Chapter 6
The Leper Messiah ~ continued from Chapter 6 | The Land of Canaan
Arlemay wandered for weeks, dazed by the sun and blinded by the light of The Rose.
“Where am I?” he said when he woke up in a small fishing hut. His fingers and toes were numb.
“You are at Galilee,” the old fisherman answered as he fed the dirty man soup.
“Have you seen her?” He sat up in the hut and reached out in the darkness. “Have you seen her? It is too hot; the fire is too hot.”
He shielded his eyes and then scratched his arm and leg. He wiped his runny nose with the sleeve of his robe.
“Who?” the old man replied.
“The Rose.” He stood up but then fainted and remained on the dirt floor close to death.
The villagers brought him back to the living. Days later the old man lifted his head and forced him to drink fish soup.
“You are weak still.”
“No, The Rose gives me strength.” The ragged man sat up and looked around.
Other fishermen came to the old man’s hut to see this stranger.
“He is not from here?” one man asked.
“No family,” another whispered.
A woman began to weep as she looked upon the troubled, withered frame.
She took hold of her husband and cried into his sleeve.
“Abandoned,” she cried.
Arlemay grabbed a torn fishing net and began to mend it. His hands worked expertly along the net as if he were a craftsman who had worked his trade for years.
‘”I have never done this before,” he giggled madly to himself.
The villagers watched the bearded man-child mend the line.
He was giddy with delight. “It’s her sign,” he called as he ventured outside into daylight for the first time.
He kneeled in pain against the brilliant light.
He spread his arms upward and called to the heavens, “I will gather men from this village for you! Follow me, as I know the path.”
For days and nights he fixed the fishing nets and would cook for the men as they came back with their catch.
“Abe, come and listen,” he said one night. “We could fish for days and still go hungry for what we need. We are not feeding our souls.”
Abe was a great blond giant, strong and steady. You looked at his shoulders and knew that he would carry your burden for miles without rest.
“What would we do?” Abe said.
“The Rose would be our guide.”
The light of The Rose will guide thee, and the path of The Rose will lead you from east to west and beyond.
“But my family, my wife and children.”
“Come with us and we would all celebrate The Rose.”
One day Mira, the wife of Abe, came to visit the net mender.
Mira put down a heavy leather bag.
“You have brought something special to these poor men,” she said.
He looked up at her and smiled.
“I try,” he said as he continued to work over a gnarled fishing net.
“What have you brought?” she asked gently.
“A better day, a better understanding of how to live.”
“How is it better?”
“You are a wise woman and Abe is blessed to have you for a wife.”
“I don’t need your blessing.” She placed the heavy leather bag at his feet. “But I need to know what these are.”
Mira opened the bag and took out a small clay jar. “I found these and have kept them hidden until now.”
Arlemay took the long, narrow jar and reverently caressed it.
“It’s what I have been looking for,” he muttered.
“They were buried in a cave near the water. I saw one sticking up.” She looked at the bag. “There are nine jars.”
He held the earth-colored container as a woman holds her newborn.
Mira looked at the bearded man with burning eyes.
“Will it show us how to provide a better life for our families, how to bring more peace into our lives and teach our children?”
“Oh, yes.”
He shook with joy.
“Yes, Mira. It will show us a better life, a better path without empty nets and hungry mouths. It will show you an ocean where you can feed your family’s soul.”
“Take them; they are yours.” She picked up the leather bag. “I will talk with Abe about this.”
That night the men returned to the shores with little or no fish.
Abe came to the net mender, sweating and tired from work.
“What will I tell Mira?” Abe said with head in his hands. “I can’t go home.”
Arlemay took Abe by the shoulders and brought him to where the fishing nets were kept. He motioned to the other men to follow him.
“Let me feed your families tonight.” He said. “Let me show you the path.” He went to a basket and showed them jumping fish.
The men shouted with joy and picked up the fish in their hands, hugging them and dancing around the nets.
“But how did you?” Abe stood in amazement. “Did you go out on the water today? We saw no other boats.”
“No, my friend, it was a brighter light and a better path.”
Continue reading… Chapter 6 | The Rose
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