The Preacher

He was speaking of a new order. His preaching’s and examples caused them to think. His emphasis was on Love - Love God, Love Parents, Love Children, Love Neighbors, Love One Another.      

His followers claimed, he was the one whose arrival was written about. This caused a disturbance in the existing order. The office bearers did not like any change to the existing. They tolerated his discourse, until they thought he crossed the line. Now their survival was at peril. He had to be done away with.

The Preacher got wind of the plot. He would not succumb to threats. Camouflage he did. His team began to dress and appear like him with flowing robes and mane. This added to their confusion until he stood up to speak. By his words alone was he recognized.

With time, the office bearers were able to get numbers on their side, and the chase to extradite him began. They did not want him to set foot in their domain. He chose not to enter their places of worship. But did challenge them, by entering town riding a Donkey. He did not set foot as was the Order. Welcomed by surging crowds with swaying palms, was beyond their acceptance. But how would they identify him in a crowd and get him arrested by the law keepers. He had a dozen lookalikes. His team had to be torn apart. Which one of this dozen would identify the preacher?
One stood up. He would identify him, if compensated.

The Preacher got to know of this crossover. Being caught was now imminent. That night as they retreated, he partook in their supper. Should he be arrested, he said, they should continue where he had stopped, and whenever they gather for a meal, recall this night of dining together.  

After the meal, the Preacher and his followers withdrew into a nearby forest. This was where they hid the past week. Nobody knew of the place. Until now, their places of hiding was unknown. 

Post midnight, whispers were aloud, of the arrival of the inimical forces, to arrest him. He asked those closest to stay on guard as he planned next. When he returned they were asleep. The sounds of the opposing forces grew nearer. He began to sweat and wondered if this is what it would finally come to. In his mind he gave in. He knew he could not escape as exits were all guarded. His own had brought about this end…..

The Meal is now a ritual. Letters sent initially to those at home of the travails as they preached the word, and accounts of those closest to the Preacher were read for others to be aware of what transpired in the writers presence. These were read and reread, so that those present would know of the teachings ….. this is read to date as the ritual continues.

The Art of Loving

Ralph was at Joe’s to meet the proposed boy for his daughter Samaira. Since they were in a long period of sorrow, 963 days to be exact, and had to get over it, a wedding celebration was the better way out. Disappointed with the no show of the proposed groom, he was to leave when Joe asked Ralph if another marriage would suffice. Ralph wondered if Joe had another boy in mind.  ‘No’ said Joe ‘A girl’. They were seated in the living area. Joe got Ralph turn around and see a young girl leave the apartment. Ralph agreed she would make a good wife for his son.
A week later the father son duo visited Joe to meet a groom that never was. After a long wait they decided to depart. On descending the stairway Ralph got Raj to ring the bell of another door. It was the last bell heard, for soon the city plunged into darkness. A short while later, the door cracked open and there stood a young girl, candle in hand that shone her pretty face. They entered the living area as the customary Tea and Biscuits were served in darkness. Little did he know that he was within kissing distance of his to be bride.
A showdown on the high street and Raj had to acquiesce to Ralphs terms. As they got home Raj informed his siblings that instead of a boy they met a girl and he agreed to his father’s demands. It was an independence of a different kind to find himself engaged on that momentous day.
Marriage was confirmed for November. How the heavens roared at the appointed hour.Was this a Monsoon Wedding. And they were solemnized at the ceremony as Man & Wife.
Raj didn’t know his wife until they got married. But he proclaimed a self confessed love to her on that second night. She kind of gave him this half-shy, half-amused smile, nodded and looked off. Raj was heartbroken by the response. Why wasn’t he getting reciprocal lovey-dovey-ness as a just married couple? Love for him was an emotion to be expressed.

Now retired, he found himself offering to help out around the house more and more. And after each time, there would be this look she would give him.  This look of absolute love.  One that was soft and so beautiful. It took him longer than he cared to admit and understand what was happening. But eventually it became clear.  Through giving, through doing things for his wife, the emotion that he had been so desperately seeking naturally came about.  It wasn’t something he could force, just something that would come about as a result of his giving. In other words, it was in the practicality that he found the love he was looking for. And what was even more interesting was that once he realized this on a conscious level, he started trying to find more opportunities to help and the more they both almost intuitively, became lovey-dovey.  When he let it out of his chest that night, it wasn’t love. Telling someone you love them doesn’t mean that you do. And that’s why his wife just gave him that half-smile.  She knew, even if he didn’t, what love really is.

Now a bit more experienced with this relationship, he has finally come to realize something. Something he didn’t want to admit for a long time. He didn’t love her when they got engaged. He didn’t even love her when they got married. He didn’t love her on that second night. The fire he felt, was simply an emotional heat from the excitement of being around a woman  It wasn’t love. Love isn’t an emotion or even a noun.  It’s a verb. Better defined as giving...As putting someone else’s needs above your own.