Carl felt left out by the other adults, the conversation seemed to be going on more outside the store than inside. He was the oldest of them all and he should be doing the leading here!<br/><br/>Carl moved his old and heavy body over to the place where all the decisions seem to be made and waited for the perfect opportunity to add his own opinion. He had to get in control of this group and set their priorities straight.<br/><br/>A calm Chris was giving Todd a heated piece of his mind and treated him rather hostile in Carl's opinion, whose eyes glazed over, as he saw this was the perfect opportunity to be the voice of reason. It did sound like he had a good strategic idea, but before Todd could reply, Carl interjected himself first.<br/><br/>“Listen, son,” Carl started, putting his hand on Chris' shoulder for a moment to get his attention, “We have all been through several very rough days. There is no need to speak with such vehemence in your voice to any of us. Mister Burkhart was not accusing you of anything or claiming that you do not know how to do your job. Obviously you are a very skilled individual and know very well what you are doing, but you have to remember, sometimes everybody needs to accept some help.<br/><br/>“In the Bible there is a story about a merchant who got robbed and was left behind wounded on the side of the road. He was passed by several of his own people, one of them even being a rabbi, who all walked around him with a wide circle. None of them offered the wounded merchant any help. Then a Samaritan, an stranger in the land of his people, saw him and helped him out. Not only did he take care of the man's wounds, he also made sure that the man was treated well in an inn and had time to recover. He even paid for all of the man's expenses. Had the man not been helped then he would have surely died. Like you now, he needed help to stay alive.”<br/><br/>Carl hoped that his words made the young man see things in a different light and concluded his little speech with the words, “I will leave you be now to comfort the young among us. I am sure that if we put our faith in the Lord that we will succeed, but we<em>must</em>work together for our survival. There is both strength, and comfort, in numbers.”<br/><br/>Carl felt pretty smug about having seized control of the discussion like this, but was careful not to let it show on his face. He was sure that without his leadership this group would fall apart and he would see to it that this would be prevented. Then, when the time was ready, he'd have the manpower he needed to liberate his church and continue the Lord's work.