I
prostrate myself before these idols, here in the tallest room of the tallest
tower of my empire, and I forget about everything except my worship. This is my
favorite time, I live for this and I am always hungry for it. I come empty and
leave full, and yet I am never satisfied. I fall to my knees in reverence and
bow my head to the floor, arms outstretched and palms turned upwards. My hands
are open, ready to receive whatever my idols will give to me. I wait for even
the slightest sign of life. I wait for them to love me, to validate me, to give
me a name and a purpose and an identity. I worship in expectation. I want them
to be the community that I desire.
~*~
She spent the rest of the
morning cooking up a thick broth of stew. The rich aroma of gravy and
vegetables was hanging in the air. She
was working with a pot that was hanging over the fire, which had been made with
only one log so that the flame stayed low.
Crossing the room, she periodically looked into the pot and stirred it. A dark, golden liquid was simmering pleasantly
in the black cauldron. She watched as thick pieces of seafood and chopped vegetables
kept rising to the surface, only to sink back down again to the hot depths
below. Reaching for the wooden spoon
which was resting against the stone fireplace near her feet, she tasted the
stew.
It was warm and rich, and Mara
suddenly realized how hungry she was.
For a moment, she considered forgetting about going back to the beach in
the evening. She could tend her roses,
enjoy the warm meal, can the rest of the stew to store in the cool of the well,
and then spend the remainder of the evening in her little house with a good book
or a chance to write something new.
Definitely more inviting than the strange treasure wrapped in a cold and
slippery mess of seaweed.
But once again, Mara
remembered the glow of the pearls and the mysterious name written there. For the first time in her life, she was
experiencing the thrill of strange new hope. It came to her when the word “Tirzah” had first left her lips, when
the gulls were watching and the sea was listening with rapt attention.
It was a name that called to
her from another lifetime ago, one that she had heard in the past. She had
forgotten all about it- it had rolled into the gutter of her memories, dirty
and abandoned. The name Tirzah now called to her soul.
Setting the spoon down where
she left it next to the fire, Mara turned and crossed the room to the ladder which
led her to the upper bedroom. She climbed
up to get a better view of the ocean. As she gazed out at the water, she
whispered the name again- “Tirzah”. It
didn’t have the same effect this time as it did on the beach. Instead of
startling her, it transported her to a memory from the past, one that she
acknowledged now only in her writing.
As her blue eyes gazed out
towards the horizon of the sea, her thoughts entered into a divine narrative
that carried her away into a vision-
As
I am wandering the empty streets with my Accuser I come unexpectedly upon a
pearl of great price. It was one that I had kept from another lifetime ago, one
that I had held onto from my past. I had forgotten all about it- it had rolled
into the gutter, dirty and discarded. I pick it up and wipe it clean, then
study it in the light. It rolls in my palm and it is smooth and white and
perfect. I am lost in thought, remembering what it means. There is something
here….something about perfume, anointing, baptism, purity, and white roses. I
remember a cross, the one I used to bow down to, before I built this empire.
And a Name, one that comes on the wind with the spray of the sea, the one that
smells sweet like peppermint and deep like lavender and sounds bright like
freedom and feels safe like home. That Name, this pearl. This belongs to
Someone, there is something I must do, something I need to surrender, Someone I
must meet with. I should apologize and return it. But where is He?
Mara jumped, coming out of
the daydream quite suddenly. Looking around, she blinked and found that she was
still in the same place and not a moment had passed. And with shaking hands and
anticipation in her belly, she picked up her pen and wrote down everything she
had just seen.
It was the natural next
chapter of the story she had already been composing.
Running out of words, she hurried back downstairs and worked off the nervous energy by finishing her household chores
with vigorous haste. Once all was done, Mara tended her vineyard while watching
the sun make its arc across the sky and waiting for her work of the day to come
to completion so that she could return to the beach. Finally, after working
tirelessly and earning her rest, the sun was low in the sky and a cool breeze
blew in from the water.
Just as she was about to hurry
out the door, Mara remembered to grab a long sharp-edged stone that she used
for cutting. She would use it to cut
away the thick seaweed from the entangled treasure. Mara set the tool on the
table next to her and turned to look around the room. The glow of the fire reminded her of dinner, but
she did not want to squander any time eating before it got dark.
She stooped to pull on her
long sweater, and as she did so she turned to look towards the kitchen table.
She spotted a large basket underneath, one which she had given to Achor in the
morning when he was helping her prep her seaside harvest for cooking. She
leaned down, careful of her dress, and picked it up. Tucking it under her arm, she
placed the tool inside with a small loaf of bread and cheese and covered it
with a blanket. Then she toted the basket out the door as she headed eagerly back
towards the beach.
The sun was setting, and a
cool wind was coming off the ocean. It
would be dark soon, as announced by the orange glow in the sky. Most likely she would be walking home under
the light of the moon- hopefully with the white pearl necklace in her hands,
glowing under its soft light. Her
curiosity reawakened, Mara hastily pushed the heavy, wooden gate out of her way
as she entered the path, leaving it open to rest with a dull thud against a
stumpy palm.
As Mara
came to the top of the hill, she paused to look out over the island. Fog was rolling in off the horizon, and the
sun was low over the ocean. The clouds in the sky made golden pronouncements of
its final hour.
As Mara approached the
beach, she set down her basket and surveyed the scene before her. She looked down at the sand
and saw that the giant section of broken seaweed was gone.
“Oh.” She said with a heavy heart. “The tide must have taken it,”
she spoke into the wind, and her words carried immense disappointment.
She left
her basket there in the grasses and clambered down the rocky side of the hill,
stepping onto the beach, longing for a chance to investigate and explain the
loss. Mist from the crashing waves met
her face as she turned towards the water.
It was cold when the sun set, and she pulled the sweater tighter around
her body, crossing her arms and furrowing her brow.
She ran her eyes up and down
the shoreline, and from end to end she didn’t see the seaweed. She walked up the left side of the beach
until she came to the large jut of rocks which blocked her beach from view of
the bay several miles further that direction.
She glanced around among the pebbles and boulders, but saw nothing. She
looked at the seagulls, nesting and squawking as they settled in for the night.
There was no sign of the pearl treasure.
Doubt
beginning to creep over her, Mara walked back to where she had been standing
and tried to remember exactly where she had seen the seaweed last. “I’m sure of what I saw this morning,” she
said to the wind, which was blowing her hair into her sad face. “I don’t why it isn’t here now.” She shook her head, but couldn’t get the word
“Tirzah” out of her head. She found herself looking down the other end of the
beach at the cliffs which rose many feet into the air.
Although it was far from
where she stood, something inside her said she should look there before giving
up hope. As Mara began to search around the base of the cliffs on the far side
of the beach, something on the very end of the shoreline caught her eye. Far from the place where she had left the seaweed
were the rocks; the ones she had used to secure her treasure in place – they
were piled neatly together. They had
obviously been moved carefully aside by human hands, which meant the tide had
not washed away the seaweed.
She dreaded the thought of
Achor interfering- though he had never set foot on the sand before, she
wondered if he had discovered her treasure and come to steal it for himself. Her
anticipation renewed, she moved towards this last possible option for making a discovery…
~*~
Join me next time for chapter six!
 |
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To go back to the beginning of this story, click here.
To read my personal confession of redeeming love, click here.
With deepest gratitude for all my readers-
Rebecca
