"Bill Connolly"

[LtGeorgeMcLean 0]

McLean’s Logs

Lieutenant George McLean

0404.21

“More Than Enough”

 

“There is a time for every purpose, to everything there is a season.

But man must find his satisfaction, the gift of God in all his labour.” –DWP

 

And so George McLean and another man found himself walking toward the residence of Bill Connolly, a former neighbor. George had respected this man throughout his child hood and into his young adult years. He held what he perceived to be as radical beliefs. What struck George, however, was not the beliefs themselves, but how passionate Bill was about them. George had been raised on the toleration doctrine, that everyone’s opinions were correct in some way, essentially that absolute truth was a hodgepodge of man’s ideas.

 

Yet, George recognized some sort of moral law. He believed that some things were absolutely wrong. The taking of another’s life, for instance, he believed was wrong despite the circumstantial expediency in protecting one’s spouse from harm or protecting the Marine fighting alongside you in trenches, for example. It wasn’t hard for George to believe that there were some absolute truths, but most things in life he considered up for debate. George lived his life as a free-spirited rationalist. Of course, this had led him into trouble in the past. There was a reason that he was on Starfleet probation three times. He willingly chose to subvert the law set before him because he didn’t agree upon its principles.

 

He recalled the day that he was caught playing poker on duty with his fellow Engineers. George honestly didn’t see anything wrong with such actions considering the ship was running in tip-top shape. He knew the regulations. He knew that if he was caught, he would be subject to punishment. He never expected the demotion and probation, but he was willing to subvert the law nevertheless and willing to transgress the loyalty oath taken by all Starfleet officers to “uphold all Starfleet regulations.”

 

What a buffoon he had been in his early career. The return to Earth had been good for him, literally and symbolically. He had been meaning to talk to someone about his transformation. It really wasn’t a transformation per se, but George felt a stirring in his gut, as if he was being drawn to something. Why he thought of Bill Connolly? That’s anyone’s guess, but as George knocked on the large oak door of the Connolly residence, he knew that walking in would mean leaving something behind, perhaps his entire life. The combination of excitement and terror overwhelmed him and almost made him nauseous.

 

When the elderly man finally came to the door, he was surprised to see an aging George McLean standing before him. Yet, the man was delighted, for he knew what George had come for. The unnamed man and George were both welcomed inside.

 

“It’s about time,” Bill Connolly said with his wrinkled face beaming with life.

 

Stepping in timidly at first, but then with greater confidence, McLean replied perplexed, “About time? What are you talking about?”

 

Bill Connolly disappeared and reappeared with a loaf of bread and three cups of juice.

 

“I’m sorry, it’s all I have to offer. I live humbly you know…off my retirement payments from Chrysler-Ford.”

 

George smiled, “It’s more than enough, thank you.”

 

More than enough. The words, rang in George’s head the rest of the evening. The three men talked for hours, each sapping up life’s wisdom from another. Then the mood became more serious as Bill shared his life story and the decisions that he had made in his life. George asked many questions and received many answers. He began to understand why Bill had chosen to live his life in such an anti-pragmatic way. The old man was brilliant and it seemed to George that the words coming out of his mouth weren’t coming from the brain, but were spilling out directly from the soul.

 

George admired the hope in Bill’s eyes, the life in his steps. He found himself strangely accepting what Bill had said and he pondered these things in his heart. Sometime near dawn, George left Bill’s house, but as he crossed the threshold he realized that he had not left as he had come in. He had been changed, wholly and completely and was ready to life a new life.

 

“All of you, is more than enough for,

All of me, for every thirst and,

Every need you satisfy,

With your love and all I have in you is more than enough” –Chris Tomlin