by Andy Andrews
“Winston is right,” David said. “We really could talk about this for hours, but we have to move on. Thank you again for all you did.”
Eric nodded.
“Okay to continue with our next answer?” David asked. “Can you guide us into this discussion?”
“Sure,” Eric replied. “Let me start by telling you what the majority of the Travelers think the answer is.” Around the table, they listened attentively. “Before I lay this one out there, I’ve got to say that I feel a bit odd having just had my life’s story revealed and now having to tell you this answer. Or what we think is the answer.”
“Why? What is it?” David asked.
“Be courageous,” Eric said, “or ‘show courage,’ or any other two-word way you want to put it. Why two words, anyway? Never mind,” Eric added quickly, answering his own question. “We haven’t got time to figure that out too. In any case, ‘have courage’ or ‘be courageous.’ Courage is our answer. I didn’t come up with it, but I think I agree.”
“No time for modesty, Eric,” Lincoln said. “Maybe that’s the reason you were chosen to join us. It certainly took a great deal of courage to do what you did. So let’s explore this quickly.” He gestured toward the hourglass. “If we need the last two opportunities after this one—and I pray that we don’t—we need to conserve some time.”
Eric said, “Everyone who hears my story seems to assume that somehow I was never afraid.” He rolled his eyes. “I was always afraid. I just managed to do what I knew I had to do . . . anyway. So to make sure we don’t get off on that foot, courage is resistance to fear or mastery of it, but it is not the absence of fear.”
“I agree,” Joan said. “Perfectly expressed.”
“There is an odd paradox attached as well, though,” Eric shrugged. “That boldness . . . that assured air—it is strange to me that sometimes a person has to be a little careless with his life in order to keep it.”
“What is courage?” David asked. “Define it. Start there.”
“It is a virtue,” Winston said. “It is a mystical virtue before which difficulties shrink and obstacles crumble into dust.”
“Courage is not merely one of the virtues,” Lincoln observed, “but the form of every virtue at its testing point.”
“Well said,” Winston replied. “But Mr. President, you must at least concede that courage is the greatest of the virtues. After all, if one hasn’t courage, there might not be opportunity to display any of the others.”
Lincoln chuckled. “You are correct, Mr. Prime Minister,” he said agreeably. “Without courage, even wisdom would bear no fruit.”
“Is courage a form of power?” David threw out.
“Non,” Joan asserted. No. “I believe everyone possesses the power to achieve whatever they wish. Many, however, lack the courage to do so.”
Eric spoke. “Courage expands the minds and hearts of others in its presence. It is contagious. One person with courage forms an immediate majority, and others are caught up in his wake. When a brave person takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.
“But here is something curious,” Eric continued. “The opposite of courage is cowardice, I suppose. In any event, I believe that courage enlarges our possibilities. But cowardice diminishes the odds of everyone’s success in any endeavor. I have personally experienced physical danger because of the cowardice of others. Because we as people and nations are so connected, the fears of the fainthearted increase the hazards that jeopardize the lives and the freedoms of the brave.”
“How does one become brave?” David asked.
Eric raised a hand. “I don’t mean to talk too much,” he said, “but I can answer that if you wish.”
“Certainly,” they all said at once and leaned forward to hear how he intended to reply.
“I believe strongly,” Eric said with conviction, “that whether you are a man or woman, boy or girl, you will never accomplish anything without courage. It is the greatest quality of the heart except honor. That having been said, I believe that every man, woman, boy, and girl already possesses deep within an abundant supply of courage. But that courage only appears—seemingly spontaneously—when we care very deeply about something or someone. It is at that moment when we take risks that are unimaginable in any other context.”
“Bravo,” Winston said and clapped several times as the others acknowledged the truth of the words Eric had spoken. “Many a victory was turned into a defeat for want of a little courage.”
“Is ‘show courage’ the answer, then?” Joan asked. “If everyone possesses courage, is the utilization of the virtue, to actually ‘show courage,’ what humanity needs to do in order to restore itself?”
“I am of your time,” Eric said to David, “and I think courage is the answer.” Indicating Winston, Lincoln, and Joan, he said, “It may be cynical to say so, but with rare exceptions, people aren’t electing leaders like this today. A nation that has forgotten the quality of leadership it took to make a civilization great in the past is not likely to insist on greatness in its leaders today.”
“I believe we have forgotten the display of courage it took to mold what humanity once was,” David said. “This makes me more and more confident that courage is what we need, individually and collectively.” To Churchill and Lincoln, he asked, “What was the historical perspective in your time? And in yours, Joan?”
Joan spoke first. “I always found it strange that physical courage was so common and moral courage so rare.”
“I’m not sure that has changed,” Eric said and added, “Sorry. There’s my cynical side again.”
“I dealt with folks as divided over issues as any group since time began,” Lincoln said, casting his eyes upward as if searching his memory. “When there are those who disagree with us, it takes courage, certainly, to stand up and speak. But it also takes courage to sit down and listen. Courage can be the bridge to wisdom. Life, despite its heartbreak and agony, cannot be unlived. But if our mornings are faced with courage and wisdom, the past need not be lived again.”
“Hope and wisdom?” Joan asked. “Are they a part of courage?”
“Yes,” Winston answered definitively. “But is courage the answer?”
“We want to restore civilization to the pathway,” Eric said. “Do you think there is less a display of courage now than there used to be?”
“Maybe there are not as many opportunities to be courageous?” David proposed.
“Oh, that is ridiculous,” Winston scoffed. “Those who lack anything—courage, wisdom, and hope included—will always find a philosophy to justify it. What rubbish! And of course, as part of their justification, they cast suspicion on anyone who has proper motives. People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest!”
They laughed. Certainly, no one could dispute those words. When they settled again, David asked, “Are we ready?” No one wanted to answer, so for a beat, they just looked at him, then laughed again. It was nervous laughter, to be sure, but finally, David said aloud what they all had been thinking. “Wow. I am about to call Gabriel again.”
David looked at the hourglass. “I hope that our wisdom has led us to courage.” They all smiled, but Eric said, “When we are through with all this, David, remind me to tell you how bad that joke really was.”
David smiled grimly and said, “I hope we are laughing when all this is through.” Then, in a loud voice, he said, “I am ready with the answer.”
CHAPTER 8
As Gabriel entered the room, he walked straight to the end of the table, taking the same position he had before. The archangel made a point of examining the hourglass before clasping his hands in front of himself. “David Ponder?” he said. “Have you arrived at a conclusion?”
David stood. “We believe so, Gabriel.”
“I am eager to hear your answer.”
David glanced at the others around the table and began. “Taking into account your words about ‘hope’ and ‘wisdom’ being a p
art of the answer, we have arrived at what we believe is the logical choice.” David paused and decided to avoid any preamble this time. There is no explanation needed, he thought. This has got to be right. “Gabriel,” he said, “The answer is ‘Show courage.’”
Gabriel did not respond immediately. Nervous to begin with and now even more so, David found it impossible to match the archangel’s silence and began to talk despite having decided not to. “Hope and wisdom are necessary components to effective courage and to restore civilization to the proper pathway . . . Well, it sure seems that people used to be more courageous . . . Morally courageous, we believe . . . Obviously, there are—”
“The answer is incorrect,” Gabriel interrupted, and without delay he stepped away from the table and started for the door.
Winston balled up his fists, muttered to himself, and reached for his cigar. David didn’t move from where he had been standing but was aware of the blood draining from his face. He looked at Lincoln, who appeared sympathetic and encouraging at the same time. Joan’s brow was furrowed in confusion, and Eric simply sat still with his eyes closed.
The massive door was opening, and those in the audience were beginning to rise to their feet, talking softly to each other—yet all eyes were on the departing archangel. He was almost to the open doorway, its intense light radiating through the room as it reflected around his flowing robe and wings. Suddenly, to his shock, David heard his own voice rise above the increasing noise of the theater. “Gabriel!” he called out.
At once the room grew quiet. The archangel stopped in midstride. Cocking his head as if not believing what he had just heard, Gabriel slowly turned, but only halfway around. “Yes, David Ponder?” he asked.
David could hear his own heart beating, the blood rushing through his ears. He felt his mouth open and heard himself gasp like a schoolboy caught misbehaving by the principal. The archangel’s face was not threatening, but neither was his expression patient or kind. Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Yes, David Ponder?” he repeated with a bit more volume.
David did not know why he had shouted at that moment. Frustration? Confusion? Fear? In any event, not knowing why he had stopped the archangel’s departure, he was now without a clue as to what he wanted to say. “Ah . . . Gabriel?” he managed and paused again, but this time, the archangel did not answer. Mentally scrambling and uncomfortably aware of the stares from everyone in the theater, David plunged ahead and said the only thing that came to his mind. “May we ask you some questions?”
Without hesitation, Gabriel answered, “Certainly,” and moved to return to his place at the table. As the door closed behind the archangel, David looked at the others in amazement. They returned his expression with disbelief of their own. In fact, the entire audience seemed flabbergasted at this turn of events and Gabriel’s casual acceptance of David’s panicky request.
As always, Gabriel stood while David sat down with the others. This move, on David’s part, was executed more because of weak knees than any etiquette he might have thought to observe. “I didn’t know we could ask questions, Gabriel,” David said, still somewhat shaky. “Actually, you didn’t mention that we were allowed to ask you anything.”
Gabriel replied, “That is correct. Neither did I say that you could not ask questions.”
“Sir?”
“Yes, Eric Erickson?”
“Sir, is there anything else that we might have overlooked—of this sort, or any other sort—of which we are unaware at this time, that is available as a resource to us in our quest?”
“Very good first question, Eric Erickson,” Gabriel replied, “but no, I am your only resource.”
“Ha!” Winston cackled. “Very good first question indeed. Just the kind of query I would expect from a spy! Now. Down to it. What shall we ask the angel?”
“Archangel,” Gabriel corrected immediately.
“Oh yes. My apologies,” Winston responded as he winked at David.
“I have a question, sir,” Lincoln said. Gabriel turned his attention to the president, who asked, “You revealed to us earlier that ‘restoring hope’ and ‘seeking wisdom’ were parts—we assumed integral parts—of the correct answer. Is that also true of ‘showing courage’?”
“Yes,” Gabriel answered. “Courage is necessary for wisdom and hope to fulfill their roles as effective virtues. Likewise, wisdom and hope—as you correctly ascertained—must be present for courage to achieve its highest value. Yes. All three—hope, wisdom, and courage—are components of the answer you seek.”
“This answer,” Joan said carefully, “when we find it . . . will it change the world?”
“It is the only thing that ever has,” Gabriel said.
“Are we expanding our thinking past the point we need to search?” Winston asked. “Are we making this too complicated?”
“Yes and no,” Gabriel replied.
“Ah!” the prime minister said as sarcastically as he could manage. “Yes, then. Well, thank you so much for the map you’ve provided with that answer. We’ll take it from here and go directly to the treasure.”
“I understand your question, Winston Churchill,” the archangel said, “and I will ignore your childish comment. While the answer you seek is simple, I despair of your ability to find it easily. Yes, your thought processes are rational, but as humans you are much too egotistical to succeed in this search quickly. Or at all.”
“Please, Gabriel,” Lincoln said, shooting a warning glance to Winston, “be patient with us a bit longer. We are trying to understand. What do you mean by ‘egotistical’? I don’t wish to disagree with you, but I feel that presently we are as humbled by this process as we could possibly be. I, for one, don’t feel smart or capable right now . . . or egotistical. So again, please help us comprehend what we are up against.”
“What you are up against, Abraham Lincoln,” Gabriel began, “is your very nature. When I used the term egotistical, I didn’t necessarily mean you at this table—with one possible exception.” Pausing, Gabriel turned to stare directly at Winston, who smiled as if he had been given an award. Continuing, the archangel said, “It is humanity’s egotistical nature to which I was referring.”
“I’m still not sure I understand,” Lincoln said. “Please . . . if you will . . .”
“As human beings,” Gabriel said, “you seem to assume that you are the possessor of mankind’s greatest moment. You believe that everything existing on earth at this time is the pinnacle of achievement. Humanity is proud.”
“Pride goeth before a fall,” Joan murmured to the others, who nodded without taking their eyes off Gabriel.
“As humans,” the archangel said without missing a beat, “you think you are stronger than ever before. You worship your own intelligence. You’ve been to the moon and consider that a grand accomplishment, yet you are not clever enough to find the clues He left you about who made the moon in the first place!”
Winston opened his mouth to speak. “I am not finished, Winston Churchill,” Gabriel said sharply, his eyes flashing. Pressing on, he said, “You believe everything and you believe nothing. Like a child seeing magic tricks for the first time, you are impressed with each other. You are impressed with yourselves. And while it is my duty to guide you . . .” He paused, then said, “I am not impressed.”
Spitting out words with a controlled fury, Gabriel added, “You speak of ‘evolving’ as if you are now the highest form of the concept. Humanity believes it has arrived at a glorious moment of significance. Yet you do not even comprehend the truth about yourselves. You have not evolved,” he said with barely disguised disdain. “You have devolved!”
Haltingly, David spoke. “Gabriel, I do not intend to sound like I am disputing your words. I . . . I think we are just trying to understand what you are saying. For instance, not to be egotistical, as you said, but am I not presently living in the most advanced age humans have ever known?”
The archangel received the question and looked around the table. When he saw
no one else was going to speak and realized they all agreed with the basis of David’s question, Gabriel sighed heavily and said, “The question you are attempting to answer refers to restoring humanity to a pathway. You were correct in assuming that the word restore indicates humanity having been on the pathway before. But your belief, David Ponder, that mankind is experiencing an ‘advanced age’—as you put it— causes me to despair of your ever finding the answer.”
“Why?”
“Because if you are not even aware of the pathway to which the question is referring, how could you possibly hope to restore yourselves to it?”
“So what you are saying,” Eric threw out, “is that we are not as advanced a civilization as we think we are.”
“That is correct, Eric Erickson. There once existed a civilization on earth so advanced as to make you appear to be dull children in comparison. Their mathematics, engineering, architecture, and metallurgy were far beyond what you revere today. These were people of great understanding, great wisdom, and even greater faith.”
“Why have we never heard of these people?” Eric asked.
“That is the same question you asked me once, David Ponder,” Gabriel said. “Do you remember?”
“I do,” David answered.
The archangel turned his attention back to Erickson. “You have no memory or cognitive knowledge of your history because most of your scientists work within a parameter of time that is far too narrow. A few of them, however, have begun to suspect that this society predated the Aztecs and Incas by more than thirty thousand of your years.”
Winston couldn’t help himself. “What indication is there of that?” he blurted.
“For you, Winston Churchill,” Gabriel replied, “not much. You are too far removed from those people in terms of ability, capacity, wisdom, and time. The most intelligent members of your civilization are just now beginning to arrive at the point of recognizing and understanding the evidence they left of their existence.”
