“What I am talking about is the planned or unprovoked violence perpetrated on a regular basis against someone we are supposed to love and protect. If Yahweh loved His people, He would not have tried to rule them through fear. Fear strikes at the very foundations of the heart and destroys or overrides all other emotions. It is no wonder the ancient Hebrews grumbled against their God in the desert! And, His punishment was swift and harsh. Enlil, our Lord, Son of the Creator, would never have led us from one disaster to another. If we had not turned against Him in the beginning, He would have cared for us always. He did not punish, He simply allowed us to punish ourselves. Always, He was there, waiting with open arms for any who would see their way back to Him. And, while He did not protect us from suffering, He allowed suffering to draw us closer to Him as a comforting presence even in the hour of our deaths, because we knew He could not be reached in the flesh, but only in spirit and once the flesh is shed, then Unity with the Father becomes possible.”
“I’m not sure, I can comprehend all of this at once,” Merry said. “It goes against everything I have ever known, understood or thought.”
“Let me ask you something, Meredith.” Catharine shifted in her seat and leaned her chin on her knee. “Do you believe anger and jealousy are useful emotions, pleasing to God?”
“No! Of course not. It is one of the worst things, to be jealous. People do all sorts of evil things because of jealousy, and of course, anger always leads to a bad end, if nothing more than bad thoughts about someone. Many crimes are the results of unchecked anger. I think anger and jealousy are two of the worst problems people face. I know it’s not possible to always to control them, but it is something that has to be worked on… always,” Merry told her with conviction. “Every time, Luke gets mad at me, he says or does something that hurts my feelings, and even once, when I made him mad enough, he hit me. Now, don’t get me wrong on this, I’m not one of those women we were talking about who justify wife-beating husbands by taking the blame or saying they brought it on themselves, but I have said some very hard things to Luke. In fact, he should have just cut my head off, but he can say things, too. I guess you could say I’m stupid and thoughtless and he is, too, at times.”
“Would you consider anger and jealousy sins?” Catharine asked her.
“Most definitely,” Merry nodded.
“And, you would confess them as such and ask for forgiveness?” Catharine smiled at her.
“Of course!”
“Exodus, chapter twenty, verse five: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”
Merry frowned at the woman.
“Exodus thirty-four, verse fourteen: For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God,” Catharine quoted another verse from the Bible.
“I don’t understand,” Merry said quietly.
“Deuteronomy, chapter twenty-nine, verse twenty: The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.”
Merry’s face was frozen as she tried to comprehend what Catharine was saying.
“Deuteronomy, chapter thirty-two: For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them. They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.”
“What are you trying to say, Catharine?” Merry asked her quietly.
“I am merely saying the god described in Exodus and Deuteronomy is not the same god as described in other texts. For instance, in Matthew, chapter eighteen, Jesus speaks of His Father’s love for mankind saying: Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. And in John, chapter three, verse sixteen: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
“I tell you, in truth, it is impossible for God to sin. It is possible for any who may be less than the perfect light of God, to sin. These inconsistencies cannot be reconciled between the Old Testament, and what Jesus Christ taught us of His Father, our Lord. The Creator loves all His creation and His long-suffering for the sins of His creation. He would offer salvation to any who would ask. Jesus said knock and the door will be opened. Seek and you will find. Ask and it will be given unto you. Our Lord is ready to give us everything and anything we might ask, if we ask it in love. And, do not confuse yourself with things asked in greed or self-adulation, for these things are not asked in love.”
“God knows the hearts of men. For those, who are mighty will be lowest, and those who are lowest will be highest. When there is nothing left but our flesh and our bones, then we will know God and will not be blinded by material things. For what are material things if not millstones about our necks? It is only chaff in the wind. Even the flesh shall melt from the bones and the bones will crumble into the dust, but the spirit will prevail.”
“I will have to think about this,” Merry told her. “Is that why you are content to live here with nothing? Your devotion to God is your clothing and your armor? I have often wondered why you would live here in this lonely place and how you could appear to be so happy whenever I see you. I think I am beginning to understand.”
“Good. That is why I want you to come and visit with me as often as you can. Meditate and think about these things and bring your questions to me. I will do my best to answer them for you, and I hope you will forgive my English. It is sometimes, with difficulty, I speak it.”
Merry got up from the table, and Catharine found an empty basket in which to put the dirty dishes and leftovers from the meal.
“I’ll be back as soon as possible,” Merry told her and then hugged her tightly. “I will have to get over the guilt I feel for having listened to you. I feel as if I have betrayed something. I’m not sure what.”
“The guilt is natural,” Catharine assured her. “It is simply a remnant of the fear of God. You have no need to fear God, Meredith. He truly loves you as only God can.”
Chapter Fifteen of Fifteen
That which is far off, and exceeding deep,
who can find it out?
“You would put the entire island in jeopardy.” D’Brouchart frowned at the Knight of Death. They were all over their shock at the sight of Mark Andrew in the Ramsay Red. He looked much younger in the bright yellow shirt and red plaid Tartan. Luke Matthew had a permanent frown etched in his forehead. He’d not seen his brother in such attire in centuries. Luke Andrew sat in the apprentice section with a smug smile on his face.
They had discussed the events of the previous three weeks in detail. Each member giving his own capsulated version for the record. The apprentices listened in horror to the story of Ruth’s exhumation, and the grisly discovery made by Lucio and Omar when they had opened the coffin. They had again, listened, in utter disgust, to Mark Andrew and then Luke Matthew as they gave an account of their internment in Scotland and England and the deaths of Gil, Planxty and Stephano. Luke’s version had been full of anger and angst, misery and grief. Mark’s had been given in such a heavy brogue, they could scarcely understand him, but his contempt for the King of England and his associates, Jozsef Daniel and Ernst Schweikert, left no doubt as to the content of his oration. He ended by declaring war on England in the name of Scotland, and the contender for the English throne, Paul Luke Matthew Armenius Ramsay. The Knights had erupted in a boisterous display of support for Mark Andrew’s declaration, in spite of, the Master’s attempts to quell the disruption, and they had applauded the courage of their fallen Brothers and symp
athized with each other over their losses.
Barry had restored order, after a while and a bit, and the Master had reminded them Scotland’s interests and even the interests of the entire British Isles were not primary concerns of the Order, though none of them seemed to care. The apprentices were then given the rare opportunity to speak and each of them had vowed to keep the memory of Planxty and Stephano alive in their hearts until the cause of their martyrdom could be destroyed from the world. Each of them had expressed his or her grief and made it quite clear, they did not hold Luke or Mark responsible for what had happened. Each of them had declared Planxty and Stephano had died honorable deaths in the service of God and the Order, and they had further agreed, unanimously, each of them could only hope to die such a death if need be, to preserve the Order and the Faith. Omar had suggested the two apprentices be put forth for canonization as soon as possible. That is, if they survived the upcoming events, and there was a church left somewhere to promote the men to sainthood.
Several hours had passed when they called for food to be brought to them and they continued the meeting after a very brief break. They were now drinking yet another round of Ramsay Stout from heavy silver tankards.
“I do not think we will be in danger, Your Grace,” Mark Andrew objected and smiled at the Master. The smile reminded d’Brouchart of the true nature of his relationship to the Knight of Death. Mark Andrew could have taken the Order from him by any number of means, any time he wished, and most likely, with the full support of the Council. “I have a plan.”
“Ahh.” The Master returned the smile. “Let’s hear it!”
“Well, sir,” Mark looked about the table slowly. “I would not wish to divulge it in its entirety here and now. Suffice it to say, we would have more than sufficient support to carry out my plan of attack. We have a number of allies in this effort. We are not limited to the populations of these islands. There are some fifteen full Knights and another 20,000 able-bodied men on the Isle of Ramsay. That is not an inconsiderable force in and of itself.”
“But, men without the benefit of arms is tantamount to suicide,” Peter Rushkin spoke up. “We do not have a chance against His Majesty’s forces. They have ships that can sit two or three hundred kilometers off shore or further and pound us to bits! They have helicopters, planes, drones, not to mention surface to air missles and long range ballistic missiles! Why, they would not even have to send those! They could simply point their land-based weapons at us and be done with us in less than a good morning!”
“You underestimate us, sir,” Konrad shifted in his seat. “I daresay King William Henry has none of the resources we enjoy. I do not believe Sir Ramsay would propose a suicide mission for the Order in general. I would throw in my support behind his leadership on any given day. The King’s armies are depleted due to the attrition rate. He has not treated well with them and their numbers have steadily decreased with the advent of more technologically advanced weaponry and less than desirable conditions such as pay, housing, benefits. The King has been more interested in frippery and flamboyance than the welfare of the kingdom. In short, he is no Elizabeth II.”
A general round of scoffing and laughter circulated about the table.
“He is a fop!” Barry blurted and then laughed. “He runs his court like the Sun King! In fact, it is my suspicion, he is more closely related to the Louis’ than the Stewarts. No insult intended to my French Brothers, as I have learned, I am only English at heart, but I do not believe there is a good Frenchman among us that supported the Carolingian line. He is no better than Phillipe le Bel or even Pepin, the Fat. At the first sign of danger, he faints! You have said so, Brother. And, what was that your son, the Djinni, did to him? It was no more than the whining dog deserved.” Barry turned his pale blue eyes on Mark Andrew. “Would that I had been there to see it. By God, it must have been glorious!”
When Barry finished speaking, another round of table pounding and cries of approval and agreement went up in the room. Most of the apprentices had never witnessed such an emotionally electric meeting of the Council. They sat with their mouths open, and their eyes wide at the back of the room. Finally, Luke Andrew got into the spirit of things and beat the seat of his chair with the hilt of his dirk. Omar looked on with growing trepidation. He was tired of war and feared they would all be annihilated, but he would go down with his family.
“What of Jozsef Daniel?” Izzy d’Ornan spoke up. He had become friends with Jozsef when they had spent endless hours playing chess in the gate house in the days of their first exile to the islands. “What of the thing that took Jozsef and Anna from us? Will he join the King if we stand against him?”
“He will not need to join with the King, Brother, the King is in his pocket, but Jozsef Daniel will not wish to face all of us,” Mark Andrew told the son of the Healer. “He knows, we are here together en masse. He also knows, we will have been working on a plan to defeat him. He may see this as a ruse to bring him out.”
“Then you are planning on having the King come here rather than an actual invasion of England?” Philip d’Ornan asked the next question.
“It would be folly to leave our sanctuary and invade England. What I have in mind is a bit more insidious. There is an alternative that worked in the elder days. Simple. It worked for Robert the Bruce on more than one occasion. It will work again. I assure you King William is no King Edward Longshanks and Robert the Bruce and his brother tromped him on several occasions, when the odds were staggeringly against the Scots.”
“Can you give us a hint as to how you intend to keep him from launching his missiles on us, Brother?” Christopher asked his former Master.
“You should know the answer well enough, Christopher.” Mark smiled at him. “Sometimes the walls have ears. Across the way, there lies an open portal to the forces of darkness, and I am not sure of the range. I would not want to give up my secrets so soon.”
“Then, if this thing is to be done, I suggest you get on with your plans, du Morte.” Edgard waved one hand to signal a close to the discussion. “The good King will be here sooner or later, whether we make ready or no.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” Mark nodded.
“Now, I would table the discussion concerning Eduord de Goth. In light of our ‘portal’, I will simply ask a show of hands as to whether we might consider his proposal and that of his sister. I must say, I am reticent to capitulate to it so soon. And, if Schweikert is brave enough to go into the Seventh Gate, there would be the additional problem of protection. I fail to see how our forces could be effective on two fronts at once.”
“We will have to take one thing at a time,” Mark Andrew told him. “First, we must assure Jozsef Daniel does not have England in his grasp. If we do not act soon to stop him, he will have a grand starting point for his invasion of the continent. Already, they are asking questions about the Prophet. The conditions of things, in general, in Europe leave open the possibility they would welcome a perceived savior with open arms. It would take very little for him to convince the masses he was back to save them.”
“Aye, thot’s true enough.” Luke Matthew spoke up. “I saw a bit o’ wot ’e was doin’ when I was in London. King William presented ’im t’ th’ people and they wair verra impressed with ’is wards and ’is promises. Wot me brother is proposin’ sounds impossible, but I am ready t’ do wot I can t’ keep England and Scotland free o’ th’ scourge. If ’e gains a foot’old on th’ continent, ’e will be unstoppable. We shud be able t’ cast doubt on ’is claims simply by means o’ becomin’ visible in opposition. ’e ’as no patience and no compassion. If we can provoke a display o’ ’is true nature fur oll th’ warld t’ see, ’is credibility wud be suspect.”
“Now, let’s see the show of hands,” Barry instructed. The discision was almost unanimous and duly recorded as favored. They would be going to Germany.
“Then, we will adjourn on that note and allow Sir Ramsay to get to work on his plan.” D’Brouchart stood up. “I exp
ect everyone to give him full cooperation and keep me posted on the developments. God help us all.”
Finished.
Quatotations taken from King James Version Bible Old Testament Books: Daniel, I & 11 Kings, I & II Chronicles, I & II Samuel, Ezekial. New Testament Books: The Revelation of St. John, Jude, Mark, Luke, Matthew. The Ars Notaria: Lapis Philosophorum, The Golden Tractate of Hermes, The Pretiosissimum Donum Dei, the Testimony of the Mad Arab and the Necronomicon.
The Jealous God Page 37
