All Living : A Seedvision Saga (9781621473923) (11 page)

It shocked Kole for a moment that he should see a man, a new man, and not one of his family. For he had never seen a man such as this, with a fine, white garment but for the hem, red as it was, as though dipped in the juice of fruits, so red as to be almost purple. His eyes were like a flame of fire and burned into Kole with an intensity of purpose. And behind His head or upon it was the shining light of the sun, although the brightness of the sun was high in the sky. Kole immediately rolled onto his belly and bowed his face low to the earth, knowing fully within himself that this was the Creator of the garden whom he sought; indeed, this was the Creator of all things.

“Rise, Kole, my friend, and speak with me,” said the man, and Kole rose, only half willing but bidden as by a command. He looked again upon the face of the man and now saw Him as He appeared: with a humbleness of sun-warmed skin and a beard full and thick. He gasped at the resemblance he saw in the man to his own father, Adam; the strong strokes of the face, the muscles working beneath the jaw, the depth of wisdom and understanding warmth in the eyes, the confident rippling of His voice.

“My God,” said Kole, “I had in my mind many questions, yet now I find I know not what to say.”

“You must be hungry, my friend,” said the man. He bent and dipped a wooden cup into the stream and filled it with cold, clear water, then handed it to Kole. Kole drank and drained the water from the cup, not realizing how thirsty he had been.

“Eat,” said the man, and He held forth a fruit of pleasing design.

Kole reached out a tentative hand and received the offered fruit but stood there with his outstretched arm and gaping expression.

“I have brought you a new garment,” said the Creator and held up a robe for Kole. Kole was suddenly aware of his own painful nakedness and thrust his arm into the first sleeve, fruit and all. He shrugged his other arm into the robe and turning, the man fastened it around his neck with a golden clasp.

The robe was pure white and beautiful to behold. Kole looked down and admired the splendor of such a garment; the softness of the material unequaled by anything he had previously known.

“Eat,” said the man, and Kole bit deeply into the fruit, relishing the sweet flavor on his parched tongue. The abundance of the juice burst forth into his mouth, ran through his beard spilling from his chin onto his new coat and stained his white garment upon his left breast.

“Oh no, my Lord,” cried Kole with chagrin, “I’m sorry. I’ve stained the coat you have just given me.” Tears welled up unbidden in his eyes, and through their mist he wiped at the purplish splotch slowly spreading up his outfit, attempting to brush the juice from its smooth surface.

“It is as it should be Kole,” spoke the Creator with kind forgiveness. “All men stain their garments. But it will be washed clean only by the blood of another.”

“By blood?” asked Kole.

“By the juice of the first of the first fruits, my friend.”

“Where is this fruit?” asked Kole.

“It stands before you, Kole,” said the Creator.

Kole looked around, not understanding. He saw many fruits growing from trees and vines. “Which fruit is it, my Lord?”

“That will be revealed to you in time, Kole. Come, walk with me.”

Kole walked beside the man. They roamed the garden, the Creator pointing to many sights and wonders that He wanted to share with Kole. He would point to one plant and admire its color and texture, smell and shape. He would describe its individual flavor and explain that even though it was food to be eaten whenever a man desired, it also was created with properties to enhance a man, to give him strength or to help him sleep, or smile or heal. He would point to another and another and another and explain to Kole that a woman could eat that to help her have children or this one to ease the pain of child birth. A man might eat this and that one together to understand creation better, or himself, or his wife, or his Creator; or eating that with another and have no need of sleep for many days. “I have given you every seed bearing plant and herb for food Kole, but I have given them to you to use for more than food. Use them and study them, and you will discover great signs and wonders. I will reveal their mysteries to your family, and I will reveal many of my mysteries to you through them. Kole listened and learned. He remembered all that the Creator showed him in His garden, but he put it away in the back of his mind for further exploration. He sighed.

The master gardener, hearing this, looked from his plants to Kole and said, “I know you have many questions, Kole. What would you ask of me?”

Kole walked beside Him. “My brother, Abel, breathes no more, my Lord. I would ask for his life to be restored to him, Master.”

“You have great boldness in you Kole, and you will have need of it all of your life. Your brother Abel’s life will be given back to him in the fullness of time. Even as the fruit that you eat consumes time to reach its fullness, so too will each man reach his fullness in season.”

“When will this season be, my Lord?”

The Creator smiled a patient smile. “Not until the end of all things.”

“Then I fear Abel is lost to me for a while. Is this correct?”

“Do not fear, Kole, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Fear is a snare that will take from you your love, as your brother has been taken because of Cain’s fear. Trust in the
Lord
and you shall be safe.”

“I do not seek my own safety, Lord, nor any thing called a kingdom, but answers as to why this thing has happened and how it may be reversed.”

“You do not know what it is that you spurn, Kole, for in the fullness of time the Kingdom will be your only desire. Your Father has designed it so.”

“Yes, my Father,” said Kole.

“Kole,” said the Creator, stopping and turning to look directly into Kole’s eyes, “I am not your Father, but I do the will of the Father in all things. The Father and I are unified in this Kole. I am your friend, and I will not keep this from you.”

Kole could not maintain the Creator’s steady gaze but cast his eyes down to the ground. “Yes, my Lord, it is as you say.”

“You must learn to understand, Kole. There is no fear in love nor is there fear in the Father, for the Father is love. Perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. The ache of loss that you feel for your brother is your fear, but he who fears has not been made perfect in love. You, Kole, have been made by love, the love of the Father, and the love your parents hold for each other. In this you must place your hope. You do not understand this yet, but hope is reserved for those things which are not yet known.”

“I hear the words you teach me, and I will hope to understand them more fully, even as you know them,” said Kole.

“Now you are understanding, Kole,” said the Creator. He laughed; a deep, rich, full-throated laugh. “Your heart has been made heavy, Kole, but it was not designed for such things. It was made to rejoice and be glad. Even my burden is light, Kole, and yours will not be more than you can bear.”

“What is my heart, Lord?”

“Your heart? Ah yes,” said the Lord with a faraway look in his eyes. “It is the center of you, the waters within a man that his thoughts spring from. Yours beats here,” He said, touching Kole’s chest. “It is filled now with longing for your brothers, for your family,” said the Lord, “but soon it will again be filled with love and with hope.”

“I am trying to understand, my Lord,” said Kole.

“You will, Kole, you will.”

They walked and spoke of many things; of creation and the wonders of it. Of nature and its marvelous workings. Of many things too numerous and awesome to name, indeed, forbidden to record lest they fall into hands that would misuse them.

In time Kole laughed, and the Creator laughed, and they continued to walk together and talk while the sun rose and fell many times.

In the course of their discussion and walking, they found themselves again in the midst of the garden. Kole stopped and looked around it. “My Lord, we have arrived at the two trees.”

“Yes, Kole.”

“These trees, was only one of them forbidden to be used for food?” asked Kole.

“Yes, Kole.”

“I was wondering, Master, why then would my parents have chosen to eat of the forbidden fruit if other fruit of like kind was so close at hand?”

“We had hoped they would choose differently,” answered the Creator.

“But why would my parents choose so poorly? Choose to disobey? Why would they not have eaten of the other first, and perhaps sated their curiosity with the fruit of the tree that was not forbidden, when both seem so equally abundant in fruit?”

“Only one was in season when your mother was approached by the serpent and made her choice, Kole.”

“Only one?”

“Yes.” Suddenly they were standing beneath one of the trees, although Kole had no memory of crossing the meadow. “This fruit,” said the Creator, reaching up and pulling a piece of the translucent fruit from a low limb, “the fruit of the tree of life, was not in season at the time, but merely budding.”

“This fruit gives life forever?” asked Kole, a fleeting thought of snatching it from the Creator’s hand and quickly swallowing a bite passed through Kole’s mind, but he dismissed it, shocked at himself for having such an idea.

“It is the Father that gives eternal life, Kole. It is His gift to whom He would choose.”

“Whom will He choose, Lord?” asked Kole, actually meaning, will He choose me?

“He has chosen already, Kole,” smiled the Creator.

“He has?”

“Yes, and their names have been written down in a book of life.”

“A book?”

“A list of sorts,” said the Creator. “Just as you know the names of each of your sheep, so too does the Father know the names in my flocks. He has known them from the foundation of the world.”

“Does He know my name, Lord?”

“He knows all names, Kole, and He has chosen you for a special task. Are you willing to hear of it?”

“I am, Lord.”

“A man desires to know his future Kole. I will tell you yours.”

“Yes, Lord?”

“It has been ordained that you should be a tool in the hand of the living God. Much as you hold a staff in your hand, you will be a tool in God’s service. The feet of man walk each step of the journey, but the man’s staff, although constantly present in his hand, travels only from point to point. You will be directed to the point that the Father has need of you. You will be His witness to spectacular events. You will see His hand at work in all that He does, for His hand will never be far from you. You will watch, and you will do as He designs. He will place you before your brothers and before their children’s children. He will position you to assist those whose names He knows. He will work through you to ensure that I will lose none of my flock, for I am the good shepherd. You will be guided and directed all the days of your life, and you will feel the Father’s spirit as He imbues you with special gifts and privileges.

But this task, Kole, is yours alone. This task is not to be revealed by your mouth. It is a special covenant that We will have with you to be locked away in your heart and preserved until the fullness of time. Do you understand, Kole, what I have said to you?”

“No, my Lord. I do not understand this thing entirely.”

The man, whether as gardener, shepherd, friend, or Creator laughed a genuine laugh, the sound of it causing the leaves above their heads to dance. “Kole, my dear friend, you have an honesty in you that touches me. I love you. This will not be the easiest path for a man to walk, but I will walk it with you Kole, and from time to time, we will walk it together.”

Kole nodded.

“You are not yet being given the gift of eternal life, Kole. That gift is far in the future for you, my friend. But God has granted you longevity of life, a life far longer than any other man will know. You will live just as you are now Kole, to see the end. All that you know will grow old and die. Many that you love will be lost from you while you yet remain. You will have sorrows in your heart that only God Himself will understand. And yet you will know much joy. You will revel with God as you witness firsthand His awesome plan unfold. You are being called, Kole, and you have been chosen because of the integrity found in you. And, because you were born without the penalties of your parents’ sin found in you. You are the only man born before the earth was cursed. Do you accept the Lord’s will for you Kole?”

“I do,” Kole said in a small, whispered voice, the sound catching in his throat at the enormity of what his Creator had revealed to him.

“Then by your own word, Kole, I grant you the seed of life.”

The Creator took the fruit from the tree of life that was in his hand and broke it open. From the center of it He plucked out six of the glowing, orange seeds that Kole had seen, shining through its pale skin. The Creator held them out in his hand to Kole, and Kole stared at the seeds. Each glowed and winked with life, like the coals that Kole had so often studied at the bottom of his family’s campfire. They pulsated and throbbed with an appearance of eagerness.

“Take these Kole, and swallow them whole.”