The Light of Our Yesterdays

by Ken Hansen

  Another grabbed a microphone and yelled, “You claim the Three Emperors are not God’s agents, but what about you? You make proclamations and act as if you know God’s will. You have no authority and yet you would do the same thing! Is your authority greater than the Emperors?”

  Isa smiled and paused a count. Then he replied slowly, “Do you not still see the difference between my actions and those of an emperor? I do not pretend to have the earthly power of an emperor, nor do I ever wish such a thing.”

  Tomadus let out a long breath. Good.

  Isa continued, “So when I or my followers tell you to act a certain way, I am merely instructing you about the path you should follow because you will ultimately be judged by God. If I am wrong and you choose another path, what harm would come to you? No guard would come to your house to drag you away in the middle of the night for breaking the law. God would judge you well. But if I were instead the Emperor and made the same mistake, whether intentionally or not, and you chose to defy me, what would happen to you then?”

  When a hush went over the crowd, the man backed slowly away from the microphone, his arms open and raised nearly to his head.

  Isa nodded to the crowd. “Now let us assume, instead, that you comply with my edict, not because of what is in your heart, but because of your fear of what may happen to you on Earth from me as the Emperor? If I have truly followed God’s word, what good is your compliance in God’s eyes when it is not from your heart? Yet if I as the emperor am in error about God’s will and you comply because you fear the Emperor, what consequences do you think might await you upon the judgment day?

  “Find your way to God’s grace by changing your own heart, not by demanding that the Emperor change the hearts of others. Do not hope the Emperor imposes his views of God’s will on those with whom you disagree, for who knows when a new emperor may come to a different view and exercise a new policy against you? Perhaps you now see the danger of covering the Emperor with the mantle of God. Do you also perceive how destructive it is to cover God with the robes of the Emperor?”

  A young man near the stage yelled, “Can’t you see this man is crazy! Who can put the Emperor’s robes on God!”

  Isa replied graciously, “I am sorry, young man. I speak, of course, with a simple metaphor. But consider history, and the truth will emerge. Now let me tell you a story:

  “There once was a mighty king who ruled his subjects well, but a few discontented princes challenged his right to rule their provinces. Troubled by this, he approached a religious leader whom nearly everyone believed was just and righteous and who helped lead the spiritual lives of many souls. The king proposed that the two men work closely together: the religious leader would openly bless the king, crown him officially as the “King of Kings,” and proclaim that he ruled by the will of God. In turn, the king would praise the religious leader, name him the kingdom’s official leader of souls, grant him various lands and money for places of worship, and even give him the right to rule lands around his home.

  “‘What a great thing for God,’ said the religious leader to himself. ‘This king is a good king, so why should I not do this when it will benefit my church so?’

  “Now the two carried out the king’s plan, and at first it worked beautifully for them both. No longer did any princes openly challenge the king, and the religious leader was able to expand his influence by opening more and more houses of worship. The religious leader also discovered the great generosity of the communities served by his new assistants—the new church leaders—as they began sending him portions of their collections from their various congregations around the kingdom. With this money, the religious leader grew incredibly wealthy and acquired more lands within and without the kingdom.

  “But by now, the growing riches and power had made him greedy for more. So he asked his new church leaders how they could raise more money from their congregations. The church leaders told him the people were giving everything they could, so he would have to be satisfied. But the religious leader did not like this response, and eventually he struck upon an answer. For a long time he had been granting various privileges to his congregations, including certain spiritual benefits in the name of God, and appointing important additional church leaders, and he had been doing all this without any charge whatsoever. ‘How stupid of me,’ he thought. ‘Why not charge for the privileges and appointments, for I have no doubt that the leaders and many in the congregations will pay handsomely for them, and I will eventually put that to good use for God.’ And so he did. And his wealth and authority increased even more.

  “Meanwhile, the King of Kings was growing weary. It was wonderful that none of the princes openly challenged him as before, and he discovered that since he now officially served God’s will, he had much greater power to do as he wished without facing any serious challenges from others. But he had a problem: the religious leader was accumulating so much property and wealth that the king was having trouble raising sufficient taxes, and he feared that the religious leader’s control over so many of the church leaders could ultimately undermine his own rule. So he issued a decree requiring any leaders of churches within his realm to be appointed by him. This would give him both additional resources (because the candidates would pay him for the appointments) and the allegiance of powerful local leaders.

  “As you might imagine, the religious leader strongly opposed the king’s actions. If his church leaders were not beholden to him and had not paid him for their offices, his power and resources would be severely undercut. So the religious leader sent a message to the king complaining that this new edict broke their longstanding agreement and warning the king of serious consequences that could follow this breach.

  “‘What can he do to me?’ thought the king. ‘I am the King of Kings.’ So he ignored the religious leader.

  “Now the religious leader became enraged and announced publicly that the king neither ruled as the King of Kings nor by the will of God but only by his own despotism. The king soon found that his power had suffered greatly. Many princes began to revolt against him and many of his people followed them. So the king, crown in hand, traveled to the religious leader’s palace, but the religious leader would not even consent to see him. The king then humbled himself by kneeling in the snow before the palace for several days. Finally, the religious leader allowed the king to enter his palace, where he pleaded for his forgiveness and agreed he would revoke his decree. Satisfied, the religious leader again anointed him as the ‘King of Kings’ and proclaimed he ruled by divine will.

  “The religious leader was quite pleased with his demonstration of power and thought to himself, ‘how crafty of me to bring the king to his knees.’” However, the religious leader had greatly underestimated the force of his words and actions on his congregations, the princes and even some of his church leaders. Many of them began to question his motives and wonder whether he truly spoke for God, not only concerning his king and the need to pay for privileges and appointments but also now concerning his church and the need to support the religion and him.

  “Meanwhile, the princes began to conspire to determine how they could dethrone the King of Kings. ‘The people will not join us if they believe God is on his side,’ said one prince. The others agreed and decided to support some of the upstart church leaders who had begun to oppose the religious leader. This gained the princes considerable favor among certain rich men in their provinces who did not want to pay the religious leader any longer. With this new religious power on their side, they fought a series of long wars with the King of Kings and his supporters, including the original religious leader.”

  “Eventually, the King of Kings found his power and territory had dwindled mightily with many territories being swallowed up by the princes, who now proclaimed themselves kings. The religious leader discovered that many of his former churches were now led by his former church leaders who now opposed him and preached many things he did not like, but he knew there was little he could do.
”

  Isa paused for five seconds and looked straight down at the man who had asked the question. “Now let me ask you, young man, in the end, do you think either the king or the religious leader was happy with their cozy arrangement?”

  The young man shook his head quietly.

  A middle-aged man with light hair approached one of the microphones and said, “Teacher, I believe we understand what you say in general, yet surely you must believe that our current religious leaders and emperors have done God’s will.”

  Isa replied, “Your question illustrates my point, for if I say they have done God’s will, I have now clothed them with the mantle of my Father, have I not? But if I say they have not followed my Father’s commandments, then they could use the power of the state to either try to change my views or end them. Do you not find that to be a problem?”

  The man shook his head and left the microphone.

  “But this brings to mind another story. A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully. He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed. He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him and killed him, and threw his body out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others.”

  A murmur rose from the crowd. Like Tomadus, they were unsure of the meaning of this parable. Who was Isa chastising here? Who were the tenants? Who was the son? Fortunately, another question came quickly: “I see that you have included women on the stage with you? What gives you the right to raise them up this way?”

  “Raise them up?” Isa lowered his chin to the man and gestured to Jochi and Maryam. “It is God who has the power to raise people up. I asked these two followers to join me and to open their hearts and minds to my words. They have accomplished that better than most, so what is wrong with that?” Yet another murmur rose from the crowd.

  A man at a different microphone quickly fired another question at Isa, “I have heard that you recently traveled to Tetepe and demonstrated against the government there. What do you think should happen to the region?”

  “First, let me correct your misunderstanding. I did not demonstrate, for that would suggest I have taken sides in a political conflict, and I am no politician.”

  Tomadus nodded and smiled. Good answer, now just let it go. He frowned when Isa did not.

  Isa said, “But I will say this: Tetepe has become a tragedy for us all. God loves all people, and all people should be allowed to live together in peace and security regardless of their backgrounds, their ethnicity or their beliefs.”

  Another man in the crowd shouted without any microphone, “You were a friend of that shaitaanist, Yohanan, weren’t you!”

  Isa responded, “In the end, Yohanan sought the way of God. He wished for peace on fair terms. He transformed himself into an agent of peace and the mouthpiece of God.”

  The man, now with a microphone, shouted, “But he tried to bomb Hugleikr on the steps of the Dome! Everybody knows that! Do you support shaitaanists?”

  “I support the truth, not lies. Do you?” said Isa. “I support love, not hate. Do you? I support forgiveness, not vengeance. Do you?”

  “Shaitaanists should be put to death!” the man shouted.

  “And so he was,” Isa replied evenly, “though I doubt it was because of any shaitaanist act on his part.” The din of the crowd now rose to new heights and several fights broke out as some thugs in the crowd attacked obvious Way supporters. The broadcast looked like it would end in a riot, until Isa shouted, “Be still! All of you! Have you so little regard for my words that you seek violence in the streets at the first opportunity?” And then, almost inexplicably, no almost miraculously, the fighting stopped.

  “Yes.” Isa nodded several times, turning his head to various sectors of the crowd. “Yes, Yohanan was sentenced to death in this very square, and many of you may still suffer pangs of despair from this event while others seem still to applaud it. But while Yohanan was the first, he shall not be the last! Those of you who thirst for blood and hunger for destruction will feast upon those horrible toxins long before you comprehend the poisons they contain! Yet I tell you now, if you destroy this temple,” Isa said with his arms raised to the sky, “I will raise it up in three days!”

  It seemed to the crowd that Isa was referring to the Dome of the Rock that lie behind Isa and up the hill, and they murmured to each other, “How can he say this? It took many years to build.”

  An older man grabbed a microphone and asked, “By your crazy words, you seem to believe you can work amazing miracles, Isa. Is that what you call that trick you played on the crowd with your loyal idiot, Adin?”

  Isa looked at the man with amazing compassion while Tomadus looked at him only with disdain. They both recognized him as one of the local residents who had seen Adin come back to life at the mortuary.

  “I am sorry to see your faith runs so shallow that you cannot believe even the evidence of your own eyes,” Isa said. “Yes, I saw you there when Adin awoke. Did you see me perform any tricks, as you put it?”

  The man said nothing.

  “No, I do not play ‘tricks,’” Isa said. “I merely asked our benevolent Father to save Adin from the mortician’s table, and he sent Adin back to us.” He gestured to Adin and Adin joined him near the microphone. “I will not discuss this further,” Isa continued, “but listen carefully to my words.” Isa looked around at he entire crowd for a few seconds. “Unless you open your hearts, you are doomed.”

  Isa put his arm around Adin and reached his other arm out to the crowd. “This uncomplicated man understands far more about God than most of you ever will. Despite your obvious contempt, I ask my Father to forgive you, as I ask him to forgive you all.”

  Isa turned his head to Adin, who was smiling as usual. “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in Heaven.” With that, Isa nodded to the crowd and walked away from the microphone, with Adin arm in arm.

  Chapter 86

  Abdul Saboor Anwari exited the jet in Dubai on the first leg of his trip to Washington. Huxley had flown ahead of him on American military transports to make a pitch to his boss. Anwari flew commercial to avoid tipping his hand to Pardus. As far as the Leopard knew, he was just travelling to DC at Pardus’s orders to give Huxley a few helpful hints. Pardus had planned the trip long ago and Anwari had passed the security checks, so Anwari had already procured a temporary visa. Huxley’s assistant had ensured the latest detention hadn’t blown that. However, the last minute flight preparations eliminated any possibility of a direct DC flight; instead, he could only fly to Dubai in the afternoon, pick up a morning flight the next morning heading to Boston, and then fly to DC that evening. America could be his sanctuary from the Leopard. Maybe he had found his way out of the jungle.

  Anwari left security and began walking toward the airport hotel, gazing around now and then to be sure he was not being followed. He saw nothing suspicious over his shoulder when he stopped at a fruit stand and bought a pomegranate. But as he turned away from the stand, he ran into an old colleague now playing the role of the raven: Dracoratio. Anwari’s heart raced. After a few moments, he dug deep, smiled and tried his best to keep his tone even. He had revealed no wavering, no worry, had he? “I did not expect to see you here,” said Anwari. “Where are you heading?”

  “Nowhere im
portant.” Dracoratio let out a slow, guttural breath. “Stuck here with a flight delay. I travel with an old friend, Baqir. We dine at Hatam in a few minutes. Care to join us?”

  “Sure. Baqir?”

  “Yes, Baqir Najwa, though I rarely call him that anymore. Have you met him?”

  “No,” replied Anwari, wondering if he had actually spoken with Baqir many times on his cell but by another name. He swallowed hard. Had the terror in his eyes or the lump in his throat given him away?

  During his layover at Aviano AFB a few hours earlier, Huxley had desperately tried to reach Mayer without success. The nice people at the CIA had said the spymaster was “indisposed” and would “return the call at the first opportunity.” In other words, standard CIA bullshit meaning they would never tell Huxley where Mayer was nor when he would surface. Mayer was ignoring his cell. Huxley really just wanted to record the bastard’s voice so he could share it with Anwari and see if he had found the crowning clue to finally capture Pardus. And if there were no match, he could begin targeting the formerly dead, and now merely missing, Baqir Najwa. Either way, he had to know about Mayer.

  He had shared just enough with his boss to get a meeting without tipping off any mole lurking at the agency. Huxley had berated Blount about keeping the matter close. The boss had asked him if Mayer knew. “No,” Huxley had replied. “And it is critical—absolutely critical—that he not know. Trust me on this, and I’ll tell you more when I get there.”

  The boss had responded, “What the hell, Huxley? Mayer isn’t even here. He’s checking out a lead in Dubai.”