The Harvest

by John David Krygelski

  “You mean, you talked.”

  Laughing, Reese answered, “Yes. I did most of the talking. Anyway, I told them He asked for my advice.” Seeing the look on Claire’s face, Reese held up his hands in a defensive gesture. “Before you say anything, it just came up. It was a natural progression of the facts.”

  Claire smirked. “You just had to tell them all.”

  “Come on, give me a break. It made sense to share it if we were all going to brainstorm.” Before she could comment, he continued, “So I laid it out, shortened of course, and Doris, Walter’s wife, said that was why we were all being brought together – to help solve His problem. I think it makes sense.”

  Claire stared at the rest of the group. Schmidt and McWilliams were standing together, laughing about something. Margo, Bill, and Nicholas formed another small group. She noticed Melissa standing close to Reynolds, with Matthew a foot or two behind her. Since the elevator incident, their sweet son had appointed himself as her bodyguard, backed up, of course, by the two, ever-present FBI agents.

  “So, what do we do?” Claire asked. “Right now it looks like we’re all waiting for a bus.”

  “I think we need to be someplace where we can all talk as a group.”

  “Why not inside? I’m sure the State Department has a conference room we could use….”

  “Because Craig, Nicholas, Margo, and Bill all felt the urge to come outside. No, I think we’re supposed to be out here for some reason.”

  “Why doesn’t Elohim just tell us what He wants us to do?”

  “He’s probably otherwise engaged at the moment.”

  Looking around, Reese spotted a covered alcove to the side of the main entrance, probably intended as a public shelter on days with nasty weather. Pointing it out to Claire, he rejoined the others, suggesting they all move to the alcove. All in agreement, they re-climbed the steps, except for Reynolds who consulted with the two-man protective detail, instructing them to keep an eye on the group and keep strangers away.

  The two agents repositioned themselves halfway up the steps, with their backs to the group, as Reynolds came up.

  Looking at Reese, McWilliams asked, “Okay, you called this meeting. Now what?”

  “Actually, I don’t think I called it.”

  Margo said, “It’s like we all got the memo, but the guy who sent it hasn’t shown up yet.”

  “Look,” Reese responded, “I’ve spent more time with Elohim than anyone else. I think I’ve gotten a decent peek at how He works. From Creation itself, all the way through to today, His modus operandi is to put all of the ingredients together and then let the desired result just happen.”

  “We’re the ingredients?” asked Leo.

  “I think so. We need to assume, for a moment, that everything that has happened since you and Mario stepped off the train has been planned – not only, and I think this is important, not only that we ended up together, but every detail leading up to it.”

  The gathering, one by one, sat on the stone benches lining the alcove, except for Reese who remained standing. Turning to the Cardinal, he asked, “What did you and Leo discuss before picking me up?”

  “Nothing of any import. It was only a minute or two before we saw you, and we had only discussed the oddness of our mutual arrivals.” Leo nodded.

  “So,” Reese continued, “the conversation didn’t really begin until I was in the car. I was just wandering aimlessly until you saw me and picked me up. Let’s assume for a moment that Elohim wanted you both to hear what I had to say. Now, almost immediately, we began to discuss….”

  “That God was directing our day, something evil was impending, and Satan…,” supplied Schmidt.

  “Satan!” exclaimed Matthew.

  Reese, responding to his son, said, “Yes, Lucifer. Elohim is afraid he is behind something which is about to happen today.” Other than the wideness of his eyes, Matthew appeared to accept his father’s answer. Reese resumed, “That’s a good recollection, Leo. You shared your perspective on Satan, and I, mine. We were talking about how God could create an imperfect being. I was struggling with the physics Elohim had explained to me, in an attempt to clarify my point, and we had reached something of an impasse. At that precise moment, who shows up but a physicist?”

  Leo raised one eyebrow and dipped his head to the side as an acknowledgment. “This is true,” he said. “I’m still not certain you’ve convinced me, but it makes a certain sense.”

  Reese, becoming slightly excited, said, “But, Leo, I think that’s the point. I was trying to convince you and I’m given Walter to help me.”

  “It’s important to Elohim that I believe this? Why?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I think I do,” said Bonavente. Everyone’s attention turned to the Cardinal as he, sitting next to Schmidt, reached over and lifted Leo’s right hand, exposing the mark. Gazing directly into Leo’s eyes, he asked in a gentle voice, “Leo, you’re not going, are you?”

  Leo Schmidt, looking toward the street, briefly watched the lengthening shadows of the setting sun before answering, “No. I’ve decided to stay.”

  Doris Penfield gasped. Melissa, stunned, asked, “Why?”

  Addressing her, Leo said, “Either by design or by a twist of fate, I am the only Jew who has met with Elohim. His presence here on Earth and the circumstances surrounding His arrival run counter to the teachings and beliefs of Judaism and our prophets. Although my discussions with Him and the events following my meeting with Him have not caused me to reject my faith, they have led me to the conviction that there are some minor misinterpretations within our beliefs…misinterpretations which have resulted in Jews closing their eyes to certain realities.”

  Shifting his attention to Craig McWilliams, Leo continued, “Craig, as we first met, I told you it was impossible for Elohim to be God. Do you recall your question to me?”

  Craig nodded and said, “It was a little rude.”

  “Its tone was warranted, and the message was quite piercing, especially in retrospect.” Explaining to all of the others, he said, “Without my benefitting from even the courtesy of a brief meeting with Elohim, I stood before those who had met Him and accused Him of being a charlatan. In response to my rudeness, Craig asked me if the only way I could accept that God had come down to Earth was if He was in compliance with my terms.”

  A slight smile played across the Rabbi’s face. “In the time since that question was asked of me, I have had ample opportunity to reflect upon its import. Other than the inherent arrogance of my position, which is the position of my faith, I have found an inconsistency which I cannot ignore. The most basic tenet of Judaism is that man possesses free will. It is free will which sets us apart from the angels as well as the beasts. In my car ride today, I learned from Reese that free will was the sought-after goal of Elohim during Creation.

  “As I listened, I came to understand the logic. Free will cannot be directly created, no more than a computer programmer can write a piece of software which will perform a function he did not instill within it. I heard Reese relay the agony suffered by Elohim as He found that His beloved angels did not possess free will; the frustration of creating Lucifer, only to find that His own beloved child was toxic to his brothers and their very environment; the patient and tedious wait as Elohim allowed the random and mysterious process, mysterious even to Him, to create man. When man arrived, Elohim found a being, granted of His own creation, who possessed free will. This cornerstone of Judaism…so important to Elohim…free will was conveyed to Jews through the prophets. And its significance is, according to our teachings, never to be underestimated.

  “However, somewhere along the way, in our ardor to be faithful to God and the word of the prophets, we have failed to ascribe the same ability, the same gift, to Him. There are many stories within our faith of good men, holy men, who set out on a certain path. And due to the exigencies of life, of reality, they were forced to change their course, not the least of these men being M
oses. The fact that he changed his course, changed his mind, does not make him less holy, less righteous.

  “Elohim, either possessing the trait innately, or acquiring it through His immersion into our humanity, obviously possesses free will. Looked at from my newfound perspective, I cannot imagine a God who would not. And with free will comes the possibility of change, of a different path taken. I have come to understand that a promise not kept – because not keeping it is the wise choice – is not a promise broken. A word given and not followed – resulting from unforeseen events which occur on Earth because we all possess free will – is not a lie.”

  The gathering was still, listening intently to Leo’s words. “Jews believe that Satan is an agent of God. God’s creations cannot be imperfect, and so therefore, Satan’s deeds must be intended by the Almighty as a test we must pass. Elohim has explained to Reese that Lucifer was, at first, a pure and loving being. It was his connection…his surrender to the frailties and pettiness of man…which caused him to become evil. Before this marriage between Lucifer and the flesh, he was loyal to his Father, as has been the belief of my faith.

  “There has been much I have heard in these days which has confirmed the teachings of my faith. And so much that differs. Yet, much of that which differs, upon close examination, either passes the test of reason or can be discounted as merely semantics. It has been the history of Jews to cling steadfastly to our beliefs, many times at our own great risk…so steadfastly that they have become ingrained, hard-wired, and inflexible. The benefit of this tendency is the instilling of an inner strength which has seen us through many travails. The flaw is an inclination to close our eyes to anything not” – Leo paused and smiled at Craig – “‘complying with our terms.’

  “I don’t know if Jesus Christ was who Christians believe Him to have been. I know Elohim explained that He was. But I will say that if He was the true Son of God, Jews missed a wonderful opportunity. My stubbornness nearly caused me to miss the same opportunity just a few days ago.

  “These are all thoughts which must be shared with my fellow rabbis, all arguments which must be passionately and fervently made in the years to come. If they are not, we Jews have far too much to lose.” Leo paused, smiled again, and asked, “And who, other than I, can do this? As I said, I am the only Jew to have met Him, the only one to have learned these lessons. I know my brethren well enough to know that if I leave a written tract for them, their discipline, their training, and the sheer weight of our history will cause the pages to be figuratively torn to sheds. Nothing will change.

  “I don’t know if change will occur if I remain. I do know that if I go with you tonight, it will not. I cannot do that to my people.”

  The long silence, following his words, was broken by Mario who said, “I understand, my friend. It is also the decision of the Pope to remain.”

  “There is one more issue,” Reese told the Rabbi, “maybe an important one. The time following the departure is going to be filled with tremendous conflict promulgated by Lucifer. I think Elohim wanted you to have a better understanding of the enemy in the days to come.”

  Leo Schmidt nodded and said nothing.

  Margo asked, “What you’ve said explains why all of you were brought together for the ride here, but what about the rest of us? Claire, Matthew, Melissa, Bill, and me?”

  “To be at my side.”

  Startled, all heads turned to see Elohim, standing with Michael the Archangel at the mouth of the alcove.

  “I’ve said it before…I really wish You would stop doing that!” said Reynolds.

  Elohim smiled at him and walked to the center of the group, leaving Michael, framed by the last of the dim sunlight filtering through the clouds, to stand at the entrance. Reese squeezed onto the bench between Claire and Matthew, leaving the floor open for Elohim.

  Before Elohim began to speak, Matthew leaned toward his father and whispered, “Dad, count.”

  Confused, Reese asked him, “Count? Count what?”

  “Us.” Rolling his eyes, he added, “I can’t believe you missed this,” obviously proud of himself for besting his father.

  Reese looked around the gathering and began a quick head count, murmuring under his breath, “Matthew, me, Claire, Mario, Leo, Bill, Margo, Craig, Walter, Doris, Nicholas, and Melissa. Twelve!”

  The last word, spoken louder, caused everyone to turn to him. Elohim, also hearing the sum, acknowledged, “Yes, there are twelve of you here.”

  Mario Bonavente sucked in a gulp of air. Reynolds, under his breath, said, “I’ll be….”

  Reese looked at his wife who returned the look; a content smile played across her face. His son and daughter were enraptured, staring at Elohim with anticipation.

  Melissa asked, “Are we the Apostles?”

  Elohim answered, “In a sense, yes, you are. The number also holds much significance.”

  “Twelve months in a year,” supplied Reese. “The twelve signs of the Zodiac.”

  “The Twelve Tribes of Israel,” added Leo.

  “And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the Twelve Tribes of the Children of Israel. Revelation 21:12,” said Bonavente.

  “Twelve pops up everywhere,” said Claire, “in mythology, religion, astrology, music, the legal system, and medieval history. Twelve hours on a clock face. Twelve labors of Hercules. The Knights of the Round Table had twelve basic rules of conduct. Alcoholics Anonymous has twelve steps and twelve traditions. High school graduates have twelve years of education. There are twelve tones in the standard musical scale.”

  Doris Penfield joined the discussion. “Square root three-based geometry is the geometry of minerals, crystals, snowflakes, et cetera. Square root five-based geometry relates to pentagonally-based biological life. The dodecahedron, the only polyhedron composed entirely of pentagons, contains conversion triangles with a relation between square root three and square root five mathematically, normally thought to be entirely incompatible. It is considered, by some, to be the mathematical bridge between the imprecise construction of biologically-based life, and minerals, rocks, crystals, snowflakes, et cetera, which are based upon the perfection of square root three geometry.”

  “You’ve been living with Walter too long,” joked Reynolds.

  “Why do you think I married her?”

  Reese said, “Plato regarded the five perfectly symmetrical solids as the basic building blocks of the world. A dodecahedron is one of only five three-dimensional solids which are perfectly symmetrical arrangements of a set of non-planar points in space. The best known of these five so-called ‘Platonic Solids’ is the six-sided hexahedron, the cube, which has twelve edges, or lines. Three of the polyhedra have triangular faces: the four-sided tetrahedron, the eight-sided octahedron, and the twenty-sided icosahedron. The dodecahedron has twelve pentagonal-shaped faces, the pentagonal shape having its own significance in myth and lore. The tetrahedron is associated with plasma or fire, the hexahedron with solid or the Earth, the octahedron with gas or the air, and the icosahedron with liquid or water. He identified the dodecahedron, the quintessence or ‘fifth element’ with the universe itself, writing that ‘God used this solid for the whole universe, embroidering figures on it.’”

  Leo contributed, “Twelve is throughout the Old Testament: the twelve sons of Jacob, the twelve princes of the Children of Israel, the twelve running springs in Helim, the twelve stones in Aaron’s breastplate, the twelve loaves of the shewbread, the twelve spies sent by Moses, the twelve stones which made the altar, the twelve stones taken out of Jordan, the twelve oxen which bore the brazen sea.”

  Cardinal Bonavente added, “Also in the New Testament, with the twelve stars in the bride’s crown, the twelve foundations of Jerusalem which John saw, and her twelve gates.”

  “In India, the number twelve signifies water, or the lack of it,” said Craig.

  “It is considered to be the number of per
fect governance,” said Bill.

  “Study the dodecahedron,” continued Doris, “and you’ll see there is also a conversion triangle for square root two-based mathematics. Basically, it mathematically provides a direct geometric link between the geometry of crystals, minerals, et cetera, and biological life. Most life forms are designed in a lattice structure, either cubic or hexagonal – square root two and square root three geometry. You’ll also find the hexagonal structure in organic compounds like the benzene ring and even in human DNA, along with the pentagon.

  “Following this route, the hexagon-interlocking tetrahedron and the equilateral-triangle tetrahedron are the first figures which can be constructed. After that is the square – cube. As long as you stick within this geometry, you have a perfect universe of harmony, where everything can be predicted and everything is known. It spreads out to the infinitely large or shrinks infinitely small, and remains true. The basis is known from the very beginning, and any time you want you can go to the point of origin and back out the other side.