I nodded. “I understand. Thanks for passing that along.”
After the call was over, Juanita said, “What was that message about? Another Book of Mormon story?”
“No, it’s from the Bible. Saint Paul preached before King Agrippa, and the king’s response was, ‘Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.’ So, no, Leviathan hasn’t become Mormon. But God softened her heart so she didn’t kill Neuter Kimball. Or us, for that matter. Back on the shuttle, you were certain we were going to die. You asked where God was when I really needed him. Well, God came through.”
Juanita puffed out an exasperated breath. “Typical.”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked as the autodoc signaled that my treatment was complete.
“In one story, the preacher converts the king. In another, the king kills the preacher. And in a third, neither happens. That’s no evidence that God comes through.” She pointed at me. “As I see it, you came through. By mentioning that ‘greater love’ thing, you hit Leviathan where it counted: her pride at being the greatest.”
I shook my head. “I’m not taking credit for this.”
After we walked out of the hospital, she gave me a tight hug that reminded me how much I was attracted to her. But I knew it would never work out between us—our worldviews were just too different.
So I was still a single Mormon man with no dating prospects within ninety million miles.
And no, an attractive single Mormon woman did not arrive on the next solar shuttle. What would be the point of life if God solved all my problems?
O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them alclass="underline" the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.