NOTE: This tale is an “amplification” of the two-part series: “The Parable of Konner Fuller”, excerpted from my unpublished book;, Shana of Mamooda, for the further clarification of events that happened (albeit fictitiously) in the life of Toma Jon Lea, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of The United Republics of the East, and later the President of that nation. Read Part 2 of that parable AFTER you’ve read this story.
CHAPTER 01
EXPLANATARY PROLOGUE-- A FLASHBACK IN TIME
In a far future year in the 28th century lived a man named Toma Jon Lea. At the time of this event he was the Supreme Commander of all of the armed forces of his nation, The United Republics of the East, or “Republica” as its citizens called it. By being thoroughly prepared for war with the deadly enemy of Republica, the Mamooden Protectorate, or “Mamooda” as everyone living on the Great Northern Continent called it, Supreme Commander Lea and his President had been able to keep the peace, but not without difficulty. The Triune God of eternity had even brought about what most people in Republica considered an answer to their long expressed prayers, for the once anti-Christian nation of Mamooda had been opened to God’s Word for the first time in hundreds of years, as Christian missionaries were slowly, and then increasingly welcomed into that nation.
Toma was loved and respected by his countrymen, by his wife, Debora, and their three children—Jon, George, and Shana. The Lea family went back far before the “Dark Time”—even long before the “Nationality Wars”, back to the ancient family of Rober Tely, according to very old and trusted genealogical records researched by the Defenders of the Great Charter. Thanks to the faithful and very hard work of his business partner, Dav Adams, who ran Lea Enterprises, Toma was a very wealthy man. Life was good, and mostly predictable. A faithful Christian believer, as were his entire family, he spoke often, through prayer, with his LORD and Savior, Jesus the Messiah.
And then, on one horrible day in the year A.D. 2701, Toma’s “good and predictable” life ended, as an intoxicated young man, in a drunken stupor, crashed his vehicle at a high rate of speed into the vehicle driven by Toma’s wife of many years, Debora. (See Part 1 of THE PARABLE OF KONNER FULLER). She was killed almost instantly, and for the next three years Toma believed he had died with Debora, even though he still walked among the living. He had ceased being the man he had been. Debilitating grief was becoming the dominant factor of his life—grief that was becoming ever more difficult to quench. Something had to be done to pull him out of the blackness he lived in. His children, sisters and all of his friends and business and military associates knew that, and prayed constantly for Toma. The people of Republica did the same. All of those prayers were about to be answered.
THE COMFORT OF SORROW: YEAR 2704 A.D.
Camila, Toma’s widowed sister who lived with him at Lea House, Dav Adams, his long time business partner, and all of his estate staff knew that this was the third anniversary of Debora’s tragic death, and they all dreaded it for the effect it would have on him, as much as he himself dreaded the terrible memories of that day. The evening before, he had vowed to stay positive and not let his almost out-of-control grief dominate him, as it had for much of the previous three years. However, long before dawn the memory of that life ending day reared up to consume him again; he was kneeling in the cold rain beside Debora’s grave in the walled Lea cemetery enclosure behind First Church (The Old White Church), in Andria City. His resolve of the day before to overcome his grief had fled, and he was in the deepest despair as he wept uncontrollably.
CHAPTER 02
“THOUGH TROUBLES ASSAIL US…….”
“I know I have to get over your death, my love,” he sobbed. “I know I have to go on living without you, but the pressures are becoming unbearable.” He wept uncontrollably, his tears falling into the rain running off of his raingear and pooling at his knees. “I can’t go on without you, my love. I can’t endure the pressures of being the President of this country without you by my side,” he cried out. “Oh LORD Jesus, help me, or take me home to be with Debora,” he sobbed. He closed his eyes, seeking relief from his pain in his darkness, the rain drops suddenly making a comforting sound on his head covering.
He was unaware of how long he had knelt by Debora’s grave, his head bowed when, in the darkness, a wonderful sense of warmth enveloped his entire body and the rain stopped falling on him, although he could plainly see that it was still raining all around him.
He closed his eyes again, for how long he did not know, but soon sensed that he was not alone. The feeling gave him great comfort. He suddenly smelled the floral scent that Debora had worn so often—a scent he hadn’t enjoyed for three years. Then he felt an arm around his waist, just where Debora had always held him. Then Debora’s familiar voice began to recite the words to an ancient poem by John Newton that had been Debora’s favorite:
“Though troubles assail us and dangers cause us fright,
though our friends should all fail us and our enemies unite,
yet one thing secures us, when we feel we must hide—
God’s promise assures us—the Lord will provide!
When the Evil One attacks us to turn us from our path,
and our courage seems to fail us, we must win by our faith.
He cannot take that from us, though often he has tried;
God’s heart-cheering promise—the Lord will provide!
No strength of our own and no goodness we claim;
Yet since we have known of our Savior’s great name,
in Him—our strong tower—for safety we hide;
The Lord is our power—the Lord will provide!”
Then Toma felt another arm around his shoulders—it was a man’s strong arm. He was certain of that. For a moment he thought it was the grave place caretaker, until he heard the voice which flooded his mind with peace and acceptance
“Lean on Me, my child,” said the comforting Presence, “and I will give you peace. Sorrow no longer, for the one whom you love is with Me now, and you
will see her again when your tasks here are done. Yet a little while, my child, and you will live with Me forever. Another will comfort you until then, and always will I be with you, even to the end of this time.”
CHAPTER 03
SORROW IS COMFORTED—GRIEF IS OVERCOME!
Toma felt as though he was suddenly in a beautiful, warm, and special place in which he had never been. For how long he was in this state of almost euphoria he didn’t know—perhaps it had been merely a few moments, perhaps much longer. A great peace fell upon him, a peace he never wanted to end. Suddenly, however, he jerked his head, crying out as if in a beautiful dream, and opened his eyes. The first thing he realized was that his tears had vanished. The man’s strong arm around his shoulders was gone, but the arm around his waist was still there. He turned his head, and in the darkness and the rain, which had resumed falling on his face, he saw his beloved Debora next to him, holding him as she had so many times. He put his arms around her and pulled her to him.
“Debora my love. I’ve missed you so much—so much, my love.” Toma could see the rain falling down onto her face from her blond hair, and he heard himself joyfully and loudly calling her name—“Debora—Debora my love!”
JOY COMES IN THE MORNING
“Daddy,” said a voice, “it’s me—Shana! it’s Shana, Daddy, not Debora!” Toma felt himself flowing back into the chilly and wet reality of the present. It wasn’t Debora standing next to him, he slowly realized. It was his daughter, Shana, a younger almost duplicate of Debora.
“Shana,” he asked, “what are you doing here? Why aren’t you at your university?”
“Daddy,” she sobbed, “I came on the newam jet tube after you beamed me. You told me to come home immediately. I came as soon as I could. I woke up Aunt Cam and she came and picked me up at the station. She said I should look for you here, at Mom’s grave place.” Still holding the large unrainer partially above her father, her blue Debora eyes looked at him with love and concern.
“Beam you, Shana? I didn’t beam you. I haven’t talked with you since you left to return to university.”
“I don’t think I was dreaming, Daddy,” she exclaimed. “You said I should come home right away. You sounded so urgent that I knew I had to come. I know it was your voice.”
“How long have you been here, Huny?” asked Toma, pulling Shana close to him. She was shivering, even with her warm rain deflector coat over her.
“Not long, Daddy. I heard you talking to Mom. I knelt down beside you and put my arm around you and held my unrainer over us” she replied.
“Shana, did you see the man who was here with us, just a few minutes ago?” asked Toma. In the gradual light of early dawn he could see Shana’s confusion. “How did you remember your mother’s favorite poem?”, asked her confused father. “I don’t recall you ever reciting it. And you’re wearing her favorite perfume.”
“What man, Daddy? There was no one else here. Just you and me. And what poem, Daddy?” asked Shana, her voice exhibiting alarm over her father’s mental state. “I didn’t say anything to you. I just knelt down here on the grass with you and put my arm around you while you were talking to Mom, and I held my unrainer over us. And I didn’t have time to put on any perfume before I left for the jet tube station.”
Toma could see Shana’s tears mixing with the rain. He kissed her forehead, the realization of what had just happened to him beginning to stir a joy in him that he had not felt since before Debora’s death.
“I smelled your Mom’s perfume, and heard her reciting her favorite ancient poem. I heard her clearly, Shana. And I felt a man’s arm around my shoulders, and he comforted me. He told me that I should stop grieving over your mother’s death, for I would see her again when my tasks here are done. He said someone else would comfort me. Didn’t you see or hear him?” asked Toma.
Shana looked at Debora’s grave marker, and then at her father. “No, Daddy, I didn’t. But you did, I know. You know, don’t you, who it was that told me to come and comfort you, and who it was that put his arm around you just now and comforted you? Daddy—Jesus God, or The Holy Spirit, came here to comfort you, and me. Oh, Daddy, isn’t it wonderful that our Savior would do this for us?” Shana was smiling at him, and he knew instantly that, although he would always miss Debora, he would no longer be controlled by grief over her death.
“Yes, Shana,” he responded, as he hugged his daughter close to him. “I do know Who it was. He wanted you to be with me at this time, so we could comfort each other. He always knows what is best for us.. What a wonderful Saviour we have!” Shana got up and went to her mother’s grave marker, and touched it affectionately. She was trying to smile and not to cry, but not succeeding at either.
“Let’s go home, Daddy. We all have work to do,”, replied Shana. “We have to tell the others that something wonderful—something life changing—happened
here.”. The sun was rising in a cascade of glorious color, and the clouds were breaking. It was going to be a great day.
Chapter 05 HOW DID GOD SPEAK TO TOMA LEA?
HOW DOES HE SPEAK TO US?
Have you ever been incapacitated by uncontrolled grief, especially for long periods of time.? All of us have suffered or will suffer grief in our lives. It’s a part of living. In our story, Supreme Commander Toma Lea was controlled by almost debilitating grief for three years, following the death of his beloved wife, Debora, who was killed by an intoxicated young man. But at just the right time, his Triune God spoke to him, and comforted him, and healed him of his grief. Or so Toma believed to the last day of his life.
How does God ‘speak” to people who live today? Does He speak in a soft or loud voice, as He did several times over many centuries as recounted in Scripture? It’s doubtful that He speaks that way in our present. But He does surely speak to both Christians and non-Christians today. How, you may ask?
- Through His Word: -“All Scripture is God-Breathed”.2nd Timothy 3:16
- Though His Son—Our Savior—Part of the Tri-unity of God Hebrews 1:1-2
- Through Nature and All of Creation—Romans 1:20
- Through Other Christians—James 3:17
- Through Music (Praise Hymns and Classical--2nd Chronicles 20:21
- Through The Holy Spirit—1st Corinthians 3:15
- Through Prayer—Romans 8:26-27
So, yes, our Creator does speak to his “Creation” in many ways, and always has. But in this story: THE COMORT OF SORROW, our Triune God, seemingly in the “person’ of our, and Toma’s, Savior, spoke “audibly” (as Toma always believed) AND put his
arm around Toma’s shoulders. Could “God”—i.e. Jesus the Messiah, do that today to any of us? Well, IF He is God, and IF He exists as we believe He does, and IF Jesus is the Second Person of our Triunity as we believe He is, then yes, of course, the Creator of the Universe could comfort one of His children on a cold and rainy night in a lonely cemetery, for HIS reasons. Don’t you agree?
But did Toma really feel a man’s “strong arm” around him in his time of great grief? Did he merely imagine it, or did he “dream” that he felt a man’s arm around his shoulders? Could God have done that comforting gesture and spoken those grief-ending words? IF He exists as we believe He does, then the answer must be YES, for with God nothing is impossible. I leave the questions for YOU, my readers, to answer in your minds.
Who was it who called Shana, in a voice she assumed was her father’s, sounding exactly like him, and requesting her to “come home” immediately. If it was really her Savior, why do you think He wanted her to be with her father during his somewhat “supernatural’ event? Could a “double blessing” be the answer? And why would our Savior call Shana on an electronic device rather than speaking directly to her, audibly or in her mind?
Now I’ve written this story to purposely pose some questions about Toma’s “experience”. I imply that, perhaps, he fell asleep (he closed his eyes for a time) and dreamed it all. He was comforted by a voice that spoke to him audibly (in his dream, or awake?) The voice assured him that he must not grieve any longer over his wife’s death, for she was “with Him”, as Toma would be when his “work” on Earth was done. If this was just a dream, then why did it occur at that particular place and time? Was a “dream” powerful enough to end Toma’s debilitating grief instantly?
Was it a “dream” or reality, when Toma heard Debora’s voice reciting her favorite old poem? Or was it really Shana who spoke
in what Toma believed was Debora’s voice? Did he really smell Debora’s familiar floral scent, or was it just a powerful dream, and perhaps just “imagined”? Was this experience—this meeting with his Savior, a way for God to “cure” Toma of his grief so that he could complete the other work on Earth he still had to do? Work such as serving as President of Republica soon thereafter? What do you think?
And why, do you suppose, did our Triune God not remove the “hatred in his heart” that still controlled Toma for the next eight years after that miraculous occurrence in the cemetery? Why wouldn’t God remove that “hate” against Konner Fuller that Toma fed for eleven years? Perhaps a clue can be found in Part Two of THE PARABLE OF KONNER FULLER.
Remember—this is only a fictional story! Remember also that with GOD nothing is impossible!
