Dave Casler
PO Box 98
Ridgway, Colorado 81432
Young Adult Novels by Dave Casler...
I've been told by publisher after publisher that there's no market for Young Adult novels. I think they're wrong! So I'm putting my novels on-line for you. Forget the publisher! Read to your heart's content--it's free! And, I'd like to hear from you, too! Contact Page.
You're reading About Dan. Be sure to check out About Phillip here.
Dan is a normal kid who loves his soccer. Except everything goes wrong. Everything.
About Series Home
About the About Series
Index to All Chapters
Here are all the chapters, disguised as asterisks. Hover your mouse over an asterisk to see the title of the chapter. Click on the asterisk to go straight to that chapter.
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(About Dan Home) (Last) (Next)
Because
"Oh, I was angry. It was hard to pray. But I made a decision to accept help from others. Little by little it got better. I still miss him. I look forward to being with him in the celestial kingdom," she said, very obviously trying to keep her emotions under control.
"But hadn't you already made the decision to stick with the church? I mean, you were active all your life, weren't you? Weren't you born in Utah like?"
"Dan!" cried Lisa. "That's rude!"
He heatedly turned on Lisa. "Lisa, you have no clue what it's like. I come here every week and get pablum. I need some answers!"
Sister Jameson sighed again. "Dan," she began, "you should have some answers. I can only tell you my experience. He died very suddenly. We didn't have any savings and I still had two children at home. We had no insurance and suddenly no income."
The room grew quiet again. The rest of the chairs plopped down to the floor.
"We lived in Spanish Fork, which was still a pretty small town at the time. All the neighbors came over to help and everyone was so good in the weeks following the funeral. But they all had to get on with their lives. I felt so alone. I had to get a job, but even so, we lost the house because I couldn't make the mortgage payments. We moved to a small apartment in Salt Lake City. The kids were teenagers, much like you guys." She paused to look up and smile weakly.
"I prayed a lot. I knew he heard me. I thought often of his promises to the widows and the fatherless. It took a lot of humility on my part to accept church assistance. I didn't want to admit I couldn't support my own family."
She stopped long enough to sigh for Lisa to interject. "Sister Jameson, you don't need to go on." She glared at Dan.
"No, Lisa," said Sister Jameson. "Dan and the rest of you need to hear this."
"Sister Jameson," said Dan. "I don't get answers to my prayers." His cocky attitude had disappeared. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his hands surrounding his face. He was peering at her through his fingertips.
"How do you pray?" she asked.
"I've tried everything. I get on my knees, I mean as much as I can. Sometimes I pray out loud. I try to counsel with him, like Alma said. That's what the bishop told me to do. But I don't get answers. What am I doing wrong?"
"Maybe the Lord isn't ready to give you answers," gently suggested Sister Jameson.
Dan threw down his hands and sat up. " Oh, that's too easy!" he said in exasperation. "I mean, isn't that what any religion says? You're just not trying hard enough! You have to be more faithful! Ignore any evidence to the contrary and just keep believing! That's a great way to keep people under control and ignore reality, isn't it!"
His vehemence startled Sister Jameson, but before she could respond, the bell rang. The students rose to their feet. Lisa rushed from the room with Justin in tow looking like she was going to cry. Even Jerri seemed unsure what to do. The other boys left. Dan was the last one out, since he had to fish his stuff out from under the chair.
He was heading for the door when he heard his name. He turned to face Sister Jameson.
"I'm sorry," he began. "I guess I went overboard there."
"Dan," she said, ignoring his comment. "What do you feel when you pray?"
He had to think. "Sometimes nothing, like my prayer doesn't get past the ceiling. Sometimes I feel really warm in here," he said, tapping his chest. "Sometimes I feel really peaceful. But I never get answers, you know, like you hear people talk about in testimony meeting, like when the Lord tells them to do something or other."
"Dan, let me tell you something. You are getting answers. Those feelings you're getting are from the Spirit. Don't think otherwise!"
"But those are just feelings," he pleaded. "I have so many questions! I don't know what to do. I have so many choices to make."
"Exactly. And it wouldn't be a test of your free agency if the Lord told you everything to do, now would it?"
"Can't he at least give me a hint?" pled Dan.
"Dan, the Lord often meets our needs through other people."
"Yeah, but which people? Everyone’s giving me conflicting advice."
"That's where that warm feeling comes in. Take the question to the Lord and counsel with him. Tell him your decision. If it's right, you'll feel warm and peaceful. If it's not, you won't. It's that simple. Try it." She squeezed his arm and looked up into his eyes.
"I wish I could be so sure," he said, looking down at the floor. His bravado was gone.
"You'll make the right choices, I know. Now, if we don't get out of here, the next class will trample us. You need to get off to Priesthood meeting. Now give me a hug and tell me more about it next week, ok?"
She put her arms around him. She’s such a tiny thing, he thought. How could she raise two teens all by herself? She let him go; without looking back she went off toward the Relief Society room. He saw her pull a tiny lace hanky from her pocket.