The Four Gifts of the King

by R. Scott Rodin

  “Thanks, Alex. That’s a sweet thought.” Merideth smiled at her brother.

  Walter watched them and knew it was time to complete his work. He stood and came into the middle of the room. “We need to conclude these affairs and get you all on your way.” He took the book from Merideth, closed the leather cover, and turned the book over with its front cover facing him. He returned it to the wooden box, closed the clasp, and placed it back on the shelf.

  Well, Sam, this is it. I think we did well.

  He walked to a large wooden chest that had always held blankets and quilts the family pulled out on cold winter nights for times around the fire. However, Sam had emptied the chest of its usual contents. So now Walter reached in and pulled out the first of the four gifts promised to Sam and Lori’s children.

  He lifted out a glass case and handed it to Reed. “This is your gift from your father.”

  Reed looked at the glass case—it held two fine golden Bracelets standing upright, side by side. He looked down and read aloud the inscription engraved on a bronze plate across the bottom: ‘“Freely you have received. Freely give’ (Matthew 10:8). May God grant you the Deep Peace that comes from the heart of a cheerful giver. Love, Mom and Dad.”

  Reed smiled as he studied the Bracelets and the inscription. “Thanks. These mean a lot. Walter, I’ll confess I’ve been changed by Dad’s story, but I don’t know what it all means.”

  Walter set a hand on his shoulder. “For now, I think Sam and Lori would want you to be content to accept this gift and treasure the sense of closeness to them that it brings you.”

  Walter removed the second gift from the chest then placed it in Merideth’s hands. “This is your gift from your father.”

  She held a fine, golden bowl with a wide rim and handles on each side. Inside it was a neatly folded cloth sash. Around the rim was an inscription. Merideth turned the Quash toward the light to read it. ‘“Love your neighbor as you love yourself’ (Matthew 22:39). May God grant you the Deep Peace that comes from a life lived in service to those around you. Love, Mom and Dad.”

  Merideth ran her fingers along the smooth edges of the Quash. “I’m sure Dad hoped and prayed that this moment would mark a great turning point in my life. It might, but I have a lot of conflicting things going on inside right now. Walter, this has been a real gift to me, but I just can’t promise what it will lead to. I’m sorry.”

  “No need to be sorry. That’s not what Sam wanted. These gifts are seeds being planted into your lives. Nothing grows overnight, so give it time. Give it time.”

  He returned to the chest and took the third gift, which he handed to Anna. “This is your gift from your father.”

  She held the heavy, ornate mirror in her hands. With some hesitation, she turned it toward her. “What reflection will I see? Probably still the distorted reflection brought on by too many years of listening to the wrong voices.”

  “Read the inscription.”

  Anna tipped the mirror to see the engraving. ‘“I am fearfully and wonderfully made’ (Psalm 139:14). May God grant you the Deep Peace of knowing that you bear the very image of God Himself. Love, Mom and Dad.”

  “Fearfully and wonderfully made. Oh, Walter, I hope someday I can believe that.”

  The time had come for the last gift. Walter went to the chest, lifted it out, and delivered it to Alex. “This is your gift from your father.”

  Alex’s eyes widened.

  Walter knew he’d expected to receive a replica of the Transmitter. But Alex’s gift was a Bible. On the rich, black leather cover, there was an inscription. Alex read it.

  ‘“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’ (John 8:32). May God grant you the Deep Peace that comes from the freedom of trusting the heart of God. Love, Mom and Dad.”

  Alex nodded. “I understand. The Word of God. God is speaking to us today. If we have faith to hear.”

  Walter let several minutes pass as each of them studied their gifts and pondered what it might all mean for them. “Well, my friends, your obligations are complete. The hour is late and each of you has a long journey ahead. I’ll arrange for the transfer of funds, which should be complete within ten days. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance to you.”

  Alex shook his head. “The money. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’d almost forgotten about it.”

  One by one, they thanked Walter. Then with little conversation, they retrieved their bags and prepared to leave. Within an hour, Walter was standing on the front porch of the Roberts home saying goodbye to each of them.

  He watched the last set of taillights disappear down Avenue B as the late evening turned to night.

  Walter went back in the house and turned out the last of the lights. He stood in the doorway and looked back inside. The porch lights illuminated the hallway, and he could see the image of his last visit with Sam. It happened the night before Sam left this house for the last time, on his way to the hospital. Walter had known that Sam had sensed the importance of the moment, and he had watched as his old friend ran his hands up and down the post on the entryway that served as a living history of the Roberts family. Sam kissed the post and then walked out of the house he and Lori had spent a lifetime building into a home.

  Walter walked over to the post and ran his hands along it, feeling the edges of the inscriptions carved on it from ceiling to floor. He breathed deeply and felt his grief well up inside him. Before it could overwhelm him, he turned and walked out the front door, pulling it closed behind him and turning the key in the deadbolt to secure it fast. He climbed into the comfort of his ’99 Cadillac and drove away from the Roberts family home, down the quiet main street of the little town of Harvest, and headed north into the night.

  chapter

  Twenty-Nine

  Three Years Later

  The long, silver Cadillac wound its way along the two-lane highway that caressed the hillsides of the Palouse. The late summer sun illuminated millions of heads of wheat heavy with grain. Even in the filtered rays of the early morning, the fields sparkled on every rise and in every direction until the golden horizon met the pale blue morning sky. The harvest would be starting soon, and Walter was glad that this trip was not four weeks later, or he would be dodging combines and hay trucks all the way to Harvest. Well, not Walter, exactly. Jack would do the dodging.

  Sam had not left all his money to his children. He’d set up initial disbursements to his favorite charities and then an administrative fund to support anything Walter wanted or needed in the execution of his duties as executor of the estate. This included travel, legal fees, and, Sam had insisted in the will, the upgrade of Walter’s mode of transportation.

  And so, on this August morning, Walter sat in the back seat of his newly acquired Cadillac while Jack, his driver, negotiated the windy road from Spokane to Harvest. And Walter loved it! Age had made driving more of a chore, and employing a driver gave Walter more time to think and write his memos and briefs.

  Walter’s law practice was winding down, and he was moving reluctantly into early retirement, although many of his former clients still insisted on his direct involvement with a variety of legal matters. His law practice was, after all, about relationships.

  Even his legal work had taken a back seat to his main focus, namely the administration of the Roberts estate through the work of the Roberts children.

  It was just over three years since Sam’s funeral and the two days spent in Sam and Lori’s house reading the story of Steward of Aiden Glenn. During those years, Walter had crisscrossed the country giving counsel and watching over the ways the four children administered the wealth they had inherited. Walter had no legal jurisdiction over their decisions, of course, but he carried a great amount of influence. In many ways, wherever he went, he represented Sam and Lori.

  As the silver land yacht passed the sign reading: Harvest 30 miles, Walter let his mind wander back to all that had transpired these last three years, beginning with
the journey Reed began the moment he drove away from his father’s house that cold February evening.

  Walter had met with Reed on a number of occasions since the funeral, but three were fixed firmly in his memory. On his first visit, they sat in Reed’s living room as he unfolded the last six months to Walter.

  “The mental image of those golden rings of Petitzaros were stuck in my mind for weeks after the funeral. But with all the business pressures, you know, they just sorta faded away. Well, all that changed the day the funds from Dad’s estate were transferred.”

  Reed’s transformation began in a most unlikely place. He was going into a major negotiation session with twelve investors whom he had been cultivating for months.

  Reed stood and paced as he recalled the situation to Walter. “Each person was hand-picked and vetted to be sure they had the capacity to make the investment we needed to take the business national—and soon international.”

  Walter raised his eyebrows. He’d underestimated Reed’s ambition.

  Reed grew more animated. “Oh, Walter, I’d polished my presentation until it was perfect, flawless! I was ready to sell them on the expansion of the business and wrap up the full investment right then and there. I can tell you, they had the money, and then some. My goal was to use as little of the inheritance as I had to. It was a game, a challenge, and I took it on. I mean, why not use someone else’s money, right?”

  Walter wasn’t sure if he was looking for an answer, so he shot him a wry smile and let him continue. Reed’s eyes sparkled as he relayed the story.

  “I entered the room where the guests were assembled and greeted everyone. There was a hush as I moved to the podium and began the state-of-the-art multimedia presentation. As I moved through the sales pitch and nailed every point, I examined the men and women in the room to watch for their nonverbal response. This was a first-class group. They were dressed in outrageously expensive suits, and they wrote notes on slick laptops or paper pads in exquisite leather cases. I had known each of them for years, but on that day as I studied them, an image took shape in my mind. It was as clear as if the entire room had been transformed by a Hollywood costume and set designer. I saw heavy golden rings lying over their shoulders. Their faces grew dull and pale right before my eyes, and they began to hunch over under the burden of their wealth and all that it meant to them. As they asked questions, I could hear the greed behind their words, and before long I found myself standing smack-dab in the middle of Petitzaros, amid a group of hunched-over, sad, gray little kings.”

  Walter beamed then tipped his head. “Dunston’s spectacles?”

  Reed laughed. “Yes, that’s exactly what came to mind when I saw that scene. I almost reached up to see if they were on my nose!”

  Walter laughed with him. “That’s incredible. The kingdom—you got a glimpse of the way God sees things.”

  Reed nodded as his tone grew more intense. “I’ll say, but it gets even better. I stopped right there in the middle of my presentation. My partners were sitting to one side of the room, and they thought I had lost my mind. Maybe I had.” Reed laughed. “I just shut off the projector, shook my head, and laughed to myself. The greatest moment of my business career, and there I was, standing in a fairytale land. But I couldn’t shake it, and I knew it was over. So I looked out at my audience and said, ‘My friends, thank you for coming. But I think I have just discovered what this business is really all about, and there will be no expansion under my watch. I’m sorry to have wasted your time, but I think my life is about to go in a very different direction.’”

  Sam, you’d be so proud of this young man right now, and you always were.

  “Amazing. And what will you do now?”

  “I’m not sure, but if I am to be true to my father, I need to understand more about the discipline of giving. I’ve never been very generous, and I know that’s what Dad was trying to help me learn in the story. And if every time I try to make money I find myself back in Petitzaros, I’d better learn how to give it away.”

  Walter arched a brow. “The Elixir of Mah Manon?”

  Reed laughed. “Yes, I guess so. I know that was supposed to symbolize money and the power it has to change people’s lives for better or worse. It will be completely new to me to give it away…and enjoy it!”

  “Perhaps if you find some people who do enjoy it, it will rub off.”

  Nine months later, Walter met Reed again and he was surprised to hear how that final comment so many months earlier had started Reed on a journey of discovery. Reed had begun meeting with philanthropists and reading about stewardship. He started giving modestly, and the pure joy of changing other people’s lives became infectious. Within a year of the transfer of the Roberts estate, Reed had sold his business and was a full-time philanthropist.

  Walter beamed at the news. “Reed, you know how pleased Lori and Sam would be. I’m happy for you, happy you found that there is so much more beyond the money. Now, tell me about the rest of your big news.” Walter sat forward, his eyes locked onto Reed’s. He’d been waiting a long time to hear this from Reed’s own lips.

  Reed put his hands in the air. “What other news?” They both laughed, and Reed continued. “Oh, you mean that little five-foot-tall, blonde dynamo from Texas who swept me off my feet?”

  Reed looked past Walter, losing himself in memory. “Katie and I met on a fundraising trip to Belize, actually on a snorkeling boat in the Hol Chan. She was so committed to her causes. I mean she gave money, time, passion. Definitely my opposite.”

  Walter caught his gaze. “What kind of causes was she into?”

  “Oh, everything, you name it. She had a passion for caring for people in need, loving the forgotten, and taking care of ‘God’s gorgeous, green garden,’ as she called it. And I fell hard for her at first and then, over time, for her passions.”

  “And Harvest, so it seems.”

  Reed nodded. “Surprising, huh? You remember when I took her there on a long weekend and stayed at that new bed and breakfast just outside of town. I gave her the grand tour, including a walk through the family home, the mission, and the church. She loved it. When we got back to the B&B, we sat and read the story of Steward of Aiden Glenn.” Reed paused and rubbed his eyes. Walter could see the emotion of that moment welling back up in him.

  He took a deep breath, looking at Walter now as he continued. “It moved her…so deeply. When we finished the book, she took my hands in hers, looked at me with those deep brown eyes, and said, ‘Reed Roberts, you were created to be a steward of God’s abundance, and your father knew it.’”

  Thank God for Katie. Sam and Lori would have loved her so. “God’s steward. Well, that seems a fitting title after what you read from your father’s book.”

  Reed nodded. “It was. And we were off. From that moment, we started laying out our plans to build Eden Village.”

  “And for a wedding?”

  Reed laughed. “Oh, yes, that too.”

  Walter leaned back against the car seat. His final memory took him back to a meeting with Reed and Katie on the site for Eden Village. The land for the village was high in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state, about three hours from the closest city. Reed and Katie had designed a state-of-the-art research and experiential center to educate and inspire leaders globally in the importance of generous giving and creation care. The plans were extensive and complex. Walter was moved by their seriousness but dubious about its ultimate success. But nothing could assuage Katie’s passion.

  She squeezed his hands as she spoke. “Walter, we will change the world from this quiet valley. Young men and women will come from all over the world to visit and study here. People of wealth will be invited to come and plan for how they can be more faithful stewards. The greatest minds will assemble here to pray, research, and lead our world toward greater generosity and responsible care for this wonderful planet that God gave us. This is our calling.”

  “That’s a powerful vision, Katie.”

  R
eed put his arm around her shoulder. “And a powerful young woman behind them.”

  Walter nodded. “And a pretty impressive man as well. Reed, God had you exactly where He planned so many years ago. Do you feel that?”

  There was no hesitation. “I do, Walter. I see it now. From the moment I drove away after the funeral, the story, and all, I sensed changes were coming. I pushed them down for a while, but when Katie and I stood on this property with these plans in hand, I knew. I knew in my heart…I saw so much coming together.”

  Yes, it had come together. Amazing, given the self-centered and lost young man who sat in the Roberts house some three years ago.

  My faith is so weak. I hoped and prayed for this for Reed, but did I believe it? Help me, Lord, to trust You more in the future, because this is the work of Your hand.

  Walter was given the grand tour of the stunning conference center. Its architecture was so ingenious that if not for the large glass windows, the building would almost disappear completely into the wooded hillside in which it rested.

  Walter just shook his head. “Amazing. It’s as if the buildings are a part of the forest.”

  Katie pointed to three large, white structures in the distance. “We have hydroponic greenhouses that will grow all the food for the entire ministry. Our fish farm will supply food and lots of fertilizer. And over there, that windmill only needs a three-mph breeze to generate our electricity, along with the solar panels.”

  Reed waited a moment then asked with some hesitation, “So, Walter, what do you think?”

  Walter looked out at the structures then back at Reed and Katie. “I can’t think of anything that would make your parents prouder. They cared so deeply for the poor, and what you will accomplish here will make an impact around the world.”

  Reed gave Katie a hug. “Walter, we have two things we want you to see before you go.”

  They walked up the main road and stopped where two masons were working on a large pillar. Reed slid his arm through Katie’s. “I know it doesn’t look like much now, but here are the drawings of the finished piece.” He handed Walter a large piece of architectural drawing paper.