Words for Wednesday ~ Father Paul's Second Quandary

The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over as a moveable feast with many participants supplying the Words.
    When Delores closed her blog forever due to other problems, Elephant's Child (Sue) took over the role of co-ordinator.
    Now, after Sue's demise River at Drifting through Life has taken over as our new coordinator. Thanks!

No matter what, how, where or who the aim of the words is to encourage us to write. A story, a poem, whatever comes to our mind.

This month the words are again supplied by Sean Jeating, who thankfully stepped in when our regular supplier was MIA, and can be found at River's blog.

If you are posting an entry on your own blog, please leave a comment on River's blog, then we can come along and read it and add a few encouraging words.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

We were given these words:
Technique  
Think  
Taught  
Way  
Completely
    and/or:
Learn  
Write  
Exist
Reading  
Lost

I read the words on Wednesday, and then I took a long, warm soak. Bathing always makes me think. This time my thoughts went to my dear Father Paul from Mary, Allan and the End of the World. But it was not until today I finally found time to sit down and write out what I though.

All this happens years, maybe 15 years after Father Paul's Quandary

Father Paul had begun to feel old. He was the only priest in their settlement. As far as he knew, he was the only priest on all of the Earth. They had found another settlement in what had been the south of Italy, and the Italians had all moved close to their settlement, making a satellite village, where Father Paul went every Saturday evening and did what priestly things had to be done, mostly baptisms and confessions. Early Sunday morning, he celebrated mass and then walked back home in time for mass in the big "town" where all the rest of the settlers lived in small clusters, much like the villages of old Europe. But now he was beginning to tire, and on his weekly treks he was thinking. One Sunday after mass he spoke with Allan and Mary and Tom, the old pilot who had been the rock steady leader of the community for years, but now had stepped down to give room for younger people.
Father Paul scratched his long, grey beard and looked at them: "I have been thinking, lately. We survived the end of the world, didn't we. But if it was the end of the world, what then? God promised to be with us all days until the end of the world. Did the world really end, and am I only a parody of a priest? ... and more to the point, what will happen when I die?"

"You've been doing some tough thinking," Tom said. I am not a theologian, I was never good at discussing fine points from the Bible for days on end."
"I'm no better," Allan said. "I always asked the priest when I had that kind of questions. I always meant to ask you such questions, but I never made it that far. We've been busy ..."

"And now we're old ... " father Paul said despondently. "It's not dying that scares me, I'll happily meet my Creator and Boss," he smiled softly, "But the thought that scares me is: 'what will happen to the world'  I feel that, striving as we are, we're only a parenthetical bump on the last pages of Earth's cruel history."

In the end Tom declared a common day of prayer and fasting on the next Friday.

It was Robert who after the day of fasting and prayers asked to have the word. He started by carefully opening Father Paul's worn Bible and reading aloud from Matthew 28.20: "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" When I studied - he looked directly at Fr. Paul - you see I had the idea of becoming a priest once too, but then I had trouble with so many things, languages, celibacy, obedience ... that my mentor sent me back home to think it over, I then became a mechanics ... and met Liza, he said smiling fondly at his wife, having her hands full with their children. But we were always reading this chapter as "All days until the ends of the world" - plural, not the end. And tell me - where does the world end?" He looked at them all after his rhetorical question. "No, the world has no ends. This is one of God's jokes." He turned once again to Father Paul: "Tell me, please, does your sacraments still work? Are we still cleansed in baptism, forgiven when you say 'Ego te absolvo', and are bread and wine still turned into blood and body of our lord Jesus Christ upon your word?"
Father Paul rose to his feet and looked admiringly and with gleaming eyes at the young man. "You're right, and what more is, you have put it in terms I, and anybody else can if not verify, then at least feel. Of course we still have to believe, but ... I'm convinced. The ends of the world indeed," He sat down laughing.

Robert waited for silence to be restored before continuing: "And furthermore I was taught that in times of need anyone, even those not baptized, can baptise whomever needs it in any kind of water, only not beer or pee. Am I even right there, Father?"
Father Paul managed: "Water, any kind of water, not beer, milk soup or any such," before he began laughing in earnest. His laughter was echoed from many of the people gathered in the room.
Robert continued: "Really it's no laughing matter, but I was also taught that God understands laughter, whereas the devil does not. So to resume ... In the same way, you are the only priest of the whole world, as far as we know anyway, and in times of need you will legitimately be able to create new priests when you find the right ones."

Robert sat down and Father Paul went over to him, where he sat next to his wife. they spoke together in low voices for a short while, then Fr. Paul went to the lectern. He looked around at the people in the big room, drew a deep breath and said: "Thank you, Robert. Thank you everybody. We have all come a long way from when we thought the world ended. According to Robert it has not, and won't before its time is truly up. Not by any human derision, but in God's own time." He smiled and looked at everybody, they looked back at him, some of the children fidgeting.

He continued: "I'll keep this short.  Because still I'm not as young as I used to be, and your propensity to multiply and fill the world is wearing me down. I need help. And Robert just volunteered to become a permanent deacon, able to baptise, marry, and hold sermons. He already gave us a nice test sermon, I dare say. And if anybody has anything to say against him being thus ordained speak now - or at least before next Sunday to me privately - or be silent ever after!"


Here ends this spin-of from Mary, Allan and the End of the World.