Cantwell-Chicago Lawyer

Yager was stunned. “Oh, I really can’t do that. You don’t realize the pressure on a lawyer these days. Besides, I haven’t the slightest idea what you mean by a ‘team,’ nor do I see any purpose in my speaking at a religious meeting.” Lamely he added, “I don’t even know what a ‘team’ is all about.”

“About nine-thirty. Quit worrying.” Sam laughed again. “You can shoot for any of half a dozen planes and even leave Calvary House before the meeting is over if you have to. I’ll be seeing you.”

Somewhat dazed, Yager sat over his coffee and reviewed the turn of events. Up to the present he had considered faith a strictly private matter. Was he afraid to let his personal experiences come out into the open? He was about to rebel when he recalled his own reference to obedience. In the taxi returning to the hotel he kept weighing the pros and cons; but an hour later he once again called the airline. Then he packed and finally ‘phoned the “statuesque blonde” at her office and suggested that she join him at 61 Gramercy Park at 7:30 for a religious meeting. “I’ll explain later.”

In the room outside Sam’s study on the second floor thirty-two people (Yager counted them) were grouped in a kind of oval. They were of various sizes, shapes, and colors: a Negro clergyman from Jamaica; several people from New Zealand, an assorted half-dozen from Canada; and others seemingly from various sections of the United States—not forgetting New York City. The “sparkly” anticipation was pointed up by Sam’s laughter and by the encouraging smile of a younger moderator as they went around the circle asking, “Who are you?” “Why are you here?” and “What recent event has happened in your life through the power of God?”

Yager himself became so excited that, during a pause, lest he miss out, he started to talk—mainly about himself. To his surprise the young moderator good-naturedly cut him off and he was further admonished by Sam: “Chisel it to six or seven minutes at the most.”