I wrestled with sleep the entire night and I lost. After tossing and turning a while, I made myself get up. I walked silently into the kitchen, made my way to the front room, and reclined at the table in the middle of the room. I thought about the vision in the prison that left me awestruck, and started thinking out loud.
"I wonder if this is all real. I couldn't have imagined it, because Captain Antonio and the strange little man both saw it. I wonder why I couldn't hear what he was saying?" I asked myself.
"What who was saying," Onesiphorus asked.
"I'm sorry, my friend. I didn't mean to disturb you," I said.
"You didn't, I couldn't sleep. Between the rain and the thoughts of the execution, my mind would not cease," He said.
Onesiphorus looked as if he, too, had been wrestling, and fared about as well as I had.
"I usually pray when nights are long," He offered.
"I'm not sure I know how," I said.
"It's as easy as talking to me," He assured.
"Hmm. I see, then God will talk to me as you do?" I asked.
"Sometimes. He communicates with me in many different ways," He said.
"You mean like dreams," I offered.
"Yes, and also through other people," He added.
"I see. So if we aren't able to hear him one way, he has another avenue to get our attention?" I inquired.
"You're a very perceptive man, Michael," He said.
"Here lately I think I'm more of a crazy man," I said.
Onesiphorus chuckled a little and reclined next to me. We sat there silently for a few minutes. I was trying to picture myself as a Christian. I really didn't know how to be any different than I am.
"How is it, Onesiphorus, that a man can live a certain way for a long period of time, and then suddenly become someone else? Is a man's character so easy to change?" I asked.
"I have learned the only way a man's character can be changed is by supernatural intervention. In other words, if he tries to do it himself, he's in for a lot of disappointment," He said.
"There have been times when I thought I needed to change something about myself, mainly to please my wife, but found it very difficult, and sometimes impossible," I said.
"Do you feel you have changed from what you were before you were a guard?" he asked.
"I guess I have to some degree," I said reflecting on my past.
"The change that God causes is much deeper than what any military can do to you," He offered as encouragement.
"Obviously. I guess that's where the struggle comes in," I said.
"The best thing to do is to not struggle," He offered.
"I'm afraid that's just about as hard," I said.
