Sunday, July 24, 2016

Armageddon's Slaves Chapter nine

Samuel’s road trip proved to be an eye-opening experience. His conversation with Luke and Caleb reflected what Disciples constantly heard about Outsiders. They were immoral, dangerous, wanted to corrupt The Lord’s people. The Word, through Sermons, Study Articles and unwritten rules enforced strict limits on contact between Disciples and Outsiders. Although he worked among Outsiders, he almost never associated with them when not in the shop.

Contrary to the warnings from his in-laws, he had no troubles at all, and even made it to the midweek meeting. Everyone was polite, no one tried to get him drunk, and none of the women propositioned him. He called home every night, Judith missed him and worried about him.  He guessed that Sophia filled her head with nonsense, he did his best to reassure her.

 He and Mr. Rommers planned the trip as a meet and greet, getting to know the managers and employees at several shops around the state. He would spend the whole week on the road, visiting the larger shops and warehouses outside Spokane.

His view of people beyond his religion started changing with the first stop, in Moses Lake. The manager there said he’d moved his usual office lunch from Friday to Monday, so everybody could meet him.

A few years earlier, he and a few close associates started eating lunch together as a time to chat and support each other. The lunch had now turned into an all-office affair, where people could share and talk about problems, or celebrate good news. Samuel admitted it sounded interesting.

At lunch time, what the whole office gathered in the lunchroom. Larry, the manager ordered in pizza. For Samuel’s benefit, they went around the table, introducing themselves and saying something about home, families, hobbies and the like.  

Several people mentioned church, they belonged to different denominations or independent churches. Samuel noticed that most of them preferred the word “Christian” to describe their beliefs. One man named Sid said he was Jewish, several identified as atheists or agnostics. Many of them mentioned charities, community projects, or other volunteer work. This surprised him, as the Word taught that 
Outsiders thought only of themselves. One man said his principal interest was his model railroad. 
This drew some good-natured ribbing, and an invitation for Samuel to come see it.

Samuel noticed the diversity of beliefs and said “you guys most have some lively discussions about your beliefs.”

One man noted that their churches mostly taught the same thing and added that most people decided where to go based on convenience of location and the style of service. This surprised Samuel, as The Word always taught that Outsiders generally and churches in particular fought constantly over differences in faith.

A lively discussion of various subjects followed as they ate lunch. Obviously, these people enjoyed each other’s company. He spent the afternoon reviewing operations around the shop and talking to a few customers and vendors.  That night, after he called Judith he sat in his room, thinking about the happy conversations he witnessed.  They were not at all what he’d learned to expect from Outsiders, based on The Word’s teachings.

At the next stop, in Yakima, Carlos, the shop manager invited him to his home for dinner. Carlos mentioned that he had invited over Scott and Walter, his two foremen. They were also good friends. It turned out to be a remarkable evening. Carlos’ wife cooked an impressive pile of Mexican food, children from all three families ran through the house laughing and playing. Everyone had a good time, the men sipping cold beers while the meal finished cooking. They ate buffet style, everyone dishing up in the kitchen, the children taking their plates into the yard. The adults sat around the living room, talking.

“We all know you are a Disciple,” Carlos said to Samuel, “but we don’t know much about your beliefs, do you mind talking about it.”

“Not at all,” Samuel answered, even as he wondered how Disciples could spend millions of hours in Disciple-making and people still didn’t know much about them. 

He quickly learned that his audience knew Disciples didn’t take part in politics or celebrate Christmas, and they spent a lot of time preaching, but that was it. They had only vague notions of the Signposts pointing to the approach of Armageddon and Paradise.
Samuel quickly found himself tongue-tied trying to explain the prophetic significance of the time lines in the Books of Daniel and Revelation. Clearly, the others in the room thought it was all nonsense.

Samuel tried to explain passages from the book of Daniel that spoke of periods of 2300, 1290 and 1335 days. Revelation spoke of 1260 days. The word explained these as milestones marking the End Times; Israel’s establishment as a nation, and The Word of God Foundation’s incorporation.

“Didn’t they predict the end of the world a few years ago based on this?”

“Well not the end of the world, but something important. It turned out to be an important change in how The Word is governed.”

Someone asked how they came up with the dates. Samuel explained how Michael Clifton Adderly, the first Apostle substituted years for days, adjusting for the difference between the 360-day Jewish lunar calendar and the modern calendar. The 1335 days began with the completion of the Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem, symbolizing the complete domination of the Jews by Gentiles. This time ended in 2008, a date pointed to by other time calculations.

This drew a skeptical response. Scott said it was his understanding the Hebrew Calendar had a means for correcting the lunar cycle to match the regular year. How did that figure in? Samuel didn’t know. He didn’t blame them for asking questions, he thought it sounded silly as he said it. Then a question that hit home.

“I heard you folks shun members that don’t behave right. Is that true?”

Samuel started to give what he knew was the approved response to that question, which was there was no rule about shunning, but that Disciples naturally limited contact with ones that needed correction. But he thought of Phil Peterson and Gloria Lighthorse.

“I’m struggling with that. Sometimes I think our discipline might be too harsh. I’m trying to sort out that question of faith for myself.”

“Questioning your beliefs can be good,” Scot said, “the most important thing is to be true to yourself. 
God does not want us to believe in him falsely.”

“Or even if you don’t believe in God at all,” Walter added, “you still need to keep your own integrity.”

The next night he had another fun evening with Alan, the manager of the shop in Kent, south of Seattle. They didn’t talk religion much, but Samuel learned about some great camping areas most people didn’t know about. He learned that Alan, who was Jewish, respected others’ beliefs.

“Are you happy being a Disciple? That is the only important thing. You should be happy in your relationship with God, He wants you to enjoy His friendship.”

As he spent the afternoon driving back to Spokane, he pondered the many conversations, turning over various comments in his mind. He decided that Outsiders were not nearly as evil as The Word claimed. At every stop, they had greeted him with kindness and hospitality. Although he’d planned to eat dinner on his own, the mangers all invited him to their homes. Several invited him to stay at their homes, instead of a motel. He declined the invitations, but only to avoid bothering his new friends, not because he didn’t want to spend the night in a house with Outsiders.

Even though some clearly discounted such matters as the time prophecies, all respected his beliefs. Although he wasn’t sure what he still believed. The matter of the time prophecies weighed on his mind. How had the Apostles determined the meaning behind obscure Bible messages? He did not actually know the origins of his own religion. He knew only what The Word published in its literature.

Was it time to do some research? The fear of doing so produced a visceral sensation. The Word flatly opposed independent study by Disciples. The other Servants would investigate any hint of doubt about The Word. But suddenly, it seemed like what he most needed to do.    


Armageddon’s Slaves © Jeffrey Thomas  All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. All events and characters are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

No comments:

Post a Comment