Projects
Consciousness Fiction
1. "Judgment Day" by Carl Johann Schroeder
Introduction: JUDGMENT DAY is reverent but also almost campy in its literalness. Exploring the characters helped me to integrate external conflicts that I see in the world today, as well as internal conflicts that I feel from past lifetimes when I'm pretty sure that I was less tolerant in my community role as a "priest essence". I think that my artist/teacher wife will understand, but I doubt that my fundamentalist uncle Rev. Smith will, since he already believes that I'm influenced by evil spirits. However all of the characters are meant to be sympathetic in their own ways, and I have considerable respect for the various startlingly sincere religious movements that have flowered across the American space-time continuum, especially those of the early 19th century in my homestate of New York, birthplace of Spiritualism, Mormonism, and the Oneida Community.
Judgment Day
By Carl Johann Schroeder, copyright 2005, all rights reserved. Draft version June 11, 2005
The man at the pulpit shook his arms open wide.
"My brothers and sisters," said the Reverend Abraham Smith, "Good day to you all!"
"Good day!" intoned the congregation.
(and in the dark of a coffin, a man opened his eyes)
"Brothers and sisters, it is a good day indeed! For I have received a new revelation for our righteous community. A revelation that will shock you, a revelation that will astound you, but a revelation that should come as no surprise, to you and your families who have kept the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, in this here our blessed town of Salvation for these past 166 years."
Expectant faces craned forward from old wooden pews.
(and in the dark coffin, a man couldn't rise)
"I tell you now," said the fist-shaking Reverend, "I tell you my brothers and my sisters, I tell you that Christ wants you dead!"
The congregation hesitated, uncertain and spooked at the strong language. In the small heat-baked chapel, the faithful were accustomed to receiving and praising the provocative words of Reverend Abraham Smith. This was the town of Salvation after all, as it had been for the past 166 years. But today something was different, something was different today. You could taste the urgency, smell it in the air, see it cluster and clump on the old preacher's brow.
"Jesus Christ wants you dead to the wickedness! Dead to the sin! Dead to the world of evil out there!"
"Amen!", cried old mother Rollins, as many let go bated breath. How they loved the way their old preacher could take them for a ride!
The Reverend smiled a thin sternly smile, and reached for his Bible on his old preacher stand.
(in the dark and alone, he pushed at the closed coffin door. with panic increasing, the door remained closed)
"Oh brothers and sisters, this is a special day for our beloved town of Salvation," continued the Reverend Abraham Smith in a mighty tone. "Never since my great great great grandfather Abraham Smith whose name I so proudly bear, never since he founded this town and this church 166 years ago today, founded to bear witness to the truth of the God of Jesus Christ unto the end times, never since then has the town of Salvation known such a day as today."
Reverend Smith paused to lean foward into his expectant flock. "Salvation will at long last bear the fruits of its namesake. You whose families settled here with my family, you who have kept the vigil of God's truth apart from the world's wicked ways, you who have toiled the soil of our God given land, you shall be rewarded in the coming end days!"
(the man clawed in vain at the closed coffin door)
Leaning and rising, then pausing, the Reverend declared. "The millennium has passed! Salvation is at hand!"
The crowd hushed, until the anxious young woman in the third row dared to ask. "Then, it is time? Is it the time?", she wanted to know.
Jasper Jones seconded the question. "Is it really happening Reverend Smith, is He coming for us?"
The crowd whispered back and forth with hopes beyond hoping, until little Billy Jones said "Are we gonna see Jesus now?"
(the man sobbed and surrendered to the darkness of the coffin)
Reverend Smith widened his eyes, his voice trembled with sincere emotion. Gripping the pulpit he confirmed, "Oh yes, yes Jesus is coming, Jesus is the risen Lord!"
Fairly fainting, hand to mouth, Old Mother Rollins sat down and said oh! The crowd looked in each other's eyes, "after all these years!" they thought, until Jasper said, "How? How's it gonna happen Reverend Smith, how?"
"Ah friends, dear friends, that is what I've come here today to explain." The old preacher grew tender as he looked out across his beloved people. "You who have waited so long, did the Bible not say, he would come like a thief in the night? You would not know, you could not know when, that was the test."
The Reverend shouted, "But fear not, for it has been given to me in dreams, holy dreams, to tell you now. The terror of the night, like that of a faithless man alone in his grave, will give way to the dawn and His loving hand. People of Salvation, you have passed the test!"
Some smiled and tried to look relieved, some said their Hallelujahs, but nervously so. There was something they didn't understand in what was being said. This wasn't like any sermon before.
And Reverend Smith saw the people's concerns, so he proceeded to share from his heart all that he knew with his beloved town.
"In 1834 as you know, my ancestor the good Reverend Abraham Smith, he saw the wicked ways of the world. Much as you see around us today, he saw pestilence, he saw greed, he saw vanity and pride. The fornicators, the empire builders, the money lenders, the polluters of the garden, all much as today. And he gathered up the faithful of his farming community, and together they purchased the hills of Salvation that we farm today."
"Praise the Lord!" and "Praise Salvation!" the congregants chimed. This kind of talk was familiar again.
"Every one of you here has a great grandfather or grandmother who helped build Salvation to where it stands today. This town, our church, stone by stone, a good home by the Lord's people for the Lord's people. The sensation seekers and the news reporters, they came and they went. Salvation had seen better times, they said, as the cemetery grew and our numbers dwindled. But they never knew the heart and the destiny of Salvation, it was not theirs to know."
The preacher pointed out the window. "There, inside that hill, lay the righteous folk now! Our brothers, our sisters, our mothers, our fathers, our beloved kindred and kin, yea even unto ourselves on this day, oh how ye all toiled. We lay as one there within cemetery hill, buried but not gone, awaiting the final trumpet sound, when Christ shall say come, rise, take these your garments of light, and walk with me to my Father's house, for it is your heavenly home!"
"Good people of Salvation, be dead to the world's wicked ways! It is time to let you know, because we are past the End Times. You know me, you must believe me, I am your pastor, and all is well. Sure as my father Ezekiel named me after our founder Abraham who had a dream of heaven on Earth, I am that first Abraham too. Sure as it might as well be the 1800's or the 1900's or the 2000's, sure as Salvation has always remained a pure heavenly place. Out there the world will die, and Jesus will come to judge. But in here have we not already died, for we are already judged worthy and good. There is nothing left for us to do but wait, for Jesus to raise us up and give us new lives. We shall inherit the Earth, and Jesus will reign for 1000 years of peace, as the New Jerusalem is hewn for all time. Our heavenly home is nearly come! But wait with me now just a little longer and know, that every one of us here is now lying in cemetery hill, dreaming, thinking that we're still alive."
There was silence. Somewhere a fly buzzed, and someone gulped. Next to little Billy, his sister Lucy started to cry, and his mother hugged them both close.
Sally Smith, the preacher's wife, she rarely spoke, but she spoke now.
"Abraham, you're confusing the people. If this is about those dreams you've been having, you better make more sense of it now."
Abraham appreciated the comment. "The good Lord has given me a good wife. You're right Sally, thank you."
Turning to the people he said gentler now, "Sally knows about the dreams I've been having. For half a year now, I've been praying so hard for guidance, with the whole of my heart. So strange have the times gotten for Salvation these past few years. You all know what I'm talking about now, it's like events have been reaching their natural conclusions. Ever since we buried the last of the Thompson family, ever since the old apple orchard died. Ever since the phones stopped working..."
"Ever since the tax man stopped coming round," Noah said, visibly relieved. Some nodded and laughed.
"Ever since the well started pumping again," shouted Delilah.
"Ever since my arthritis was healed, praise the Lord!" said mother Rollins.
More voices joined in. Sally said softly, "Ever since Adam was returned."
Abraham heard his wife, and nodded proudly to the young man beside Sally. "Ever since our son came home."
Abraham called out to his people, commanding their attention. "For two weeks now I have awakened my family at nights, with the cries of a man suffocating in his coffin. That's right, a man in his coffin. For my eyes have been opened by the Lord, as yours will be too in time. And plain as you see me now, I can still see that dark coffin door. Brothers and sisters, it is a shock I know. But truly I tell you, we are lying in our wooden beds, safe beneath God's good Earthly soil."
Jasper couldn't hold it any longer. "You're saying... we're already dead, Reverend Smith?"
"Yes, good Jasper." the Reverend kindly answered the big man. "That's why Jesus hasn't come yet. The world was still damning itself, but we are safe here inside."
"I don't feel dead, " said farmer Dale, worried, his thumbs pulling at his overalls.
But Old mother Rollins rubbed her arthritis-free hands and said, "Eh, that might explain it."
The preacher patted the air to calm the crowd. "It's all right. I know, it takes some getting used to. At first I was forlorn, I was lost. I am ashamed to say that I thought the Lord had abandoned me, I thought I was in hell."
"No wonder you were crying so," Sally whispered.
Abraham smiled at her and the crowd. "But then I learned to calm my troubled spirit, and accept the Lord's plan. It's the last of the tests. Now I hear the soft voices of angels, behind that closed door. The Lord is coming, you shall not want, they say. You too will hear them if you listen, all of you now."
Eyes and ears turned slightly upward, listening, cautious for what they might find.
Little Billy piped up, "I hear angels all the time!"
"What do they say, Billy?" his mother in the faded print dress asked her boy.
"They say, it's time to get up when I open my eyes, and they say it's time to go to sleep every night when you tuck me in," Billy eagerly replied. "One of them sounds just like you mommy."
The people laughed at the child's innocence. The preacher grinned wide and called out with love, "Except ye be as little children. See, brothers and sisters, God wants us to have no fear now." And confidently, before any more doubts could grow, Abraham reached for the chalice and held it out to the boy.
"Billy, go with your sister outside and fetch us some soil. Hurry, Jesus is counting on you."
Billy looked at his mother, and she nodded. Billy took his sister's hand and they ran up to take the cup. The congregation chuckled at the children's antics, and all faces turned to follow them to the door. The sun was bright outside, the day was warm. The children scooped up some dusty dirt and galloped back to the preacher.
"Thank you children. Everyone return to your seats." Abraham accepted the scoop of earth and placed it on the edge of the baptismal well. "Brothers and sisters, today would be communion, but we have a new place with God now. The angels are calling me to bless you with soil. Form a line, and I shall baptize you each in the name of the Lord with the earth of the good land of Salvation!"
The people smiled and nodded, eager to partake of the new ritual. They trusted Reverend Abraham, he was a good man, a smart man. He knew what must be done.
Old Mother Rollins was first. Everyone knew she had to be first, she had lived so long for this day. Jasper helped her forward, and she closed her eyes as the Reverend took a pinch of earth and smudged it onto her forehead with his thumb.
"Bessie Rollins, I bless you in the name of the God of Jesus Christ. From earth your body has come and to earth your body has returned. Your body is the Lord's earth, and your spirit waits in that earth for the sounding of the Lord's return. Knowing this, be still and be blessed, amen."
And everyone felt it, the calm and the peace that came over Bessie Rollins, as Jasper helped her back to her place in the pews. Her movements were slower and more sure, the palsy had left, and the smile that for 72 years had been eager to please had now become the smile that was turned inward and contented. She had the finality she always wanted; it was good to know that she had already lived the right life and was done. Nothing to do now but wait for the Lord.
One by one the congregants of Salvation chapel received the blessings of already being lain in their tombs. Some could almost see it, others could feel the earth holding them on all sides, cool and soft and comforting. All the good Christians who had lived and worked and prayed together for so long, every generation, now never separated, serving Christ together, united in their righteousness forever at last. Each and every last citizen of the town of Salvation rejoiced to know that the struggles of living were already past. Soon children would see parents passed, parents would see their children’s' grandparents too. They were all buried together on cemetery hill, and the good Lord had given them sweet dreams under the old preacher's care, pending that final judgment day.
Adam, 23, son of Sally and Abraham Smith, stepped forward last.
"I can't", he said.
The preacher ignored his son's words and reached up with the dirt between his thumb and forefinger. The son ducked his father's hand.
"Adam!", his mother whispered urgently.
Adam turned to his mother.
"No. I won't do it. I won't be dead. I'm not dead if I haven't yet lived."
Adam faced his father the preacher..
"I went to the Sanborn County clinic last week."
The preacher said firmly. "You know that's a sin of faithlessness. We have no need for doctors in Salvation."
Adam turned for more sympathy to his mother, "I'm not sick. I don't have AIDs. God doesn't hate me."
Sally couldn't help but gasp, her hands flying up to her lips. She nodded with relief, tears in her eyes.
"What's the boy saying?" yelled Old Mother Rollins.
Emboldened to be speaking out loud, Adam yelled back. "I said, I don't have AIDs!" He paused, there was no stopping now. "I'm gay and I don't have AIDs!"
The congregation stared in disbelief. Jasper jumped up instinctively to defend someone, anyone. But Old Mother Rollins just said, "Of course you are boy. You don't need help to be happy, you only need God!"
Adam laughed, shocked and delighted at the old woman's misunderstanding. The rest of the congregation was frozen in complete uncertainty as to what to say or do. Finally Reverend Abraham took charge.
"Enough!", the preacher said. "The Lord has chosen his people, but even in our blessed dreaming state we are not immune to the illusions of Satan!" Then, more fatherly than pastoral, "Adam, you will repent and apologize. *Now*."
"Apologize for what father? For letting you drag me back to this town, when I was already serving the Lord in my own way?" Adam gestured back to the congregation as he fixed his gaze on his father, "What did you tell them about what happened? They don't know, do they?"
Sally spoke up now. "Adam, your father is a good man, he did what had to be done."
Adam turned to the people now. "I started a mission in the city last year. Father didn't approve, but I was following my own calling. For Jesus said, Let the dead bury the dead, come follow me. " He paused to realize and smiled at the irony, "Well that one's certainly taken on a new meaning today, hasn't it."
The Reverend said to his son, "Adam, remember, the devil can quote scripture..."
Adam interrupted in a steely voice, "Salvation isn't just for this town you know, it's for others too."
"It's for others to find," said the Reverend, "and find it they may, but not by... by you and your..."
"What, my boyfriend?", Adam replied and pointed to Jasper. "Well you and your henchman put a stop to that, didn't you!"
At that, red faced, Jasper jumped up and grabbed the boy. "You shut up Adam. You shut up now!"
Adam wrestled away, then started coughing. Abraham held up his hand and nodded to Jasper to sit down. The big man reluctantly did so.
Abraham sighed and gathered his authority while his son caught his breath. Turning to the congregation, the old preacher explained.
"It's true, my son... he is the prodigal son. He left to start a church without my blessing, and that was perhaps my sin. Adam opened a church in a tough neighborhood, he did much good in that year, and then he came back to Salvation after having accomplished his mission. Jasper and I brought him back when he took ill in the city air." He paused, "And this talk of.. a boyfriend.. there were temptations of Satan for which he was not prepared. We can forgive him now."
Still wheezing, Adam gestured for attention. "You told me I had AIDs! You said it was the judgment of God, that's why I came back with you! But the clinic said it's just some kind of respiratory infection. It can be treated and I can be strong again... that is, I could, if I didn't live here in Salvation where I can't have medicine and I can't be gay!"
His mother Sally gently took her son's arm. "Adam, you're not gay. You're just... confused. Your place is here with us. You're a preacher like your father and his father before him. You'll see, you'll make us proud."
"No mother. Don't you see?" Adam pointed to his father, "he wants us to live in ever more confining restrictions, year after year. This town, this church, his ways. Now he says we're dead in our coffins. But I've been locked up all my life, I know what it's like. Now I'm coming out of my closet, just as he's going in."
"Adam!", the preacher said, "Our family is a family of reasonable men. We Smiths founded this town, to keep its ways for the Lord!" Reverend Abraham pleaded, his arm outstretched to the crowd. "Think of the good people of Salvation, my son. Look at their faces now, the pain you are causing them with your outburst here today. It is in your blood to do the right thing. Your perversion came of vanity, of wanting to lead your own congregation before it was your time. The people of Salvation are your people, and this church is your mission. You will follow in my footsteps, and you will serve the Lord as the Bible instructs us to serve!"
Adam stood taller and declared. "You're right. I love you father, and I love this town. Good people of Salvation, I have tested your patience and your wisdom. Forgive me now, my father is correct that this is a special day, and Lord willing all will be settled now."
To his father Adam said softer and sterner, "I'm gay. I'm *gay*. And sometimes I’ve hated myself for it, because that's what you taught me to do, and being gay kept you from loving me. And sometimes I’ve loved myself for it, because it's my personal window on the mystery of god, a mystery which demands humility, something you never taught me. Everything is known to you, isn't it? And the unknown is just feared and wrong, until you define it away. Well I’m gay, I’ve always been gay, and I always will be gay. It's just something God gave me to understand and appreciate, whether or not your Bible ever says I should."
Abraham said, "It's not just my bible, Adam. It's The Bible, the Bible of our ancestors and of Christ Jesus. And The Bible says..."
But Adam interrupted, "I know what your bible says! And there are other bibles out there, other translations, other chapters that people like you have censored through the years. God knows what the Bible says anymore. As you started saying before, the devil can quote scripture for his own purposes."
"Scripture is clear," Abraham declared firmly. "Thou shalt not lie as a man with a man! Obey thy father and mother!"
"That's good, father. Keep it simple, repeat yourself. It makes it easier to locate your dogma, to expunge you from my head!"
The old preacher looked shocked, but also so hurt. Turning to his congregation, he cried forth in both sadness and desperation, "The Lord is testing us here today! I tell you, we are the dead lying in the earth awaiting judgment day, and the world of sin is calling us, but we shall remain steadfast in our faith! Do not listen to the boy, he hath a demon, Satan troubles our rest with shadows in the valley of death!"
Adam continued, shaking his head, his eyes wide. "And Jesus said let the dead bury the dead, come, walk with me. I was a fool to ever think that you knew better than the God who made me. When I get my strength back, I am leaving here.. for good...for..." But the terror of so defying his father had taken too great a toll, and Adam collapsed coughing in front of his frightened mother.
Reverend Abraham said, "Take him to the house. We will not abandon him, the Lord will have mercy upon Adam's soul."
* * * * * * * * * * *
In the small Spartan bedroom, Sally Smith tenderly brushed her son's feverish forehead with a cool moist cloth. He glanced at himself in the mirror at the foot of his bed, and winced.
Adam turned to his mother. "It's not AIDs, mom. The clinic doctor said it's mono, I'll be sick for weeks but I'll get better." The young man's eyes were swollen with tears as well as fever. He was weak but insistent.
Sally smiled gratefully, her eyes wet too. "I know Adam, you told me. You can't imagine how relieved I am. Now rest dear, rest, you need your rest."
"Did you tell Father that I'm sorry about church today?", the boy worried.
Sally pursed her lips. "Yes."
"What did he say?"
"It's a lot for him to accept. He's in the kitchen now, praying."
"Is he praying for me to not be sick, or is he praying for me to not be gay?" Then with some bitterness, he added, "Or are those the same thing to him?"
Sally looked away from him, pained.
"Adam, it's a lot for him to accept."
The boy weakly tried to raise himself on elbows. "A lot for him to accept? What about us? What is this about him wanting us to be dead?"
Sally turned back to her son sharply. This was so hard, caught between defending the two men she loved most in her life.
"It's a metaphor, Adam. It's brilliant really. Your father is a brilliant man, and he has a proud tradition to serve. He was hoping you would serve that mission too."
Adam leaned back. "I know mother. And I do serve the mission. I love Jesus, I love the church. But the Bible isn't always complete, and people can be wrong. Being gay is a part of God's plan for me."
"I know dear." Sally patted her son's brow with the cloth.
Adam reconsidered. "Did he really have those dreams? About being in a coffin, awaiting Jesus' return?"
"Yes he did," answered Sally.
"Then it's not just a metaphor. Dreams are real."
She could see where he was going with this. "Well..."
"You remember those dreams I had when I was growing up?"
Sally blushed. "Yes Adam."
"Are you sorry that I told you?"
"No Adam. I always knew." Sally paused. "A mother knows."
"I've always loved men. It wasn't a sin to love Jesus."
"It's your lot in life Adam, and I accept you as you are. You don't have to tell me these things anymore. You're a man now."
The boy relaxed. "Thank you, mother. At least you know."
"Know what?" asked Sally, a little worried that there was something else he had to tell her.
"Know what it's like to be shut in, restrained, unwelcomed, invisible."
Sally frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're a woman. Women aren't exactly allowed to be themselves either. Serve your man, stay in your box."
Sally sighed, she did know what her son meant.
Adam continued, "That's why he's having those dreams. Jesus really is returning. And it's equalization, it's time for all sides to know each other. He has to know what it's been like for us."
Sally was firm, "Forgiveness is divine. We must forgive."
"You know I agree, mother. It's just that, *how* to forgive, that's what everyone's learning now."
Sally nodded, "I'm proud of you, son."
Adam smiled, the peace descending upon him. "Thank you mother. I'm proud of you too." He paused, and spoke more deliberately. "And father. And the Bible. And Salvation."
"Say a prayer, won't you Adam?", his mother asked.
Adam closed his eyes and held his mother's hand, saying:
"Sweet Lord Jesus, forgive us all for our sins of pride, for when we think we know better than to trust your heavenly Father's divine plan. Connect us all with Holy Spirit to know our truest hearts, our deepest minds, and the wisdom and truth of your love in the world. Heal the sick, comfort the outcast, bring home the lost. Prepare in us this day the way, for thine is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, amen."
Sally Smith kissed her son gently. "Thank you dear. Now you rest." Adam nodded and turned his cheek upon the pillow. Sally quietly walked out the room and pulled shut the door.
Sally entered the kitchen, where her husband Abraham turned his head to meet her. He was sitting at the plain and well-worn wooden table where the Smith family had prepared and eaten meals together for six generations. Leaning against the far wall, ever obedient, was the big loyal farmer Jasper, ever ready to serve his preacher and his community. Sally nodded to Jasper and sat opposite her husband.
"He's going to sleep now," Sally said.
Abraham looked at the table, at his hands.
"He's sorry about the scene in church today," she offered.
Abraham reached for the Bible that lay nearby, petting it reverently.
"We're all sorry. Jesus is sorry. But the boy has to learn his place."
Sally hesitated under Jasper's gaze, then focussed on her husband and pulled closer to him.
"Abraham, I want to thank you for being patient with our son today. You showed a lot of restraint, I know he really pushed you hard."
Abraham nodded, then turned to the farmer. "Thank you Jasper, that'll be all for tonight. You're a good servant of the Lord as always. Tomorrow you can help me organize a noon prayer circle for Adam, tell the people to gather then."
Jasper bowed. "Reverend." He tipped his hat to Sally politely, "Ma'am", and left.
After he had gone, Abraham clasped his wife's hands in his own.
"It is I who pushed them all today, but I had to. Jesus is coming soon, everyone must be prepared. I expected some to push back, but I didn't expect Adam to confess his sin before everyone."
Sally looked sad. "But he didn't confess a sin, my husband. He confessed a nature, his nature that we have always known but you never accept."
Abraham grew stern. "My wife, how can I accept what is tearing this community apart? He is a Smith preacher, he must be pure to lead the people."
Sally felt torn again between the two men of her life. "Abraham, don't ask me to deny my son. The church made me your wife, but God made me his mother."
Abraham drew his breath. "Our church is God, and the Bible is His Word. You should not question it so. The tempter speaks through woman, that is why it is her place to serve a man with God. You must be cautious Sally, we are in the end of times, and you should not lose your soul when Jesus sounds the higher call."
"But what does it mean, Abraham, when we all love the church, when we all love God and Jesus, and yet still there are questions?"
"Questions are good, they lead us to the answers with God. Satan sows doubts and Satan gives false answers, but there will always be the one true answer for every true question."
"And what is the answer for Adam?"
Abraham paused. "I will tell you what I told him when Jasper and I went to fetch Adam from the city. You were right that he had run away to be with that boy. We took him back to Salvation, and I told him that he is not to be with a man."
"You hurt him," said Sally.
Abraham was calm. "We did not hurt him. If he is sick, it is the purging of his soul by the judgment of God."
Sally looked down, silent for a moment. Then she considered, "Are you disappointed that he does not have AIDs?"
Abraham frowned, but there was real emotion in his eyes. "Of course not. How can you say that? We love our son. But he won't get better until he lets go his Satan. And Salvation is where Adam belongs, and Salvation will not hold Satan." Abraham looked up, speaking slowly, softly. "Of course! This is why Jesus has not yet come to lift us from our sleep. We are being granted the time to heal Adam. Adam will be healed."
Sally shook her head and touched his arm. "Abraham, Adam is very sick. You should be glad that he broke the rules and visited the clinic. He knows now that he will live, but that he must rest. This could take weeks. You would have him up and working and preaching for you until he... until he..."
But Abraham wasn't listening. "Jesus, bless us in this time of twilight, as we await your return between life and death. Heal us our divided house, take from us the tempter's call, restore us our treasured souls, for thine is the kingdom forever, amen."
Sally waited patiently, then returned to her point. "We should bring back Mary, she could help our son get well."
Abraham turned to Sally, startled. "What, that witch!? Never! Have you not heard a word that I have been saying? Jesus is near! We cannot afford to stain our souls with less than total faith!"
Sally rose, "And we cannot afford to let our son die! Mary knew the plant medicine from her grandmother and her grandmother's grandmother. You saw how many people in Salvation she cured, until you decided one day that only faith should be the answer. You were afraid, you were afraid that Jesus was not returning because of her. How many good people will you drive out of this town in your quest to be pure enough for Jesus to return? Who's next, Adam? That's it, isn't it. Adam will live or die, but you'll get your Jesus, that's all that matters to you!"
Abraham looked sadly to his wife. "Jesus is returning to set all things right. Life doesn't matter, we are beyond living now. That is the message of my dreams. You saw how ready the people were for the truth today. We are already dead, asleep in the darkness of our sins, and the dawn of God is coming. Faith is all that matters now."
* * * * * * * * * * *
That night, old Reverend Abraham awoke in his coffin.
This time the old preacher didn't panic, he kept his wits about him. He lay in that familiar darkness, savored the smell of earth and moldering wood, and pressed firmly to test the cushioning sides of his purgatory bed.
He listened in the darkness for the sound of angels above. He heard only silence. A bit worried at that, he mustered his faith the only way that he knew how, in holy appeal.
"Lord Jesus, it is done. I have delivered the truth to your people, and it was received. Thy will be done, and if it be time for your kingdom come, then raise me now."
The closed air began to glow, and the reverend thought he could hear footsteps above him now, muffled as through soil.
"Lord! Take me now!" Abraham sobbed.
"Yes, my son. I am here," came the firm reply.
Abraham gasped with the quiet majesty of that Voice. His mind began to reel, with the revelations of a lifetime and the wonder of a child.
"Jesus, Jesus! I am here for you! Oh how long I have waited for you in the valley of the shadow of death, and yet was I not afraid! Bless me with your loving countenance! Shine upon me Lord!"
The Voice responded, equally it seemed above and in the old preacher's head and heart.
"Abraham, like your namesake you have sown your righteous seed, and the time of all good reaping is at hand. God will lift you now to the company of angels. I am here for you."
And there began the gentle sound of earth shifting from above.
But Abraham hesitated. "Lord forgive me, I still have fear of your judgment. Is it not written that I should fear the Lord my God? I have done well, have I not, sweet Jesus?"
The digging paused. "Abraham, fear not. For your heavenly father loves you well. Did I not teach you, judge not lest ye be judged? For I have come to set all things right, on earth as it is heaven."
Abraham could see now, there was light coming in through the wood, the air, the soil. A divine transparency was permeating everything now. Turning his head, he could begin to make out the forms of his neighbors, coming through to him in cemetery hill, beginning to stir as well in their coffins. Oh rapture, he would be raised, he would be made whole!
The Reverend looked ahead with full force and spoke. "I am ready my Lord."
Jesus parted the earth with his hands, and the coffin rose. The door swung open, and the light poured in. Reverend Abraham Smith was saved as he was lifted up into the mercy of heaven.
Abraham opened his tear filled eyes.
"Lord!" he cried.
Abraham sat up in an unfamiliar bed, and looked across to see his son Adam staring back at him confused.
"Adam! You are here! Where is Jesus, where is our Lord and savior?"
Through bleary eyes the Reverend could see that Adam was looking decidedly unwell. This was odd, considering that they were in heaven.
"Son, are you not healed by the Lord?"
But Adam did not reply.
Abraham heard voices as from a next room. They were saying, nay singing, Hallelujahs, he is awake, God be praised! Abraham smiled, he was among the angels now. He turned to face a door, where in rushed a bearded man in white with gentle eyes. His very face seemed to shine with light, as he leaned with tenderness toward the old preacher's weeping eyes.
Abraham's heart burst forth with joy. He cried, "Jesus! Thou art as beautiful as thou art righteous. Oh kiss me Lord, kiss me now!"
Jesus kissed him as they wept together.
"Oh Adam," the man said as he tenderly stroked his brow, "I thought I'd lost you forever!"
At the door of the room, Sally Smith and Mary Johnson entered and embraced with joy as they saw the reuniting scene.
But as Abraham's eyes cleared, he stiffened and his heart began to fill with fear. He pushed his savior away and wiped his eyes.
The man pleaded. "Adam, it's me, Timothy! Sweetheart, you've been out of it for weeks. Mother sent for me after your father died. It took some convincing but I'm finally here, and now we've been cooking up herbs and medicines for you all day. You're finally waking up, it's going to be ok!"
Abraham was confused and angry. He turned to his son at the foot of his bed.
"Adam, what is the meaning of this?! What have you done?!"
The bearded man in white stepped backward. "Adam, why are you talking to the mirror like that?"
Mary Johnson stepped forward and touched her son's arm. "Timothy, Adam may be conscious but he's still delusional. I warned you, he's been slipping in and out of thinking that he's Abraham. His father caused a lot of damage, it's going to... take some time."
Abraham gasped and pushed himself to sit up forcefully. "I am the Reverend Abraham Joshua Smith! Why am I in my son's bed? Where is my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!?" He coughed. The outburst took all of his strength, he fell back on the bed.
Then Abraham squinted at the bearded man and weakly pointed a finger. "You?" he rasped. "I thought I told you to stay away from my son..."
Timothy sobbed with his face in his hands. His mother caught him and stroked his hair.
"It's like he's possessed!" he cried. "Oh mother, what is to become of us?"
"There there," she comforted her son. "Be strong, Timothy. You are needed here."
Sally Smith could remain silent no longer. She rushed forward to her son's bed side, reached for his hand.
"Adam, Adam, your father is dead. He passed the night after you two argued in church. I sent for Mary to help you. I.. I didn't know that the man you were living with was Timothy." Sally paused, then softer, her voice breaking with emotion, "You know I always liked Timothy. When I think of the years that Mary and I watched you two play and grow up together... Mary was my best friend until your father intervened. Oh God, I'm so.. I'm so sorry."
Timothy put his hand on Sally Smith's shoulder. "Thank you," he said to her. Sally turned to Timothy and tried to reassure him, but her smile was so tired and worried too.
Abraham could not speak, so weak and confused was he. His eyes were wide, his face red with effort, as he sat up again to face the mirror at the end of his bed. Mary followed his gaze and stepped between him and the mirror. She drew up her strength and focussed it on the sick man lying in the bed.
"Young man, your father Abraham is dead. His spell is broken, life is changing now. Not just for you, but for everyone."
Abraham could not believe his ears. "You witch," he struggled to say, "what have done to me?"
Sternly Mary replied. "Your name is Adam Smith, and you are free."
The sick man's eyes rolled. He licked his parched lips and he whispered upward, "Lord, why hast thou forsaken me?"
Mary continued, she knew what she was doing. Her years as a healer had shown her many things.
Softer, almost sing-song, she said now, "The Lord is with you Adam Smith, you are His creation. You must believe in yourself as He believes in you. God is with you always, dear one. Let Christ take your burdens, rest yourself now in God's love and grace. All is forgiven, God loves you child. Relax now, relax and be healed."
Abraham's mind began to shift, the healer's voice was having an effect. His eyes drooped, his muscles relaxed. "Yes, the Lord is with me. I am the Lord's creation, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie in green pastures, he comforts me in my hour of darkness. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, will I fear no evil... For, for..." The boy's voice wavered, and Sally joined in to help her son finish his prayer. Together they said, "For Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen."
Sally still held his hand as her son drifted off to sleep. Mary stepped up quietly to her.
"He's going to sleep now, maybe for a day or more," she said to her. "Timothy and I will watch him, you must get some more sleep too, my dear Sally. It was good that you sent for me. There is so much happening beneath the veil, there is so much transformation going on. However it may look on the surface, this is going well."
Sally clasped Mary's hand and shook it gently. "Thank you Mary. God bless you, I don't know what I'd do without you. I've lost my husband, I lost myself, I lost you... I couldn't bear to lose my son."
Mary smiled at Sally, as she held her own son Timothy. "Sally, Abraham is in God's hands. Nothing is lost, all is becoming as it should be. The town is saved, you are saved, we are saved. Abraham will look down from heaven one day and understand, he will be so proud."
Slowly, Sally allowed Timothy to escort her from the room. Mary gave her son a reassuring nod, and Timothy, savior that he was, looked to Adam, then his mother, and nodded back.
