Braids and backpack bouncing against him with every long, quick stride, he broke into a run when he saw the marquee-type sign announcing the coming week’s events. He stopped short when he got close enough to read it.
Below the events, in bright green lettering, the name of the church stood out against the pale background: The Fountain Church, and below that, in smaller lettering it read Revelation 21:6.
Revelation, he thought. What be dere about fountains in Revelation? I ain’t seen nothin’ talkin’ like dat. An’ why Margaretha go to somewheres dat got somethin’ from Revelation in it, anyways?
Thankful for the up-light on the sign, but wanting to remain out of sight, Arthur continued toward the building, intent on his mission. But first, he wanted to look up the Bible verse; check out what it referred to.
Coming to a stop under the eave of the back doors, which was dimly lit with rosy-looking lighting, Arthur set his black and grey backpack down against the bricks of the wall on the left of the heavy wooden double doors and lowered himself to the ground next to it before unzipping the bag and finding the Amplified Bible his sister, Colleen, had insisted on giving him the day after he’d been released.
He was thankful, at least, that she’d taken the time to mark some passages and verses that were important to her. That way, if anyone saw him reading it, they’d think he’d read the Bible longer than he, in reality, had.
And he appreciated it, despite not letting on that he did when he’d opened the silver and teal box Colleen had given it to him in. More, now that he actually cared about what happened to other people, even if he wasn’t so sure that God was really in his corner all the time.
Flipping through the Bible, thankful to remember that Revelation was toward the back, Arthur found the twenty-first chapter and, trying to ignore the mixed types of brackets that so disturbed him, began to read it in a whisper:
““Then I saw a new sky (heaven) and a new earth, for the former sky and the former earth had passed away (vanished), and there no longer existed any sea. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, all arrayed like a bride beautified and adorned for her husband; Then I heard a mighty voice from the throne and I perceived its distinct words, saying, See! The abode of God is with men, and He will live (encamp, tent) among them; and they shall be His people, and God shall personally be with them and be their God.””
Arthur paused, surprised to find that his eyes were welling up. How can Heaven and Earth just… disappear? Wha’s up wit dat, he thought. And then, man, I gotta improve how I commun’cate. Dis be hard work, tryin’ ta keep from readin’ it wrong. He moved a finger back to the Bible to find his place in order to continue to read in his whispering tone, tears still at bay for the time being. He sniffled the feeling away as he began to read.
““God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish (sorrow and mourning) nor grief nor pain any more, for the old conditions and the former order of things have passed away.””
You really got dat, God? You can keep us from cryin’ no more, he thought. A’cause if so, I’m all for dat. So tired, God. So tired of livin’ a lie, and livin’ wit all dem horrible mem’ries. Dey plague me, Man! Sometimes, I can’t even tink straight, n’ I feel like I’s gonna ‘splode again like I did in dat basemen’.
The tears came pouring out now and he waited for them to abate before he continued reading. The sun, which had still been down as he’d made his way over, was now beginning to rise, and a panic set in.
He tamped it down and kept reading.
““And He Who is seated on the throne said, See! I make all things new. Also He said, Record this, for these sayings are faithful (accurate, incorruptible, and trustworthy) and true (genuine). And He [further] said to me, It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I [Myself] will give water without price from the fountain (springs) of the water of Life.””
Water without price? All things are new? No more tears, or death, or pain? The old stuff died and new stuff took its place? God staying in a tent with His people? Being living water?
He’d heard this stuff before, long ago. He just hadn’t believed it.
Arthur thought back over his life for a few moments. Where had he first heard these things? Had it been from his grandmother? His mother? A preacher at his mama’s church?
He couldn’t place the time, but after several seconds, the voice came to him; the voice of his Great Grandma Catherine.
Man, I couldn’a been more’n nine, since dat’s when she done died, Arthur thought, tears welling in his small, dark eyes again. A braid that had come loose from the ponytail he’d made to keep them back fell forward, and he pushed it back, sniffing away his tears again, determined to continue reading.
““He who is victorious shall inherit all these things, and I will be God to him and he shall be My son,” he continued in a broken whisper. “But as for the cowards and the ignoble and the contemptible and the cravenly lacking in courage and the cowardly submissive, and as for the unbelieving and faithless, and as for the depraved and defiled with abominations, and as for murderers and the lewd and adulterous and the practicers of magic arts and the idolaters (those who give supreme devotion to anyone or anything other than God) and all liars (those who knowingly convey untruth by word or deed)—[all of these shall have] their part in the lake that blazes with fire and brimstone. This is the second death.””
A shiver ran down Arthur’s spine, but, gulping, he forced himself to read further, praying silently that the light would stay away long enough for him to accomplish what he’d come here for.
““Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven final plagues (afflictions, calamities) came and spoke to me. He said, Come with me! I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife. Then in the Spirit He conveyed me away to a vast and lofty mountain and exhibited to me the holy (hallowed, consecrated) city of Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God,”” he continued, trying not to visualize lakes of fire and bowls of plagues. He stopped to wipe his face with the cloth he kept in his back pocket, thankful that the hundred-degree days were over for the time being.
““Clothed in God’s glory [in all its splendor and radiance]. The luster of it resembled a rare and most precious jewel, like jasper, shining clear as crystal. It had a massive and high wall with twelve [large] gates, and at the gates [there were stationed] twelve angels, and [on the gates] the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were written: On the east side three gates, on the north side three gates, on the south side three gates, and on the west side three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation [stones], and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.””
“Hello, there,” someone said suddenly behind him, causing him to jump and drop his Bible cattywhompus onto the ground as he quickly stood. The words were magnified through the speaker above his head.
A speaker he hadn’t even noticed when he’d arrived, right next to the light.
Arthur heard a chuckle, and then the door opened as he moved to quickly pick up his Bible and backpack from the ground. Smoothing the pages out as well as possible as he silently counted to twenty in his head, he waited for an explanation from the short, round, balding man standing before him.
“So sorry,” the man said. “I’m Pastor David. Would you like to come in and talk? Looks like you’ve been out here for a while.”
Pastor David smiled, revealing slightly crooked teeth, as he held a hand out to shake. Arthur looked at the man for a few seconds, shook his head to clear it, and, putting his Bible under his arm momentarily, shook the pastor’s hand. He walked slowly as he followed the man down a long hallway and into the fifth room on the left. Once there, he took time to put his Bible back in his backpack before looking at the pastor again.
“So how can I help you today,” the man asked, smiling again. “I don’
t think I’ve seen you here before.”
“I ain’t been here before,” Arthur acknowledged. “But someone I hurt has, an’ I wanted…. “He paused, unsure how to proceed.
Come on, Arthur, he told himself. Get it t’gether. You done practiced dis.
The pastor waited patiently as Arthur began again. “I be da man who done killed Margaretha Juarez’s daughter, an’ I… I know I can’t jus’ go to her place to do dis,” he said. “I ain’t ‘posed to be within five hun’red feet o’ her or her place,” he acknowledged. “But, with the hep of my boss, I done wrote her an apology. Shoulda done it a long time ago,” he said, frowning, “but ‘til recen’ly, t’ be hones’, I made a bunch o’ ‘scuses not to. ‘Scuses to why Andrea’s death weren’t my fault, but it were,” he said, tears coming to his eyes again.
“Now, I done had an experience wit Jesus, and I don’ wanna be no coward no more,” he continued, watching the pastor’s face closely.
Pastor David’s eyes were wide, but remained kind as he listened.
“Don’ know if He will ‘cept me,” Arthur said, “or if Margaretha will ‘cept my apology,” he continued, unzipping the bottom portion of his backpack and taking out the letter he’d meticulously worked on for two weeks. He looked down at it, running his long, tapered fingers across the lettering of Margaretha’s name.
“Don’ know if either will happen, but I figure I gotta try, right,” he said again, glancing back up to look into the pastor’s eyes.
“Jesus accepts everyone who wants Him,” the pastor said softly. “Anyone who is willing to allow God to change him or her; anyone willing to accept that Jesus died on the cross for their sins,” he continued, wiping his naked brow with a pale green handkerchief. “And as for Mrs. Juarez, I think…”
Pastor David paused for a minute, and Arthur began to panic. “I think that she is going to be very thankful to receive your letter, even though she has already forgiven you. That you realize what you’ve done in the past and have now done something to show sorrow,” he said finally, “will touch her heart more than you can ever imagine.”
“Oh, I dunno,” Arthur said as familiar, sweet music began to fill his heart and mind, “We be kinda related, an’ it didn’ even occur to me dat I-”
“Hey,” the pastor interrupted him, holding a hand out for the letter. “Everyone has done something stupid in their lifetime; everyone but Jesus, the Son of God. When the Bible tells us that all fall short, it isn’t an exaggeration. We all make mistakes, and we’ve all done dumb, hurtful things intentionally. Anyone who says otherwise is lying,” he continued.
Arthur nodded, handing the letter over to the pastor before he lost the courage to do so. Why nobody done tole me dis a’fore, he thought. Everyone makin’ mistakes be common sense, but ain’ nobody ever said it ‘loud, he thought. He set the backpack down again, not bothering to re-zip the bottom portion of it.
He looked down at his fingernails; saw the one that was still out of kilter from the day Rosemary had disappeared and Andrea had died. The day he’d decided to go back to prison, even if he hadn’t realized it at the time.
Prison had seemed so much easier, even if it was harder. No job to travel to every day – it was right there. No family drama – but there was cellie drama, and drama in the yard beyond what most people would believe.
Yes, he’d thought life would be easier, even if it wasn’t better, and he’d acted out accordingly, hurting others in the process.
Others like Margaretha Hill Juarez.
Others like Rosemary’s brother and sister, and their father.
Others, like his own siblings and mother; like his aunts, uncles, and Ken Traylor.
Even the officers who’d come to the scene, who he’d treated with the rotten abandon of a two year old without his nap.
“So, if you’d like to know for certain that Jesus is the Lord and Savior of your life,” the pastor said, “If you’d like to know that you’ll see those beautiful gates and stones I heard you reading about, then, if you’d like, we can pray together right now. With or without my secretary present to pray with us,” he added, smiling again.
Arthur looked back up at the pastor, then back to his nails, and back up again.
What did he have to lose?
He thought for a moment back to the day he’d first met the other Andrea – the one who was the age his daughter would have been; the one who, along with her young charges, had prayed for him right after he was released from prison.
And then, days later, he’d met Justin Hobson in his goth-looking, yet somehow still Christian outfit, and how, on the day they met again, the young man had been wearing a tux right out of the sixties, with the twist of it being neon blue. But more importantly, he remembered the vision – had it been a vision? – he’d had when Justin found him.
Just thinking about the slaughtered lamb again made Arthur shudder. But remembering that he’d fallen before the cross made him shake his head “yes.”
Yes, he wanted to know that God forgave him and yes, if there was a way, he wanted God to help him forgive himself. Perhaps that was the hardest thing of all.
And so, following the pastor’s lead, Arthur closed his eyes, bowed his head, and placed his folded hands in his lap.
This wasn’t part of the plan Arthur had had for showing up. He only wanted to drop off the letter, but God had other plans. Arthur was sure of it now, as he listened to the words of Pastor David.
“Father God, Who reigns from Heaven,” the pastor began. “We come before you in humble gratitude today for this divine appointment. A divine appointment that only You could orchestrate.”
“Now, if you will repeat after me,” Pastor David instructed….
“Well, this is it, I guess,” Edward announced once he, Tom, Jason, and Casimir had moved the mirror into the living room. He could see the reflection of the old green velvet couch in it, with Rose sitting there, holding a bubbly, smiling Nathaniel. Next to her on either side were Paloma and Pilar Iglesias, a friend of hers who was home from college.
A friend who was like a sister, since Pilar’s family had taken Rose in more than once.
Around the living room and kitchen, and spilling out into the mudroom, those who had gone to Israel as well as those who had stayed stood waiting. Masao had insisted on attending the mirror-washing ceremony before heading to catch his plane to Japan, and so Edward knew they were on a short time-line.
Sweat broke out on his brow and he took a few deep breaths. “Justice, would you like to say a prayer?”
Nodding, Justice voiced a quick but poignant prayer, followed by a round of amens from those gathered for the occasion.
Edward added a short prayer, as well, as an uneasiness crept in.
“I’m not sure how else to put it, Lord,” he said in his conclusion. “Other than that we want to honor You in this. You have helped us to learn so much, and yet, there is much to learn in the future, but as far as the mystery of the mirror is concerned, I, for one, am grateful that it has been solved. At least, to the degree that we are able, with Your guidance. You have shown us the history, and have helped us to understand the relevance of why You chose this method of transporting, even if we don’t understand how. But do we really need the how? So, this is the final step. A step we can’t change once we’ve taken it. Watch over us now, and guide us on how to move forward, in Jesus’ name.”
Another round of amens was punctuated by a squeal from Nathaniel, and Edward smiled, thankful for the infant who had brought joy from a situation of sorrow.
He thought back to when Rose had first entered their lives, and how she’d re-appeared after her silence. He wasn’t sure who had been the most overjoyed to see her again, but he was thankful she would be able to share this moment with them.
“Is everyone ready,” he asked, looking around him.
With the exception of Mark, who was in jail, everyone who had an important part of the mirror’s journey that they were close to was here for the mome
nt they’d anticipated for weeks. He took a few more deep breaths before nodding at Cherish, who had asked if she could help.
The only sound Edward heard as Cherish dipped the soft sea sponge in the water was breathing, his own heartbeat, and the clock. And then, water being wrung out into the bowl again so that the sponge wasn’t too saturated.
The plan was for Edward to sponge, and for Jason to come behind and dry any bit of wood that might accidentally get wet. Edward looked over at Jason, who raised a pale blue microfiber cloth up like he was giving a toast; he smiled as Edward returned his attention to his daughter.
Cherish handed the sponge to Edward, and he took another deep breath as he gently dabbed it in the top right corner. After dabbing all the way across the top of it, careful not to get the angel wet, he handed the sponge back to his daughter. After repeating the process of dabbing another two rows, he breathed a sigh of relief.
This isn’t so bad, he thought. Kind of cool, actually.
Past most of the pieces that inset toward the middle of the mirror, he began to brush the sponge against the mirror in small, measured amounts. As they worked on cleaning the mirror, he began to feel lightheaded and stopped without warning, a little more than a third of it left to go.
In his dizziness, he swayed toward the mirror for a moment before Justice and Tom caught him and helped him move away. He handed the sponge, still in his hand and ready for more water, to Tom. “Would you…?”
“I’d love to, but I…”
The man’s warm brown eyes looked pained, and he frowned. “I don’t know that I can trust myself with something so delicate,” he said again. “I’m kicking myself even saying it, but… someone else should do this, Edward. Really.”
“I know I don’t have the right to ask, necessarily, but,” Rose began, even as she handed her son over into Paloma’s arms. “Since I came through the mirror, too, would it be too much to do a little of it, too?”
She stood, her hand already extended slightly. She maneuvered around Eugenie, Masao, and Anouk Chanel toward Tom, Jason, and Edward. “I promise I’ll be extremely careful.”
The Angels' Mirror Pack 2: Books Four through Seven Page 112
