Sister Mary Agnes took a deep breath to steady herself as she placed the coloring sheets on the desks in her classroom. Her group of second graders would be arriving any minute, and she had to be on the ball. She looked over the schedule that was posted on the wall by the door. After a short opening chapel assembly each morning, the various age groups would be rotating to different stations at different times during the day. The second graders were going to crafts first, then to music, to missions time, snacks and play time, and then finally they'd end their day with a follow up discussion about that day's Bible story . Each one of the day's activities was based on a theme for the day, with the overall theme for the week being "God calls us." Sighing softly, Mary Agnes wondered what her Lord had in mind when He'd called her to be one of His servants. Even with all the work she'd put into preparing the lessons for this week of Vacation Bible School, she certainly didn't feel very worthy of doing the Lord's work this morning. Breathing a small prayer as she glanced at the clock, she finally had an epiphany. The young nun realized she'd been relying on herself for all the answers to Dr. Brennan's questions. Maybe it was time to rely on the Lord instead…

Walking to the front door of the church's Sunday School wing, Mary Agnes greeted her young charges before shaking hands with her parent volunteer. "Many thanks for helping me this week, Dr. Brennan. I love being with the children, but they can be rambunctious at times. An extra set of eyes and hands is always appreciated."

"I'm looking forward to it, Sister." Brennan smiled indulgently as Christine ran to play with some of the other children. "Oh, and please don't worry. I've promised my husband not to interfere with your teaching of the Church's mythology…"

"Thank you." Mary Agnes forced a broad smile as she nodded politely. "I know I can count on your discretion." That's a good one, isn't it, Lord? Dr. Brennan not meddling… Deciding it was best to keep her thoughts to herself, she rang a bell to gain everyone's attention. "Okay, me darlins'...let's go into the church and see what Father Mears wants to tell us today…"

Oooooooooo

The Bible School participants had successfully maneuvered through their schedule for the day, and it was time for the Bible story discussion. Sister Mary Agnes called the squirmy, fidgety second graders together around the small wooden chair where she was sitting. "Okay, who can tell me what the theme for today was? Tommy?"

Tommy took his finger out of his nose long enough to shrug a shoulder. "I dunno."

"Anyone else? Yes, Christine…"

The little girl beamed proudly under her mother's smile as she answered her teacher's question. "God calls us to be obedient."

Nodding, the nun smiled her approval. "Very good. And what story did we use to show us that obedience is good? Katie?"

Sticking her tongue out at Tommy, Katie answered in a singsong voice. "Jonah and the Big Fish."

"That's right. Jonah tried to run away from what the Lord wanted him to do, but the Lord found out, just like He always does. Now, sometimes at home, you do things your parents don't want you to do, and what happens when they find out? Yes, Mark?"

"You get a spanking." Mark rubbed his bottom, obviously having learned that lesson the hard way.

Cringing slightly at the memories of her own childhood, Mary Agnes nodded. "Sometimes that's true, or sometimes our parents discipline us in other ways. The point is that they discipline us because they love us, and they don't want us to get hurt. The Lord wanted Jonah to do something, and when Jonah didn't do it, the Lord had to discipline him. Being obedient is the best choice for us so we can stay out of trouble. Yes, Christine?"

"My Mommy says this is a silly story since people can't actually live in a fish's stomach 'cuz they'd get digested." Christine smiled, pleased to demonstrate her knowledge of science.

Brennan cleared her throat, trying to figure out how to respond to her daughter's comment since she'd promised Booth to be considerate of his beliefs. "Actually, Christine, what I meant was that this story is an allegory. It explains how the Hebrews, as personified by Jonah, overcame the teachings about the Babylonian god Ea, who is often represented as a fish. There is some doubt as to whether or not an actual man named Jonah actually existed."

"Isn't that lovely, children?", Sister Mary Agnes exclaimed happily as she smiled broadly at Dr. Brennan. "It seems the Lord likes to tell a good story, doesn't He? The Bible is full of wonderful stories just like this one. Did you know that Christine's mother writes stories, too? She uses her stories to explain forensic science to people, right, Dr. Brennan?"

"Yes, but…" Brennan wasn't sure she liked where the conversation was going. "...unlike the Bible stories, my stories have a basis in fact…"

"Kathy Reichs isn't a real person, but you can still use her to explain how science works, correct? In the same way, Jonah may not have been a real man, but his story can be used to explain to us why obedience is so important. Oh, my goodness, look at the time, my pets. Off to home you go…Thank you for your help, Dr. Brennan. See you tomorrow."

Standing in the doorway of the classroom, Brennan waved goodbye to the young nun. It was going to be interesting to hear what Booth would have to say about Christine questioning the Jonah story. However, she and Christine had both enjoyed the day at Bible school, and they were looking forward to returning tomorrow. That should make her husband very happy.

At dinner that evening, Booth cleared his throat slightly before asking the question that had been on his mind all afternoon. "How was Vacation Bible School today, Christine? Did you and Mommy have fun?"

"Uh huh! We sang a song about a big fish swallowing Jonah, and we crawled inside a big black tunnel made out of trash bags and pretended we were inside the fish, and we drew pictures of Jonah living inside of the fish. I think Mommy liked the story Sister told us. Mommy said it was an alligator…"

Turning to his wife in surprise, Booth raised an eyebrow. "An alligator? I thought Jonah was swallowed by a whale…"

"A large fish.", Brennan chuckled as she explained. "The story is an allegory...it uses common words and symbolism to explain a deeper concept. Christine, tell your Daddy what the theme was for today."

"God calls us to be obedient. That means we're sposed to do what we're told."

"Does that mean you're supposed to eat that asparagus on your plate?" Booth gave his wife a broad wink. "I think that's what Mommy told you to do…"

"I guess.", the little girl grumbled. She took a big bite, grimacing as she chewed the spear. "I think doing what God says to do is hard."

"You got that right." Booth nodded in agreement. "Okay, go put your plate in the sink. I'll help Mommy with the dishes tonight." He turned to his wife after Christine left the table. "It sounds like things went okay this morning…"

"Are you checking to see if I was obedient as well?" Brennan playfully glared at her husband. "I didn't really contradict anything that Sister Mary Agnes told the children about the Jonah myth." She cringed slightly as she ate her last bite of pasta. "Christine told her teacher that I had said it was a silly story, which is true...I did say that. I was impressed, however, with the teacher's use of logic. She said that if I could use Kathy Reichs to help people understand science it wasn't much different than the Church using a mythical man to help people understand that they should follow its religious teachings. She had a point, and I respect that. Of course, the context of my stories is real, unlike the Bible stories, but I could see the validity of her statement."

Booth smiled to himself as he picked up the plates from the table. "Well, I'm glad you had fun helping Christine's class. In the long run, that's the most important part, I suppose."

Nodding in agreement, Brennan loaded the dishwasher. "I suppose you're right. It'll be interesting to see what the lesson will be tomorrow."

Laughing softly, Booth glanced at his wife. "Yeah, it'll definitely be interesting."