“No. What I will say though is that if what you learned there was pitched at a child’s level, then as an adult you are going to be able to go deeper.”
“Some say you are dangerous!” smiled the quiet man (cabbage). People laughed nervously, but he added, “They think your way of teaching undermines people’s faith.”
“Yes. I suppose that is true if that faith depends on a series of doctrines. But if your faith depends on the presence of God in you, and you in Him, then nothing can separate you from Him. You will discover that your faith is even more firmly rooted.”
“There’s so much that doesn’t make sense about God,” volunteered ‘apple and custard’.
Ruk looked at her and said gently, “So then you’re asking questions already, and you are ready to explore.”
Then a couple who had been fidgeting and whispering to each other got up. “I’m sorry,” said the gentleman, “but this all sounds as if you want to criticise our religion. We don’t mind talking about God in the least, but questioning centuries of tradition and even the Scriptures must be wrong. We were brought up to believe in what it says, and not doubt it.”
“Please be assured,” said Pastor Ruk, “I am not questioning that the Scriptures contain truth. They are all true in the way the writer intended, in the context in which he (or occasionally she) lived. They are Scripture because they are genuine testimonies to an encounter with God by whatever name. But each of us needs to look deeper within ourselves. It may be that what we have believed for centuries is actually preventing us from knowing all we can know.”
“You are saying that other people’s Scriptures contain truth, but we know that we have the only true Scriptures. We have our traditions and our teachers and they are the only ones with the true revelation.”
“They are immensely valuable and to be respected greatly,” said Ruk, “and many of those teachers would rejoice that we can stand on their shoulders and discover more, as they did their forebears.”
“You dare to doubt we have the complete revelation of the Creator in the Johian Scriptures?”
“There is fullness. I believe our Scriptures contain all the elements – but there is much we have yet to grasp because we haven’t fully understood them. We can think that the way we have looked at them is the only way, but there are many ways of interpreting the Scriptures.”
“Not where we come from,” said the man forcibly.
“I don’t think what you are doing can be God’s will,” said the lady. “His words are to be trusted and we shouldn’t twist them to mean something other than what they plainly mean.”
“But is it so plain?” suggested ‘apple and custard’. “The more I read it, the more I think I am missing something. I know people who have rejected the Scriptures entirely because they seem out-dated and contradictory. I am relieved to hear the pastor say they can still lead us to the truth. I want to hear more.”
“Well, we are going home,” stated ‘roast beef’, “and unless you have already sold out your faith as this lady sounds to have done, I recommend you all do too.” And he and his wife walked across the room and left. You could hear a pin drop… no-one else moved.
Pastor Ruk kept silent, his eyes lowered. He was clearly praying. Then a youngish man with an interesting red scarf who liked red currants sat up straight and broke the silence. “I’ve been stuck with trying to make sense of the Scriptures for years. I agree with you,” nodding towards ‘apple and custard’. “Please Pastor Ruk, please continue.” There were calls of agreement from others too.
Kakko was hooked. The whole idea of having an adventure (albeit a spiritual one) and exploring had grabbed her attention, and before anyone else had a chance she blurted out.
“What I want to know is why everything in the universe is so unfair! If God truly loves us all, then why is life harder for some than others? And why do people get the blame for things they haven’t done while others get off scot-free?”
“An excellent place to begin!” affirmed Pastor Ruk. “Anyone got any suggestions of how we might tackle the question of injustice in the universe? Is God a God of justice?”
Everyone was silent. Then, after a few moments a quiet man (cauliflower cheese) sitting next to Tam, said, “If you can give a satisfactory answer to that one, Pastor Ruk, everything else we might ask would be comparatively easy. Our young people don’t intend to let you off lightly.”
The pastor smiled.
“Let me tell you a story that comes from Planet Earth,” he began, “as it is told in their Scriptures. It goes like this. A couple of millennia ago, God decided the time was right to be born as a ‘human being on Planet Earth’. Actually we share our DNA with them – they are our close cousins and we have had actual contact through the portals we sometime hear about that God, very occasionally, has set up for an individual. In fact some here have come to live on Joh by this means even today. It is through these people that we have gained our knowledge of their Scriptures and the story of the events in which God revealed himself.”
Kakko moved uncomfortably in her chair. Her parents spoke to very few people of how they had arrived on Joh, although it was no secret. The people of Joh did not engage in gossip. The only way in which a person’s origins would be discussed is if it had a direct bearing on a situation. Kakko wondered if she should say that, in fact, her father was from Earth One. But she was too interested in what the pastor had to say and did not want to interrupt at that moment.
Ruk continued, “Human beings are noted for their tendency to become aggressive, some of them actually believing that attack is the best means of defence. Also a few are obsessed with selfish ambition, and others are driven by fear to engage in wars and violence. They have, nevertheless, a huge capacity to love and this generally wins out in family relationships, which are mostly, but not always, peaceful. They long for peace but fear of the enemy (who is usually characterised as less than human) drives them to violence. The production of weapons on an industrial scale characterises the species.”
“The Earthlings are a pretty cruel lot then,” commented ‘mango chutney’, a large middle aged woman with a ‘tea-pot’ smile.
“Like all human species, they are a mixture,” explained Ruk. “And so God decided to come to his own creatures as a fellow human being. He was born a child on Earth One. As he grew, this child learned his mission – to reveal that God, who is love, loves everyone on that planet whatever his/her language or group. As a young man, he witnessed to them that in God there is no darkness of evil. He was immensely popular among the ordinary people, but those in authority feared they would lose their hold on power and plotted to rid their planet of this young man who was also God. They chose not to believe he was from God – probably because that was inconvenient for them. So they arrested him on trumped up charges and then had him executed by nailing him to a cross of wood, which they set upright in the ground on top of a small hill so all could see who was in charge.”
“Yuk,” shuddered Tam. “Why be so cruel? That’s an awful thing to do!”
“Apparently it was a pretty common thing to do with your enemy in those days on Earth One.”
“But he hadn’t been violent himself?” quizzed Kakko.
“All he had done was reveal God’s love. He wouldn’t let his followers fight – not even to defend him. So now, tell me, where is the justice in that?” asked Ruk.
“There is none,” said Kakko. “He was all love and he was tortured and killed just because he was too good for those who held power. I have heard the story, he was called Jesus Christ. Nan Matilda often tells it… because actually she was born on Planet Earth One.”
There was an audible collective gasp that rippled around the small group.
“Your grandmother is from Earth One?!” exclaimed ‘apple and custard’.
“Yeah,” said Kakko slowly.
“I know her,” she said, “she’s a friend of my mum. I never knew she was born on Planet Earth One.”
�
�No need to know really,” said ‘mango chutney’.
“No. It’s never made any difference, but actually I’m half Earthling,” said Kakko.
“Wow,” said ‘apple and custard’. “Do your friends know?”
“Some of them. Tam knows. We don’t go around talking about it. It doesn’t seem to matter who your ancestors are. Does it matter, Pastor Ruk?”
“Only in what you might be able to contribute to society. A diversity of backgrounds makes us rich. The more the merrier. It helps us look at things from different angles and get a clearer picture. You can probably tell the story of Jesus better than I.”
“Nuh. I only know what Nan told me.”
“You should ask her more… OK. So what might this story tell us about God and justice?” Ruk asked rhetorically. “It tells us that it is the nature of the Creator to suffer injustice as well as His creatures. God is not above it all, but comes into His creation and suffers hatred He does not deserve. So when we think something is not fair, it isn’t because God doesn’t care (like some kind of landlord sitting above it all looking down on us from some great height). He cares enough to suffer alongside us, bearing the injustice too.”
“So,” asked the quiet spoken man, “God allows injustice?”
“No, not exactly ‘allows’. He has no choice,” said the pastor.
“Surely,” said a woman from across the circle, “God has the power to do anything? If He doesn’t like it, He doesn’t have to put up with it.”
“We like to think that,” replied Ruk, “but in practice He cannot because He is so bound up in the universe and He has to travel along with it. Not even God can make a star cold. A cold star is not a star – He has to obey the laws of physics. He cannot give his creatures the power to choose love, and at the same time make sure they choose it. That is no choice at all. What He can do, and has done, is build love into the system – and demonstrate what He wants us to choose, but then it is over to us to make the choice. If someone is bent on evil and injustice they can block God out, and the laws of the universe mean there is nothing God can do about it. That’s not to say that He cannot act to restore and heal, but only when people let him.”
“I don’t get that,”retorted the woman. “If God is God, no-one can exclude him!”
“Yeah,” came in Kakko. “Why doesn’t He just zap the evil ones and do away with them? Why does He put up with wicked people killing him? That would be fair.”
“But there’s good and bad in each one of us,” said the quiet man, “once He had started He would have to zap everyone.”
“Yeah,” added Tam gently, “ and God loves even the most wicked. His love prevents him from destroying them. All He can do is show them the way. He won’t give up on them as long as there is a chance they will change. I agree God is not able to do everything in the universe as it is.”
“Right,” said Ruk, “God’s power is not the zapping sort. That’s the way the Earth people thought of power. That’s the way we sometimes do here too, but God’s power is the power to transform, heal and restore. That’s what being love means.”
“Nan says the story doesn’t end with Jesus dying,” explained Kakko. “He is raised from the dead and goes up to heaven in glory.”
“Exactly!” said Pastor Ruk. “In the end justice is done, God wins, but not always in our time, but in His. Thank you so much for that question Kakko. And God bless your nan for sharing that story with you. I would like to come and talk with her sometime.”
***
The discussion went on. The pastor brought in other people and many struggled to get their minds around the nature of God’s power. Kakko couldn’t follow everything. Tam seemed to do better and explained a bit afterwards. But what she did take away from the little group was that God cared about injustice – and she felt better about it. She was also proud of her nan and was glad she had told her the stories of Jesus.
“I’m going to get Nan to tell me more,” she told Tam on the way home. “Do you want to go again next week?”
“Yeah,” said Tam, “that pastor’s cool. I guess he’s in trouble though. That couple will probably give him a bad report.”
“That’s unfair!” declared Kakko. “So many people get put off with the traditional stuff which doesn’t work for them. It begs so many questions. And they didn’t stay to hear him properly. They were against him from the start.”
“Agreed,” said Tam. “And, as for the unfair bit, if it’s unfair for God, I’m sure Pastor Ruk will cope with it.”
Kakko laughed. “He didn’t dodge anything did he? He’s cool… thanks for being patient with me Tam.”
“Why? I don’t want you to be any different from what you are. I like the way you speak out. You know I’ve always admired you.”
“But I’ve been so arrogant!”
“Not very arrogant. But I must admit I didn’t think you would ever really like me.”
“I was too obsessed with myself to see your qualities.”
“Thanks. I’m chuffed.”
“Come here,” said Kakko, swinging her good arm around Tam’s neck. “Let me kiss you.”
“What here? In the street.”
“I don’t care,” she said.
“No you don’t, do you? And,” he whispered looking into her sky-blue eyes, “neither do I!”
“Hi Sis!” It was Bandi right up behind them. “Never thought my sis could get so cheesy,” he laughed. They looked round and saw both Bandi and Shaun with an expression that betrayed a combination of triumph and guilt.
“Bandi!” exclaimed Kakko. “What are you doing here? Pesky little brothers. Sorry, Tam.”
“We’ve just got back from the match,” said Bandi. “Guess what?” indicating his brother, “two goals and two assists. Ta-dah!”
“Wow! Brilliant!”
“Love midfield!” exclaimed Shaun.
“Congratulations,” said Tam. “Seems you have a fan in your brother at least!”
“We saw Nan just now,” said Shaun. “She went home earlier and found a note to say Mum and Dad have gone through another white gate, so she’s come back to town again with her things and is going to stay at Mrs. Pippa’s.”
“A white gate?” quizzed Kakko. “Where?”
“Usual place, in the hedge next to the real gate.”
“No, I mean, where have they gone to?”
“You mean where through the gate? No idea. Apparently there was only stuff beside the gate for two, so they guessed it was only for them. Nan couldn’t see anything. We are to check when we get back.”
“The note said to look after Nan,” added Bandi, “but she rang her friend and arranged to go and stay with her.”
“Like we’re not up to looking after her,” said Shaun.
“No. It’s not like that. She’s never been really happy since Grandma died,” said Kakko. “She’ll get bored with just us around.”
“She gets bored anyway,” said Bandi, “we’re all out at school, college or work for a lot of the time.”
“And you know how she likes to talk,” said Shaun.
“Anyway, now she’s with Mrs Pippa, no doubt telling her what wonderful grandchildren she has, or not,” said Shaun. Their bus approached the stop and Tam put out his hand.
“Are you going to sit with us, or do you want to carry on snogging on the back seat?” asked Shaun.
Kakko went an odd shade of purple. “Come on Tam. I guess we’d better sit with these pesky brothers of mine. So immature!”
As they walked towards the bus stop, Tam squeezed Kakko’s hand and smiled.
Back in Woodglade, there was no sign of a white gate for them. Although not surprised, they were at first disappointed, but then the thought of having the cottage all to themselves cheered them up. Perhaps they could have some friends over?
17
Jack and Jalli were sitting together on the bench in the garden under the tree where they had first sat twenty-two years before – then two strangers from diffe
rent planets. The weather was almost the same as that first time, and the time after that, when they pondered the question of whether they should enter the cottage. Jalli still put a space between the syllables: ‘cot-tage’, even though she had learned to speak English very well for herself. She no longer needed to have it translated inside her head by the ‘Owner’. They spoke English a lot – for Matilda mostly. And the children were fluent. Wanulkan, however, was not so easy for Jack. Not being able to see meant he couldn’t do any written learning. He couldn’t refer to the dictionary Jalli had brought with her. Nevertheless he had persisted. There had always been Grandma to give him practice, but now it was left to Jalli. The children understood it, but they were less competent at speaking it.
That day, however, Jack and Jalli were using Wanulkan. Jack was getting his tongue round it rather well. The lovely day reminded them of the Municipal Park and the Wanulkan City centre just through the hedge beyond the white gate that was no longer there. It did not seem so far away – although they knew it was somewhere on the other side of the universe. Jalli had realised one night, gazing at the stars, that she did not even know in which direction to look. She had tried to see the cluster of three stars that shone down on Raika, but Jack told her that, even if Joh was on the same side of the same galaxy as Jallaxa, Suuf and Shklaia, from Joh they would look like one star. And Planet Joh was not even likely to be in the Elbib-Andromeda galaxy anyway. Yet sitting on the old bench and speaking Wanulkan, the city in which Jalli grew up didn’t feel so very distant. They began to talk about Mr Bandi.
“I wonder how he’s going on?” mused Jalli.
“Must be retired by now.”
“Coming up for it.”
“And your school friends?”
“All married to handsome, rich bankers, I suppose… ”
Jack laughed. “And they all have kids who prefer the beach to their school work!”
Ultimate Justice Page 14