Shrouded Destiny

by Richard William Bates

  Of course! How could she have not seen it before? How clear and fundamental it all was for her, in the flash of insight which engulfed her in the eternal Now. As infinity folded in upon her, her entire being seemed to glow from within, as she accepted the inpouring of eternal love that filled the cosmos. How blind she had been. The love was not something that had to be pursued as if it existed in some remote corner of the world. It was there all around her, and what's more, it had always been all around her. She had been like a fish, swimming around asking, ‘Where is the water?’ when the very environment in which she lived was that which she sought. She inhabited a world of living love, yet had been blind. How could she not have seen it before?

  As the euphoric moment of self-discovery dissipated, she became aware she was no longer standing in front of Raji and Terianna's home, but instead was inside what appeared to be a temple. How did I get here? How long was I lost in my revelation? As quickly as she asked, she knew how did not matter. Questions such as why and how were tricks our lower selves played on us, to keep us out of the moment, to fill us with the real sources of the blinders that prevented one from seeing Truth—doubt and fear. As long as we allowed ourselves to be absorbed in an attempt to dissect the world around us with reason and thought, we were to some degree, fated to remain oblivious to the very answer we fooled ourselves into thinking we were seeking.

  Science and mathematics, while certainly important and viable studies, by their very nature were fated to never uncover the deepest Truth of all. Yet, they were seductive disciplines, tantalizing us with the shadow of reality, often mistaking that shadow for reality itself. But they would forever remain mired in the quicksand of physical existence, which was the manifestation of something deeper and more profound than the coarse grain of physical existence could ever hope to be.

  These thoughts swam through Susan's head as she explored the small temple. Two large candles burned on either side of a small altar at the front. There were no pews or benches for seating, which struck Susan as odd. A door at the far front led to an adjoining room, she assumed.

  The most striking feature was the series of frescos that adorned the walls on all sides. Looking closer at them, she saw that they depicted significant events. She realized the central figure in all of the scenes was Jesus ... the Biblical Jesus. What was odd to her were the series of scenes showing Jesus in what appeared to be a supplicant role of student. In one particular scene, Jesus was kneeling before a tall figure, adorned in a priestly robe and wearing a headpiece reminiscent of the Pope's. Jesus was kissing the hand of the priest. Susan didn't know of any such story or relationship in the Bible.

  Other scenes showed the more familiar events of the life of Jesus. The walking on the water, the calming of the storm, the changing of the water into wine, the feeding of the multitudes, raising Lazarus from the dead. There were a few that were not familiar to Susan. One depicted a wedding ceremony with Jesus as the groom. Another showed Jesus rejecting the advances of a beautiful temptress. Another, an emblem being hung around his neck and a golden staff being presented to him by the same authoritarian priest from the earlier scene. The scenes were laid out chronologically in clockwise order. The final two scenes depicted the Crucifixion and Resurrection. Susan noticed a place was left for another scene. Poor planning by the original artist? Or was it left blank, awaiting the addition of an event yet to be played out?

  She only then noticed the same crown and staff from the fresco were on the altar. She walked over and ran her fingers over them gently. They appeared to be solid gold. Simple in design, they possessed an elegance that made them all the more beautiful because of their simplicity. There was a small wooden cup off to the side.

  Susan was puzzling over the significance of these objects when she heard someone behind her. It was Angelino, accompanied by Raji.

  "Yes, Susan. Those items belong to the Christ Himself, the crown to be placed upon his head in symbolic recognition of The Attainment, the staff to be taken up by Him as a symbol of his righteous claim to the title. From the chalice, he drinks the ceremonial wine of the Ascension. Only one time in the history of Mankind has that crown adorned the head of Man.” Angelino pointed to the scene that Susan had noticed earlier, realizing it depicted the moment when Jesus attained the title of The Christ.

  "I understand,” Susan's eyes glowed bright with awareness. “Jesus was taught here."

  Angelino nodded. “Yes. The final lesson. It was in this very village of Indore that Jesus was anointed by the Godhead and became the Christ, the Son of God."

  Raji spoke next. “We thought you might be led to this place tonight. Please forgive us if we startled you."

  "No, you did not startle me. In an odd sort of way, I almost expected you to be here. I can easily imagine that priest there,” pointing to the priest in the fresco, “as you in your youth.” Then she was struck with the thought. “Is it you, Raji?"

  The old man chuckled. “No, my dear. It is not me, but it is one of my ancestors. My family has remained prepared for the return of the Anointed One so we might fulfill our duty to train him in the art of Christhood."

  "Raji is my old teacher, Susan, as well as the father of my bride."

  Susan's heart began racing. “You mean, you are...."

  Angelino's eyes twinkled. “...the Christ?” he finished her thought.

  Susan nodded speechlessly.

  "No, Susan. I am not."

  "Father Angelino, you have done it to me yet again. Whenever I think I am achieving some understanding, you totally confuse me."

  "Then he has learned his lessons well,” Raji said calmly. “Understanding is the greatest barrier the human mind must overcome before it can finally be put aside to make way for the Higher Self. Understanding is a trap the mind falls into when it thinks it has discovered the Truth. But the mind can never know Truth. Truth is knowable only by the soul."

  "Yes. I think I underst.... “Susan began to say, then laughed as she caught herself falling into the very trap she had been alerted to a mere moment before.

  Raji laughed with her. “Do not feel understanding does not have its place. It most certainly does. Just be aware understanding is not knowing. Like all things created, it too, has its place and purpose."

  Angelino grew serious. “Susan, there is something it is time for you to know."

  Susan grew alert.

  "You see the wedding ceremony depicted in the fresco?” he said, pointing to the scene.

  Susan simply nodded her reply.

  "That was indeed the wedding of Jesus. In fact, it is at Jesus’ wedding where the Biblical account of him turning the water into wine took place. You may recall, Mary, his mother, came up to him and said, in essence, ‘There is no more wine. What are you going to do about it?’ There would have been no reason to ask that question of him unless there was some social obligation for Jesus to provide the wine in the first place. Otherwise, it would have been the responsibility of the groom's family to do so and Mary would have had no reason to trouble Jesus with it.

  "But I digress. Jesus indeed did take a wife, as all devout Jews of his day did. As a Rabbi of the synagogue, to do otherwise would have made him an outcast. A child was born of that marriage, and from that child, a direct lineage to this day has been maintained."

  Angelino could see the truth had not yet dawned on Susan. He delivered the truth with stunning affect.

  "You, Susan Morgan, are the last in the line of the House of David. You are the last descendant of the true Jesus."

  Susan's face remained expressionless for a moment, as if her brain could not absorb what she'd just heard. In a moment, the import of the words penetrated and she grew dizzy. Angelino and Raji reached out to steady her, as she swooned as if about to faint.

  "Forgive me for hitting you with that so abruptly, my dear. You'd better sit down for a moment.” Angelino said, guiding her over to a small chair at the side of the temple.

  "Th ... th ... this can't be,” she managed to
stammer. “It simply can't be."

  Angelino and Raji stood at her side silently, allowing the impact of the news she had received to fully sink in.

  Finally Susan said, “How come nobody ever told me? Why was I kept in the dark?"

  "Susan,” Angelino said gently, “your parents themselves did not know. Your family history was lost to it centuries ago."

  "Then how can you be certain I am descended from Jesus?"

  "The history was lost to your family, but not to us, Susan. The job of the Knighthood is to protect The Christ and everything associated with it."

  "So you knew all along, Father Angelino?” Susan was still overcome with shock.

  "Yes."

  "I just can't believe this,” was all she could find to say.

  "Does this mean that ... that.... “she could not make herself say the words.

  "That you are The Christ?” Angelino finished the question for her. He shook his head. “No, Susan,” he said seriously. “But you are equally important."

  "Again, Father Angelino, I do not understand."

  Suddenly, Nicole emerged from the shadows. “Don't fret too much, Susan,” she said menacingly. “You are not going to live long enough to have to worry about understanding anything else."

  "Nicole! What are you doing here?” Susan gasped. It was then she noticed the long silver blade the young woman held, as the reflection of candlelight flashed off it briefly in the dimness of the temple. “What is that in your hand?"

  Nicole moved slowly toward them. Susan saw the would-be assassin's hand was trembling slightly. So, she was not as resolved as she attempted to appear.

  "Don't be a fool, Nicole,” Susan quickly jumped to her feet and positioned herself between Nicole and Angelino. “There are too many of us for you to fight. You can't kill us all."

  "Oh, I do not need to kill you all, Ms. Morgan. Angelino is the one I have orders to kill. But I think now I must also kill you. That is a shame. I really do admire you."

  "You can't overcome all of us."

  Nicole laughed lightly, a girlish giggle that lent an aura of surrealism to the moment. The candlelight cast flickering shadows on her youthful face. “Do not make the mistake of underestimating me because of my size. I am trained at the highest levels in many forms of the martial arts. I can just as easily kill you with a blow as with this knife. You would be dead before your mind registered my movements.” She fingered the knife sensuously. “But I have always preferred the sensation of the metal blade piercing soft flesh. It is really quite delicious in its own way."

  "Why, Nicole? You have spent all this time with us. You have gotten to know us. We have all come to care for you, even though we have known from the beginning why you were sent to us. Why must you give in to your lower impulses?” Susan asked sadly.

  Nicole's eyes seemed to glaze over for a split second before she responded. “It is not about my ‘lower impulses,’ as you put it. I must because I am ordered to, Susan. I do not have a choice."

  Was that regret in Nicole's voice? She couldn't be certain. Nicole began to advance on them slowly. Susan stood her ground.

  "I can't let you do this, Nicole. You know I can't. Please stop."

  Angelino gently moved Susan aside and stepped in front of her. Nicole stopped suddenly, about five paces from him.

  "My child,” he said softly to Nicole. “You do have a choice. You don't want to do this."

  Nicole flared, “How do you know what I want? You all think you know so damn much!” She was screaming now, seemingly on the verge of hysteria. “You don't know me. You all are so arrogant, thinking you know what is best for everyone else. You presume to think you can create a better world."

  "Isn't that precisely what your vaunted Council professes, Nicole?” Angelino asked kindly.

  "That is different. We have been doing precisely that for two thousand years and we have done it masterfully.” Nicole protested.

  "Yes, as masters, Nicole. You are correct. You have slowly enslaved the minds of the people over the centuries, but to what purpose? Have you ever bothered to ask why? Or does this enslavement exist for no purpose other than the sadistic joy of your Council masters?"

  "You don't know what you're talking about,” Nicole said angrily. “We exist to make a better world for the people."

  "Is that so, Nicole?” Angelo looked at her with sympathetic eyes, which seemed to enrage her further.

  "Yes,” she nearly spat. “While you and those like you are off preaching and pretending to be ‘holy,’ we are actually doing things to change the world."

  "Yes, Nicole, I have seen the changes you have effected. It is not a record to be proud of. Is the world the way you want it now?"

  "It doesn't matter what I want or what I don't want. I have pledged my allegiance to the Council, and to my family. My life is not my own. There is only The Agenda."

  "No, Nicole,” he said gently. “The only thing in life that is yours is your life ... your soul."

  Nicole laughed contemptuously, “My soul?” She could not disguise the anguish in her voice when she added, “I sold my soul a long time ago."

  "Did you?” Angelino said. “Or was your soul sold on your behalf by others, before you were old enough to make the decision for yourself?"

  "You don't understand how things are done among the families of the Council, Father Angelino.” She had grown softer somehow, her rage having subsided. Susan saw the face of a young, innocent child. “They look at the big picture, rather than wallow in the selfishness of such ideas as the soul and individuality. Those are things that create weakness in the group. It is in our common commitment that we draw our strength."

  "I hear you say the words, but your eyes tell me something different, Nicole,” Angelino said.

  "You don't know what you are talking about,” she said angrily. “The Council is right about you. You are crazy and dangerous."

  Angelino smiled at this. “Your heart betrays you, Nicole. Your eyes reflect the conflict of your soul. You do not want to kill me. You do not want to kill anyone ever again."

  Susan saw the hand holding the knife was trembling more noticeably now, and, much to her surprise, Nicole's voice was laced with pain as she said, “You are wrong, Angelino,” she tried to sound menacing, but instead her voice was like that of a young girl. “You don't understand, Father Angelino, it is not what I want, it is what I must do ... what I am compelled to do."

  "Nicole, my sweet child, think of what you are saying. It is not what you want, but what you must do. I am correct, and you know it in your heart ... you do not want to kill anybody."

  Tears began to stream down Nicole's face, and her knife hand shook uncontrollably now. “Do not tell me what I want. You don't have any idea what I want,” she wailed.

  "Ah, but I do, my dear. I see into your heart. It is why I allowed you to join us, even though I knew of your intent to murder me."

  "You knew?” Nicole said incredulously, through her tears.

  Angelino nodded. “Yes. I also know you have harbored a secret all your life you could not allow anyone to know. You have hungered to fill a vast inner void. Unlike your Council brothers, you have ached for something, something personal, for you alone."

  Nicole flared once again. “You lie! I live only for the Agenda. I do not seek anything for myself."

  Angelino appeared to ignore her protest.

  "You are in conflict because you have found what it is you have hungered for ... on this journey, and you are frightened to acknowledge either the quest to find it or its discovery. You have not admitted it to yourself."

  "You are a liar,” Nicole repeated, at the top of her voice.

  "Am I?” Angelino raised his eyebrow. “Why do you think you are in such pain right now? Pain is always an indicator of resistance. Let go of your pain. Let your heart feel. Let your soul breathe as it was meant to. Draw into yourself the essence of your very soul."

  Susan watched as, involuntarily, Nicole obeyed Angelino's comma
nds. Her eyes closed and for a moment, a smile of sublime happiness crossed her lips

  "You have known unconditional love on this journey and that love reaches out to you, to open you to your true nature."

  He took a step toward her. She quickly snapped out of her trance-like state and raised her knife defensively. “Stay back!” she demanded. Good, Susan observed, she is not attacking.

  Angelino continued relentlessly. “All of your life you have been taught power lies in political position and economic gain. You accepted that without question. But something inside always gnawed at you, contradicting that ... a still, small voice you choked off every time it attempted to speak to you. You managed to quiet the voice and were able to convince yourself it was stilled forever. You then reasoned because you had been successful in silencing the voice, what it sought to speak to you was false."

  Nicole's face bore an expression of awe as if she felt he was reading from the book of her own heart.

  "But you heard the voice once again on your journey with us, very faintly at first, then louder and more insistent. Try as you might to shield yourself from it, you felt the love which pulses through the hearts of each of those with whom you have shared this journey. More importantly, and more terrifying to you, you felt that love flow through your own heart as well. The voice grew louder, until it threatened to overwhelm everything you had been taught to believe."

  "No. That's not true,” Nicole wailed.

  "Face who and what you are, Nicole. You are not a killer. Open your heart to love. It is the only power. You can kill us all, but you cannot destroy love. You can no longer live pretending it does not exist. You have seen its face. Wherever you go, whatever you and your Council seek to achieve, love will haunt you and belie the vacant materialistic goals your Agenda advances."

  Nicole stood frozen and speechless. Tears began to stream down her face.

  "It's over, Nicole,” Angelino said, barely above a whisper.

  Momentarily, Nicole's entire frame slumped in defeat. Then, suddenly, she lurched at Angelino, knife flashing, a primal scream of rage echoing from her throat.