by Mary Pearson
After many hours of this the people became hungry and there was another fruitless search for food. But Andrew called out, “I’ve got a young man with some loaves and fish!” Finne passed him the bag and, as before, the crowd was separated into groups of fifty and their provisions divided among the masses. All ate and were satisfied. Then Jesus sent them home and He, His Apostles and the Gonkers made camp.
But there were some from the crowd who refused to leave, and these clung to the edge of the camp of the Apostles, periodically calling out for a sign.
“Truly I say to you,” Jesus said to them, “you do not seek Me because you saw signs but because you had your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for food that perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.”
“Pests!” Andrew muttered under his breath.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Lily and the other Gonkers could only understand the words of Jesus and Andrew, “what are those men yelling to Jesus?”
“A sign, a sign! Always they want another sign!” Andrew hoisted a basket of bread fragments on top of the stack. “You’d think they’d be satisfied after seeing your bread and fish multiply.”
“Or the deaf guy,” put in Finne.
“Yes.” Andrew looked at Finne intently. “Or the blind, the lame, those possessed by demons.” He threw up his arms in exasperation. “With them it is never enough.”
Just then the men called out again. “They say, Our ancestors ate manna in the desert! What sign can you give?” Andrew interpreted.
Jesus looked up from His meditation. There was a long silent pause before He said, “I AM the living bread come down from heaven. Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you shall not have life in you.”
There was shocked silence. Even Andrew’s arms grew slack and he stared at Jesus.
Then those who had been catcalling began to laugh and to saunter away.
Molly tugged at Andrew’s robes. “Why aew they leaving?”
Andrew drew a deep breath and sank down onto the ground. “They do not understand what Jesus meant when He said we must eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to live. Such a thing is forbidden in the Law. And to be truthful… I do not know what He means either.”
***
“Well, I do.” Lucien plopped down next to him. “Jesus is talking about the Eucharist. We receive His body and blood all the time. At least I will, after I receive my first communion next spring.”
“You eat the Master’s flesh and drink his blood?” Andrew appeared dumbfounded.
“It looks and tastes like bread and wine,” Lily tried to explain.
“But it’s Jesus, actually,” Molly added.
“He comes into our hearts.” Logan said this matter-of-factly. Then there was a long pause before he concluded, “You’ll get it later.”
By now the grumblers had drifted off, no longer interested in what Jesus had to say.
“And you,” Jesus looked into the eyes of His Apostles. “Will you also leave?”
Peter spoke, and even though the Gonkers couldn’t understand his words anymore, it was clear he was standing with the Lord.
“This evil generation seeks a sign. None shall be given except,” here He looked into the eyes of the Gonkers, “the sign of Jonah. Just as he was three days and nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man be three days and nights in the depths of the earth.” Then He reached out, blessing them home.
“He did give us a proof of His resurrection, too.” Logan said this when they had stopped spinning and had gotten around to reviewing their trip. “He promised it and He gave us the Shroud.”
***
“Molly was right about the sqwaps. They really are expecting again, all of the females.” Auntie Gen was talking to their mother while they were cooking dinner and Lucien overheard when she continued in a lower voice, “And there’s trouble with the sqwaps, too.” Here her voice dropped to a whisper and he could not make out the words. But his mother’s face was grave.
“I’ll have to talk this over with Rick”, their mother said. Lucien tucked his sqwap in close to his chest. No one was gonna hurt little Squirmy. He would see to that.
James the Greater and the light of the world
When Lily had asked her mother why she was worried about the sqwaps her mother showed her the letter. Apparently someone had reported the existence of an endangered species. There was to be a hearing.
“But no one knew!” Logan objected,
“Except Fathoy Andy,” Molly pointed out.
“He wouldn’t tell!” Finne’s defense was fierce.
“The mailman saw them plenty of times,” Lucien pointed out. He frowned at his younger brother, “Thanks to you and Brody always running out to meet him when you were holding your sqwaps.”
“Stop blaming people!” Lily faced her brothers down. “It doesn’t matter how they found out. It was bound to happen sometime with them breeding so fast. We can only pray that it turns out all right.”
“Yes,” said Molly. “We can put it in the wosawy.”
The Gonkers and Bootzers got together to pray a family rosary each night by the campfire and the sqwaps could be an intention.
“Well, I got one, anyway.” Logan finished what he was writing and tucked the sheet into a folder.
Molly looked up. “One what?”
“One ‘I Am’ of Jesus!” His tone oozed with ‘obviously! “I Am the Bread of Life, remember? I have to write a few paragraphs on each of them.”
“What’s the next one?” Lily peered over her older brother’s shoulder, reading the assignment sheet he was holding. “I am the Light of the world,” she read aloud. “Where’s that in the Bible?”
“In the Gospel of John,” Logan tucked the assignment sheet in next to his work. “They’re all in John.”
“Andrew was pretty surprised when Peter’s invisible children turned out to be real,” Lucien smirked.
“It’s kind of like playing ‘tag’ with the Apostles,” was Lily’s comment.
“I bet they feel special,” Molly said. “I would.”
“Oh, hey!” Logan smacked his head. “Remember I told you that Saint Jude said he figured he’d get a turn when I rode with him on that camel? From his prospective he was the last to be visited by us instead of being the first.”
“Time is so weird for God!” Lily was thinking back on her own solo adventure walking on water. “But we’re going in order now?”
“In order of I Am’s,” Logan said.
“How about Apostles?” asked Lily.
“In order of them being called by Jesus?” suggested Lucien.
“Then the next would be James or John,” Lily leaned her chin on the palm of her hand since she was laying on her stomach on the floor of the rec yurt. “Jesus called them right after Peter and Andrew.”
“James, then,” said Logan.
“Which one?” This was Lucien again. “Jesus called two Jameses: James the greater and James the Lesser.”
“Who told you that?” Lily’s jaw dropped open at the notion that her younger brother knew something she didn’t.
“Father Andrew. I asked him the name of all the Apostles. “Lucien pursed his mouth, making his dimples pop out. “So which James was the brother of John?”
“Let’s ask Mom.” Lily hopped to her feet and the others followed her to the kitchen yurt where the two women were cooking something that smelled like ham.
“James the Greater, I think,” said his mother, stirring the soup.
“Why do they call him Greater, anyway?” Logan was leaning so far over the stock pot he was in danger of losing his glasses, which were somewhat loose.
Their mom looked at Aunt Gen and Gen looked at their Mom. Then she shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“We’ll ask him,” Molly said.
Their mother looked up sharply. “Ask who?”
�
�Uh, Father Andrew,” Lily jumped in smoothly.
“Oh.” Their mother went back to stirring. “Yeah, he’d know.”
***
“Good one, Molly!” Lucien chided his sister for the slip up.
“It doesn’t matter,” Lily spoke up. “They’d never believe we’re visiting the Apostles even if we said it right to them. They’d probably think it was make believe.” She lugged out the Saints book and opened to the little window pages, which were mostly Apostles. “James the Greater,” she said when she found the section. Then she read silently until she found the spot. When she read out loud the spinning sensation came and the children clung tightly to each other for the ride.
“I’ll nevew get used to that,” Molly said, dropping to the sandy ground to stop the spinning.
***
As soon as they were able to take in their surroundings the Gonkers no longer wondered why this James was called greater. He was huge and had a booming voice. The Gonkers had never met such an imposing man. The first thing he said upon seeing them was “Look at the strange little children! “
Andrew smiled up at the big man and shook his head. Lily imagined he must have said something like, “Now you see them, now you don’t,” because James looked a bit confused. “Who are you, little ones?”
Magdalene tugged at his sleeve until he picked her up. “We’re Gonkers.” She spoke in her so serious voice. “We come from the future.”
“Why?” James asked her in his deep bass voice.
Now she flashed a quick grin. “We just like to visit people.” Then she assumed her serious face again. “Can I sit on your shoulders? I want to see Jesus.”
There was quite a sizeable crowd and it probably was the tiny girl’s only chance of seeing Him. He plopped her behind his head just in time to hear Jesus say, “I Am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of Life.”
Some people in the crowd began to mock Him.
“Why are they making fun of Jesus?” Maggie said in James’ ear.
“They say He has no one to vouch for Him. He is testifying on His own behalf.”
Jesus answered them, “In your law it is written that the testimony of two men can be trusted. I speak on My own behalf and so does the Father Who sent Me.”
The men looked about and shrugged.
“They wonder where He is hiding this father,” James whispered.
“You know neither Me nor My Father.” His eyes pierced through every person in the crowd. Then He spoke. “If you knew Me, you would know my Father also.” With that He blessed the Gonkers home.
Young John and Before Abraham was
Lily plopped onto the chair next to Logan as he was typing at the computer. “Can I use it when you’re done putting in the new ‘I Am’ stuff?”
Logan didn’t look up. “What for?”
She fidgetted. “I just need to check something.”
Logan realized his sister wasn’t telling him something but he let it go. Probably looking at some teen pop idol’s new hit was his thought.
Lily waited until her brother was gone before she typed the word into the search grid. “Oh no!” she moaned softly. “I have to talk to Father Andy.”
***
That weekend she sat in the chair facing the priest, chewing on her lip.
“Tell me,” he said, after the preliminaries.
“First I have a question… who was Josephus?”
“A first century Jewish historian. Why?”
“He mentions us.” Lily cringed at Father Andrew’s sharp intake of breath. “Father, I’m afraid.”
“Afraid of what, Lily?”
“I’m afraid that one day you’ll be reading from the Gospel and,” her faced whitened and she cleared her throat. “And we’ll be in the story. Just there in the Gospel.” Now the tears began to fall down her cheeks. “I’m afraid we’re going to wreck the Bible!”
Now Father Andrew smiled. He grabbed a few tissues and passed them to the little girl. “Lillian,” he said, “that can never happen.”
Lily sniffed. “How can you know that? Look, I copied what Josephus said about us.” She passed the piece of paper to him.
He read quickly and then summarized, “So Josephus said you were a legend. Harmless, really.”
“He calls us by name. “
Father shrugged. “It’s possible that you’ll change secular history, but you’ll never hurt the Bible.”
“How can you know that?” she asked in a little voice.
“The Bible is inspired.”
Lily’s face remained blank.
“It’s written by the Holy Spirit. Lillian, God won’t let you wreck the Bible. Remember, He’s in charge…” He paused for emphasis, “And He’s God.” He let that sink in. “So don’t be worried. Be a little more careful, maybe, but don’t worry.”
***
“Father says we should be more careful, so I’m thinking we should try to blend in. I made some costumes from white sheets. They’re not great, I know. Molly and I sewed them by hand. But at least they blend in a little better. And if we don’t go and talk to the apostle who can see us…”
It was worth a try. So they put on their sheet gowns and cinched them at the waist with leather cord. Their tennis shoes and crocs really stuck out.
“Take off your shoes,” Lily said.
“Uh uh!” Lucien backed away so she wouldn’t pry them off. “What if we step on something?”
“We won’t be there long!” Lily wheedled. “Just stay in one place.”
“Easy for you to say.” But Logan took his shoes off and he was able to persuade his siblings to do the same.
This time they were visiting young St. John, which would be interesting to compare to the ancient version of him they had visited imprisoned on Patmos.
***
They found themselves towards the back of a large crowd, a whitish building behind them. Jesus was standing on a platform, speaking to the crowd. His voice rang out, “If you remain in My word you will truly be My disciples… and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
To which the crowd replied with grumbling and something about Abraham.
Jesus answered them, “Anyone who sins is a slave to sin. I know you are descendents of Abraham, but you are trying to kill Me. Abraham would not do this. You are doing the works of your father.”
The young man standing closest to the children groaned quietly. Then he touched Logan’s arm. “The Master may need to make a quick escape. Would you children be able to help?” (So much for trying to blend in.)
“If we can,” Logan held out his hand and passed it through that of young St. John. “But we’re not fully here.”
This didn’t seem to upset the Apostle, though. He looked at the children curiously. Then he passed his hand through Finne’s head. “That may be even better,” he said, stroking his goatee. Meanwhile Jesus had continued His discourse and from what the children could catch of the one-sided conversation the crowd was accusing Jesus of being possessed while Jesus was saying His father was God, and theirs was the Devil, not Abraham. The crowd was not happy with this. The last words to come from Jesus were, “Abraham, your Father rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad.”
This brought a jeering outburst from the crowd.
St. John groaned again.
“What?” Lily asked him.
“The crowd wants to know how Abraham could have seen Jesus, who is not even fifty years old.”
Then Jesus’ voice rang out, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” And the people bent to pick up stones.
“Rocks cannot hurt you?” St John asked. When the children shook their heads he gave them a little push, “Block for Him, and send Him this way!”
“You can’t throw a rock at Jesus!” An irate Finne led the pack of children.
They made a barricade so that Jesus could inch His way to St. Jo
hn. When the rocks passed through the bodies of the Gonker children they reacted by slowing down as though they were being thrown through pudding. Then they would plop harmlessly to the ground. You can imagine how disturbing this was for the crowd, which quickly dispersed.
The Gonkers were running to catch up with St. John and Jesus when Jesus came out from hiding. “Thank you… again,” He said, and He smiled particularly at Finne, before blessing the Gonkers home.
Phillip and the gate of the sheep
“The next two are really close together.” Logan’s head was buried in the big Bible in the Gonker family yurt.
“The next two what?” Lucien asked without looking up from his video game.
“I Am’s.” Logan snapped the Bible shut. “I Am the gate and I Am the good shepherd are in the same story. That should be interesting.”
They found the girls and headed over to the rec yurt. With three hours until the next meal they would have plenty of time for at least one of the trips. They retrieved their costumes, putting them on over their clothes.
“So Phillip is next,” Lily said, after looking at the list of Apostles, “then Nathanael. I’ll read.” She reached for Molly’s hand. Molly was holding onto Mags, Mags, Finne; Finne Lucien; Lucien Logan; and Logan grabbed Lily’s other hand to complete the circle. And she read.
The first thing the Gonkers noticed when they stopped spinning was that the scene was identical to that of their previous trip to see St. John. In fact John was still running with Jesus in tow trying to rejoin the other disciples at the safe house.
Upon reaching the rest of the twelve John bent over, panting. Then he appeared to be searching for someone or something.
“What’s he looking for?” Finne wondered aloud.
“Children… you kids, I guess.” This came from a tallish thin man and since the children could understand him they assumed him to be Phillip, their current Apostle mentor. Phillip clapped John on the shoulder and turned him to face the Gonkers. “They’re right here.”
John just looked confused and clearly none of the other Apostles could see the children either, so Phillip gave up trying to convince them. “C’mon,” he beckoned the children. “We’ve got to get inside before the crowd finds Jesus again.” He led them through a narrow alley and just before the house where they were headed the troop of Apostles, the Gonkers and Jesus came upon a middle-aged man sitting near the street, begging for alms.