A sigh came from Luke, but he didn’t say anything.
“The third point doesn’t seem to apply at all. Entanglement between government and religion? I’m a principal, Mr. Bax— Luke. Not a governor or senator. I don’t write laws. I’m not shaping public policy or opinion. I’m simply facilitating students who voluntarily choose to be part of an after-school Bible study. No entanglements. I have plenty of students who are not attending.”
“I understand.” Luke tapped his fingers on his desk. The man was listening, Wendell could tell.
Wendell’s own argument made complete sense to him. In fact, he would’ve liked a chance to tell the judge and jury some of this. “Those students who don’t show up Tuesday and Thursday afternoons are not penalized. There’s no different treatment, no push for them to come to the club meeting.”
Luke stood and walked to his window. For a long time he only looked out, as if he were silently calling on God for help, the way Wendell had done so many times in his own office. When Luke turned to face him again, Wendell could see the give in his expression.
So he took a quick breath and continued.
He pulled the other two folders from his briefcase. “This”—he held up the research report put together by AnnaMae Williams—“has a breakdown of every very real statistic that changed for the better after a year of the Raise the Bar program.” He held up the document. “Page after page, Luke. It tells the story.”
Wendell slid the report across the desk, and Luke walked over and picked it up. He glanced through it and set it down. “The third one?”
“These are the personal stories of a dozen students whose lives and educational experience have been changed because of our Bible study meeting.” Wendell handed that folder to Luke. “It’s all there. Enough to win this case. I really believe that.”
Luke sat back down. For the next few minutes he went over the precedents one more time. “This country—our courts and legal system, and especially our government—has been for most of the past decade very opposed to the Christian faith.” He hesitated. “You understand that, right?”
This wasn’t going anywhere. Wendell didn’t want to talk precedents. He thought about telling Luke how he’d studied the founding fathers and that he knew all too well how far the country had drifted from its faith roots. Instead he sat back in his chair and studied his lawyer. “Tell me about yourself, Luke. Your family. Your faith.”
The question seemed to take Luke by surprise. “Sure . . . okay.” He talked about being raised in a wonderful, godly family. “I was the golden boy, the youngest. The one who did everything right by God and my parents.” That was, he went on to say, until he and his girlfriend allowed things to go too far. “It was the night before 9/11. Her dad worked in one of the towers and because of . . . because of me, she didn’t take his final call. He tried to reach her that Monday night. September 10. And she was too busy with me to answer it. He died the next morning in the attacks.”
Wendell felt his heart sink. Funny how you could sit across from a successful attorney like Luke Baxter and never know what he’d been through. What trials had shaped him. “What happened next?”
Luke nodded. “It was awful.” He shook his head. “I’ve never told this to a potential client before. But since you asked . . .”
He explained that his girlfriend, Reagan, broke up with him and went home to be with her grieving mother. While she was there she learned she was pregnant. Even then she wouldn’t talk to Luke. “After that, I got caught up in a terrible relationship with a girl who didn’t believe in God whatsoever. A complete rebellion on my part.”
The story was more than Wendell could’ve imagined.
“Thankfully I had my parents. So when I was ready to turn back home, someone was waiting with open arms and the truth of the Gospel.” Luke paused. “Eventually Reagan and I found each other again and I realized I was the father to a little boy named Tommy. Reagan’s birth experience nearly killed her. She couldn’t have more kids after that. We ended up marrying and now . . . well, now we have three kids. The last two were adopted.”
Wendell listened to every word. His heart went out to Luke and all that he and his family had been through. But there was something Luke had said that stood out. “What was that part about your family? About them waiting with open arms?”
Luke seemed puzzled, like he wasn’t sure where this was going. “Just that, my family was there for me. They forgave me and prayed with me and led me back to God. I don’t know where I’d be without them.”
“Okay.” Wendell could feel the intensity in his eyes. “Now imagine you didn’t have a family like that. Imagine the only way you’d ever find your way back is a group that meets after school twice a week to read the Bible. A group of students and volunteer teachers who pray with you and care for you and point you to Jesus every single time you ask.”
Slowly, Luke began to nod. He clenched his jaw and stared at the material on his desk. “We’ll have an uphill battle every step of the way.”
“I realize that.” Wendell resisted the urge to celebrate. Never mind that the attorney across from him had just bared his heart. This was still a professional meeting.
Luke stood and walked to the window. He turned and stared at Wendell. “We’ll be headline news in every paper, every TV station. And nearly everyone in positions of power will be shouting for us to lose.”
Wendell folded his hands on Luke’s desk. “I know that, too.”
For a long moment, Luke was quiet. Probably sorting through his options, his schedule. “I’ll take the case, Wendell. Pro bono. My fees are covered by donors who believe in religious freedom.”
The reality came over Wendell like sun on a rainy day. “That’s incredible.”
“It is. As bad as things are, there will be people out there on our side.” Luke thought for a minute. “Usually I have a good feeling about the cases I take.” His expression grew somber. “I don’t have that feeling this time.”
“I understand.” Wendell gathered his presentation folders from Luke’s desk. “I’ll make you copies of these.”
Luke ignored the offer—clearly he had his own way of doing things, and using someone else’s presentation folder and materials was almost certainly not that way. Luke walked Wendell to the door. “Pray that I’ll find a precedent case. Something like yours.”
“I’ll pray. So will my kids and my students.” Wendell paused by Luke’s office door. “Thanks for telling me your story.”
Luke smiled. “Next time, you tell yours. We’re going to need to be friends if God’s going to use us to pull this off.”
“Deal.” The two shook hands and again Wendell contained himself. It wasn’t until he was almost to his car that Wendell stopped and raised both fists in the warm autumn afternoon air. “Thank You, God!” Wendell felt his smile stretch across his face. “I knew You’d convince him!”
Just as he climbed behind the wheel, his phone rang. He didn’t check to see who it was before answering. So when he heard the voice on the other end, his heart skipped a beat.
“Wendell.” She sounded kind, strong. “I can’t talk long, but this call is overdue.”
“Alicia.” Wendell’s mind raced and he closed his eyes. “It’s good to hear your voice.” Clearly she was not too afraid to reach out to him. Even with the national negative attention he was receiving.
“How are you?” She cared. Her question was deeper than Lake Michigan.
“I’m okay. I really am.” Wendell leaned back and opened his eyes. He stared out the window at the sky. “God is working. Even today.”
“I’m sure.” This was definitely a new Alicia. She drew a full breath. “You’re in trouble, but you’re going to get through this, Wendell. I’ve been praying.” She paused. “So what happened today?”