Marcia Talley: Dead Man Dancing

Eva:

I just want to thank you for your thoughts on the Gospel of JOHN. I always read ‘no one comes to the Father except by me’ to mean that you have to be a CHRISTIAN to get to heaven. I’ve never heard your reading – that Jesus just meant he was the gatekeeper and we don’t really know what the requirements are. Are you SURE that’s the GODLY way of reading that? I think the devil sometimes works to make us think it’s all easy.

Anyway, more important is I feel that the LORD is working in our correspondence. I know the SPIRIT is moving us together. I can tell you now that when I saw you preach last year, it wasn’t only your godly teaching that moved me but also, your a BEAUTIFUL woman and God can’t mean for you to be alone forever. You and I have become good friends but do you think GOD is calling us to MORE? I think of you alone in the WILDERNESS being purified like so many of our great saints, but all those saints had to come back eventually!!!! Write back and let me know your thoughts SOONEST

God Bless,

Jeremy

1 Cross + 3 Nails = 4given

I could feel Saint Eva’s eyes boring into me as I read. When I finished, she said, ‘Your mouth is hanging open.’

‘You’re surprised?’ I laid the printout down on the table. ‘Jiminy Christmas, Eva, what did you do? Write him back, as he said, soonest ?’

‘Not soonest. I worked on my response for two whole days. Basically, I told him I was flattered by his email, but he shouldn’t misinterpret our relationship as anything more than pastor to parishioner, based on our common commitment to God.’ She sighed. ‘And then I got this.’

She handed me a third printout.

Darling Eva

I was VERY disappointed to hear your response to my last email and I’m not the ONLY one. God is calling us to be together and you KNOW that. Are you bringing your concerns to HIM or are you relying on WORLDLY friends and thoughts?? I have PRAYED extensively and GOD told me that your unworthy husband was only a CROSS for you to bear on your path to something much BETTER. I was DESTROYED when He took my darling RHONDA last year, BUT I know when the LORD closes a door, he opens a WINDOW. His mercy is GREAT!!! We are nothing – we can’t oppose HIS will for us. I just asked him to send me a word about us. I opened the Bible with my eyes closed and pointed to a section and this is what HE sent: Psalm 19:9: ‘The LORD’s judgments are true and righteous, every one, more to be desired than gold, pure gold in plenty, sweeter than honey dripping from the comb. It is through them your servant is warned; in obeying them is great reward.’ I am ready JOYFULLY to do HIS will and take you into my heart and my arms where you BELONG!!!

Love,

Jeremy

1 Cross + 3 Nails = 4given

‘Oh. My. Gawd. That sounds an awful lot like a proposal of marriage.’

‘Exactly.’

‘So, what did you do?’

‘I concocted an email that looked like an auto-reply. “Rev Haberman is away from her computer and cannot respond to your email at the present time. If this is an emergency, please contact…” and then I put in the phone number of the Diocesan Center in Baltimore, closed my eyes, and hit Send.’

‘And?’

‘Nothing. I’m not proud of it, but after talking with the bishop, I decided to ignore Mr Jeremy Dunstan. Mistake, as it turns out.’

‘Why is that?’

‘When Jeremy didn’t hear back from me by the end of the week, he called the parish office, and some idiot gave him my mailing address. The next thing I know, Jeremy shows up at the post office in Stanley, Idaho, wanting to know where he could find the owner of Box 293.’

‘Eva, no! Did they tell him?’

‘They?’ Eva sniggered. ‘“They” is Michelle, the postmaster. And, no, she didn’t, praise God, but Jeremy gave her a difficult time. Michelle had to call the police chief to remove Jeremy from the premises.’

‘Where did Jeremy go?’

‘I don’t know. I only heard about the incident when I drove into town for groceries a couple of days later. Jeremy had been staying at the Sawtooth Hotel, but by that time, he’d checked out.’

‘So I went back to the cabin,’ she continued, ‘but the whole isolation thing was starting to spook me. Like any moment Jeremy Dunstan was going to pop out of the trees holding an engagement ring in his hand.’ She paused. ‘Or, maybe a shotgun.’

It was hard for me to picture Eva being spooked by anything, and I told her so.

‘I locked myself in, Hannah, and every morning I’d find myself staring out the window, looking for fresh footprints in the snow.’

‘Jeremy, Jeremy… I’m trying to put a face on this guy.’ I’d been one of the faithful at St Cat’s since, well since Old Rector Bob, and I couldn’t think of anyone in the congregation named Jeremy.

‘He wasn’t one of our regulars, Hannah. When he first came, he’d sit in one of the back pews, over near the baptismal font.’

‘What’s he look like?’

‘Short, stocky, neckless. From a distance, it looks like Jeremy has an abundant head of hair, but up close, you realize it’s the world’s worst toupee. Like a small brown animal crawled up top of his head, and died.’

‘Man of my dreams!’ I chuckled.

Just then, the waitress arrived with our order. I looked at my plate, thinking I wasn’t very hungry, until the irresistible aroma of Old Bay seasoning wafted up, tweaked my nose, and got those digestive juices flowing. ‘Dig in,’ I said, ‘before it gets cold.’

‘And then, just to prove there is a God,’ Eva continued, waving a fork full of cheesy crab, ‘I got an email from a former parishioner who works at the Maryland Hall of Records.’

I swallowed. ‘And?’

‘Seems there was a church over on the eastern shore that burned down in the mid-1700s. Everyone thought the records perished in the fire, but incredibly, someone just found them in an old trunk down in Dorchester County.’ She popped the crab into her mouth, then rolled her eyes appreciatively. ‘Religious records are often the only source of birth and death information, so this collection is a gold mine for researchers and genealogists. Anyway -’ Eva dabbed at her mouth with a corner of her napkin – ‘this parishioner remembered that I had a BA in History, so for the two months left on my sabbatical, I’ve volunteered to help update the Guide to Maryland Religious Institutions Featuring the Collections of the Maryland State Archives . How’s that for a mouthful?’

‘Footprints in the snow aside, are you going to miss Idaho?’ I asked.

‘Living alone in a cabin in the middle of nowhere was just what I needed, at least at first. I talked with the bishop, prayed for guidance and direction, and left plenty of room for God to toss back an answer.’ She smiled. ‘I wasn’t expecting God to throw me a curve, of course.’

‘I’ve never been to Idaho. All I know is potatoes. What’s Stanley like?’

‘Stanley’s three blocks long and two blocks wide, with a population of just over one hundred. The main drag is called Ace of Diamonds Avenue. How about that?’ she laughed. ‘Summer was perfection. Fall was gorgeous, for the aspens turning golden, if nothing else. But, once November came around…’ Eva put her knife and fork down, forming an X on her plate. ‘Stanley’s at 6200 feet, and in the winter it gets down to thirty below. When I found myself at Williams Motor Sports bundled up to the eyebrows, shivering in my boots, and seriously considering renting a snow mobile, I decided Stanley, Idaho, was a bit too much winter wonderland, even for me. So, in spite of what happened with Roger, I came back. I’m not ready yet, but by the time my sabbatical is over, I fully intend to return to St Cat’s.’