Armageddon's Slaves Chapter five

Samuel’s bad mood continued through the next week. The letter had, if anything, increased the negative feelings about his life.  Judith had asked him what the meeting was about, but accepted his answer that it was changing communication with the Apostles at New Jerusalem. Everyone in the Gathering knew the Servants had held a special meeting. Rumors were rampant, but even Sophia did not know more, although that didn’t stop her from speculating.

Unusually, Caleb began the midweek Gathering with a comment about sticking close to The Word and carefully following instructions, even if they did not make sense. The Lord would reveal everything soon. “Paradise approaches, we do not want to be out of harmony with The Lord’s Word in any matter,” he concluded. “Whether in personal morals, doctrinal understanding, good habits, our choice of entertainment, our use of time or most especially discipline within the Gathering.”

Samuel shifted uncomfortably, and looked around. Gloria Lighthorse hung her head and turned red.
At the back of the House, Phil Peterson sat alone, the seats on either side of him empty. A few rows in front of him, he could see Luke nodding in agreement. New Jerusalem never allowed deviating from the usual greetings. The Senior Servants must have received instructions.

“And I have very good news,” Caleb intoned pompously, “The Apostles have arranged for every Gathering house to install new computer equipment and programs that will allow direct communication with New Jerusalem.”

Samuel sat stiffly, trying not to reveal his inner emotions. The Apostles had not made anything possible, they issued a demand to the Gatherings. Obviously, New Jerusalem had authorized releasing the information about the TV, but made sure the wording skirted around the issue of payment. 

“Soon,” Caleb continued on stage, “we will all receive our instructions and education directly from the Apostles.”

Everyone applauded enthusiastically at this good news. Samuel clapped quietly, so as not to attract attention to himself.  Inwardly, he wondered if anybody else noticed the irony in ordering the Disciples to obey instructions without question even as they announced direct communication with New Jerusalem? 

** 

Late in the week, Ski called Samuel and asked if they could have a working lunch in his office.

“You’re going to ask me if I’ve decided to take that job, and twist my arm if I haven’t, aren’t you?”
He said, laughing.

“Of course, see you about noon. I’ll buy.”

They sat across from each other, Ski’s desk covered with sandwiches, chips and drinks from a nearby Subway shop. Ski asked if he knew what a tipping point was.

“Sort of. It’s like stuff piling up on one side of a scale, making it tip.”

“Good.” Ski went on to explain that he and Mr. Rommers thought that their business was at a tipping point. They’d already done it once, moving from a single shop in Spokane to half a dozen across the northwest. Now they wanted to expand into Southern Idaho, Montana, and Utah, eventually beyond that. Having Samuel coordinate and streamline everything would help grow the business. 

“You see you’re critical.”

“I’m still thinking about it.” He picked at his food for a minute, “I have a question. Kind of personal if you don’t mind.”

“Shoot.”

“The other day you said that you looked forward to Jesus’ return, but planned on living here and now. How do you do that? I learned to show Faith in Paradise by living for it, not the world.”

“You know how Jesus said that if you plan to build a tower, you need to figure the cost first?”

Samuel nodded, “I understand that.”

“So your life is the tower, you need resources to live. God doesn’t begrudge you for having a life. Before you can honor God, you have to provide for your family, and yourself. That doesn’t mean be rich, but it does mean taking care of necessary business.”

“Is that what your church teaches?”

“I don’t know. It’s just my opinion.”

The idea that somebody could just make up his own interpretation of scripture was so revolutionary that Samuel didn’t know what to say.

“I need to apply the same idea to this business. We want to expand, but we need to make sure our plan will work. We think you’re a big piece of getting it all functioning smoothly.”

He paused, looking intently at Samuel.

“We don’t want to go outside the company for somebody to do this. We know you and respect your work, we know you can do it. I could hire a new guy just to watch him screw it up. We don’t want to do that.”

“I’ll think about it and have an answer Monday.”

As he drove home after work, he pondered the conversation. He thought he knew what had happened to him. He’d hit a tipping point. He didn’t know which item moved the scales, but something had shifted in his thinking. Probably there was no going back, he had started to look at The Word with a critical eye. It suddenly seemed that he was no longer content to accept whatever New Jerusalem said without question.

“I’m in trouble,” he said to the empty car.

He stopped at a gas station a couple of blocks from his house. He had run his card through the machine and started pumping before he saw the man using the other side of the pump. Phil Peterson hung his head, looking at the ground, obviously hoping that Samuel didn’t see him. Suddenly Samuel realized he was the one that should feel ashamed.

“Hi Phil.”

The man looked up, confused. “I didn’t think you were supposed to talk to me.”

“I’m not, but I’ve noticed you lately at Gathering. I hope you’re holding up.” It sounded lame, but he had no idea what to say. As a Servant, he wouldn’t be in trouble for a brief conversation if he claimed he was just testing the man’s repentance.

“It’s hard. No one will talk to me, even Anne, except for family business. She makes me sleep on the couch. I did what the Servants on my committee told me and stopped socializing with my friends at work. Now they think I’m a snob. I get lonely, even at home.”

Samuel thought he looked like a whipped dog.

“I’ll speak to Caleb, I mean Disciple Larson. They might consider you for readmittance to the Gathering.”

“Thank you.” 

** 

He came home to an argument between Judith and David. David had an application to Spokane Community College in his hand and his mother was trying to take it away from him. They stood in the kitchen yelling, neither paying attention to the other. Judith wailed that her only living child rejected The Lord. David yelled that his mother wanted him to waste his life waiting for Armageddon.

“Stop it!” Samuel’s sudden shout froze both of them, he rarely raised his voice with his family. More calmly, he suggested they sit at the kitchen table and talk about the matter.

David said that he could meet some core credits over the summer.  Then he could transfer those credits to whatever four year school accepted him, he was still waiting for responses.

“I want to study medical science of some sort,” he explained, “I want to help sick people get better. I’m very interested in medical technology.”

“Paradise will make sick people better forever,” Judith said firmly, “you know that.”

“NO I DON’T.  Sorry, this stuff drives me nuts. You remember that big Grand Gathering in Seattle, I was ten. You told me I’d never graduate from high school…”

“You might not,” his mother cut him off.

“I don’t believe that Paradise will arrive in the next five months months. I’m not going to spend my life waiting for something that won’t happen.”

Judith broke into sobs, “I can’t believe my son is turning away from The Lord and his Word.” She glared at Samuel. “Are you going to let him do this?”

“Jesus told us to calculate costs and prepare to meet them, I don’t think providing for his future is such a terrible thing that David is doing. Besides, more and more Disciple children are getting extra schooling, even New Jerusalem knows it’s a different world.”

“They’ll make you step down as a Servant.”

“I didn’t know it was a step up. We’re all supposed to be equal before The Lord.”

“You know what I mean.”

Samuel said he wasn’t sure he wanted to a Servant anymore. He related the brief conversation he’d had with Phil Peterson. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be part of doing that to somebody anymore.

Judith’s face clouded up. She took a deep breath as if to start yelling again, then let out a sigh.  

“How will we pay for college?” She sounded resigned.

“I’m going to take that promotion at work.”

**

Another late sleepless night, he tossed and turned, finally giving up and retreating to his office. On the way he noticed David was still up again. He tapped on the door.

“Come in.”

David was sitting up in bed, reading. Asked what he was reading he held up the slim paperback to show the title, 1984.

“I haven’t read it,” Samuel said, “It was on my high school reading list, but your grandparents forbid it. They thought it was demonic. But I know a little bit of what it’s about.”

“You should read it, Dad. Seriously. It’s about this society where the people in charge totally control what you’re allowed to know. They use that and their special vocabulary to control your thoughts. It reminds of The Word.”

“Sounds scary.”

“It is. I’m almost done. I’ll give it to you.”

“David, when did start questioning The Word?”

“The more I learn, the less I believe it. Do you remember that report I did on evolution last year?”

“Yes.”

“Well, the one I showed you and Mom wasn’t the one I turned in. The more research I did, the more I realized that what I learned about creation was just wrong.

“For example, The Word teaches that no one has ever seen one species turn in to another, it can’t happen even over a very long time.

“But then we’re taught that obviously Noah couldn’t have taken two of everything onto the Ark, there wasn’t room. So he took a pair of say, some sort of proto-feline. After they got off the Ark all the cat-like animals we have now, from house cats to lions, descended from those two. But that’s evolution on a huge scale in a short period of time.  It makes no sense.”

“I never thought of it that way. But then I never put those two thoughts next to each other.”

“You see, The Foundation makes you think the way they want you to think.”

“Well you’ve given me a lot to think about.” Indeed it did, he spent a long time in his study pondering how he felt about his life and his religion. His son's words about controlled communication, and New Jerusalem's plans for linking directly to the Gatherings, merging in his mind.

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