The Valley of Dry Bones

by Jerry B. Jenkins

  “I think Katashi is more intelligent than Raoul, not that Raoul is ignorant. Raoul has gifts that Katashi doesn’t, but I’m guessing Katashi has a higher IQ, is more of an academic.”

  “I agree,” Zeke said, “but Raoul might be brighter than Katashi in some others areas. Street smarts maybe. The other major difference? Raoul is far more gregarious. More of a people person, outgoing, passionate, humorous, dramatic.”

  “Exactly,” Pastor Bob said. “Does that make your decision easier or harder?”

  “Harder,” Doc said. “I’d like to have a hybrid of them both.”

  “Just what I was going to say,” Zeke said.

  Pastor Bob tore a sheet of paper in half. “Pray while I sit with Jennie a few minutes. When you’re ready for a secret ballot, I’ll come back.”

  Zeke felt smug. Part of him worried that because Doc was prideful and so badly wanted the pastorate, he might hold out for whichever of the two he thought he could most easily influence and pick him for that role. But the other part of him knew that God had chosen to speak audibly to him, so he needn’t worry about trying to decide for himself. All he had to do was ask, and God would tell him. And who was Doc to stand in the way of God’s will?

  Yet smugness did not sit well with Zeke. What kind of an attitude was that? He was an elder among a body of believers, which meant he was Doc’s elder too. Should he not be concerned about Doc’s spiritual life? What was he doing for Doc? What could he do to nurture Doc? In an instant Zeke turned from smug to shame-faced. So when he went to prayer, it was not a request for wisdom but forgiveness.

  I’m sorry, Lord. Forgive me and make me useful, that’s all I ask.

  “I’m ready,” Doc said.

  I’m not!

  “I’ll give you a word for him,” God said.

  I’m not being asked for a word for Doc. I’m being asked for a choice for elder.

  Pastor Bob returned to the table and gave a half sheet of paper to each man. “Just write a K or an R and slide it back to me. If your selections agree, that will confirm that the Lord is in it.”

  Doc slid his sheet to Pastor Bob.

  “I’m sorry, Zeke,” the pastor said. “Were you not ready?”

  “Not quite.”

  “I apologize. I just assumed.”

  Lord, please.

  “I have given you a word for him,” God said.

  But who is Your choice?

  “Use your own judgment.”

  Zeke felt short of breath. He quickly wrote a K on the back of his sheet and pushed it to Pastor Bob.

  Bob peeked under both sheets and said, “Thank you, Lord, Katashi it is.”

  “That was easy,” Doc said, holding up a fist for Zeke to bump.

  If you only knew, Zeke thought.

  “Now,” the Lord said.

  Now?

  Zeke knew he needed to stop asking that question. He opened his mouth. “The elders among you I exhort, I a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. Be submissive, clothed with humility, for God gives grace to the humble.”

  16

  THE ADMONITION

  DOC SQUINTED AT ZEKE. “I’m all for Scripture, brother, but what was that all about?”

  “I’ll leave the application to you,” Zeke said. “One of us ought to go find Katashi.”

  “Why don’t you?” Bob said. “I’ll stay here with Jennie while Doc checks in on Cristelle. You said Katashi was on lookout duty. You have someone who can sub for him?”

  Zeke glanced at his watch. “I had been thinking Mahir, but I’ll steal Sasha out of class. They’re almost done, and she’s proven herself before. All she’s got to do is let me know if she sees anything the periscopes wouldn’t pick up.”

  Doc looked up. “Hey, ask Benita if she can keep an eye on my kids after class till Gabi is free. I don’t want them running around in the garage again.”

  Zeke stopped by his quarters to get Sasha’s nine-millimeter on his way to the Commons, where Benita was teaching the kids.

  He told her he needed Sasha, and she pulled him aside and asked if he had a minute first.

  “About a minute, sure.”

  “Kayla said something and Caleb tried to tell her to be quiet, you know, but Sasha heard enough to make her very curious, so she kept asking for more information. Finally Kayla told her and that made Caleb mad.”

  “Uh-huh. What was it all about?”

  “Something Caleb found in the garage, some papers he showed his madre. She made him put them back, but they were in a foreign language. I just wanted the kids to stop arguing about it, you know, because it didn’t sound like nothing important to me, but they wouldn’t stop. Sasha agreed with me and she said, ‘What’s the big deal?’ and somehow it came out that these papers were in Arabic. I thought I should tell you.”

  “Thank you, Benita.”

  “Doesn’t that scare you?”

  “Does it scare you?”

  “Sí! If it was Spanish it could have been something Raoul and I were reading, or if it was Asian, maybe computer instructions or something with the parts for the systems that you guys use for the water and the plants. But Arabic? Nobody here reads that, do they?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “Me neither, but with what is happening everywhere with the terror and the killings—”

  “Let’s not worry until we know what we’re dealing with, Benita. I’ll handle Sasha and deal with the Xaviers. I won’t say you can’t discuss it with Raoul, but—”

  “We won’t say nothing to no one else.”

  “Thank you.”

  Zeke gave Sasha her gun and took her outside to replace Katashi, and she was happy to be pressed into service. “Don’t be a hero,” he reminded her.

  “Don’t worry, Dad. I know what to do if I see anything.”

  “You need me for what?” Katashi said, as they headed inside and down the hall.

  “A meeting at Pastor Bob’s.”

  “Okay,” he said, more as a question.

  “I don’t mean to be mysterious. It’ll become clear.”

  “How’s Jennie doing?”

  “Not well, actually. Sleeping mostly.”

  “We won’t bother her?”

  “We’ve been meeting ten feet from her and she hardly knows we’re there.”

  “Who’s we?”

  “The elders.”

  Katashi slowed. “Am I in trouble?”

  Zeke chuckled. “I wouldn’t ambush you. But it does depend on your definition of trouble. And ambush.”

  When they got there, Katashi looked hesitantly at Jennie on the couch, and Pastor Bob said, “We’re just careful to keep our voices down, that’s all. Welcome.” He pointed to chairs and they all sat. “Katashi, you’ll recall the elders needed a replacement for me, and they feel the Lord has led them to you as the new elder.”

  Katashi closed his eyes, shook his head, and opened them again. “Did not see that coming. Me as an elder?”

  “Well,” Bob said, “we believe the Lord is in this. So are you open to it? Willing? Will you accept the appointment?”

  “I’m not as consistent as I’d like to be spiritually, but I strive to be. Am I a dirty, rotten sinner without hope other than the blood Jesus shed for me on the cross? Yes, that’s me.”

  Zeke pressed a hand over his mouth, then pulled it away. “That affirms my vote,” he whispered.

  “Mine too,” Doc said.

  “I no longer have a vote,” Bob said, “but I concur.”

  “I wouldn’t have thought of me,” Katashi said.

  Bob smiled. “That’s sort of a prerequisite too.”

  “I have a word for hi
m,” God told Zeke.

  The Lord never ceased to amaze him. Zeke hesitated, then immediately recognized the folly of his own reasoning. The man was seeking God, and God had given Zeke a word for him.

  Zeke said, “He who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. Therefore you will abide in the Son and in the Father. And He has promised us eternal life. The anointing you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you that; you will abide in Him.”

  Katashi looked up. “I’m honored and I accept.”

  Bob put a hand on Katashi’s shoulder. “May God our heavenly Father, who has called you to this sacred office, guide you by His Word, equip you with His Spirit, and so prosper your ministries that His body may increase and His name be praised. ‘Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.’”

  Bob rose. “Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I’ll be right over here with my wife. And Katashi, my advice is to do more listening than talking at first, but with such a small board don’t hesitate to weigh in on important matters.”

  Doc immediately told Katashi what had happened with Mahir and that he was virtually a prisoner in his own quarters until further notice.

  Katashi shook his head. “And not just lying but actually might have tried to harm Cristelle? Wow, I feel like I’ve been thrown into the deep end of the pool.”

  “That’s not the half of it,” Zeke said. “You need to know what else is going on.”

  “You sure?” Doc said.

  “We’ve never kept secrets among us elders, and we’re not going to start now,” Zeke said. “Your own daughter just spilled the beans to Sasha and Benita. How long before everybody knows?”

  “Fair enough,” Doc said. “Katashi, my son found evidence in the garage that we have a Middle Eastern terrorist among us.”

  “Whoa!” Zeke whispered. “We don’t know what it means.” He told Katashi what Caleb had found.

  “That is scary,” Katashi said. “What else could it mean?”

  “That’s what I’m saying,” Doc said. “I think it all points to Mahir.”

  Katashi recoiled. “Is he going to become your scapegoat for everything now? You think he’s trying to kill us all?”

  “You have a better theory?” Doc said.

  “Uh, yeah,” Katashi said. “I might not have been so quick to accept this appointment if I thought it was about witch hunts.”

  “That’s what you think this is?” Doc said.

  “Let’s just say I expected more, especially from you.”

  Zeke was impressed. He had worried Katashi might be intimidated by Doc, maybe even unduly influenced.

  “Maybe when you gain a little more experience,” Doc said, “or if you’d had more formal education—”

  “All right,” Zeke said, “let’s not make this personal. We’re all on the same side here.”

  “Pardon me, Zeke,” Doc said, “but last I knew, your authority doesn’t extend to the elder board. Unless you’re chosen to be the next pastor—which isn’t likely—don’t act like you’re leading us now.”

  “Well,” Katashi said, “someone has to if we’re going to tell the others what we’ve done with Mahir.”

  “I agree,” Doc said, “and because I used to fill in for Pastor Bob at the church, I’m the logical choice, and—”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Katashi said.

  “You wouldn’t say that?” Doc said. “What do you have to say about it?”

  Zeke stared at Doc. “Is this the style of leadership we should expect from you? You’d decide who has the right to speak and when?”

  “He’s brand new, Zeke!”

  “And he’s a member of the board!”

  “Very well, Katashi,” Doc said, exaggerating his cadence. “Explain why you, as the nine-minute-old member of this body, say I’m not the logical choice as the next elder board chairman-slash-pastor.”

  “Easy,” Katashi said. “With all due respect: You intimidate people. If I hadn’t just been encouraged to ‘not hesitate to weigh in on important matters,’ I would be intimidated. But I will weigh in on it.

  “You have many talents, Doc. You’re as smart as anybody I’ve ever met, and I would entrust you with my life. But in all the years I’ve known him, Pastor Bob never intimidated anybody, though he exhorted us to live godly lives. Zeke never intimidates anybody, though he inspires us to do what we might not want to do. That’s the kind of leader we want: someone who leads by example. Not someone we’re afraid of.”

  “Finished?”

  “Not till I tell you I love you, Doc.”

  “You have a strange way of showing it.”

  Katashi sighed. “I still say we need an elder chairman before deciding on a pastor.”

  “I agree,” Doc said. “But that person would also become the pastor. I also agree with Zeke that we should have no secrets, so we should put it to an open vote. I nominate myself.”

  “I nominate Zeke,” Katashi said.

  “And I,” Zeke said, “am abstaining from voting.”

  “Well then,” Doc said, “we’re stalemated at one to one with one abstention. Might either of you be open to changing your mind if you knew the Lord has given me a message for Sunday on humility and teamwork?”

  Zeke said, “I might change my mind about abstaining and vote for myself if you assumed the pulpit without authority from this board.”

  Doc turned away. “We’re getting nowhere.”

  “Excuse me, gentlemen,” Bob said, next to Jennie on the couch. She was sitting up. “Jennie has something she wants to say, but you’re going to have to bring your chairs over so she doesn’t have to raise her voice.”

  As they settled before her, mumbling how sorry they were for bothering her, she sipped her water and shook her head. “No need to apologize. If I needed you gone, you’d be gone. Whatever Doc gave me did the trick, so thanks. You know I think you’ve been a godsend, Doc, and nothing’s ever going to change that.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  “And Katashi, welcome. You’re a good choice.”

  “Appreciate it, Mrs. Gill.”

  “Zeke, you don’t need more bouquets. You know what I think of you.”

  “I do, Jennie. Thanks.”

  “Now I’m old school, maybe out of step, but I’ve always liked being in a support role and not a talking one. But this is my house, and you boys are gonna listen. Let me tell you—what I’ve been hearing, God’s not in it.

  “I’ve been alongside this man here almost my whole life, and I’m not gonna tell you he’s perfect—nobody knows that better’n I do. But the God he serves is a God of order, and I haven’t heard order since Bob left that table. Doc, you’re after a job that ought not to be sought. If it comes your way, accept it with fear and trembling, knowing you can do it only under the power of God.”

  “Oh, I know. I would—”

  “Hush now. It’s my turn to talk. Katashi, you nominated the right man, and Zeke, you’re showing your true character by abstaining. There’s only one way past this stalemate. You put it to the body. Katashi tells the people there are two candidates, it’s not a popularity contest, so no politicking or campaigning, just a secret ballot so no hurt feelings. People should just prayerfully vote and trust the Lord’s will to be done. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

  The three sat in silence until Katashi said, “Did you hear our discussion about Mahir?”

  “I did. Doc, you don’t have to raise your hand to talk to me. What do you want?”

  “If I promise you more of those pain meds, can I count on your vote?”

  Jennie laughed. “First joke out of you since I’ve know you, and it’s actually funny. No, Bob and I won’t be voting.”

  17

  THE VISIT

  ZEKE’S ANNOUNCEMENT of the turn o
f events with Mahir created a stir at dinner Monday. He asked that everyone bear with the elders as they prayed and worked through what to do. He also said Jennie would still give a brief farewell message Wednesday evening, though the Gills’ drive had been postponed. Then he introduced the new elder, and Katashi explained that the secret ballot election of the new pastor would follow Jennie’s talk. He added that Bob and Jennie would not vote but that all other adults were eligible to. Katashi then closed with a prayer for Raoul and Danley’s safe return—expected at around midnight.

  When Katashi had mentioned their estimated time of arrival in his prayer, Zeke felt a check in his spirit. He had sent Raoul far out of his way to the south, being perhaps twice as cautious as necessary to avoid danger. He had even urged Raoul and Danley to hide rather than try to elude potential pursuers. In retrospect Zeke was glad he’d mentioned that, especially after what Mahir had said about having seen WatDoc near the Nuwuwu settlement. Where might his cohorts be? If evidence of one of them appeared in Raoul’s rearview mirror, Zeke would rather see Raoul disappear than try to engage.

  Regardless, it was highly unlikely Raoul and Danley would get to Arizona anywhere near the usual time, meaning their return would be delayed by that much longer too. Well into the wee hours of Tuesday was more likely.

  Later Monday evening Zeke and Alexis were surprised by a knock at their door. “I can’t stay long, friends,” Gabrielle Xavier said when they invited her in. “I need to give Adam a break from Cristelle in a few minutes. I just wanted to suggest something. Alexis, what would you think of you and me abstaining from the vote Wednesday evening? If we each vote for our husbands, we’ll just cancel each other’s ballots anyway.”

  “I’m okay with that,” Alexis said, glancing at Zeke. “Same difference either way, right?”

  Gabrielle turned to Zeke. “You and Adam should do the same.”

  He chuckled. “Doc didn’t tell you?”

  “Tell me what?”

  “Why we’re voting in the first place. He nominated himself. Katashi nominated me. And I abstained. Had I voted for myself, it would’ve been two to one, the elder board would have named the new pastor, and there would have been no at-large vote.”