Chapter 11: Lights, Communications, Action...

Matthew 6: 1-4

“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”

Outside, a quiet set of muted footsteps approaches across the weathered boards. They pause for a long moment. Then the doorknob clicks. The old hinges creak in protest, low and drawn out, as the door slowly swings open.

“Hello, and welcome!” Artbot says with a soft smile as the raven haired woman steps into the Meeting House. Artbot holds a newly dusted Bible in her hands. She cracks it open with machine precision.

The slight framed stranger is more machine than human, cybernetic enhancements wired throughout her body, visible beneath aquamarine medical scrubs and a doctor’s coat. Both arms whir and click as she receives the Bible from Artbot. Her mechanical eye flashes as she looks down at the open page. Without a word she takes the Book, scooter steps with the wheels on her feet into the pews, and finds a seat in the back. With a soft sigh and several creaks from the pew she settles in and tilts her head to listen.

Moose steps to the middle of the Meeting House. Sapphire blue hues mixed with golden yellows, emerald greens swirl with ruby reds, light from the stained glass windows shimmer beneath his feet as he opens his black leather-bound Bible. He flips through a few pages with practiced ease, the shiff of the paper sliding against paper echoes in the Meeting House. Several whirs and clicks come from Qbot in the corner as broadcast connections are made with the ship.

“Lord,” Moose begins quietly. “We know You are here. Thank You.” He smiles warmly, pulls the Bible closer to his face, his brow furrows. “Not as young as I used to be.” Moose reaches over his shoulder and into his back pack taking out a pair of reading glasses with a half frame. The glass is clean and clear, free of scratches or grime. He slides them on the bridge of his nose, pushes them up with a finger, and smiles.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,” he begins. Moose doesn’t raise his voice, he doesn’t project. He speaks calmly, quietly, one hand holding his Bible open, the other finger holding his place, a single finger pointing under the line he is reading. “But fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Moose tilts his head and wrinkles his nose as he looks around the room. “It is, of course, right to be frightened of The LORD. There is none like Him. Our God is Sovereign. Our God is Powerful. He is Righteous and Perfect. None can stand before Him. But it is not trembling fear that our LORD is speaking of here in Proverbs, and I would say it isn’t the type of fear that the LORD wants from His people either.”

Moose smiles and takes a few steps. His head tilts as he looks at the stained glass window with sheaves of wheat. “The word used for fear in Hebrew is ‘yirah’. Forgive my pronunciation,” he says and pulls his hat a little low over his eyes. “It means fear, but more in a reverence, to morally revere and respect God for who He is. To understand the moral Perfection and Beauty of God and to hold Him dear. This is the beginning of knowledge.”

The raven haired cyber-vet looks down at the Bible in her hands a moment. Her cyan glowing cyber-eye softly flashes as she reads along. Artbot quietly gets another Bible and takes up her position by the door again. Qbot’s satellite pack and dish click a few small clicks in adjustment.

“Everything that happens is either directly caused by or allowed by God to happen. There is no detail too small to overlook. When we are done looking at the tree we have two ways to go. We can look at the seed or we can study the forest, either way we go, He is there. God is Sovereign.” The words slip off Moose’s tongue in quiet, steady succession. He takes a few more steps to the side and looks to the stained glass window with Noah’s ark.

“So how are we doing with that,” Moose asks and looks to the lone person joining in the back pew. He asks quiet, calm, warm, and smiles. Moose takes a few steps back to the center of the room, Bible open in hand.

Ecclesiastes 5: 1-7

“Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil. Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes through much activity, and a fool’s voice is known by his many words. When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed- better not to vow than to vow and not pay. Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God.”