Title: Nature of God
Author: Kim

DISCLAIMER: Catherine Marshall’s story of “Christy” is owned
by the LeSourd family.  I am in no way seeking profit or credit for
her story.  I am continuing the TV story of “Christy” for my own
amusement only.  Any additions in story line or characters were
invented by me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PART 1: SHOCK

 Margaret stood still in disbelief as Neil rushed away, his
horse galloping flat out for the Mission House.  She stayed frozen in
front of his cabin, unable and unwilling to comprehend how his
departure had come about.  They had come so close!  Standing by
“their” tree, Margaret had felt Mac’s arms around her, and for one
crazy, wild moment, thought perhaps they could make a go of their
marriage.  But it lay in shambles at her feet.  Tears began to stream
down her face,  her broken hopes falling with them.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 As Neil stopped, astride his horse, in the schoolyard, the
sight before him caused his heart to break:

 Christy Huddleston, the love of his life, the repository of
goodness, the magnet for his soul, stood in the schoolyard with
Reverend Grantland, holding his ring in her hands. (*break*)

 Christy stared at Neil with her wide, doe eyes, astonishment
and dismay written over her beautiful, expressive face. (*Break*)

 She turned to look at David Grantland, still clutching his
ring, preparing to tell him, yes, she would marry him, would gladly
become the preacher’s wife...(*BREAK*)

 Neil could stand it no more.  He wheeled the horse around,
and galloped down the hill as swiftly as the animal could go,
heedless of treacherous hidden holes to catch delicate hooves,
heedless of the greedy, grasping branches of the trees they passed,
heedless of all that was sensible, or reasonable, or logical.
(*BREAK!!!*)  His breath came in sobs as they rushed headlong
down the mountain, sobbing from the wind, sobbing from his
breaking heart, his broken dreams, his anguished soul...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 Christy watched the retreating figure of Neil MacNeill, her
thoughts and emotions frozen, so that in her numbness, she could not
have said what she felt at that moment.  David’s ring almost slipped,
forgotten, from her fingers, as she tried to fathom what had just
transpired.  David, next to her, cleared his throat meaningfully, in an
attempt to bring her back to the subject at hand: her acceptance of
his ring.  She wrenched her eyes away from the horizon where the
doctor had disappeared, to be confronted by David’s very intent,
serious face.  She could feel him WILLING her to respond, to
accept, to say Yes!  I will marry you, Oh my darling David!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 David  could no longer breathe.  What was the point,
anyway, if breathing only continued the agony that he felt, that he had
become?  Christy had gasped when MacNeill had ridden up to the
Mission house.  That was when David knew - really KNEW - that
he had lost, that he was lost, that Christy would cut him loose to fall
away, fall down, bereft, without an anchor.  What did it matter if he
could breathe again or not?

PART 2: FLIGHT

 Margaret dully packed her few belongings and took one last
look around the cabin - Mac’s cabin, no longer theirs, if it had ever
been THEIRS.   She crossed to the front door and stood on the
porch, looking out at the mountains and trees, seeing them, really
SEEING, for the first time in her life.  They were Mac’s mountains
and trees, just as the people in the Cove were Mac’s people.  He
loved them fiercely, with a possessiveness he had never felt for her.
She wandered back in through the cabin, fingering items on the
mantle, looking at the pictures Mac had on the wall, finding the
picture of her grandparents with their friends, seeing the empty
place where the picture of herself and Mac used to be.   She
gathered her luggage and set off down the path, knowing now what
she had to do, where she should go.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 As night began to fall, Neil began to come back to himself,
to shake off the blind desire to run away, to run to the ends of the
world.  His horse, his brave, exhausted animal companion, shivered
and panted as it strove to recover from the insane rush down the
mountain.  Neil dismounted, leading it to the nearby stream, patting
it and murmuring apologies as he helped it to drink without
becoming sick, like the sickness that threatened to crush his world

 Neil began to rummage through his saddle bags, always kept
packed in case of emergency.  That was when he realized he had no
intention of returning to the Cove that night.  How could he go back
to his cabin when SHE - his “wife” Margaret - was still there,
mocking everything a marriage should stand for?  As he dully
searched for trail food, his hand chanced upon an unopened letter
that Mr. Pentland had thrust upon him earlier that day.  Neil had not
read even the return address at the time, merely pushing it in among
his provisions, but now he studied it closely.  He grimly nodded as
he read the letter’s contents, stroking the horse next to him as he
made up his mind.  Now he knew where he should go.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 Christy stood at her bedroom window, tears streaming down
her face as she looked out onto the beloved sunset through a blurred
cloud of despair.  Her thoughts kept going back to that moment in the
schoolyard, with David and the children staring at her, as Neil rode
away, perhaps forever.  She had finally recovered herself enough to
think, and looked at the beautiful engagement ring in her hand as if
for the very first time.  Slowly, agonized, she folded it back into
David’s hands, shaking her head from side to side, and whispered,
so low that he had to strain to hear her, even though he already was
urging her to respond to his pressuring with every fiber of his being.
“No, David.  I’m so sorry.”

 Her legs then had taken it upon themselves to support her in
her walk away from David, away from the schoolhouse, away...
Now she stood crying at the sight of her beautiful mountains, crying
at her lost dreams.  What would she do now?  Would she be able to
stay in Cutter Gap, loving a man lost to her, and enduring the
reproachful glances of the man she had had to push away?  Or
should she now leave, go back to Asheville, back to the life which
would please her parents the most?  Where should she go?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 David’s eyes were red-rimmed, grief-stricken, as he stared
at the beautiful, meaningless ring in his hands.  He had no memory of
getting through the rest of the afternoon’s lessons with the children,
but he must have done something, for the schoolhouse was empty,
and all the children were gone, back to their homes.  Where was his
home now?  Where should he go?


PART 3: SHELTER

 Margaret softly knocked at the door before her, fearing yet
another rejection.  As the door opened, the weariness of her journey,
of her life, caught up with her, and she practically fell into the arms
of the man who answered the door.  The man, dressed in servant’s
clothing, caught her by the shoulders, just as a male voice rang out
behind him.  “Edward?  Who is it, Edward?  Do we have a
visitor?”

  Edward, still partially supporting Margaret’s weight,
answered, “Er, yes, Sir, I believe it’s Miss Margaret Henderson,
Sir.”

 “Splendid!”  came the reply.  “Please show her in!”
Margaret could scarcely believe her ears.  Seldom in her entire life
had anyone been genuinely glad to see her.  As Edward escorted her
into the parlor, she once more began to cry.  Margaret, who had
always prided herself as being too mature, too knowing, to indulge
in such infantile activities, approached her welcoming friend with
tears on her face.

 “Margaret!”  the booming voice cried.  “Come in, come in,
please.  Edward, please get Miss Henderson a cool drink, she looks
about to wilt.  Please sit down, Margaret, here by me!”

 The remainder of Margaret’s cool armor melted under the
strength of this greeting.  “Oh, Mr. Kramer!” she sniffled, and in
words never before heard from her lips, said,  “Thank you for your
kindness!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 Neil stepped off the train, to be greeted by the grimy air and
noisy traffic of Philadelphia.  He paused to get his bearings, and set
off on foot down a nearby street.  The alien surroundings of the city
echoed the alien pulse of his thoughts, which swirled and blurred
with every step.  He had worked hard to keep from thinking, forcing
himself to go through the necessary motions, leaving his horse
stabled at El Pano, purchasing the train ticket, arriving here in the
city which housed old friends...

 Finally he arrived at the house he had sought, one of a row
of identical buildings stretching far down the block.  He looked
once more at the return address of the letter he held in his hands,
making sure it was the right place.  Satisfied that it was, he rang the
bell, hoping he was doing the right thing.

 The door opened, and an older woman with a crown of
beautiful white hair smiled at him, her wrinkles arranging
themselves in a familiar pattern.  “Neil?  Young Neil MacNeill?  Is
it really you?”   She came out to the step and grasped his hands in
hers.

 Neil felt overwhelmed at this welcome, and tried to laugh it
off.  “Yes, Miss Lydia, ‘tis really me, ‘though no one’s thought of
me as  ‘YOUNG’ Neil in a VERY long time!”  He studied the
woman before him, so petite that she only came up to his shoulders.
“You’ve grown even more beautiful since the last time I saw you!”

 The woman before him, Lydia Barnes, laughed and lightly
cuffed him on the shoulder.  “Pah!  You always were one with a
flowery tongue!  Please come in the house, Neil, before the
neighbors decide I’m running away with another man!”

 As the front door closed behind them, a strong male voice
could be heard from down the front hall.  “What’s this?  You’ve not
finally grown tired of me, have you, Lyddie?”   An older man with a
sure walk and hair equally as white as Lydia’s appeared, and shook
Neil’s hand warmly.  “Neil MacNeill?  Well, I’ll be feathered!  No
wonder my wife wants to run off with you!”  His handsome, lined
face brightened with a wide smile.

 Neil was dazed by the warmth with which Lydia and
Wainwright Barnes greeted him.  He made his way into the parlor,
sitting on the comfortable-looking couch that Wainwright had aimed
him at.

 “I’m so glad you came, Neil!  Lyddie and I didn’t know if
you’d be able to accept our invitation or not.  So many of your
classmates have scattered to the winds, we hardly know how to get
in touch with them any more.”  Wainwright offered a plate of
candies to Neil, who accepted them, along with the glass of water
Lydia gave him.

 “I fear I’ve come under false pretenses, Wain. I know you
just wanted a visit from an old medical student, to catch up on my
life, but the truth is, I HAD to leave Cutter Gap, and I had nowhere
else to go.”  His confession tumbled off Neil’s lips before he had a
chance to think about what he was saying.

 Lydia sat next to him on the couch.  “We’re sorry if you’re
troubled, Neil, but you certainly came to the right place.  You’re
always welcome with us, you know that.”

 “Yes, Neil, we always felt a connection with you.  Please
think of us as family,” Wainwright added.

 “You’ve no idea how I needed to hear that.  Thank you,”
Neil whispered, uncomfortable with baring his raw feelings in front
of these old friends, yet grateful for their kindness.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 Christy felt she could stay in her room no longer.  Her heart
felt heavy, as if it were full of tears, trying to cry.  She wrapped a
shawl around her shoulders and stepped out into the night air.
Before she knew it, she found herself in front of Miss Alice’s cabin,
although she had had no conscious thought of going there.  She took
a deep breath, and knocked timidly at the door.

  When Miss Alice opened it, she smiled when she saw it was
Christy who had come to visit.   “Miss Huddleston!  How grateful I
am that thee has come.  Please, do come in and warm thyself by my
fire!”  She motioned toward the rocking chair.

 Christy entered the comforting cabin and sat down.  Alice
settled herself on another chair, recently vacated from the
appearance of the crochet work lying there.  Alice picked it up with
a smile, saying “I love to sit of an evening, quiet here near the
fireplace.  While my hands are busy, I can sort out the events of a
busy day, and settle my thoughts.”

 Christy was at a loss for words, uncertain how to speak of
what was troubling her.  But the silence that surrounded the two
women was comforting, not demanding, and gradually Christy’s
spirit began to achieve a kind of peace.  As always, she felt a great
love for Miss Alice, and grateful for her kindness.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 David knelt on his hard bunkhouse floor.  “Oh, God!” he
prayed.  “How could you let this happen to me?  How could you let
Christy turn down my proposal like that?  God!”  That last word
was a cry from deep in his soul, of anguish, of petition, of anger, of
confusion - the cry of a lost child seeking its parent.  David
continued on into the night, alternately scolding and pleading with
God, bargaining for the desired outcome.

 Finally, near dawn, he fell quiet, exhausted from his
outbursts, all the emotions draining away in the still of the new day.
As his anger and pain gently eased, so then did a new feeling,
equally gently, begin to flow into him, until his being was suffused
with a new warmth.  As David became conscious of it, the comfort
from inside of himself, and from outside, began to bring him peace,
making him remember all the wonders of his life.  He bowed his
head once more, this time in gratitude, not anger.  “Dear God,” he
prayed.  “I want to thank you, this brand-new morning, for all your
kindness...”


PART 4:  CONFESSION

 Margaret sipped her lemonade, to counteract the dryness in
her mouth.  Telling her troubles to Gilbert Kramer had tired her, but
it was a new sort of tiredness, one accompanied by the relief of
knowing she had finished the dread task of telling her whole,
wretched life story, with all its pitiful details.

 Gilbert watched her for a moment before he spoke.  “Well,
Margaret, I’m glad you came to me about this.  I can’t begin to tell
you how sorry I am for all the sadness in your life, and your illness,
but I can see you didn’t come to me for pity.  You never were one to
take pity from anyone, not even when you were a little girl.”

 He rolled his wheelchair closer to the couch where
Margaret sat, and looked intently into her eyes.  “Your grandparents
were friends of mine.  I owe them  a great deal.  Why, if it hadn’t
been for your grandfather’s advice and assistance, I never would
have made the success of my law practice that I did, here in
Ardmore.”

 Clearing his throat, he continued.  “But I guess you know all
that, or you wouldn’t have come to me now.  Please tell me - why
DID you come here today, Margaret?”

 Margaret set the lemonade glass on the plate which Edward
had left for her.  She stared at the intricate design on the table
underneath the plate, stalling for time before she must answer
Gilbert’s reasonable question.  Why HAD she bothered this man
with her pitiful problems?  And would he help her?   How could she
ask anyone to help her, since she’d made such a mess of her life?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 Neil finished his story, exhausted now that he had told Lydia
and Wainwright Barnes all that had transpired between himself,
Margaret, and Christy.  He had amazed himself with his open
honesty; normally, he kept his life’s events to himself.  But the
acceptance and caring in the beautiful old faces of his beautiful old
friends had broken through his personal barriers.  So now they
knew.  What would they think of him now?

 Lydia, seated near him, reached over and took his hand in
hers.  “Neil, dear, thank you for telling us what is in your heart.
How hard it must have been for you to do that!  We’re so honored
that you would trust us so.”

 Wainwright nodded.  “Yes, Neil.  I can’t begin to imagine
what a heartbreak you must be feeling.  All I can do is imagine what
it would be like to be separated from my dear wife here.  I’d sooner
give up eating, breathing, than to lose her.”  The look of pure
adoration on his face as he gazed over at Lydia was not lost on Neil.

 The doctor from Cutter Gap felt warmed by his friends’
love, but it was not enough to heal him.  “What should I do now?”
he whispered.  “How can anyone, even Christy, believe in a God
that could do this to a person?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 Christy had finished telling Miss Alice about Margaret and
Neil, about David and the ring, everything.  She sat rocking before
the fire, exhausted and confused.  What must Alice Henderson think
of her now, after she confessed her love for the man who was
husband to Alice’s daughter?  How COULD she have turned down
David’s proposal?  Wouldn’t it have been the right thing, the WISE
thing, to have agreed to marry the young, SINGLE, preacher?

 Alice continued to crochet in silence for a few minutes
more.  Finally, she looked up.  “Christy,” she said softly, in one of
the rare occasions she used Christy’s first name, “I have watched
thee grow from a naive, awkward, inexperienced city-girl into a
wise, resourceful mountain teacher.  Thee should not have shame for
feeling love - you feel what you feel.  You have no illusions about
your situation.  Did thee think I would be angry with thee for thy
love?”

 Tears slipped down Christy’s cheeks as she replied.  “Oh,
Miss Alice, I wouldn’t blame you if you WERE angry with me.  I
just don’t understand how God could have let me fall in love with
the wrong man!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 As David ended his prayer of gratitude, he slowly rose from
the floor.  He staggered a little as his legs, bent in prayer much of
the night, objected to the lack of circulation.  Sinking down on the
nearest piece of furniture, his cot, he started praying again.  “I am
sorry, Dear God, with all my heart, for the anger in which I spoke to
You last night.  I would like to start again, if I may, and tell You
what has happened in my life.”

 As he began his story, without anger, part of him wondered
why he was bothering God with all this.  How could God help him,
when the woman he loved wanted another man?


PART 5:  REVELATION

 Margaret got off the train and prepared to wait for the next
connection to El Pano.  She looked around the Asheville station,
remembering that here was where Christy Huddleston must have
stood before she brought her life to Cutter Gap - to Neil MacNeill.
Others milled about at the station, pacing, chatting, hugging, crying.
No one waited with Margaret.  She shook her head slowly, smiling
in irony.  “You did it to yourself, didn’t you?  Pushed everyone
away who ever loved you.”  She watched a young man and woman
near her embrace.  “I just hope that this works...” she thought, as she
made room on the bench for several other people, newly arrived at
the station and waiting just as she was for the next train

 Just then, the man sitting next to her turned and really
LOOKED at her.  “Great Scott!”, he cried, jumping to his feet,
staring wildly at her.  “Where in the devil did YOU come from?”

 Margaret stared at him for a moment, and then started to
laugh, eventually provoking a coughing fit.  When she finally calmed
down, she smiled at the man, and said, “You’re just the person I
wanted to see...I have a gift for you!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 Christy rose in the glorious sunrise of a new day, surrounded
by the sight of the mountains around Cutter Gap, enchanted with the
concert of birdsong floating around the Cove.  Miss Alice had been
right.  Of course.  Life was such a glorious gift, and love was the
one true vocation of each person.

 “Thank God that thee has the capacity to love, Christy,”
Miss Alice had counseled her.  “Think how dreary life would be
without it.  Thou are a sensitive woman with a kind, generous spirit.
Would thou go through life feeling nothing, in order to be spared the
pain of loving unwisely?”

 Christy had pondered her words for a long while.  No, she
decided, life would not be worth living without feeling.  If she had it
all to do again, she would not change a thing.  It was indeed a
splendid gift, this ability to love, in all its variations.  Her love
for
Miss Alice was not the same as her love for Mountie O’Teale,
which was different from her love for Fairlight, for Ruby Mae, for
Rob Allen, for Opal McHone, for....David.  And for Neil MacNeill.

 As she left the Mission House, she breathed deeply of the
sweet mountain air.  Miss Alice was right.  Love IS our true
vocation.  She entered the school building with a light step, eager to
practice her newest revelation.  No matter who came through that
school door - be it David Grantland,  or Neil MacNeill, or
Bird’s-Eye Taylor that trouble-maker himself, she would attend to
this vocation of love with her best ability, and practice it gratefully.

Life was indeed a precious gift.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 David rose from sleep and prepared himself for the day.  He
didn’t remember finally falling asleep after the long night of praying,
yet he felt as refreshed as if he had had a long, peaceful vacation,
even though it could not have been for more than just a few minutes.
Marvelling at this feeling of well-being, he found that his pain of the
previous evening was lessened, replaced with a calmness he had not
known in a long time.

 As he had prepared for the ministry, David had armored
himself with the smug self-assurance that he knew the path to
salvation, and was called to lead others there as well.  Gradually
his preaching experiences in Cutter Gap had brought him to reality,
to facing the fact that he had more to learn from others than he had to
offer to them.  When Christy had pushed his engagement ring back
at him, his wounded pride translated itself into a lack of faith in
God, in the rightness of  David’s entire life.  No wonder he had
been in such anguish.  Arrogance and pride do not gently withdraw;
they are forced out, with much kicking and screaming.  His vanity
had led him to believe he knew the mind of God, could predict that
marrying Christy was of course the right thing to do, therefore she
would say yes to his proposal, therefore it was appropriate that he
put her on the spot about it in front of everyone.

 David smiled and laughed gently at his own foolishness.  No
wonder Christy wouldn’t marry him.  Who would want to marry him
when he saw only himself, not others, not God?  His long night of
prayer and self-examination had finally led him to the truth.  David
Grantland was not the center of the universe, but only a small spot of
light within it.  David nodded.  He had indeed needed a good
humbling, which merciful God had given him.  Blessed were the
ways of God in the universe.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 As the days passed in Cutter Gap, David and Christy grew
more comfortable together.  They watched, and saw, Divinity in
each other, as they began to see it in others as well.  This marvelous
revelation overshadowed their awkwardness.  When one sees the
Divine in another, it is difficult indeed to stay angry with that
person, or upset with them.  Christy saw David in a new light, or
Light.  And when David saw Christy smile at him, he no longer
assumed it was because she was in love with him; he saw that it
was because she Loved him.  Now that his pride was no longer the
driving force in his life, he saw that there may indeed be another
Plan for his life, one which he was not forcing into reality.

 One day soon afterwards, Doctor MacNeill came back to the
Cove.  When he had left, as if seven demons were chasing him, the
gossip mill of Cutter Gap had it that he would never return, and they
would have to rely on his apprentice, Dan Scott, to doctor them,
even if he was not (yet) nearly as learned as their Neil.  The
Doctor’s reappearance brought back memories to Christy and
David, of that day in front of the schoolhouse when Christy gave
back David’s ring.

 As Christy watched Neil’s approach, she realized he was
riding double with someone - Margaret!  A flood of mixed emotions
washed through her while she studied her shoes.  When she looked
up at them again, Christy Saw, with the Sight Miss Alice had taught
her, the Divine within not only Neil, but Margaret - his wife - as
well.  As the two figures dismounted in front of the Mission House,
Christy held out hands of welcome - to both of them, an act which
she admitted to herself would have been impossible just a few
weeks earlier.  As difficult as this new Sight of hers was, she was
grateful to be able to practice it.  She was grateful to be genuinely
GLAD to see Margaret again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 As Margaret dismounted with Mac’s help, she saw Christy
Huddleston approach - with a smile on her face!  As Christy took
her hands in welcome, Margaret looked into Christy’s eyes, really
looked, for the first time, and saw genuine pleasure there.  Margaret
could not help herself - a tentative smile formed on her own lips in
return.

 Then all turned to look up at the Mission House, where they
saw - Miss Alice.  Miss Alice’s face was streaked with tears, as
she held herself back in obvious effort not to crowd her
newly-returned prodigal daughter.  “Mother!” Margaret called to
her.  “I would like to talk to you, if you’ll let me.”

 Alice Henderson was visibly startled by this unprecedented
request.  “Oh my,”  she said.  “Yes.  Yes, indeed, Margaret.  Would
thee care to go to my cabin with me?”

 “Yes, Mother.  That would be fine.”  All stared in
amazement as Margaret and Alice walked side-by-side to Alice’s
cabin, and disappeared inside.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 Neil watched as the cabin door closed on the two women,
and then turned to Christy, and to David, who had joined them as
well.  Neil could sense something - different - about the two, but
could not tell what it was.  But he was reminded of Lydia and
Wainwright Barnes, and the peace they had told him of, back at their
house in the city.

 He had whispered, “How can anyone, even Christy, believe
in a God that could do this to a person?”, after telling the Barneses
about the pain of loving one person while being married to another.

 To Neil’s astonishment, Wain had laughed a short laugh.
“Neil, you always did think that if there was a God, God would
have to be someplace far away, pulling the strings of us poor
puppets!”

 Lydia gave Wain a loving glance before she spoke.  “Neil,
did you ever wonder how Wain and I were able to continue the
work of teaching science to medical students, without arguing with
the folk around us who thought we were interfering in God’s work?”

 Neil slowly admitted, “Yes, Lydia, I had always wondered
about that.  They would call the two of you terrible names, claiming
that it was the work of the devil.  I could not see how you could
treat those neighbors as kindly as you did.  Anyone could see it was
the doctors - and the medicines - that were curing the patients, not
God - or the devil.”

 Lydia smiled sweetly at him.  “But Neil - didn’t you know?
We are all one part of the entire Creation.  God, if you want to use
that word.  I’m a part of Creation, Wain is a part of Creation, YOU
are a part of Creation - even the people who hated our work were
part of Creation.”

 Wain leaned forward, enthused.  “Yes, Neil!  We are all
interconnected.  As long as one of us does something, it can be
thought of as an Act of God.  Whether it is a ‘good’ action, or ‘bad’
action, or can have any sort of label put on it at all, is up to us.
But
we are all part of one organism!”

 Neil sat back, stunned by the eagerness of his friends to
share their thoughts on this.  Alice Henderson had tried to speak to
him in the past about his doctoring being a “gift from God”, but he
had still seen God as separate, and knew no one had given him
anything.  He had worked for every inch, every centimeter, of
knowledge he possessed.  God had not been there in the wee hours
of the morning, holding his hand as he studied for exams - or when
he had had to tell weeping parents that their beloved child had died.
Neil had always known God had not been there for him.

 But this idea, of the interconnection of all Creation, that
EVERYTHING together was God...This was something he could
think on.  The universe was something he could SEE.  He needed no
blind faith or a book of printed words to believe in the existence of
a molecule, or a blade of grass, or a child’s laughter, or the light of
the sun...

 So now here he stood, in the warm light of the sun, in front
of the Mission House at Cutter Gap.  He very much believed in the
existence of Christy, and even David.  If they were truly “all in it
together”, as Lydia and Wain had declared, then it was up to Neil to
start acting like it.  “Reverend Grantland - Miss Huddleston.  I
understand that congratulations are in order?”

 Christy blushed, but before she could speak, David gently
answered.  “If you are referring to a marriage engagement between
Miss Huddleston and myself, Doctor, I must tell you that we have
decided not to go through with it.”  He smiled at Christy.
“However, we have pledged to remain close friends, and together to
Seek God in all things.”   Neil’s heart leaped into his throat.  Had he
heard correctly?

 David continued.  “However, Doctor, it looked as though
perhaps you and your wife may have, ah, settled your differences.
May we congratulate YOU?”

 Just then, Margaret and Miss Alice emerged from the cabin,
holding hands and smiling.  As they approached, it was Neil’s turn
to answer.  “No, well, uh, yes, but not in the way you are thinking.
We, uh, that is, Margaret, uh...”

 Margaret’s vivacious laugh filled the air.  “Why, Mac!  At a
loss for words!  This was definitely worth coming back for.!”  She
regarded her mother’s teary face for a moment before continuing.
“What Mac is trying to tell you, is, an old family friend of my
grandparents’ is a judge, and I went to visit him - Judge Gilbert
Kramer.  I talked to him about - well, about what a mess I’ve made
of my life, and Mac’s, and...”  She smiled ironically at Alice.
“Anyway, he had good news for us.  Since I was underage when
Mac and I married, and I lied about it at the Justice of the Peace
office, and of course never had permission from my mother to
marry....And it never really WAS a real marriage...The judge said
he could easily have it annulled.”  Margaret stopped and took a
breath, watching the faces around her.  “Legally, it is now as though
Neil and I had never married!

 “Not only that, but a client of his is a big theater production
manager in Philadelphia, who was looking for a female singer for a
play he’s putting on.  A real play, a stage play, in legitimate theater!

And the judge recommended ME!”  The light of joy danced in her
eyes.  “I have a real job - the starring role - and will be able to pay
back all the money I’ve had to borrow - from everyone!”  She
smiled at Neil.  This business of acting unselfishly was starting to
get easier with practice.  The pleasure she had seen in her mother’s
face when Margaret had invited her to come to Philadelphia on
Opening Night to see her - that was a look she had wanted to see for
a long, long time.  That feeling could become addictive.  Now, if
only Mac would be happy too....But he loved Miss Huddleston, who
loved the preacher...

 Neil, who had heard this story from Margaret when they had
met at the Asheville train station, had continued to stare at Christy.
“...we have decided not to go through with it.”  Was that what the
preacher had said?  That they weren’t engaged?  That Christy was
not in love with Reverend Grantland?

 Christy, in her turn, looked from Margaret to Neil, back and
forth.  Had she heard correctly?  Margaret had gotten her marriage
to Neil ANNULLED?  As if it had never happened?   That Doctor
MacNeill was not married?  That he now was a SINGLE man??

 Margaret chatted happily about the play and all the
excitement she would find in Philadelphia, while Christy and Neil
stared at one another, frozen in place, a roaring in their ears
blocking out all other sounds.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 What a change a few weeks could make in the rest of one’s
life!  Margaret found that an unselfish act can bring personal
success.  Christy thought she had to give up one love - David’s, and
regret another - Neil’s, but instead found Love of the Divine in all
people.  David had found that what he had thought was God’s will
was only his own selfish will - that to find the real God, he had to
find God in others, as well as within himself.  Neil had found God
was all around him, that all was God, without separation.

 So Margaret went on to a successful singing stage career.
Alice Henderson visited her in Philadelphia as often as she was
able, and the two of them, while never exactly friends, found a
comfort while they were together that they had never had before.
David found new enthusiasm in service to others, and the people of
Cutter Gap grew to love him all the more.

 As for Christy and Neil...

 Later in the evening, as the others retired (Margaret to stay at
Miss Alice’s cabin, much to the surprise of all!), Christy and Neil
stood facing each other on the porch.  They were both a bit
overwhelmed at the day’s events.  Neil finally found his voice.
“Christy, I...I know we have not always agreed on matters of great
importance to you.  I think...well, we both have changed a wee bit in
the last few weeks, I think for the better.  And, of course, well, you
know I’m not married...now.”

 He took a deep breath and continued.  “I don’t understand
this new awareness I have, exactly, of, well, the sacredness of all
things.  I’m still getting used to it.  I was even trying to see how
your
marriage to Reverend Grantland could be a positive part of -
Creation.  But now I find that you don’t love him as a wife for a
husband at all.

 “Could you - would you - please, Christy Huddleston, would
you ever consider marrying me?  I know I’m not fancy and refined
like some of the city fellas you’ve known, but...”

 Whatever else Neil was going to say that night was lost,
because at that moment Christy leaned forward, threw her arms
around his neck, and kissed him directly on the lips.  Neil decided
he did not, after all, need to say anything else.

 And they lived happily ever after, learning how to love each
other more, and how to love all about them - the mountains, the
trees, the animals, the people, all of nature.

 For that, too, is in the Nature of God.


  THE END.