An Amish Family Christmas (14 page)

Naomi couldn’t think. She saw in her mind a Bible open to the Gospel of Luke, she saw the chapter numbers 9 and 10 and 11, but she couldn’t read the words.

From behind her, a man spoke up. “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Naomi stared at Rebecca, her mouth opening, and shot to her feet, turning and stumbling as she looked behind her.

It was Luke.

He continued to speak. “He said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right, this do, and thou shalt live.

“But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?

“And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.”

Everyone had turned to face Luke. Only Minister Yoder, Luke, and Naomi were on their feet. Luke met the gaze of the church with his dark eyes.

“Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”

Minister Yoder nodded, putting his glasses back over his eyes. “
Danke.
”

Luke remained standing.

The bishop climbed to his feet. “Naomi. Go to your brother.”

She made her way past the seats and benches and grasped Luke by his hands. “My brother, what is this?”

“I’m sorry, Naomi. It was time to speak.”

“You’re sorry?” Tears cut across her face. “You’re sorry?”

“They know what God is saying to them. Now they must act on it.”

“Why did you come? Why did you come to the worship service today?”

“I felt compelled to put a saddle on Rupert and ride him here.”

“And Micah didn’t stop you?”

“Why should he stop me? We understand each other.” He stared at the bishop. “And you understand the Lord.”

Bishop Fischer nodded. “
Ja
. A man can only run from God so long. He can only be Jonah for a season.” He looked at the people. “Is it not strange that Luke should speak on such a day as this? On the other hand, why shouldn’t the Lord open his mouth on such a day as this?” His eyes swept the men and women seated in his house. “Every married man knows he may be called upon to serve as a minister among us. That if it comes, it will be the Lord who calls him, not his people. The Lord has spoken to us clearly that it is to be Micah Bachman.”

Minister Yoder nodded.

Voices rose from the congregation. “But he is under the
bann
!”

“He has broken the
Ordnung!
”

“He cannot be considered, Bishop Fischer!”

The bishop held up his hands as more men spoke up. “All this will be prayed through. All this will be discussed. But I must tell you before we go any further on this Lord’s Day, I hereby lift the
bann
on Micah Bachman. I, your bishop, declare he has followed the Lord as the Lord led him even though it led him against the rules of our faith as we have understood them for more than three hundred years. I have prayed, I have fasted, and this is what I declare to you. I am not alone in this. The ministers also feel this is of the Lord. That he called out from among us someone who would bring the healing of Christ into the middle of one of our world’s worst hells—warfare. We will not fight God on this any further. We will not resist the Holy Spirit.

“We have our
Ordnung,
and it serves us well. But God has his
Ordnung
too, and it is greater than ours. We bow to it. We all must bow to it.
Ja,
this is what I declare unto you—Micah Bachman may walk among us again and break bread with us again and worship with us again. He may return to his wife and his wife to him. He may speak, and we may hear his voice lifted again in praise to God. Your leadership is in unity on this—Micah Bachman is free.”

Murmuring ran through the congregation.

“Naomi, there must be talk among the people over this. Talk that would be best if you were not here. You and Luke return to your home.” The bishop turned to Rebecca. “
Dochter
, it is your brother, Micah. It should be me who goes to him and tells him the
bann
is lifted, but this day I ask you to go in my place. I must remain here. Tell him we believe the Lord’s will is done and we embrace him again not only as your brother but ours.” Murmuring continued in the room, but the bishop ignored it and smiled. “Go in peace, Naomi and Rebecca and Luke. Go to Micah Bachman and rejoice.”

Naomi found herself outside the bishop’s house with a strong mix of emotions whirling around in her chest and head—happiness at what they would be able to tell Micah, joy that Luke was talking, but sadness and a feeling of gloom at what was going on inside the Fischer home as she stood with Luke and Rebecca in the snow. Happiness and joy won out for the time being, and she threw her arms around Luke and hugged him and laughed.

“Oh, praise God, praise God!” she cried. “I love hearing your voice! God bless you!”

He hugged her back, and his arms around her were tight. “For days I felt as if my tongue would move on its own, but words never came.”

“But why today? Why here?”

“I don’t know. The bishop can say it is from God. I only know I felt that they would be talking about Micah and that I needed to be there. I had no idea the words would come like they did.”

She smiled and kissed his cheek. “Bible words.”

He smiled back, a smile that sent even more happiness through her. “Yes. Bible words.”

“And now you are speaking as freely as if you’d never stopped.”

“I feel okay. I’ve worked through a lot in my silence.” His smile vanished. “I remember pretty much everything.”

“I’m sorry, Luke.”

“Like I said, I’ve worked a lot of it through.” He glanced back at the house. “What’s going on in there?”

“They will argue and debate. They will pray.”

“I thought the bishop had the final say.”

“He does.”

“So?”

“So Amish churches split too, my brother. The leadership will do everything they can to prevent that. But if some families feel the bishop and ministers have erred, they will leave and start their own church. They may even move away to another county.” She sighed, her face losing some of its brightness. “No one wants that. Micah will certainly not want that happening on account of him. But it could. Amish communities have been destroyed by such controversies. It’s as the bishop told me once—to change the
Ordnung
to permit rubber tires on buggy wheels is one thing, but to change it to lift the
bann
from one who has served in the armed forces, even as medical personnel, without repentance, is something else again. A good number of families won’t accept this.”

“But it’s only Micah Bachman. Only one exceptional case. This changes nothing about the way we feel about war.”

“
Ja
, but if they bend the rules for one, they have bent them for all. The
Ordnung
has changed. Some families will stay, but some will surely go.”

Luke untethered Rupert. “We will pray. We will go home and pray.” A small smile made its way over his lips. “Hop on behind me, sister. Let’s get you to Micah. I want to see his face when you run to him and tell him he can hold you in his arms again. In the silence we shared together I saw how much he missed you.”

Rebecca drove the buggy toward the road. “Come on, you two. We have news to share.”

Naomi climbed up on the gelding and slipped her arms around Luke’s chest. “How could you know what he missed or didn’t miss? Neither of you spoke to each other.”

“After a few weeks of quiet, you begin to realize how unimportant most of our talk is. So few words are needed. The eyes say a great deal.”

“So you saw his eyes?”

“I saw his eyes on you.”

Naomi smiled and leaned her head against her brother’s back, squeezing him with her arms as tightly as she could. “So did I.”

Thirteen

N
aomi jumped down from the horse and ran into the barn.

“Micah!”

He spun around, a coil of rope in his hand.

“Micah!” She threw her arms around him. “We can talk! We can hug! The
bann
is ended!”

“What are you talking about?”

“The bishop has announced that the
bann
on you has been lifted.”

“What does this mean?”

“It means they believe God called you out from among us to heal the wounded on the battlefield. It means they accept what you have done.”

Micah put a hand on her face. “I can’t believe it.”

“It’s true.”

“But the others, the church, what do they think?”

“I don’t know. But you have the bishop and the ministers on your side, and that’s the important thing.”

“No—not Minister Yoder!”

“Of course Minister Yoder. You should have heard him speak.”

Micah’s face split open into a grin. “Is this some sort of miracle?”

“That’s exactly what it is.”

He put his other hand on the other side of her face. “Look at you. Look at how beautiful you are.”

“It’s because I’m so happy.”

“Well, you always look beautiful. But now it’s something special.”

“
Ja
?”

Rebecca stepped down from the buggy. “Take this you two and go somewhere far away from here.”

“No,” protested Naomi. “We shouldn’t.”

Luke, still in the saddle, said, “Becca’s right. Take the buggy and disappear. The next thing you know Minister Yoder will have changed his mind and come running with the
Ordnung
under his arm.”

Micah laughed and picked Naomi off the ground. “If he does, just tell him we went to the Amish in Montana. That way he won’t find us at the Kissing Bridge.”

Blood rushed into Naomi’s face. “What are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“Why, even when we were courting we didn’t go there.”

“So now we’re married.”

“Even when we were married we didn’t go there.”

He carried her to the buggy. “So now I’m back from the army and we’re out from under the
bann
, and it’s past time for us to go there.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Naomi kicked her legs, and snow flew off her boots. “Only the teenagers go there!”

“Well, I feel like a teenager.”

“Put me down and we can have a sensible walk in the woods.”

“Who wants a sensible walk?” He dropped her in the buggy and climbed in. “Do you want us back for supper, sister?”

Rebecca smiled. “
Ja
, but a very late supper. When more than a thousand stars are out you must come back.”

Micah lifted the reins. “
Gut.
I can’t count that high, so we will be gone a very long time.”

Naomi made a face. “We can’t stay at the bridge all day.”

“Why not? We have a lot of time to make up for.”

“Micah, for goodness sake, we don’t need to go to a covered bridge.”

“Ah, but here comes Minister Yoder,” Micah teased. “Quick. We do need a covered bridge.”

Naomi swung her head. “Oh, he is not!”

The buggy pulled out of the yard. “Well, then perhaps we’ll meet him at the bridge.”