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12
An Altercation of Angels
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"Welcome, Jess! You are free –" The enthusiastic words of the welcoming seraph, whose name happened to be Eleutherios, stopped abruptly.
"Huh?" A most un-angelic interjection. "Where did he go?"
The question was largely rhetorical since angels naturally knew exactly where any of their assigned spirits were.
"Home," came the apparently absent-minded response of Eleutherios' superior, the archangel Zadkiel. Of course angels are never absent-minded, so Zadkiel's response simply indicated a serene acceptance of things as they were working out.
"But this is his home! I'll go get him!" Eleutherios vanished in a flash and a glow of celestial light.
Zadkiel looked up from the angelic equivalent of checking stock-lists on his iPad. Since time did not exist, Eleutherios and his charge should have re-appeared immediately or at least in the twinkling of an eye. The smooth brow of the archangel might have shown the slightest suspicion of a frown and the non-existent breath of the archangel might have heaved an impatient sigh – except neither of these human reactions could be applied to angels.
What actually happened was that Zadkiel ticked off another couple of angelic columns of names, cast an all-encompassing gaze over the million or so souls for whose smooth transition from mortal life the archangel was responsible, and decided there was enough space in this segment of eternity for them without immediate need for expansion, which would allow him to investigate what the d - … what in the name of goodness was holding Eleutherios up.
Transferring to the appropriate location without thought or effort, Zadkiel arrived in the middle of an argument. But angels do not actually argue. Maybe 'altercation' is a better description. Such an occurrence had not happened often on Zadkiel's watch, as it were, but since there is no time differential in eternity, it felt as if this was yet another immediate example of human intransigence.
"But you must come!" Eleutherios was insisting. "You're free now."
"If I'm free, I ain't takin' orders from a fella in a nightshirt!" the newly released spirit replied with determination.
"It's not a nightshirt!" Eleutherios was momentarily diverted. "Angels don't wear clothing."
"Y' mean y' actually look like that?" the ex-cowboy was also side-tracked, but regained the advantage before Eleutherios could get in. "And I don't care who y' are or what y' wearin', I ain't movin' from here."
"You can't possibly want to stay here." Eleutherios was dumbfounded.
Zadkiel did not grin because archangels don't. It was just another near thing. It was pretty obvious that the seraph was contending against an immovable emotional logic. Zadkiel's job, however, was to make sure subordinate angels carried out their duties effectively and to provide additional guidance when required. Eleutherios was, after all, a relatively very new seraph – given that, like Jess Harper, this angel had only just appeared in eternity.
Sure enough, Eleutherios was appealing to higher authority, telling Zadkiel with what, in a mortal, would be sulky petulance: "He says he intends to stay here. In this physical location."
"Really?" Zadkiel almost-sighed. "Then let him."
"LET HIM?!" Seraphs do not shout. Nor do they use excessive punctuation. Nonetheless, Eleutherios expressed a considerable degree of flummoxation.
"Persuasion and command seem ineffective," Zadkiel pointed out gently.
"But –"
"Eleutherios, angels are obedient servants."
Zadkiel turned full angelic attention on the defiant individual sitting in rocking chair in the small but warm and cozy ranch-house room. There was a heavenly scent in the air. The archangel's aura glowed a soft, appreciative violet. For a moment, thoughts of bare mangers flitted across the archangel's mind. Not everywhere on earth were human dwellings so hospitable. But despite being under no time constraints, there were a million or more souls requiring attention and this matter must be settled.
"Why?"
Stern resolution filled the young man's face as he looked the archangel up and down. "Y' may be bigger'n that one, but y' ain't gonna make me leave."
"I am not trying to make you leave. I want to know why."
"Why what?"
"Why you prefer to stay here rather than be free in your eternal home."
"This is my home!" The depth of sincerity and loyalty and love was like a bolt of celestial lightning. "This is my home. He invited me. They want me."
"Why?"
"I guess I'm useful. Not afraid t'work. Not gonna let them down."
"Why?"
"You get paid for how many whys y' can get into a conversation?" the young man demanded sarcastically.
"I am merely trying to divine the facts. For the records." Zadkiel tapped the angelic iPad with the tip of one wing. "Why?"
"We trust each other," Jess Harper responded softly. "We met in the middle of hell on earth and we trusted each other. We always will. When it comes down to the big things like right and wrong. Like carin' for the earth and its creatures. Like havin' patience with a kid. Like keepin' each other's backs. And when it comes down to the small things – workin', sharin', laughin' –" He paused a moment and added very quietly, "Listenin' to another's heart and soul and knowin' it beats to the same rhythm as yours. That's something t' live by."
Zadkiel nodded. "How?"
Jess grinned cheekily. "On, y' got more'n one question, have y'? Well, I guess the answer is I've gotta job t' do. Gotta help. Gotta make sure they're all right even if I can't be there in m'body. Gotta watch over Andy - over the whole family." For suddenly he realized he could see and understand everything now.
"Hmm. The whole family." Zadkiel's wing-tip tapped again. "That would be the Sherman family."
"Yeah."
"Very well." With the flick of a wing, Zadkiel moved a single name from an endless column into an extremely small one. "I think we can grant you temporary temporal location as the spirit of the place while members of the Sherman family, direct descendants in line from eldest son to eldest son of the original founder, are resident there. And I suppose you are also going to require special dispensation between time and eternity for that faithful steed of yours?" There was a timeless pause in which the archangel received a slightly stunned nod from the recalcitrant one. "Over-sight and guardianship for you and the horse, but with some limits on your powers of interference in respect for human free will. Will that do?"
"Yeah!" Jess's smile was wide and wholehearted. "Spirit of the place sounds good. It's a good place!"
"But a spirit of place is –" Eleutherios began to protest.
"Eleutherios, spirits are not limited to narrow definitions of the expected."
"But –"
"And angels don't argue!"
Jess Harper smiled again and rose from the chair.
"Thanks" he told Zadkiel. "I guess I'll see you fellas around."
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Notes:
Zadkiel (Christianity, Judaism ) Angel of freedom, benevolence and mercy. Zadkiel is associated with the color violet. I've taken the liberty of promoting this angel to archangel.
Eleutherios (Greek) Seraph of freedom or liberty