Chapter Six: On The Move

 

~/*\~Julian~/*\~

The convention was larger than Julian had expected. Tens of thousands of people. He wondered how many of them were believers, and how many of them were just curious, or there to support relatives, as he was.

The Baptism wasn’t like a Christening. It was a full immersion, taking place halfway through the day; as those not involved broke for lunch. The Boys were watching, happy for their mom, who looked happier than she had in years. He noticed that the audience was watching too, celebrating the moment with total strangers. Martine wasn’t the only one. There was a line to the pools. He found himself wondering what their own journeys to this moment were like.

He knew Martine expected him to leave as soon as her ceremony was over. There was still half a day’s program left. But he had promised her one day, and he kept his word, staying for the afternoon. He had to admit, he’d spent more time looking up Bible verses in a day than he had in years of Church.

“Over the course of the convention, we’ve had reminders of Jeremiah 10:23; where it says ‘It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step’. The world now is proof of that. Thousands of years of people ignoring God’s instruction and ‘directing their own step’ has led to the world we have now.” The Speaker declared in the closing talk. “But even with all that deliberate defiance, we know that people are still hungry with their ‘spiritual need’. This is natural. Our need to worship was part of our makeup when we were first made.”

Inwardly, Julian was forced to admit this was true. He’d been a hired advocate for all sorts. His sons could spend hours arguing the merits of one athlete or musician over another. It was human nature to want to be part of something more than yourself.

“There are many religions in the world today. Jesus foretold a period of time when it would be hard to tell the difference between pure and false worship, and then a time when it would be easy to figure out exactly who was who.” He picked up his Bible again. “We read about that in Matthew, chapter 13.”

Julian was starting to get the layout of the Bible straight in his head finally, and turned there.

“Now, we don’t have time to read the whole thing, but Jesus was using an illustration of wheat and weeds to describe the world’s mix of false and true worship.” The Speaker explained. “It’s not the only time he did so; in fact there are several examples where he compared the Preaching work to ‘scattering seeds’ until a harvest could be reaped. But in this illustration, the fields were mixed with weeds. We take up the reading at verse 24.”

A little lost, Julian read along, his wife helping him find the right page. “He presented another illustration to them, saying: ‘The Kingdom of the heavens may be likened to a man who sowed fine seed in his field. While men were sleeping, his enemy came and oversowed weeds in among the wheat and left. When the stalk sprouted and produced fruit, then the weeds also appeared. So the slaves of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow fine seed in your field? How, then, does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy, a man, did this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go out and collect them?’ He said, ‘No, for fear that while collecting the weeds, you uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest season, I will tell the reapers: First collect the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them up; then gather the wheat into my storehouse’.”

“Most of those assembled came in from other faiths.” The Speaker said as he put his Bible down. You all know what the world has finally figured out: That the world’s religions are not a force for good, and that on the whole, they are in decline. They do not provide for the spiritual needs of their people.”

Julian had to admit this was true too. The people attending St Mark’s and St Ambrose were growing fewer with each year, with the exception of weeks after That Day. If it wasn’t for his career, he’d probably have stopped going too. Martine was proof that people were still looking for spiritual fulfillment, but the attendance was dropping.

“In contrast, we are here because we can see for certainty that Jehovah’s Organization is on the move! The conventions, the preaching work, the translations; and so much more! Every year the numbers consistently grow. Nobody is here for the money. We’re all volunteers. Nobody is here for glory. The world doesn’t offer us any; nor do we expect them to. We are here because we recognize that spiritual need; and because we know what God wants of us: That we take part in His purpose.”

Martine squeezed his hand. The topic had come up once or twice since they’d first discussed it. She’d been able to tell him what being a Witness meant. What a JW was meant to do with what they had learned. He couldn’t give her a similar answer about his own religion.

“Servants of Jah have been doing their part for that Purpose for thousands of years, despite opposition, both direct and subtle.” The Speaker continued. “Including Jesus Christ himself; who defended the need to render Jehovah exclusive service, and rejected the religious leaders of his time, turning instead to fishermen and tax collectors. And why? Because their leaders had become hypocritical and Jesus was looking for honest-hearted ones.” The Speaker picked up his Bible again. “Has that changed? In John 4:23, when speaking to the Samaritan woman at the Well, Jesus said ‘the hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshipers will worship the Father with spirit and truth, for indeed, the Father is looking for ones like these to worship him.” The Speaker spoke the verse without turning to it. “That verse was written thousands of years ago, but it still applies today. Jehovah is looking for people who want to worship him sincerely; even if they’re misinformed, or uncertain about how best to approach Him.”

Martine squeezed his hand at that. Julian understood. Such was her situation at home, honest but unsure what her beliefs meant.

“And it can be confusing. There are hundreds of religions out there.” The Speaker lowered his Bible. “When they’re seeds, it can be hard to tell the difference. As they start to grow, it can be hard to uproot one without the other. But when they’re grown, it’s easy to tell. Easy to separate truth from lies.” He gave the audience a hard look. “Over the last few weeks, we’ve become acquainted with some of the works that the ‘weeds’ can perform, in the name of false worship.”

A rumble went through the audience. Julian was surprised to realize that he hadn’t thought about the attack all day. It was the first time anyone had even remotely mentioned it. It felt like the whole world was unable to talk about anything else, but this place had been a haven.

“So, knowing that God sees a difference between the Wheat and the Weeds, what are we to do?” The Speaker reasoned. “The Bible gives us the answer at Revelation 18:4; when God makes His appeal to all those serving in false religions….”

Julian was still thinking about the ‘wheat and weeds’ illustration, but hurried to catch up, reading the verse quickly, then reading it again when the Speaker did. “And I heard another voice out of heaven say: ‘Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues’.” The Speaker declared. “God has made that call to us, and it is our part in His Purpose, to spread that invitation to the whole world. Most will say ‘no’, we know that. But there’s thousands every year who say ‘yes’.” He gestured out at the audience. “Earlier today, we were privileged to see over a dozen people make their choice to accept Jehovah’s invitation.”

There was a round of applause at that. Not joining in, Julian checked the program he’d been handed at the door. They haven’t rewritten the program to accommodate 9/11. These were printed beforehand. They were planning to talk about these subjects long before anything happened.

~/*\~

The day’s program ended, and there was a huge round of applause from the audience. On the way back to the car, Julian noticed that some people were waving banners with friendly slogans like ‘We Won’t Forget You!’ and others were still singing some of the songs…

It was like being on another planet after the low-grade dread that seemed to fill everything in the world these days.

Even in the parking garage, nobody was cutting each other off, or leaning on their horns. People were stopping to chat, hug each other, and Julian couldn’t tell if they knew each other personally or not.

Martine didn’t comment on his observations until they were on the road. The boys had put their headphones in, unwinding after the day out. By their standards, it was an odd way to spend a weekend.

“What are you thinking?” Martine asked him quietly, just between the two of them.

“Part of Fitzpatrick’s sermon at St Mark’s was how we could put faith in our soldiers to protect us and avenge the fallen. Back at the Firm, we were talking about 9/11, and what it meant for the future.” Julian told her. “Humphrey is worried that one day soon, The Lord is gonna be on both sides of a war.”

“The Witnesses believe that one day soon, God’s gonna make it clear exactly what side He’s on.” She said plainly. “The answer will come as a surprise to many people.”

“But not to you.” Julian guessed, glancing back at their kids. “Or to the boys, for that matter. I can tell, they’re more interested than they let on. What I can’t tell is if it’s something they believe, or if they’re just interested because it’s something they can share with their mom.”

“Nate is clearly interested on his own. I think Ryder is too, but he’s more worried this is going to split the family. They don’t like the idea of having to choose between you and me.” She gave him a look. “I don’t want them to have to choose.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Does being their lawyer really mean being their parishioner, too?” She asked. “Years of the Church haven't fortified any kind of certainty about God in your heart. I was able to get that certainty in a few months with some diligent study. A lot less study than it took for you to become a lawyer.”

Julian snorted. “I’ll admit that. But here’s the thing: You’re not just asking me to give up my Church. That whole speech about ‘coming out of Babylon’? That’s not limited to where I spend my Sunday mornings.”

“No.” She admitted.

“They want a total break. Personal, profitable… St Ambrose runs a homeless shelter, a soup kitchen, AA meetings…” Julian offered. “The Witnesses don’t do any of that.”

“They offer a lot of disaster relief. Offering aid person-to-person is part of the ministry.”

“Granted, but my point is that even without the sermons or hymns, the Church is still a big part of this town. Our town.”

“I can respect that. But-”

“Remember, when the Bible was written, there was no Church yet. There was only one Christian Faith then. Now there are hundreds. When they talk about ‘False Religion’, even assuming they read ‘the signs’ right, there’s still thousands of other religions out there, some of which have attacked this country just last week. You want to point to the sins of the Church, you have to look at things long forgotten.”

Martine just looked at him. “And yet, you still aren’t sure if you believe in God.” She pointed out. “You’re reasoning like a lawyer, husband. Building ‘reasonable doubt’. Because you’re right; there’s plenty of false religion before you get near Christendom… But what do you actually believe?”

~/*\~~/*\~~/*\~

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