Historical setting: 584 C.E. The house of Eve, pagan healer
Nic is telling me what happened when I last died and it does explain why this healing has taken so long. He says the huge stone being raised by the wooden crane fell back and landed on the wheel, while I was walking the treads.
Now the child who assists my daughter has come bringing us a tray with tea and bread. She tells us this is a special brew to give new strength to body and mind.
“And what for the soul?” Nic asks teasingly.
I answered, “She makes music with her flute for the soul.”
I’m not sure my words were really spoken; Nic couldn’t hear me. But Anatase was amazed and told Eve, “The broken man can speak! And he wants me to play my flute!”
Eve instructs the child, “Let them have tea first, then you can play your flute for them.”
Yes, the tea and the biscuits give us both strength and Nic can actually hear the flute. It’s true our spirits are renewed by the music.
I’m nearly restored to life though not yet “glowing,” as may have been the expectation of Eve. And Nic rambles on in his elder’s whisper-voice, telling me his worries with the huge stone.
“I assumed as we all did that you couldn’t have survived such a horrific thing, but I was the only person who could guess that might not be the end of you. I feared we had only three days until you awoke back into life, and probably we would find you badly damaged. I felt an urgency to remove the stone that no one else shared. Brother Joel listened to my worry and reminded me we had four days, because only Jesus rose on the third day, and if you really were that Lazarus, you would have at least four days in the tomb. I found that assuring.
August went to work right away, I think just to set my mind at ease, making sure the stone would be removed and not just left there to be part of the church. They were redesigning the structure so no more stone would need to be lifted by cranes and there was a thought to leave that stone imbedded a foot deep, as it fell as it was. It would be designated as a memorial to fallen construction workers. Your name would be carved on it. That was a grim possibility indeed.”
(Continues tomorrow)
Lazarus Ink 