BOOK 1: SERENDIPITY / CH. 13: A CHALLENGE
MONDAY EVENING
“John, this is delicious, again. Thank you. I was thinking. I think I'd like to get someone's input on this gift, on the ethics of it, that sort of thing. Would Arwood be a good person to chat to?”
“You mean would it scare him so much he can't think?”
“That sort of thing, yes.”
“I don't think so and I know he's preached on spiritual gifts some time back. I seem to remember that he emphasized that they shouldn't be abused, that any prophesy needed checking against Scripture, that sort of thing. So he's not a total cesessionist.”
“A what?”
“Oh, there's a stream of teaching that says the gifts were only for the early church, before the canon of Scripture was closed. Therefore, anything that looks like a spiritual gift these days must be a fake sent by the evil one to distract the church from the important stuff.”
“Ooh, I bet that's caused some division in the past!”
“Writing off whole denominations as deluded by the devil? Oh, yes! But there have been abuses, there have been churches that got so distracted by the new and exciting that they forgot the old and important.”
“Of course there have. And I'm sure there are churches where the old and unimportant has become a distraction too.”
“Of course. But getting back to your question, yes, it's a great idea.”
“Shall we talk to him now?”
“I'll call him tomorrow, it's his day of rest today.”
“I've got an idea, John, why don't we invite him and his wife to dinner tomorrow, then we can hit them with the scary stuff over dessert and give them a few minutes to process it while we tidy away the dishes.”
“That sounds like a good plan. Your house or mine?”
“Mine, since I'm cooking, assuming that's OK?”
“I'm sure it is. I was just wondering, do we leave the engagement as a surprise?”
“I think perhaps we should. But they know we're at least going out, so us cooking together isn't exactly unheard of.”
“Certainly not among students.”
“Which was me not so many weeks ago.”
“And that reminds me, how tight are your finances, love? It'll be a few weeks before your first pay-day from the Institute. Are you able to afford this expensive lifestyle I'm dragging you into?”
“What expensive lifestyle? You've fed me the last 3 days. That sounds like cheap living to my student brain. No, John, I'm fine. I did have a job, remember. Not as well paid as now of course, but I'm not marrying you for your money, you know.”
“Sorry, I just didn't want you to end up overdrawn because you wanted to impress or something.”
“You know me better than that, John, surely?”
“I hoped I did, but just wanted to make sure.”
“My protective knight looking out for dangers on our road to happiness?”
“I guess so, love, sorry.”
“Perhaps I should remind my brave knight that I've had quite a few self defence classes over the years, so if he gets any more silly ideas about me lacking in common sense, he might find himself landing on his titanium tail bone.”
“I said sorry, love.”
“But it does point out something you've said several times, doesn't it? We don't know each other very well, really. Otherwise you'd know I'd never do that sort of foolish thing.”
“So, we're not getting married at the weekend then?” John teased.
“No. But not some multi-year engagement either. That's just silly. I think more like six months.”
“Six months would put the wedding in the middle of winter.”
“Rain, snow, mist, mud. I love it.”
“Not exactly ideal wedding weather.”
“But the weather doesn't really matter, does it?”
“No, it doesn't, but how about September or October anyway? I think that'd give us enough time at the ridiculously fast rate we're going. And you're less likely to freeze in your wedding dress.”
“Hmm. Wedding dress is a very good reason not to marry this weekend. It'll probably need adjusting. Actually... a good reason not to be wet either.”
“Eh?”
“My mother wore her mother's wedding dress and kept it for me.”
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“Ah. Something your knight shouldn't be involved in.”
“You mean you're happy to explore my mind and my thoughts but you want to steer clear of my clothes cupboard?”
“Sarah! I'm happy to explore your clothes cupboard if you want me to, but I don't want to undress you until after we're married.”
“Sorry, John, I know, I was just teasing. I want the dress to be a surprise actually.”
“That could be tricky, couldn't it? Keeping surprises from each other.”
“Yes. It could be. Also since I have friends and you have friends, we need to make sure I can cope with the crowd by then.”
“I thought we had love, or rather God had.”
“Eh?”
“When we were exploring the second mode.”
“I'm floundering, John. I guess the Spirit showed you something he didn't show me. Is that what you meant about not needing the hat earlier?”
“Yes, love. I'm sorry, I thought you'd understood. Come, let's explore our memories together.”
They relaxed into each other's minds. There was John hitting his knee, and relaxing whatever it was he relaxed, and there was Sarah feeling so depressed. She witnessed her own reaction to John's love. [That was you. I'd wondered.] And had seen him come aware of her desire for old comforts. They skipped to her learning to relax, or whatever it was they did and in wonder remembered the way that the Spirit of God had made His presence felt and how He blessed their relationship and revealed to them that this part of their gift was from Him, and was beyond Sarah's mother's abilities. That they could focus it on a single person, or on each other. They relived their surprise at learning that compassionate but obstinate Kate also had the potential to share their ability, but that it was to stay hidden from her until she acknowledged the Lord who'd given it to her. Then the Creator of the universe withdrew from His servants, children, friends. With a final blessing of Peace. And Sarah saw John's understanding that this was directed to Sarah, and John saw Sarah's understanding that it had been concerning their future together. And they realised that their main concerns had been addressed by that one word. They should have peace and trust their Maker. [Why do we worry? We've got lots of Scripture telling us not to, after all.]
[But we need reminding.]
[Because we don't trust enough.]
[True.]
[Let's encourage each other to trust God more. It is important.]
[Amen.]
“So will you want to walk me home?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Because of worry?”
“No, because if I walk you home then I get to spend more time with you.”
“So I should walk you home tomorrow?”
“Got me! But while we know you're an expert in self defence, the would-be muggers lurking in the dark don't, they just see a beautiful young victim.”
“Or a handsome not quite so young potential victim with the funny metallic sounding step.”
“Which might make them think about getting a few kilos of servo-driven metal in the crotch if they try anything, exactly. Therefore, in the interests of the innocent muggers who you'd lure into possibly incapacitating folly, it is imperative that I walk you home and not vice-versa.”
“You, you, chivalrous anachronism you! I love you, don't change.”
“Can I have that in writing?”
“John, out of interest, how fast can you run with that lump of metalwork there?”
“In a sprint? I can probably hop faster than I can run, if truth be told. My real leg can't keep up.”
“But you don't have full stamina?”
“I'm not really sure. What's the normal limiting factor? I'm going to burn more calories, but is the normal limit lactic acid build up or conversion rate of glycerides to sugars?”
“I'm not sure. But it would be interesting to see who could beat the other in a race, wouldn't it?”
“Would it?”
“Just for reference, just for reference.”
“So you'd like to challenge a man who is twelve years older than you with a metal leg to a race? Why, Sarah? I expect you're bound to win.”
“But in a sprint you could probably beat me?”
“I think so.”
“Then I'll race you to my house, and whoever gets too far ahead waits for the other one.”
“The point being?”
“Impulsive behaviour, foolish young fiancée wants to find out the calibre of the knight whom she's committed her life to.”
“And if we break my leg then you'll call a mechanic?”
She sobered immediately “Oh, sorry, John, is there a risk? Let's not then.”
“It should be fine, love. We can try it if you want to.”
“Then can we? Tonight?”
“Yes, Sarah, we can try it.”
John had been wrong. He could indeed run faster than she could, and he hadn't had the tingle warning that the leg was resorting to battery due to low blood sugar either. He called a halt about half way to Sarah's home. “Sorry, love, my flesh and blood foot is getting sore. These shoes aren't meant for running in.”
“That's fine, John. I'm glad you can beat me, even at you advanced age.”
“Now, Sarah, will you tell me what it was about?”
“I don't know, John. Thank you for accepting the challenge. Let's see if you can walk and probe my mind to find out what that was about.”
“Are you sure I should? It might not be a nice reason.”
“John, that's why I want you to look.”
“I don't understand, love.”
“Then come and look at my complex mess of thoughts. See if you can untangle them for me, please. I think there was a wrong motive, but I can't work it out. I love you, I trust you, so come and look. Please.”
“Then you watch my thoughts too, my love. And we'll think about this together.”
“And we both try not to fall in any holes, trip over anything or walk into trees.”
“Indeed.” And once more, they opened their awareness to the other. Being aware of their surroundings and where they were going and of each other's thoughts at the same time was trickier than they'd expected. But eventually they got the hang of it. They fairly quickly found that Sarah had an image of love as a young couple running through a wood together, the woman being caught up by the man, and then going on hand in hand. [Sweet image.]
[I'm a romantic fool, you mean? Forcing you to fulfil my fantasy?]
[No, it's sweet. Not a very demanding criterion for a husband, but sweet.] The question that had stemmed from it was whether John could fill his assigned role. Or did his leg make him unable to? [I'm sorry, John. I know you're no cripple.]
[But you were worried enough that you wanted to dispel the doubt.]
[Yes, I'm sorry. I see it now. I was worried that it might affect our relationship if you couldn't fulfill my childish dream.]
[Not so very different to me wanting to walk you home.]
[I guess not, but really, that is more sensible.]
[Sensible means socially accepted worry?]
[I guess we're trained to worry, aren't we?]
[Don't put yourself in danger...]
[Avoid walking down unlit streets...]
[So, how do we help each other trust God in the face of these worries?]
[Recognizing them, maybe.]
[Acknowledging them, weighing them against the risks and benefits.]
[Not letting them rule us.]
[I still want to walk you home.]
[That's OK. I want you to too. It's part of courting.]
[Pray?]
[Pray.]
And they sought forgiveness for their worries and fears, then prayed about the coming days and weeks, for wisdom in all things, particularly in working out the ethical implications of their gifts.
John walked home in peace, and didn't notice the pair of would-be muggers lurking in a dark alley half way to his home. They noticed that he walked with the purposeful, healthy stride of someone who could just possibly cause them trouble. They noticed the metallic note to his stride too. Who got injuries like that at his age? Was he ex-military or police? It would be a serious mistake to tackle someone like that. So they decided there would probably be easier targets along later on.