An Act of Faith

By

Mike Pulaski

This is a true Easter story.  I saw it and heard it myself.

First, some background.

If it weren’t for Christ’s rising from the dead, there would not be Christianity.  His rising fulfilled the prophesies that described the Messiah.  You must have “faith” to believe in this.

Without faith, you aren’t really a Christian.  Remember this as you read on.

Back in the mid-70’s, when communism was still flourishing behind the “Iron Curtain”, my father’s company began doing business with a number of communist countries – ones that our government approved doing so.

My father sold steel mills and their technology.  The whole package.  Technology, all the equipment, and the training.

His clients were the governments of Russia, Bulgaria, China, and Poland.  Each time he sold a steel mill, the senior engineers who were to eventually run the plant had to come to this country and be trained at one of my father’s company plants.  They usually stayed for 5 months.

My father and mother entertained these visiting engineers often.  They were homesick and tired of hotel living and hotel food.  Mom would cook up dishes that were native to their respective countries, which was a treat for them as well as for us kids.

My father was pure Polish, the son of an immigrant.  His first language was Polish.  So he could speak and socialize fairly well with the visiting Polish engineers.

Now remember that all religion was banned in all these communist countries.  People were forbidden from practicing it publicly.  In fact, it was a crime, punishable by imprisonment.

Poland has a history of being a Catholic nation for centuries.  It also has a history of being occupied by other countries during that time.  The latest occupying power then was communist Russia.  I had read and heard that despite their communist occupants, the Polish people were still practicing their faith quietly, mostly “underground”.

Mom and Dad invited the Polish delegation to our house one Easter Sunday.  She made all the Polish foods that were popular at Easter time.  We had plenty of vodka on hand as well.

Each visiting delegation of engineers had at least one communist party member, who was not an engineer…..he was a “snitch”.  His job was to make sure the visitors didn’t stray too far from the group or make any negative comments about communist society.  Everyone could tell who the snitch was, because he usually was always alone, ignored by everyone else.

Whenever these entertainment events took place, I was usually the bartender.  One thing these communists knew how to do, and that was to drink vodka…..and plenty of it!  They didn’t bother with mixers or ice….they just drank it straight.  These Polish engineers kept me very busy that day.

You can imagine that it wasn’t long before our visitors were in a carefree, vodka-induced party mood.  They were singing and dancing.  I found it strange and humorous that men were dancing with men…..but that is very European….it’s just pretty “different”.

At one point in the festivities, it happened.  It was the most striking Act of Faith I had ever encountered.

The Communist Party “snitch” was off in a corner at the far side of the room, opposite of the bar where I was.  Right in front of me was my father and the chief Polish engineer.  They both were pretty lit up with vodka and the spirit of the day.

Then, at one point, they both turned to see where the “snitch” was.  Good.  He was at the far end of the room.  Then they gave each other a bear hug.

While they were embraced, I heard my father say to his Polish friend in English, “He has risen”.

The Polish man immediately responded in English, “He has truly risen.”

They broke their embrace and looked at each other.  I swear each of them was teary-eyed.