Page 58 of Swamp Kings 2

“I think I chew the most on what others worry about.”

Not a surprise. “I’m not worried if I knowyou’renot worried.”

He chuckled on an exhale. “Brother, you worry enough for the whole world.”

Bishop wouldn’t deny it. “Is it obvious just to you?” Or did everybody see it. He didn’t give a shit beyond what his wife saw. Was that what stole the peace from her pretty face, his fucking inability to trust anything outside of himself?

“It’s obvious to those close to you.”

“So just about everybody.” He glanced at his wife again, finding her lookingoff while Maggie and the rest engaged in conversation. There was no audio but judging by expressions, serious topics were happening but not as serious as what bothered his wife.

“Next stop should be in fifteen minutes,” Seer said.

“You reading my mind?” Bishop muttered.

“A little.”

“Keep me informed. I’m oblivious, apparently.”

Seer angled his head, eyes on the windshield. “Did you hear that?” he asked with a small grin.

“What?”

He turned his serene blue eyes to him and made a slow, quiet, explosion sound. “The crack of dawn.”

Bishop chuckled, looking for what had Seer so enraptured in the sky. “You like dawns, I see.”

“Oh, they are spectacular,” he said softly. “Every one of them. Each brand new. First of its kind and last of its kind.” He sighed, leaning back. “Every day is a snapshot in the family album of eternity.”

Damn. “I sure do envy that.”

“What?”

“Just your ability to step out of everything and experience things that way.”

“Hm. Wasn’t always like that. I had to grow into it.”

“Dare I ask how long that took?”

Seer shrugged a little. “Isn’t the same for everybody.”

He stole glances at him. “Ten years? Fifteen? Twenty?”

He took a deep, contemplative breath. “I remember the Lord pressed upon me one day to count my blessings.” He glanced at Bishop. “At first, I thought he meant it just in general, like… be thankful, be grateful. Be he kept repeating it till I realized he meant it literally—count them. I got a paper and a pen and began from current time to as far back as I could remember, recording the things he’d done in my life. With every entry, I became what you see in me today. Confident. Assured. At peace. Also known by many as faith.”

Bishop regarded him when he got quiet, finding him caughtin a distant memory or dilemma.

He finally looked at him, his awe stern. “There’s real power in words, son. Whether you think them, speak them or write them. They’re like fuel,” he said carefully. “They drive the entire universe and make things move. Make things real. Alive. Themoreyouknowsomething, the more power it has. And that list I made pulled together so much power and fuel, it shot me to the spiritual moon.” His grin slowly spread as his gaze meandered over to him. “And once you go tothatmoon, you can never forget what that’s like,” he said, face lit up. “It’s a part of you. But it wasn’t the list itself that did that, it was everythingonthat list. Pulling it all together in a single moment amounted to rocket fuel. But rocket fuel by itself is just a powerful thing and unless you put it in your engine, it can’t really take you anywhere. It’s just potential. That’s all faith is. It’s not just knowing things, it’s knowing and believing so well, that you will put it in motion. That kind of power is born in here,” he said, pointing to his chest.

Bishop was nowmoreenvious of this power than ever. “And what if you’redoing random shit while not knowing if it’s the right thing?”

“Well, that’s where things get divine,” he said with an inviting secrecy. “Every item in my list wasn’t done by me, it was done by God through the things I did. There was no route I took that He wasn’t God of. When you give yourself over to Him, He owns all the roads and paths and routes. The good word says, ‘We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.’ And that ‘The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.’ He’s talking to you, brother,” he informed. “If you trust in the Lord with all your heart and don’t lean on your knucklehead understanding, Hewillmake your paths straight.”

Bishop had to chuckle at that. “Knucklehead is fucking right,” easily agreed. “So no matter how amazingly I fuck up, He can fix it you're saying.”

“In a holy fucking second.”

Bishop shook his head. “Damn, I lovethe hell out of you. But brother,” he said with a sigh. “That is one fat pill to swallow.”

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