Solomon's Porch (34 page)

In order to teach His creation a lesson, to demonstrate for them His divine standards and expectations, and to make evident His power in a way never before seen on earth, the Lord God of Israel, who is above all natural laws and exists on a heavenly plane beyond our ability to understand, applied His will to our bodies and to our technology, and temporarily took away from us our ability to hurt each other.

But our hearts remained conflicted; good and evil were still at war within us because God did not further intervene and force anyone to think or feel differently about anything. People filled with hate and anger toward others, for any reason, could simply no longer act on their passions.

Battlefields in the several regional wars scattered across the globe fell silent. Criminals could no longer threaten people with harm in order to take advantage of them and the police were unable to offer their usual evil for evil in return. No abusive husband could beat his wife; no wayward father could pummel his children. For however long it was going to last, two and a half more days according to the American prophet Peter Carson, who overnight had become the world’s most famous man, people were going to have to figure out how to get along peacefully. They simply had no other choice.

Other truly bizarre circumstances arose. Somehow, while no one could forcibly restrain them, across the globe some prisoners were simply unable to take advantage of the situation and walk away from whatever institution was confining them. Some could leave and did. It soon became obvious that those who could leave had, by whatever means, made the decision to obey God’s commandment to be good citizens and respect righteous civil authority. The Lord, in effect, instantly pardoned a few million rehabilitated criminals. Christ knew their hearts and restored freedom to those capable of handling it.

Everyone was safe, as were their possessions. Minds corrupted by evil were still corrupted by evil, but the Lord simply would not allow anyone to take advantage of the restriction. No one could walk into a bank and walk out with stolen cash, or go to a car lot and drive away in a new automobile without paying for it. The restriction was anything but a bonanza for thieves; it temporarily put them out of business.

What was happening could not be understood or appreciated unless it was viewed from God’s perspective. But, taken on the whole, considering the billions of souls alive on earth, initially at least God’s perspective was not the foremost concern.

Fear was the most common first reaction to the restriction, followed by indignation. Whatever else it might have been, the restriction was most certainly a type of biological and cultural shock therapy. The primitive aspect of the human personality, that part of us most basic and animalistic, that arose when the world was nothing but flesh and teeth, no longer had an outlet.

God was making a bold statement. He was saying to His children that the time had come for us to take a huge step forward, to truly become more Christ-like, and to leave behind the aggressive and violent part of our natures, to spiritually evolve.

The other revolutionary and existence-altering aspect of the restriction was that it forced the created to acknowledge the Creator, or to put forward some other theory to explain what could not be denied. For many, this was a far more difficult thing to do than to live without violence. Until now, the subject of God could be dodged or dealt with circuitously, with each person picking and choosing what he chose to believe. This luxury was now gone. Direct evidence had superseded theory.

This was the new world that those in the White House faced on the twentieth of June, one in which the power of God had taken center stage above all else.

“Any change?” Peter asked the nurse.

“None, Mr. Carson. Mr. Cohen’s vital signs are stable, but his brain is producing intermittent coma-type activity. It’s really crazy; he seems to be alternating between deep but active sleep and a near total shutdown of all higher brain functioning. To be honest, I didn’t think that was medically possible.”

“He’s fighting them.”

“Fighting who, Mr. Carson?”

“Whatever servants of hell put him in this condition, ma’am.” The young nurse looked at Peter as if he were speaking Latin. After briefly considering it, Peter thought better about the idea of trying to explain the workings and powers of demonic forces to the already bewildered and shaken nurse. He graciously dropped the subject so they could both move on. “Thank you so much for attending to our brother. We are in your debt,” he told her.

After catching a few hours of much needed sleep, Peter’s first task when he awoke was to check on Saul. Shortly after the President retired to his bedroom, Peter and Alex discovered Saul curled up and catatonic in the corner. Peter had no doubts as to the cause of his brother’s affliction.

“The same?” Alex asked, as he came up from behind and put his hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“Afraid so. Our prayers haven’t pulled him out if it yet. We need to help Saul, Alex. Look at him. He’s almost scared himself to death.”

“And without Saul around we can’t see what’s coming at us, can we?”

“Perhaps that’s best for now,” Peter said, as he made the sign of the cross over Saul. “If we could, we might end up like him.”

In a room adjacent to where Saul was being attended to, a television set was on. The five disciples and Gail were gathered around it watching the news.

“You guys get any sleep?” Alex asked, as he and Peter walked in and joined the others.

“No,” came the response from all, nearly in unison.

“Men in dark suits keep walking in here periodically and handing this stuff to me,” General Vargas said. “I’ve looked over some of it, but this is your department.”

“The morning’s press clippings?” Alex asked.

“Apparently,” Vargas replied, “but I’m a hundred percent sure that you’ve never read accounts like these before.”

The White House staff had been busy printing out selected newspaper articles from around the world as soon as they were electronically published. Write-ups from foreign countries had been translated into English.

Alex took the stack from Vargas. The General was correct, he’d never read headlines like these. But how could he have? This was the most important and unique event ever covered by modern journalism.

From New York the headline read,
“Is God Real?”
in huge bold type that filled half the front page. Alex skimmed the text, which included the statements “the theory that a force more powerful than ourselves exists in the universe has been confirmed” and “this phenomenon, quickly becoming known as “the restriction,” is without question both genuine and global.”

The Los Angeles paper went with,
“A Prophet of God?”
This story chose to focus on Peter and the details of the events over the past few months from “Solomon’s Porch” and Atlanta. The reporter asked, “If Mr. Carson is to be believed, and certainly it is an undeniable fact that some very real power has boldly intervened in human affairs, then the Christian faith has been empirically validated. Those who remain skeptical of this conclusion find themselves unable yet to offer a reasonable competing hypothesis to explain the phenomenon people everywhere are calling ‘the restriction.’”

In London, they seemed to be more interested in the effect than in the cause.
“Thou Shalt Not!”
was the banner of England’s biggest daily. Fully half the newspaper was devoted to exploring and chronicling all aspects of the restriction.

Alex skimmed through the rest of the pile, but quickly lost interest. Peter had already told him that few would accept what was happening for what it was. Rather than a miracle God was using to help his people by example, most of the world was trying to explain the restriction some other way, or simply hoping to ignore it until it was over. Once everything returned to normal, it would be far easier to offer alternative hypotheses and spin the facts.

Denial and skepticism are rooted in fear. For most people acknowledging the restriction was neither welcome nor easy, because if Jesus is truly the Son of God and this is no longer a belief based on faith, but rather a reality as plain as the law of gravity, then the revelations of Yahweh both ancient and modern cannot be ignored. The “Great Debate” would be over. God is real, Christ is the risen Messiah, and all other spiritual systems and beliefs instantly become false mythology and obsolete.

Peter told Alex when they were together at the estate that even with direct and irrefutable evidence, most would still not believe. Some will simply refuse to abandon the false tenets of their previous faiths because, in their eyes, to admit a lifetime of error would be shameful and degrading. Rather than see the simple truth that, to some degree at least, God’s grace and wisdom were present in all the major religions of the world, they will allow Satan to use their pride to keep them from accepting Christ. The atheists and the agnostics will hold out for a “rational” explanation. Even most Christian leaders will reject the God they profess to serve simply because His message to the world was not brought through them.

As Alex Anderson was thinking about Peter’s predictions, hoping perhaps that his brother had been too pessimistic, all he had to do was watch the news on television to see that Peter’s cynicism was valid.

“Turn that up, Mr. Simpson, won’t you?” Alex asked.

“If you insist, Alex, but it’s kind of depressing.” Kenny increased the volume just as a new interview segment began.

“Do you go to church, Mrs. Wafer?” the reporter asked.

“Yes sir. Been a God-fearing Christian all my life. Southern Baptist, sir.” Mrs. Wafer was a very large and unattractive white woman, perhaps fifty or so, and was clearly used to her spiritual views dominating any religious discussion within her earshot.

“What do you think about all this, Mrs. Wafer? Is God acting?”

“Well, let me tell you this, sir. I don’t know about all this “restriction” business. Oh, it’s true alright, can’t nobody hurt another, but how is this really being done? I think it’s the government.”

“The government, Mrs. Wafer?”

“Oh, yes sir. In the last days before the rapture and the second coming, the anti-Christ will use the government to play tricks on all of us. A false prophet uses the devil to work miracles, sir. People should read their Bible. Otherwise this business just makes no sense.”

“What makes no sense, Mrs. Wafer?”

“God using a bunch of no account criminals to tell us what to do. What nonsense! It’s the devil, I tell you! Next Carson’s going to say Mormons and Catholics are God’s chosen, just you wait and see. It’s nothing but the devil!”

“Poor lady,” Peter said, reacting to the television. “Her spirit is polluted by her flawed theology and her prayers are blocked by her arrogance.”

“She’s got a lot of company, Panos,” Gail said, pointing back at the screen.

“This is W. Monaghan coming to you live from Vatican City. For hours now we have been trying to get some sort of statement from the Pope, or perhaps from another Vatican official. Now we are told, yes, there he is, Cardinal Andretti will be addressing the crowd in Vatican Square, now estimated at over one hundred thousand. Is he? Yes? Okay, let’s go to the Cardinal.”

“As of this moment,” the Cardinal began, speaking slowly and deliberately from his podium high above the crowd, “His Holiness cannot confirm that this condition, the restriction as it is being called, is indeed a genuine miracle or message from God. Our Holy Father is, as I speak, praying with and consulting the senior leadership of the church on this most serious and pressing issue. May God be with us all. Have faith in Christ. Be patient. Exercise caution in your affairs.” The Cardinal moved away from the microphone and disappeared back into the Vatican without taking any questions.

“Did you see him?” Peter asked Alex.

“Who?”

“Reardon. He must have made it to an airport and caught a flight to Rome. He was standing right behind Andretti.”

There was a digital recorder attached to the television. Kenny played back Andretti’s brief speech. Cardinal Reardon was indeed there, standing a few feet behind Andretti on the podium.

“What does that mean, Peter?” Gail asked.

“It means that God has given the Romans a witness they cannot easily ignore. We should all pray for our brother Catholics. They are … ”

“Gentlemen, please excuse the intrusion,” the young, well-dressed aide said as she entered the room. “The President is awake. He’s asking to see all of you immediately.”

Almost the same group of staff and advisors were gathered around the President as were the night before, but another senior official was now also present, the Vice President.

“Peter, gentlemen, and Miss McCorkle, please come in.” The President was smiling as he greeted them and looked remarkably refreshed for someone carrying the weight of a nation on his shoulders on only a few hours of sleep.

“How are you feeling this morning, sir?” Peter asked.

“Very well, Peter. Maybe never better. But the folks around here, I’m sure, would disagree.” As the President said this, he half scowled at his personal physician and the other medical personnel attending to him.

“That’s not true, Mr. President,” the physician responded defensively. “We are concerned, and with good reason, but we agree that you are in perfect health.”