Abram's Daughters 03 The Sacrifice (13 page)

From our birth onward, we yearn to be set free. We long for someone to take away our burden of sin and sadness. Our sinsick souls crave to be reborn, renewed."

She felt a strange tugging in her heart, something ever so new. She had been taught there was no assurance of salvation in this life. A person had to die first and then only on the Judgment Day could the words "Well done, thou good and faithful servant," or "Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity" ever be spoken.

But evidently the Bible stated your soul could be saved here and now, while you were still alive and breathing; the verses just read confirmed this clearly.

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I She had thought of asking someone about the Scriptures HUtl IukI been read in High German at Elias's funeral. Now But she was here, inside a church building, of all things her Kit time ever she wished there was someone to help her IfnlrrNtand.

I "O Lord," the young speaker began to pray, "look into our Blul 1 erred hearts this night. Heal our brokenness and soothe IIIr Morrow. Let us understand fully the price you paid for our iviiClon, for each of us assembled here. You have redeemed

1 lor yourself with your precious blood spilled on Calvary's Ifpr, ami we are forever grateful. In Jesus' blessed name.Rint'ii."

I 11 wise gathered in this most reverent place began to sing I'll Iv a hymn Mary Ruth had never heard before, yet the I'"" I', mgged at her heart. "Fightings and fears within, without. . . . O Lamb of God, I come, I come." The heartfelt liiu! no perfectly described this night and clinched her long|1H lor the Lord Jesus.

*

All the way home, Mary Ruth chattered to Hannah, who

>i n't at all interested in discussing "forbidden Scriptures," as P> i i win put it. "But didn't the preacher's words stir up some-

ililiiM in you, sister . . . didn't they?"

"The young man speaking tonight killed Ezra's brother"

wan Hannah's harsh response. "That's all I could think of,

llitiuyh it's not my place to judge. I'm surprised it's me

ihlukln' this and not you!"

I Mary Ruth was suddenly outraged, though she'd felt the

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selfsame way as Hannah at Elias's funeral just days before. "I happen to believe Elias died as a result of an accident, pure and simple. An accident. Why do you question the sovereignty of God?"

Hannah shook her head, glaring at her. "The young preacher-man slaughtered your beau with his automobile, that's what. Such modern things are of the world and are therefore a sin. That's how I see it. So should you."

Mary Ruth felt as if she might burst out crying again, reliving the shocking news of that horrid night, but she wouldn't give in to the grief she had endured. Besides, Hannah had redirected her thoughts with her comments. Truly, Elias's death was a woeful thing and the reason she would wear her long black cape dress and apron for as long as they felt right to her. Yet tonight she had stumbled onto something amazing: the renewal of life and the spirit. Hers. This renewal was something altogether foreign to her, yet she yearned for it like someone dying of thirst yearns for water.

"You saw him, Hannah. . . . Did Robert Schwartz look like a man who would intentionally run his automobile into a pony cart? Did he sound like it as he read the Word of God?"

"Ach, you talk nonsense," Hannah said. "What's got into you?"

She ignored her sister's barbed remark. "Best keep your thoughts to yourself, 'cause I have no intention of staying home tomorrow night. If the meetings continue on, I'm gonna be there."

"Best count me out. I made my vow to God and the Amish church. Ain't no room for Mennonite gatherings in my future."

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"I'll go with or without you, then," Mary Ruth said, sur-

I 'i Utnl ;ii Hannah's outburst; wasn't like her twin to give voice

i" Niuli frustration and so strongly, too. She, on the other

Ii.iiuI, Ii;kI been venting her thoughts far too often. "If I have

i" gt'l I lie Nolts to drive me in their car, I'm goin' back. I'm

uipty in my soul, Hannah, ya hear? The Amish church can't

. tin tell me Elias is in heaven. I want to know God the way

11ip doelor's son described Him. I may not always have known

n , hui I've been lookin' for this my whole life."

That hushed Hannah up quicklike, for which Mary Ruth r. ever so glad; she'd had about all she could take. The hour r. nwful late, and she felt nearly too limp to attend to the

Yet such a hankering she had to know and hear more

"I i foil's Word. .,;...

/ will return tomorrow night, she promised herself. No

nuttier. ..:

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1 Vlary Ruth stood in the shadow of the springhouse, waiting for Dat to head to the barn. She knew he was indoors talking up a storm to Mamma, probably saying how the twins had come dragging in mighty late last night. Maybe, too, he was letting off steam about the many Gobbler's Knob young folk "out lookin' for the Lord God in all the wrong places."

She wouldn't put it past her father to say something like that. Then Mamma might speak up and say how she felt, or simply nod her head and remain quiet this time.

It certainly didn't matter to Mary Ruth whether or not Mamma voiced her opinion. Truth was, she felt strongly enough about what she'd heard at the church in Quarryville to convince her entirely. Scarcely could she wait to speak to Dat, who was just now hurrying out the back door and making a beeline for the barn.

She waited a bit, then took out after him, willing her feel to walk not run. Slow down, Mary Ruth . . . take your time.

Once inside the barn, she sought out her father, noting his disheveled appearance hair mussed and oily from a week

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Ml lutfd work. He pushed, his tattered black work hat onto his Ju'iitj) Securing it with dirty and callused hands.

She called to him and, getting his attention, hurried in hlM illrtviion. "I best be talkin' with you, Dat." Quickly she h'K'in t<' share those things she'd heard from the Mennonite pulplr niul had been pondering overnight.

An soi hi as her comments focused on the assurance of sal' V*itii>n, ;i change came over her father's countenance a hardenliiM in 11is eyes, a frown on his face.

"I have no time for such talk!" he replied.

She fought hard the urge to holler out her aggravation in

11.. .1 illness of the barn. "Don't you see, there are Scriptures ! lu-lp us get to heaven? We can know we're goin' there! 'vr hi'cn kept in the dark all these years."

I h\ was just as adamant. "It smacks of pride for a person hi ..iy they've received salvation. You know the story of crealinn hy heart, Mary Ruth. The all-powerful, all-knowing God I i.liio/ied all things, both on the earth and in the heavens. I I i -i the evil one, Satan, was cast out of heaven for the ultiiii.n! sin of pricte, and tempted Eve into thinking she could U 'I -i tit than God,' which is exactly what you're savin' when S'hi i him salvation."

I Ine Dat paused a moment, then went on. "Must I take V"H i" the bishop himself to discuss these things you know,iIm ,,dy?"

'- hi- decided then and there, Bishop Bontrager ought to be i"U the truth of the Holy Scriptures. After all, he was the

In' I authority and responsible under God for the Gobbler's i !! 'I i church district. "That's a wonderful-gut idea," she shot

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back. "We could open the Bible to the selfsame verses ||

preached on last night." -\\

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Dat's eyebrows came together in a dark ripple. "Then you

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knew all along where you were headed to the Mennonites."

He shook his head in disgust. "You cause strife in our midst,

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daughter."

She felt the hot stain of embarrassment on her cheeks, yet

she would not submit; she had absolutely nothing to lose. She

must fight for what she believed the Lord God had allowed ^

her to hear and witness in a strange church, because in the jj

span of a single night, her world had been altered more than Jj

she could say. 11

As much as she respected her Amish upbringing, and as ii

much as she missed her dear Elias, Mary Ruth now realized M

she must follow her heart to higher education, that one thing m

the Lord had implanted deep within her. I

"Dat, I don't mean to cause trouble. I've waited a full

year and more. Why should I wait any longer to go to high

school? I'm old enough to do as I please; anybody knows

I

':. that." m

\

"We had this all worked out, Mary Ruth. You agreed to

stay home with your mamma and help . . . till you married, jl

whenever that time came." Dat's voice sounded nearly breath' i\

less. 1

I

"But all that's changed . . . don't you see? Everything's dif- |]

ferent now." j:

"Just 'cause Elias died?" 4

"Since my beau was . . . taken from me." Mary Ruth was jj

angry and sorrowful all mixed up together. "Nobody knows Jj

this, but Elias and I were go in' to be wed . . . one day." f

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I "I'm nwlul sorry 'bout his death, daughter. Truly, I am." I "Oli, l);ir!" she sobbed. "If you mean it, then won'tcha Ifc'M1 ini' your blessing to get my education? This is the only Illiiny 1 iviilly want now in life."

I Ah >nf,' silence ensued. Sadly she knew pursuing the dream pYuuld eventually lead her away from her parents' church. Unknowingly she had been searching for something deeper II" i whole life ... for true wisdom. Losing Elias had uncovered in> timptiness in her spirit, and the obvious lack on the part I i I'llghop Bontrager and the brethren to fill it. I When Dat did not respond to her fervent plea, she spoke liiiMih. This time with an even more fiery edge to her words. r'nit'Nsing or not, I'm goin' to get my high school diploma . . . Iff*) m K hi us 1 can get myself enrolled. Even if I have to do it by ItjuiicNpondence or whatnot, I must follow God's bidding." I "I low on earth can ya know such a thing?" Dat asked. I "( ':m't explain it, really. All I know is the Almighty put

1)1 iIii-h- . . . my desire to teach young children." She paused, It i'lii.iiiplating what she must say next. "And I want to read [hi 1.1 Mialy the Bijjle." I "Study, ya say?"

I "|;ih, and no wonder the Quarryville church has room Ijiiily in stand at the back. The place is packed, and you and Bdmnma . . . you should go and see for yourself. Hear the woti Is ol the Lord God preached in such a way as you've never tatvn."

^Hnlu- knew her father faithfully read Scripture, but he did ^^E |'iiu.se and ponder any of it or ask questions of anyone |Bn what he read. Usually he did so silently in High Kli'riiiiiii, seven chapters at a time, and, when asked, he would

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read in Pennsylvania Dutch to the family. But at no time would he have admitted to formally studying the verses. That was thought to be haughty and high-minded . . . and far from the ways of the People.

No wonder Mamma had been opposed to the library books once hidden beneath Mary Ruth's bed. Was she worried Dat might discover Mary Ruth also desired to study the Holy Bible, perhaps in English? Begin poring over it the way she did every other book?

"Mamma reads the Bible for herself, even says some of the verses over and over again. I know she does." Mary Ruth said it too quickly, and she worried she may have mistakenly pulled her mother into the center of the storm.

"Ain't your concern a'tall." Dat turned away, removing his black hat and raising it ever so high off his head, as if preparing to shoo a fly, but there was no fly in sight. Downright mad he was, and she knew it.

Then, nearly as swiftly as he'd lost his temper, he somehow managed to regain it and pushed the hat back square on his mashed'down hair. He turned to face her. "I'm tellin' you this here minute, if you are so schtarrkeppich as to insist on your way to ignore my rightful authority as your father I'll have no choice but to go to the brethren about this matter."

"What can they do?" she retorted. "I'm not baptized."

"No . . . but Hannah is, and the two of you are bound by unbroken cords of blood and spirit." He was surely grasping at straws.

She felt put upon, as if she'd done something terribly wrong against her twin. Bound by unbroken cords . . . well, for

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pity's sake. Baptism was up to the individual, not a mandate of I lie People.

Dat shrugged, then walked away.

She could see it was no use trying to continue the heated debate; Dat's mind was made up. Now she would have to follow his wishes or suffer the consequences rumschpringe or not.

Still, she could not squelch the hankering to know more. She despised the feeling of having been kept from things that truly mattered essential truths found in the Holy Bible. After all, there must be some important reason why folk called it the Good Book. Mary Ruth didn't rightly know how she would get to Quarryville again, but one way or another she was going tonight. If she had to run down the road to the Nolts' place, she would.

Leah was out searching and calling for a wayward cow, up in the high meadow and clear back toward the woods on the north side. She couldn't help but think as she wandered the field that the cow was truly the smart one. The day was awful pretty, what with the skies as blue as one of her for-good dresses, and not a single cloud. Such late autumn days wouldn't stay nice like this much longer. It was highly unusual for the twenty-seventh of November to be this mild.

We're having us a fine Indian summer, she thought, tramping through the tall grass, wearing shoes for the first time that autumn on feet swollen from months of going barefoot.