The fight started on the way home from Gathering. Samuel had no interest in starting one, he wanted to keep a low profile. But the conversation about the night’s Gathering quickly developed a life of its own. Judith began talking about how soon she would see Charlene, a topic he hoped to avoid. But she put him on the spot by asking what he thought.
“It certainly is exciting, I’m a little concerned about what’s behind this business about reconfirming our commitment to The Word. I thought that was something we did every day.”
“You have a problem with expressing your commitment to The Word?” Her tone held ice.
“Oh no. I just wonder why they wanted it like that.”
The conversation went downhill from there. She demanded to know what was holding him back from his commitment.
“You’ve been working a lot lately. Are you too busy with your new Outsider friends to commit yourself to The Lord?” Her contempt was obvious, “Outsider” sounded like an obscenity.
He insisted that he still kept up all his responsibilities as a Disciple and Servant. He looked forward to seeing Charlene in Paradise. He hadn’t missed a Gathering. What more did she expect of him?
She lapsed into hurt silence. He looked in the rearview mirror and caught a glimpse of David’s face. Clearly, he was upset to watch his parents arguing. Samuel tried to find a way to smooth over her feelings, without success. She wanted him to share her enthusiasm for whatever New Jerusalem cooked up. But he just couldn’t summon the energy.
He had a despairing thought, was The Word right about not asking questions? That explained his position, letting his research undermine his faith. Maybe he should stop, but as soon as he thought it, he knew he wouldn’t. He could not let go of his need to find the truth. He also needed to find a way to talk to his wife.
“You do know I agreed to that statement of faith, along with everybody else?”
“Yes.”
“Whatever they’re planning, it will be new and different. We’ve never done anything like this before. It must be significant.”
She agreed with him on that point. He imagined that they had entirely different ideas of what all the changes meant. Deep in his heart, Samuel feared the Apostles planned to hatch some crazy scheme to get the Disciples worked up. What would happen when Paradise did not arrive on schedule?
They were almost home, he looked over at his wife. She stared straight ahead, he could see a tear sliding down her pale cheeks. When this plan of New Jerusalem’s failed, how badly would they hurt her? Could she hold up through another cycle of hope and despair? No matter what he thought, and what he felt, he needed to stay in her life. He needed to be present and catch her when The Word failed her.
**
Rodgers second speech about The Word’s upcoming plans went largely unnoticed by its target audience, Outsiders. They didn’t care what he said. He hinted at all sorts of “world-shaking events” in the near future without giving much in the way of detail.
Samuel jotted a few notes, noting that he was far from alone in this. The Disciples hung on every word, Samuel wanted to compare what Rodgers said with statements from the past. He had a hunch that it this wasn’t the first time New Jerusalem said all this.
Rodgers again went over all the signposts pointing to the time of the end. He explained in detail the various calculations, and the significance of the beginning and ending dates. Every Disciple understood the scriptural evidence pointing to the approach of Armageddon. Nevertheless, they all listened carefully.
Rodgers spoke of the beauty and joy of Paradise. He talked about all mankind leaving in peace, everyone with a house to live in, and plenty of food. Death would vanish with the Resurrection.
Here, Judith choked back a sob or two, and ended with a quiet smile on her face. Samuel again worried, how would she react when she no longer had the security of her faith?
“Today the entire world is on notice, Humanity cannot ignore the message from God. We do not yet preach a message of doom, yet doom approaches. Doom for those who choose to live apart from The Lord Almighty. Today we continue to proclaim the time of the Lord’s desire to save all those who wish to live with Him. The Lord Almighty invites you to become one of his Disciples, to accept the joy of life forever in His Paradise.
“Soon, The Lord will cancel the invitation. Soon, we will bring a message of doom, not invitation. Do not ignore this message, now you must come to The Lord’s Word before it is too late.”
The Gathering House rang with applause. Did these people realize the Chief Apostle just announced God’s intent to kill seven billion people?
Monday, on his lunch break Samuel checked various news sites on the web, looking for reporting of Rodgers’ speech. He found very little. One or two religious pages carried brief notes, no large television news network mentioned it. The local newspaper printed New Jerusalem’s press release without comment. So much for giving the entire world a notice it could not ignore.
**
“We’re stuck,” Matt said, talking around his sandwich, “that’s what’s wrong with us. It’s coming at us from all directions.”
Samuel, his own mouth full, couldn’t do more than nod agreement. Matt went on elaborating on his thought.
“At heart, I think we’re both committed to living a Christian life. We thought that’s what we were doing when… well it’s what I thought I was doing when I became a Disciple.”
“Right, I was born a Disciple, but I always believed, at least until recently.”
Matt pointed out that both of them still believed most of the doctrinal teachings. They ran into a problem with the constant monitoring of their lives by the Servants and ultimately New Jerusalem. The subject and tone of a part for the upcoming mid-week meeting disturbed them. It followed the heels of Rodgers’ public speech.
“Take that article we’ll study Wednesday night. It makes me feel like we’re living in North Korea or something. We’re all supposed to report people anytime we see them doing or saying something wrong.”
“Thought crime won’t be tolerated,” Samuel said.
Matt laughed. “Yes, we’ll send you to the Ministry of Love for re-education.”
“You’ve read 1984? David has me reading it now.”
“David’s a smart boy.” Matt went on to say he’d read it several times, but never connected it to The Word until now. But it fit, the specialized language, people reporting wrongdoing, heretical thoughts. The threat of enforced shunning always hung over their heads.
“I know what you meant when you said we’re stuck. They manage to box us in by isolating us. We can’t even talk to our families without fear. Judith will leave me, I know it. She gets teary every time somebody starts talking about the resurrection. She’s obsessed with it. She lives to have Charlene again.”
For a moment, Samuel choked on his words, “I’m afraid they’re going to hurt her, badly, with all this talk about Paradise coming next year. When it doesn’t happen it will crush her.”
Silence prevailed for a full minute while both men thought over what they’d just said. Neither had spoken so freely to another person. After a moment Samuel found his words.
“I’ve never said any of this to anybody. I guess I have to trust you.”
“If this isn’t that damn stupidest situation ever I don’t know what is.” Matt said, quietly, “two grown men scared to talk about a mutual problem. Yes, you can trust me.”
“I guess if you want to cause trouble, according to what we’re going to study midweek I should report you for cursing just now.”
Matt laughed before turning serious. “I suppose you could. You know, if I was single, I’d just walk away. I’d figure out how to go tell all the people I annoyed with my preaching back when I converted and tell them I’d made a mistake. I’d have friends again. But I’d lose Laura and the kids. I can’t do it. Like I said, we’re stuck.”
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
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