Virtue and Strife: A Christian Adventure

By Roger R. Klass

Phillip Carson, Indiana born and raised, is faced with the decision of moving to California in early adolescence for the sake of his mother's health. He follows his parents to the Los Angeles area, where the adventure of his life begins. There he meets Susan Giles, a light in his life during the more innocent time of high school. They become an item, and she returns to his life post-college when he is dealing with three adversaries and his own internal struggles. During the eleventh grade, Phillip also meets retired fireman William Jones. William became a positive influence in other people's lives after suffering a huge loss and trying to make the right decisions going forward. He commits his retirement years to reaching out to inner-city juveniles and later becomes a good friend to Phillip. Phillip learns from William and must later grow in his own faith to complete the challenges set before him. This is a story of the shadows of strife being overcome, and virtue left standing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Release date: Sep 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781532694189

Roger R. Klass

Roger R. Klass was raised Catholic and went to weekly Bible study through his church. He attended Notre Dame University, making the Dean’s List while studying theology. He worked at three YMCAs part-time, and has over thirty-one years business experience, including fifteen in the Fortune 100. He wrote a self-help business book emphasizing the people side of the equation. After retirement, Roger completed Virtue and Strife: A Christian Adventure, and is excited to share this engaging fictional read.

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Introduction

Virtue and Strife: A Christian Adventure , reveals the human situation of facing right and wrong choices, challenges, and sufferings in this life. All of us can relate to some of the internal and external conflicts the protagonists face. William Jones became a good friend to Phillip Carson and the way he lived his life was inspirational to the young lad. This was demonstrated in his work as a fireman and later opening a youth center in a troubled part of Los Angeles. William experienced some deep loss in his early adulthood and made some good decisions going forward. The suffering he went through played a part in him becoming a good influence in other people’s lives.

Phillip Carson lost both parents at a young age and began searching for a role model as he felt alone and lost. He tried not to reveal this to his friends, and instead played the cool card while living alone in his parents’ house during his junior and senior years of high school.

Man, that Phillip has it made, he heard some of his classmates say. No parents bugging him about curfews and study. What a set-up.

Phillip went along with their perceptions and even stoked that fire at times, but deep down he was trying to find his way. Becoming an adult too soon was not in his plans, and he missed his parents a great deal, but buried those feelings. Phillip did not properly grieve for his parents because the sadness of losing them too close together was so strong. His girlfriend Susan was a very positive influence, and intuition told her he was always dealing with more than he would reveal. Returning to his life post college was a godsend for Phillip, and Susan helped him deal with some negative forces in his own life. Their relationship was reciprocal, and both helped each other in ways which became more apparent later.

Life’s experiences indeed reveal the mountains which need to be scaled in everyone’s own journey. This story shows the shadows in strife being overcome, and virtue left standing.

The characters and events in Virtue and Strife: A Christian Adventure are fiction and any resemblance to actual individuals and occurrences are purely coincidental. Places and names are used in an entirely fictional context. Any ideas derived from this literary work, acted upon, and outcomes are the responsibility of the reader.

1

William Jones

There are six principal players in our story, and the first of these is William Jones. William went through his own suffering, began reaching out to others, and later became a good friend to Phillip Carson.

He was born and raised in the Los Angeles area years ago, and an only child. Three generations of his family grew up in California, and he became one of those who would neither move nor change neighborhoods. William is a large man, about six feet one and weighs 195 pounds. Although he is now turning sixty-five, he is still in excellent shape and works out with weights in his basement. The older he becomes, the more effort he gives, like one of his favorite major league pitchers did.

If this guy can pitch a no hitter at forty, I can still keep up with the younger generation around here at my age, he says almost weekly.

His personality prevents anyone from thinking of him as old, and his physical prowess reinforces that. William also has a reputation of having good character. He developed good habits which were put into his weekly routine forty years ago after his wife died in a car accident. Five years of dating his beloved, William finally proposed, and they were married for one year, only to have his whole future change in the blink of an eye. William was not in the car at the time, but always wondered if he was driving could he have avoided the reckless driver she was not able to. This notion became so strong it turned into a cross he had to bear for a time.

Months after the accident William heard the other driver was having issues in holding down a job and providing for his family. He could not sleep and was racked with guilt from memories of running the red stop light hitting the car with William’s cherished driving. After hearing of this and a few more months of getting to the point of forgiveness, William sought him out and met him for coffee. The driver did not know what to expect, but if William wanted to punch him or verbally eviscerate him, he felt he had it coming. William approached him in the coffee shop and could see immediately the torment this man was in. William knew his wife would have forgiven him, and that is what he did to this man.

I know my wife would have forgiven you, and so you know I do as well.

Hearing this brought some instant relief to him, and a rash of emotion at the same time. The man sat there looking down at his coffee over the next ten minutes with watered eyes, and William sat there with him. He finally looked up to William and said:

Thank you, this means more than you know.

They talked for another twenty minutes and William then said:

Go home and be good to your family, and raise your kids right.

This is exactly what the gentleman did, and he was a better father, husband, and man going forward. Forgiving this individual also helped William, and he was able to move forward with his life one day at a time.

William still knew he needed help in filling the large void left behind. He was going through a rash of feelings, including disbelief, depression, and anger. Everyone thought another lady would come into his life and he did date from time to time, but memories of his bride were too strong. He knew his beloved was the girl for him, the one picked out for him, and he believed she was waiting for him in a better place. Although he was in the prime of his life at the age of twenty-five, William eventually became at peace living a single life. He did not understand why she was taken from him so soon but accepted it and channeled all his energy into living a productive life and tried to help others along the way. His approach was sincere, and personal experiences allowed him to relate to others when they were going through times of suffering.

William began making his small part of the world a better place. He was there for his coworkers when they needed someone to talk to and began doing volunteer work through his church visiting lonely elderly in nursing homes, and sick at the hospital. At the age of thirty-five, he quit his job on the docks and applied to be a fireman. His future superiors first thought he was late getting into this vocation but were then amazed how well he performed on the physical fitness portion of the tests. He was keeping up with the twenty-two-year olds and was hired within a week. William never made officer, but he became the sergeant in battle everyone turned to when the heat was on. Whether it was three alarm fires or five car pile ups, they let William take the lead as he would get the most lives saved. Respect grew amongst his peers, and everyone called him William and never Bill or Billy. Not that these names are disrespectful, but for some reason William was who Mr. Jones was. Many of his partners went to William for guidance because of how he handled himself in the field and in his personal life. Marital and family questions were presented to him even though he was single. The phrase leadership through example applied to William to be sure.

William gave twenty years of his life to the Los Angeles Fire Department and retired with full honors. They still call him in to talk to the new recruits and those thinking about becoming firemen, about his real-life experiences and how to handle one’s self in different situations.

Take care of yourself entering harm’s way, he would usually say, but remember you’re there for them.

After a general talk, he would answer any questions the audience had until there were no more to be asked.

Don’t be afraid to speak up and ask questions, he would say. You want to find out if this is the right career path for you. Finding the vocation which matches your gifts and talents is first and foremost. Those of you who have already decided, learn from good people who’ve already been there.

Not everyone he gave speeches to became firemen, but William looked on the talks as successful if he was part of helping them find out what they were meant to do in life. That he felt was the biggest plus from his oratories. In many cases William would hear back from those who attended years later.

I became a paramedic and it is the best thing I’ve done my whole life.

I chose to become a dentist after listening to you because I wanted to help people avoid pain. Now I have a good practice and am starting a family.

One feedback he would always remember: I became a fireman and ten years later I’m now a counselor in the armed forces. Helping our troops when they’re away from home I wouldn’t trade for anything.

William was now 55 and decided to give back to the community even more. He bought an abandoned warehouse in a higher crime rate neighborhood, rehabbed it, (with the help of his former firefighters), and wanted to open a Christian youth center with further cooperation from surrounding churches. He noticed the neighborhood was changing over the years. Attendance in schools were becoming smaller, and gang numbers were becoming larger, so he wanted to provide a safe place for the troubled youth on the streets. William looked at things directly and simply. Get the kids off the street, get them into the youth center with positive activities, and then back into grade school and high school. He met with the surrounding ministers, councils, priests and clergy to present his straightforward plan targeting inner city kids. His audience knew of his outstanding reputation as a fireman and some even got to see him in action over the years. They also liked his ideas to reach out to these kids going down undesirable paths which no one else seemed to be able to reach, so were in support of his efforts. They provided volunteers when applicable and steered kids to the center if they felt it would help them. Positive environments can bring positive results, and the youth center proved this point.

Over time, there were less inner-city kids hanging out on the street corners harassing passers’ by and more kids playing basketball, dodge ball, learning self-defense, and taking their studies seriously. William’s fire force buddies came in all the time to coach sports and give speeches on the value of becoming a fire fighter, policeman, civil servant, and picking any profession which gave back to the community. They tutored these youths on school subjects they were proficient in and told these young people they could make a positive difference in other people’s lives. Army and navy chaplains came in to give talks on opportunities in the armed forces, and the importance of starting good habits such as saying grace before a meal. There were career days when people from all professions came in to give speeches on their vocations such as mechanic, machinist, doctor, manager, and more. William took it as a personal responsibility to fully screen and background check every volunteer. He also met with any lecturers beforehand to get a synopsis of their addresses and make sure the speakers had what they needed. He wanted every interaction which took place at the center to be a safe and positive one for the youth. Slowly, these children learned their futures could be a lot brighter than not making it to their thirties or facing a dead end. William is now nearing the ten-year mark of running the youth center. The numbers of kids helped were becoming quite large, and he learned some of the best statistics you don’t fully understand until the next life.

It was a real shot in the arm for William whenever kids who attended the center, now young adults, would look him up and tell him how well their lives were going. Hearing stories about career accomplishments, providing for their own families, and raising kids who are making the world a better place would lift his spirits immensely and energize him to keep up his own daily grind. His outlook became brighter as he believed the proper work was being done after listening to so many positive outcomes.

2

Phillip Carson and Susan Giles

Phillip Carson was Indiana born and raised who moved to the Los Angeles area at the age of fourteen. Phillip liked Indiana as it suited his down to earth personality, and he had a lot of friends living there since birth. He was aware of his mother’s health issues however and wanted her to be well, so he refused to put up any barriers to the move because the California climate was supposed to be the best match for her. The thought of living in California did entice him, as he always loved the beach music from the sixties and seventies and wanted to see the Pacific Ocean.

I’m going to see the best sunsets in the world, he told his friends before leaving.

His comment hit home with them as they all used to gather on Friday nights and watch the sunset over a neighboring lake. They were now a little jealous about his new horizons, but Phillip was trying to cover up his true feelings of overall wanting to stay in the Midwest with his buddies.

His father, Robert Carson, was a veterinarian who took a job at a local zoo.

I know this is the right thing to do, he kept telling himself. Those Indiana winters are getting to be too hard on Jeanette.

Although the new weather suited Phillip’s mother a great deal, she was taken from her family just over one year after the move. This hit Bob and Phillip hard. Bob Carson died of grief eighteen months after this in the guise of high blood pressure, leaving Phillip alone, and a junior in high school-second semester. The whole situation seemed unreal to him, as his parents were always around, and now they were gone.

After losing both parents, Phillip realized how blessed he was to have them. He began to understand the phrase you don’t know what you have ‘til it’s