The parish hall was buzzing with noisy activity as children and parents got ready for the evening's presentation. Brennan had taken Christine to her classroom to meet Sister Mary Agnes, leaving Booth to bounce a squirming Hank on his knee. Looking across the crowd, he smiled as he saw his wife coming to join him in their seats by the stage at one end of the hall.

"All set?" Booth switched Hank from one knee to the other. "I guess they're as ready as they're ever gonna be, right?"

"I believe so, although for some reason, I find myself being somewhat apprehensive about the children's performance of their skit." Brennan smiled as she took the active three year old from her husband. "I suppose that's very silly…"

"Nah, I don't think so. I mean, you have a vested interest in the skit, too, since you helped teach the class." Seeing Father Mears take center stage, Booth put his finger up to his lips. "I think they're getting ready to start."

All of the children filled the stage and started the program with a rousing rendition of Peace Like a River, complete with hand gestures and a lot of jumping up and down in approximate time with the music, followed by a raucous version of This Little Light of Mine. Then it was time for the class skits. Some of the fifth graders helped the kindergartners walk through the stories of Jesus healing a blind man and a crippled man. The first graders did an admirable job of explaining the story of the feeding of the multitudes with five loaves and two fishes. Then it was time for the second graders to perform.

Christine came out onto the stage and bowed before she cleared her throat loudly. "The second grade class is going to tell you about the Parable of the Good Samaritan." The rest of her classmates came out to join her. "We hope you like it. Jesus used this story to explain who our neighbors really are. One day a man was walking down the road…"

At this point, Mark came strolling across the stage, whistling a cheerful tune. Tommy and Katie crouched in a corner lying in wait as their unsuspecting victim came by, setting upon him with a series of pretend martial arts moves, much to the crowd's delight. After being ignored by the priest and the Levite, Mark was finally assisted by Aaron, who practically dragged Mark by his shirt collar to the 'hotel' so Lucy could assist him. As an added twist, to satisfy the children's desire for justice to be served, the robbers were arrested and put in jail. When Christine finished reading the story, the audience was able to participate in deciding who was really the good neighbor in the story.

After thunderous applause, the second graders relinquished the stage to the third grade class. Sister Mary Agnes sighed quietly, feeling a sense of relief flood her soul. The skit had been a grand success, much to her surprise, and she had managed to survive a week of Vacation Bible School without the occurrence of any major meltdowns from her students, and more importantly, from herself. She smiled happily as she went to join Dr. Brennan and her husband Agent Booth in the audience.

"Well done, Sister." Booth grinned broadly at the young nun. "I'm glad we got those bad guys off the street."

"Thank you, Agent Booth. I was pleased to find that the children were so insistent on that point, especially Fiona, since her mother is a police officer. Thank you for adding that part to the script for us, Dr. Brennan."

"It was my pleasure, although it wasn't any trouble to add a sentence to the story."

"It was no trouble for you, perhaps, but I'm not sure I would've been brave enough to add that part to the parable if you hadn't encouraged me. As it was, it turned out well, and I'm sure the Lord didn't mind.", Mary Agnes whispered as the third grade began their part of the program.

After the last of the classes had presented their portions of the program, it was time for the punch and cookie reception. Trays holding a wide variety of cookies were laid out on long folding tables at the far end of the parish hall. Red punch and coffee were being served by Sister Evangeline and Mrs. Emmert, the parish administrator. The parents of the Bible School participants laughed and talked together as the students chased each other around the spacious room.

Father Mears smiled as he walked through the hall, pleased with the commotion surrounding him. Most of the participants at this week's Bible school program were the children of his parishioners, with some youngsters from the surrounding neighborhood thrown in for good measure. He was pleased that his congregation had a mix of younger families and older people. That sort of combination created a healthy parish. Seeing Sister Mary Agnes talking to Annie's parents, he waved to her. "Good job this evening, Sister."

Excusing herself, she left Annie's parents to join him. "Thank you, Father Mears. I was pleased with how enthusiastic the children were in putting on their skit."

"Yes, they definitely acted it out with gusto, didn't they? I think they enjoyed themselves immensely, and that sort of enjoyment will help them remember the point of the story." Father Mears beamed at his young friend. "It appears that all the worrying you did about this week was unnecessary, wasn't it?"

Mary Agnes wore a sheepish grin. "I suppose it was, Father. I remember me mum sayin' that it does no good to borrow trouble, and I can see now that she was right."

"A good lesson for all of us, isn't it?" He studied her for a few seconds before he continued. "It appears that all you really needed was a challenge to help you gain some self confidence, and I think there should be another one for you to tackle soon. I don't want that confidence to slip away, you know? I've spoken to the Sister Superior at your convent, who agrees with me, and we've come to a decision." Seeing the young nun's panicked expression, he chuckled. "Oh, don't fret, Sister. It's not like you have to engrave the Bible on the head of a pin, but what I have in mind will require a bit of extra work on your part. In addition to your regular second grade class at the parochial school, I'd like you to become Sister Evangeline's assistant director of Christian education. She wants to take a sabbatical in a couple of years, so this would be like on the job training for you. That way you could step into the position on a temporary basis while she's gone."

"Oh, I don't know, Father Mears…" Mary Agnes was about to explain why she thought the whole on the job training thing was a bad idea when Christine tugged on her sleeve.

"Thank you for being my teacher this week, Sister.", Christine said, flashing a broad grin. "I had a lot of fun."

"Well, my dear, I think everybody in the class had a lot of fun because your mother had so many good ideas to share with us." Sister Mary Agnes smiled as she shook hands with Brennan. "Thank you for all the help, Dr. Brennan, especially with the extra activities. You made this a memorable week for the children."

"It was my pleasure." Brennan smiled as she turned to the priest. "Sister Mary Agnes is quite adept at explaining your church's myths and legends, Father Mears. You should be very proud of her."

"Bones!", Booth hissed, blushing slightly as he glared at her. "We don't need to discuss that here!" He chuckled nervously as he smiled at the priest. "I believe those stories are true, Father…"

"Of course you do, Agent Booth. Well, I'm glad to hear that Sister did such a fine job explaining them, Dr. Brennan. I know she studied hard so she could present the lessons to the class in a satisfactory manner." Father Mears wore a merry grin as he winked at Booth. "In fact, she said you helped answer some questions about the lessons yourself. It appears that you may know something about our mythology as well."

"Of course. I'm very well versed in it. As an anthropologist, I'm actually well versed in the mythology of several cultures.", Brennan said proudly. "And, as a well educated person, I think that's important...to understand our culture's root metaphors. The stories in the Bible are allegories and fables, demonstrating what sort of morality is expected among the believers, very much the same way Aesop's fables were used to teach young Greek children was expected of them thousands of years ago. All cultures have those sorts of cautionary stories, such as the Grimm's fairy tales that were first heard in parts of Europe. The stories have common themes, which is why they are still used to educate children today. While I don't believe that your church's stories actually indicate that some sort of higher being rules the universe, I do recognize that Christianity has had a major influence on several world cultures, just as the Greek and Roman legends did. In fact, it may be that some of the more ancient legends, as well as the mythology of the Egyptians and the Babylonians, influenced stories in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. For example, Osiris…"

Clearing his throat to get his wife's attention, Booth shook his head as he shifted his restless son on his hip. "Hank's getting fussy, Bones. I think we need to go…"

Rolling her eyes at her husband, she held up a finger to interrupt his complaint. "Just a minute, Booth. As I was saying, Father Mears, Osiris is the Egyptian god of resurrection…", Brennan began, anxious to prove her point about mythology..

"I know." Father Mears chuckled softly. "A lot of religions in the area around the Middle East and the Mediterranean Sea had similar stories about the ancient times, such as the one about the Great Flood. Maybe they were all telling the same story in a different way, inspired by some unifying event. However, for some reason the older religions faded away as Christianity grew…"

"I understand that, Father, but that doesn't mean it was some sort of divinely inspired movement." Brennan was clearly exasperated. "It could be that it was easier for people to understand because it was monotheistic." She looked down at her daughter, who was pulling on her hand. "Yes, Christine...what is it?"

"Mommy, are you and Father Mears having an argument about God?", Christine asked. "...because that's not nice. We're sposed to inspect what other people believe, even if it's different than us, right? That's what you said about people being mean to Dr. Saroyan's husband because he's Muslim, right? You said it shouldn't matter to anyone what he believes, because he's a nice man."

"I think you mean respect what other people believe, Sweetheart." Booth caught Brennan's eye as he nodded at Christine. "You're right, though. We can respect what other people believe, even if we don't agree with them, right, Bones?"

Brennan paused for a few seconds, finally nodding as she smiled at the nun and the priest standing in front of her. "Yes, I believe we can give everyone that sort of respect, even if we disagree. Perhaps, as Sister Mary Agnes suggested to me this afternoon, some things are not worth arguing about."

"Good, because I liked the stories we learned this week, especially Noah and the ark." Christine giggled happily. "I think it would be fun to live with all those animals on a boat out in the ocean."

"Christine...surely you must realize Noah didn't really bring all those animals onto a big boat because of a flood that was supposed to occur." Brennan smiled as she tousled her daughter's hair. "It's not a true story…"

"I don't care if it's true or not. It's still a fun story. Anyway, maybe God can work things out in ways we don't know about. He's busy running the Universe, and prob'ly He hasn't had time to explain it all to us yet." Christine shrugged a shoulder at Father Mears. "What do you think, Father?"

"Well, young lady, I think that's as good an explanation as any." The adults looked at each other and laughed. "And on that note, I believe I'll say good night."

"Good night, Father Mears. Good night, Sister." Booth chuckled as he and Brennan left the parish hall with their children. "Way to shake up the priest, Bones. I wonder if they'll let you help with Vacation Bible School next year." He quickly dodged her playful nudge. "Just kidding. I think Sister Mary Agnes was glad you were here to help her this week."

"Perhaps, although I'm not sure she actually needed my help. She is a very intelligent person, and I think she'll do great things in her career as a teacher." Brennan smiled at Christine and Hank. "I also think that perhaps we should stop on the way home for some gelato..."

Oooooooooo

Booth chuckled to himself as his wife pretended to be engrossed in her latest anthropology journal. He sat on the edge of the bed and watched her for a minute or two as she crisply turned the pages without looking up at him. "So you're not still annoyed about Christine believing the Noah story is real, are you?"

"Of course not. What makes you say that?" She loudly turned to the next page.

"Oh, I don't know...it just seems like you're a bit irritated." He reached over and gently took the magazine away from Brennan and tossed it onto her nightstand. "You know, Christine is gonna go through phases where she believes in all sorts of different things, and I'm not talking about Santa Claus, either. One day she'll want to be a Buddhist, and the next day she'll want to be a Druid. That's what kids do...they explore. That's why it's good to let them experience different things."

"I know, Booth, but I'd really like her to use some critical thinking skills before she makes a decision about what to believe for the rest of her life." Brennan shrugged as she turned to her husband. "Of course, it's possible that thinking and believing are two different things…"

"I don't think that's always true. I know what I think about you, and that's why I believe you're the most wonderful woman in the world." Booth grinned as he caressed his wife. "You believe me, don't you?"

"Well, I have faith in your judgment in this case, so yes, I believe you." She reached up to turn off her lamp. "However, critical thinking demands proof…"

He laughed softly as he took her into his arms. "Oh, trust me...there will be proof…"

A/N: and so ends my little story. Thanks for reading. Laura