The Ferryman
“I cannot see a thing! Brother Simon, where are you, are you at hand?”
“I am here Brother Paul, I hear you but I too appear to be without sight, all is dark, there is no light.”
“Praise be to God. For a moment, a fraction of fear ripped at my soul, I thought I stood alone. One minute I am sitting where I now stand with warmth and brightness, sunshine and light cascading through every pore of my physical being. Without warning all became as it now is, dark!”
“I am cold, bitterly so and to the very core of my bones. Trembling and shaking, and it worsens by the second. My belief in our God is failing me as fear overcomes my breath. Yet, I see no steam of cold breath in the darkness.”
“You are not alone and I too fear this sudden darkness and cold. I do not understand. Surely we cannot both have lost our capacity to see, is this the End of Times?”
“Brother Simon, let us breathe slowly and attempt to control our fear, then perhaps we may gain some semblance and clarity to know where we are because this is not our monastery, that is for certain as even in darkness our home is familiar and this, whatever it be, is not!”
“Who is there, reveal yourself, I hear but I cannot see you?”
“Brother Simon, did you hear that voice?”
“I did Brother Paul but I still see nothing.”
“I said, who are you, tell me, and tell me now!”
“My name is Brother Paul and my friend is Brother Simon. Where are we, do you know, and who are you?”
“You are religious Brothers or are you referring to yourselves as kin?”
“We are Franciscan Monks and both of us are very old indeed, who are you and do you know where we are, please tell us?”
“My name is not important and as to where we are, is between a world you have known for three score years and ten and one of nothingness, a void and yet not!”
“Brother Paul?”
“Yes, Brother Simon.”
“I think we are speaking to the Angel of Death?”
“The Angel of Death brought you to me, into the void, to this river and I will help you to get to the other side. This is a duty I have honoured since time began.”
“So we are dead?”
“Only to what was and not to what now is. Life is everlasting and your souls are on a journey toward contemplation.”
“But how did we die? I have no memory of illness. Do you Brother Simon?”
“I do not. But I am having difficulty remembering anything at all.”
“Fear not Brothers, you will remember that which is important but all that is not will be and is forgotten.”
“So our journey is to heaven Ferryman?”
“Is that where we are going?”
“Your journey will end when this boat of darkness reaches the shore”
Lazarus Carpenter - Author 