The next day at work, both Ethan and Gabriel had secret smiles on their faces through the day. It was a quiet sort of happiness that pervaded the office replacing the anxiety Ethan's foul mood of last week had wrought. They didn't spend more time together than any other day but when they did there was a definite electricity between them. They both kept it professional and friendly to keep it discrete rather than have the entire office talking about them at the water cooler. Gabriel left for his noon ritual of grabbing lunch and working at the church and had just stepped out of the office when Ethan came running up behind him.
"Hey, heading down to St. Andrews?" Ethan asked.
"Yeah, I was going to grab lunch first." Gabe said, feeling a spike of joy through his chest with Ethan's presence.
"Mind if I tag along?" Ethan asked, smiling.
"Not at all." Gabe said, grinning back.
They took Ethan's truck and stopped at a little deli to grab and split a roast beef sub with swiss and horseradish. They arrived at the soup kitchen and served lunch to quite a few people but obviously less than usual. Gabe and Ethan went to ask Pastor Jack of the absence of so many people. He was watching the t.v. that was in the corner of the hall.
"Pastor Jack, where is everybody?" Ethan asked. "There should be a lot more people here."
"Isn't wonderful? A new factory just opened up downtown and the owner stopped in the other day asking anyone who was interested if they'd like to apply. He hired about fifty or sixty people that used to come in. We've only some of the homeless and the mentally unstable left. I think we can manage those numbers."
"That is wonderful." Gabe agreed. "Why did he come here looking for workers?"
"Oh, he said someone suggested that he might look here for people who needed jobs. Thank God, he did."
"Yeah," Gabe said, thinking of what Ethan had once said about coincidences. "Thank God."
Pastor Jack had looked back to the television which was showing a news report. The sound was down but the video showed pictures of a small city that seemed in ruins.
"What happened?" Ethan asked.
"An earthquake in Madagascar. It was seven point three and devastated most of the buildings there. I sometimes wish I was young again and could do more missionary work. Those poor people. God be with them."
Gabe thought of the man who called himself God and how he had mentioned Madagascar not too long ago. They finished off the lunch hour, returned to work and finished off the day. Ethan offered Gabe a ride home and they picked up some food for dinner planning on watching more cheesy movies. Gabe was quiet as they ate thinking of what he had seen on the television earlier.
"What's on your mind?" Ethan asked.
"Huh? Oh, I was thinking about the earthquake in Madagascar."
"Yeah. I donated a little to the relief aid. Sometimes I agree with Pastor Jack. How cool would it be to just get out there and help people in the middle of the worst time in their life?"
"It would be cool." Gabe agreed. "I'm not too used to thinking about other people's problems. I got in a bad habit and only thought about my own for a while."
"It happens, Gabe. Don't beat yourself up over it."
"I should, though. Or at least I should start putting myself out there and seeing what I can do. You know?"
"You're doing fine, kiddo." Ethan smiled. "You're helping out at the church and doing the books for them now. Start off small and see what you can handle. We're not the only two people in the world who needs to realize that we can make a difference by helping."
"No, we're not." Gabe smiled into Ethan's blue eyes. He was a truly compassionate man, beautiful on the in and the outside.
"You mind if I take a few minutes? I'd like to go for a walk." Gabe asked.
"Oh. Ok. You want me to leave?"
"No. Definitely not. I'd just like to go... somewhere."
"Where do you want to go?"
"I'd like to go talk to God."
Ethan gave Gabe a funny look and then nodded. "Ok. I'll be here when you get back."
Gabe smiled and headed off to the park bench. He didn't have to wait long.
"You're back." God said, matter-of-factly.
"Yeah. Tell me about Madagascar."
"Madagascar is a small island country which was once a part of the mainlands of African and India during the-."
"The earthquake." Gabe interrupted.
"What about it?"
"You knew about it."
"Yes."
"How?"
"It's sort of like those movies where there's a piano being lifted to the top of a building by a small, thin rope and it's fraying. The people underneath are completely unaware of the impending disaster. I'm not."
"That's not an answer." Gabe said.
"I'm not answerable to you." God sighed. "Every little thing that happens in the world, from a mosquito's decision to fly left instead of right, to an earthquake in Madagascar cannot be changed. There's a natural progression that must be followed. All I can do is be there to help pick up the pieces."
"I don't understand it. How a God could let something like that happen. So many people dead, so many lives destroyed."
"People die all the time. Why is it more horrible if many die at once than many over a space of time? Why is it more horrible that many die than just one, for that matter? Is the one not just as precious as each of the many?"
"That's not what I'm saying."
"That exactly what you're saying. You're saying that Madagascar's earthquake which killed 48,492 people is more important that the death of Tilly Waterman."
"Who's Tilly Waterman?" Gabe asked, and frowned as the name sounded familiar.
"A little old woman who lived three doors down from your aunt. They used to play bridge on Thursdays."
"I know her. She used to wear the little blue hat with the dirty fake flowers in it." Gabe said, regretting her death and the fact that he had not know.
"Yes. She had a stroke last week and died the other night."
"I'm sorry." Gabe said.
"It's admirable to honor the dead, reliving their memories but who are you sorry for? Her? Don't be. Her souls is at rest."
"What does that mean to be at rest?" Gabe asked.
"Being at rest means having no suffering, no pain, no want or desire, no questions or unsatisfactory answers. It means being infused with truth, filled with wisdom and brimming with love. It's just easier to say that Tilly Waterman is `at rest'." God let Gabe take his words in. "But why are you here asking me all these hard questions when you don't believe I'm God? Isn't that like asking a blind man what the color blue looks like?"
Gabe didn't answer.
"Here's another question. Why are you here when you have a fine, young man back at your apartment waiting for you?"
