again. He knew that even this faltering, even this giving in to satanic temptation, was somehow part of God’s plan. It had to be. And that meant that God might still have James in mind to carry it out. So James asked him one final time, before the elevator got to the ground floor, to give him one last sign to guide him on the last leg of his journey. James promised God that if he could just be told what to do, he would carry it out.
James left the building and got in his car. He wiped his tears and started the engine. As the car started, the radio turned on, and James heard a morning DJ explaining that areas were being roped off near one of the exits from Cedars-Sinai hospital and paparazzi were already starting to camp outside the barriers. The rumor was that Karen Holloway was very close to her due date, and everyone was speculating that this is where she would emerge to give the world the first glimpse of her new baby.
James thanked God for this sign and promised him that no matter what the consequences were for him personally, he would carry out the plan.