*

  A few weeks later Harmony placed a steaming mug of cocoa on Adilah’s windowsill and was about to continue to the next cabin when she heard the door open. Turning, she was delighted to see Adilah standing there.

  “Thank you,” Adilah said quietly and picked up the mug. Without saying anything more, she gracefully crossed the wooden porch and stood next to Harmony.

  “You’re welcome,” replied Harmony with a warm smile, slightly surprised by this response after weeks of watching the cocoa go cold.

  “Shall I come with you?” offered Adilah.

  Harmony nodded and continued towards the next cabin.

  “This one is black coffee,” said Harmony, motioning with her head toward a mug on the far side of the tray. “Could you put it on the windowsill for me?”

  Adilah did so, still holding her own mug in one hand, and returned to Harmony’s side.

  “The last one is for Eshe. She usually joins me.”

  Eshe saw them coming and skipped out of her cabin, her long colourful dress that she had made herself flowing behind her.

  “Good morning, Adilah!” Eshe beamed at her sister. “Let’s go up to the tree house.”

  “Come and see,” Harmony invited Adilah warmly.

  The three women sipped from their mugs as they walked to the tree house, balancing them carefully as they climbed the steps to the viewing platform.

  Settling into their chairs, the women gazed out over the forest. Birds swooped and wheeled above the canopy and all kinds of animals could be heard in the trees below.

  Adilah looked at Eshe and Harmony, noting how peaceful and contented they seemed with their warm morning drinks. She felt a wave of envy well up within her.

  Noticing her stare, Eshe asked, “Are you ok, Adilah?”

  Adilah looked at the wooden floor for a few moments before replying.

  “How do you have this peace, Eshe? There are days when I still feel frightened and want to hide. You come from the same place as me, yet you can just sit here contentedly drinking your coffee.”

  Eshe was surprised by what felt like an accusation.

  Harmony put her mug of cocoa down on the floor and folded her hands on her lap, which encouraged Adilah to continue.

  “And you are always so happy!” said Adilah, looking directly at Harmony. “You have never suffered like me. Your American life was comfortable. You had money and food and never had to work.”

  “I see why you think that,” Harmony said gently. “I am from a rich and powerful nation in the Previous Age. I know this afforded me many privileges.”

  Adilah burned a little hotter inside.

  “That’s right. The West never helped us. Our civil war was not something white people cared about. We were forgotten and left to suffer. Eshe, why are you not angry like me? Have you forgotten where you come from?”

  The painful memories of those terrible times and seeing her sister in such distress brought tears to Eshe’s eyes.

  “Adilah, you know that Harmony left America to help people. Why are you angry with her?”

  But Adilah refused to be pacified.

  “I’m not just angry with her but with all the so-called good people who did nothing to help us. Remember how they raped and killed so many of us? Remember how they turned our brothers into soldiers and forced us from our homes?”

  Eshe was becoming distraught and turned away, sobbing.

  “And don’t look at me with such pity,” Adilah said indignantly to Harmony.

  Harmony didn’t defend herself and lowered her eyes.

  Adilah began to pace the floor.

  “You both look so peaceful and calm. I want to be like that too. But inside I feel… so many things. I feel like a pot that is boiling over.”

  Adilah’s face displayed the intensity of her feelings.

  “I still dream that the men are on top of me,” she said with a trembling voice. “I still see the flames of the fire that burned me. All the hot cocoa in the world cannot take those memories away.”

  Harmony sat still, but her eyes were filling with tears.

  “I know they will come to this place,” continued Adilah. “They will find us. If they are raised from the dead, they will find us and make us their property again. Jesus should keep them dead!” Her voice was now raised. “Or torture them like they tortured us! Is he not the judge? Are they not guilty?”

  Eshe turned to Harmony, trauma etched on her face. “Yes, he should keep them dead. If they stay dead, they will truly never find us.”

  Harmony could sense their rising panic and could understand their anxiety.

  “I hear you,” she said supportively.

  Eshe stood up and drew close to Adilah’s side.

  “Or maybe it would be better if we had stayed dead?” she said, desperately. “Harmony, tell us. What can really stop those men finding us here?”

  “What if the men who hurt you were kept away until they no longer had any hate or wickedness in them?” asked Harmony, careful to keep her voice calm and reassuring.

  Adilah and Eshe looked at one another for a second.

  “But how can this be?” asked Eshe.

  “Jesus determines who is in each community and prevents the communities from mixing. He is making everyone new. Every single person is going through a process designed to help them live in agape love. Think of it like this – in a way, those men you knew won’t exist anymore, because what made them bad will be healed within them.”

  Adilah and Eshe were now listening intently.

  “Let me tell you about a man called Saul. He was very aggressive in his religious beliefs and hurt people who disagreed with him. He even looked on and approved when they were killed by angry mobs. Jesus came to him one day and Saul’s heart began to change in a big way – so much so that his name was changed to Paul. So, in a way, Saul was destroyed and Paul was the new and healed version of the man. The same divine essence lived in both, but the person after the encounter was very different to the original.”

  “But will they be changed as quickly as that?” asked Adilah.

  “It’s unlikely, but you never know. Saul was obviously ready to accept who Jesus wanted him to be. He changed a lot in a few years, and some who come into communities on the New Earth are able to do the same. However, most people take a long time to learn all they need and let go of their harmful twisted desires. But everyone will get there eventually. Papa God’s agape love never fails. Every person is important to Papa God, and he knows when they are ready for complete reconciliation.”

  Adilah suddenly seemed tired. Looking a little deflated, she sat down cross-legged on the wooden deck.

  After several minutes of reflective silence, Adilah spoke again.

  “I wish I could see Jesus again. When we first met, I felt safe and he answered some of my questions. But I have many more questions now.”

  “That’s ok. It’s quite normal,” Harmony reassured her. “Maybe you could write your questions down?”

  Adilah looked upset again. “See, there it is! We never learned to read or write. We were not educated like you in the West.”

  Harmony was disappointed in herself for not thinking. She hadn’t meant to hurt Adilah and quickly apologised. “Adilah, I am sorry. I should have thought before I spoke. I shouldn’t have assumed.”

  Adilah looked at Harmony and for the first time in the conversation there was a look of dignity in her eyes.

  “I am not ashamed that I am uneducated. I do not know the things they teach in schools, but I can cook, and I can sew, and I can dress any wound you show me.”

  Eshe nodded, feeling affirmed and dignified by Adilah’s words.

  Harmony gave thanks that her thoughtless comment had resulted in Adilah recognising her abilities and her worth.

  “Please forgive me. I want to learn more about your lives. I don’t want to presume anything.”

  “It’s ok,” said Eshe. “You’re a good person, Harmony.”

  Harmony was grateful for the reconciliation. The three women sat in silence gazing out over the treetops.

  Johan: New Desires

  Yvonne threw up her hands in mock dismay as thirteen children swarmed towards her from their schoolhouse. It was time for them to play outside and they desperately wanted to play ‘stuck in the mud’ with Yvonne. As they surrounded her, she couldn’t help but grin as they started to organise themselves for their game.

  Yvonne remembered her own childhood, just before the Great Suffering. She and other children her age had been taught this same game by a kindly older lady who had been killed when the looting started, along with many others in her town. Yvonne wondered when she would be raised and where she would be placed. But now a boy was pulling her by the hand and Yvonne snapped out of her memories.

  “Look at them playing,” said Johan from the ladder that reached up to where Yan was arranging new straw on a thatched roof. “They will never know war, or hunger and abuse. Doesn’t that make you wonder?”

  Yan paused his work and looked down on the playground.

  “But they will need to learn to love one another,” replied Yan. “And that can only be learned through relationships and everything that goes along with them.”

  Johan looked up at Yan, wiping sweat from his brow.

  “Yes, but doesn’t it make you wonder why we had to suffer so much before coming here? I don’t understand why God couldn’t just make it all like this in the first place.”

  Sensing Johan’s need to talk, Yan settled himself on the roof near the ladder.

  “The Previous Ages were a time of multiplication of the species on the earth, and the desires we had were designed to ensure that the population increased. These desires were essential to produce great diversity and ensure that each person and creature was a unique individual. But the desires to procreate and protect ourselves, our families and our communities could become twisted and be used in the wrong way. That’s what caused much of the pain and suffering that you and many others experienced. Now that God has brought that time to an end, the desires in our resurrected bodies are of a different nature. We do not need to procreate or protect our own interests as we once did.”

  “So is that why I’ve felt no desire for sex since coming here?” asked Johan, relieved to be able to ask Yan about a matter that had been troubling him.

  “Yes, on the New Earth our resurrected bodies do not drive us toward sex anymore.”

  “Can I tell you something?” asked Johan quietly, glancing around to check nobody was within earshot.

  “When I was a soldier, I went into the city...”

  Yan nodded.

  “My comrades and I…, well, we went to a house.” Johan eyes were fixed on the ground.

  “There were girls there. And I had never… you know... I went along with it. We all did. I paid the girl and…. I felt sick afterwards. Not because of her, but because it felt so cheap and meaningless. I think about her sometimes.”

  “Johan, thank you for telling me. The way you felt shows that you were open to your conscience. Did you learn anything else?”

  Johan held tight to the rungs of the ladder and avoided Yan’s eyes as he took a deep breath and continued.

  “I wanted to be with someone, I guess. I wanted human touch – one that wasn’t violent. I wanted a woman’s touch. But I was just one in a long line of soldiers and she touched me because I paid her. At that moment it felt good, but afterwards I felt I had degraded what human touch really means. If we had been in love and just the two of us, it would have been so different.”

  “I understand,” said Yan quietly. “It is a hard thing to recognise, but you have seen clearly how this was not the right place to fulfil your natural desires. It was loving relationships and real feelings that made sex so enjoyable and fulfilling in the Previous Age.”

  “Yes, and I am sorry for it,” said Johan, looking back into Yan’s face.

  “Listen, Johan. This is part of the process. Our experiences help us learn and recognise what is good. When we see clearly, we can face up to our regrets and we can let them go. We are all loved, and nothing we did is held against us. God keeps no records of such things.”

  “But when he sees me, doesn’t he see the things I’ve done?”

  “He does not bring them to mind, but he is aware of the influence they have on your heart. He understands how they have affected you, but our intrinsic value is not in what we did or didn’t do. God’s love is so special that we have a special word for it – agape. It’s hard to describe in words, but this divine love heals, restores, reconciles and redeems all who embrace it. When we come to realise that we are held in agape love, we change – sometimes quickly, more often slowly. It depends how open our heart is. Agape love comes to us in many ways and forms. It doesn’t demand to be worshipped but always seeks to gently nurture us.”

  Yan reached down and put an arm around Johan’s shoulder as he digested these words.

  *

  Snack time meant a generous mix of fruit and nuts and Eric sidled up to Yvonne to enjoy his portion.

  “Yvonne?” asked Eric, squinting up at her. “Gerty’s big brother, Johan. He’s nice, but… he seems sad sometimes. He plays with Gerty, but he never joins in the games with us.”

  Yvonne smiled down at Eric and ruffled his hair.

  “You know what?” she said. “Some of the grown-ups have seen some awful things in the Previous Age. Do you remember, we learned about that in school? Most of you kids don’t remember much about the Previous Age, because you came here when you were so young. But the grown-ups still think about what happened and often struggle to understand it.”

  “He seems jealous of you, Yvonne.”

  “That’s very perceptive of you. What makes you think that?”

  “I sometimes see him watching you when you play with us. When you laugh with us, I see his face. He stares at you looking a little cross.”

  “So why do you think he might be jealous, Eric?”

  Eric took another handful of nuts and berries, chewing them thoughtfully. Before finishing his mouthful, he looked back up at Yvonne.

  “He wants to laugh like you do.”

  “Ok, so why do you think he doesn’t?”

  Eric put his bowl down. “I think he is still sad about what he saw before.”

  “Why do you think that might stop him having fun with us now?”

  “Well, maybe he is thinking that the past is more real than where we are now?”

  Yvonne was startled by Eric’s simple but profound insights. Looking up, she could see Johan and Yan thatching the roof of one of the houses nestled on the hillside.

  “So, Eric, what do you think would help Johan?”

  “If he could believe that everything will be made right, then the hurt of the Previous Age might go away.”

  “Will everything be ok here?”

  “Well, Jesus and all his friends like you are helping everyone find the love inside them that can make life better for everyone.”

  Yvonne was delighted with how much Eric understood. He had died in infancy on a cotton plantation in the late nineteenth century. His parents had been slaves.

  “What do you remember about your time in the Previous Age?” asked Yvonne.

  Eric furrowed his brow.

  “Not very much. Men on horses. I was scared of them because they beat us. And I remember singing together with my family, and Mumma and Papa swinging me as I held their hands.”

  “It’s so good that you can be with your Mumma and Papa again.”

  “Yes! Jesus resurrected them so that we can all be here together.”

  Eric stood up and smiled at Yvonne.

  “Can I go now?” he asked sweetly.

  “Of course you can. Thank you for the good chat.”

  Eric skipped over to Gerty and sat down to join in comparing the animals they’d seen that day.

  *

  “Not like that,” said Johan. “Like this.” He dug deep into the stack of straw and twisted the fork, pulling out an impressive amount.

  Eric pushed in his fork and lifted out a tuft which promptly fell apart and floated off in the breeze.

  “No! You must twist the fork! Twist the fork!” Johan was now yelling. “All this spare straw needs sorting out.”

  Eric waited for Johan to attack the stack of straw again before turning to Gerty.

  “Why is he so bossy? Is he always like this?”

  Gerty checked her brother wasn’t watching and then nodded. “He sometimes shouts at home as well.”

  Johan turned back to the two children. “Try again, then!” he ordered.

  Eric dug in his fork, twisted it and successfully hoisted a golden clump of straw into the air.

  “Ok,” said Johan. “Now spread it like I did.”

  Doing his best to lower his straw to the ground, Eric held the fork in a horizontal position while Gerty instinctively helped him by removing the straw with her hands.

  “No, Gerty! Leave him alone. How will Eric learn if you help him?”

  Gerty sighed and stepped back. Eric spread the straw as he had been told and looked back at Johan, searching for approval.

  “Ok,” said Johan. “And again.”

  “So, what makes him so angry and why does he shout so much?” Eric asked Gerty as they walked home together, once Johan had called the work day over.

  Gerty thought for a minute. “I think it’s because he was in the army. War broke out when he was only fifteen and he wanted to be like the other boys in our village who signed up for the infantry. His training was very tough, but it taught him how to fight. Maybe he thinks that all teaching should be like his army training.”

  “We had angry men like him where I grew up. They shouted at us from horses and had whips. I hated them.”