Episode 2: TIME JUNCTION

Faith boarded the bus to church camp. Her older cousin was to accompany her, but she called on her cell phone to let them know that there had been an accident on the highway and traffic was stalled, there was no way she would be able to make it.

Someone sat down beside her, maybe Terri was able to make it after all. Faith turned expecting to see her sanguineous cousin but as she turned she noticed she was no longer on the bus, she was on what appeared to be a white mist in the shape of a plane and the person sitting next to her definitely wasn’t Terri.

“Logos?!,” she exclaimed incredulously. “Good morning Faith,” he replied. She gazed at him wondering why he had come and where they were going on such unusual transportation but she was hesitant to ask. Logos smiled at the young girl, and took her hand between his two hands, powerful hands with scars she could feel. “We‘re going on a short trip?” Logos explained, the look on his face becoming more serious. With her next breath Faith was in the most incredible place she had ever seen.

When she finally adjusted to her new surroundings, “Unbelievable!” was the only word that Faith could think of to describe all the sights and sounds. “Logos, this is the strangest place I have ever seen.”

Right in front of her a child was chasing a flying clock, “How time flies!,” he exclaimed remorsefully. By the time the words were out of his mouth he had aged from the child to a very old man. Across the street at an outside café three men were sitting sipping coffee, “Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow,” one said laughing, then they all laughed, suddenly the cups in their hands crumbled, their nice suits became ragged and dirty, their clean shaven faces suddenly sported unkempt beards, and they couldn’t find their wallets to pay the bill. The waiter angrily chased them from the premises.

Faith was feeling rather numb with all the unusual sights and sounds, trees were changing from green leafed, to autumn colors, to bare, and back again to green leafed all within a few minutes. Flowers were growing, dying, and growing again. In the distance she heard what sounded like a child practicing piano, but it got better and better till the music was so wonderful she hoped it would never stop.

Faith turned around and could see right into the living room of a home behind her. A young man was sitting watching TV, he appeared to be hypnotized by the image he was watching, which to Faith looked like a swirling mass of colors. She heard a woman call, “Toby, go mow the lawn right now.” Not now mom, my TV show isn’t over, he called back, while Faith stood watching the grass and weeds grew up in their lawn right before her eyes. Next door a woman came to the door and started sweeping just as her husband arrived home from work for lunch. It wasn’t dust the coming out the door, it was images, images of the woman sitting watching soap operas, talking on the phone, playing solitaire, and other unproductive activities. “There just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done I need to do,” she complained to her husband.

“What is this place,” Faith asked?” “Time Junction,” answered Logos. “People seem to waste a lot of time here, and they certainly like clichés,” Faith mused. “Not everyone here is wasting their life away, there are many productive people here as well," Logos responded, “look at the office building up the street.” Faith looked in the direction Logos pointed and saw a young woman, appearing to be in her early 20s, walking down the stairs of a monotonous looking office building, a large group of people at the top of the stairs were waving their hands and handkerchiefs, and most of them were crying. The young lady looked back and waved then ran down the rest of the stairs and started on her way when Logos motioned for her to come over. Faith noticed as she walked toward them she held a bouquet of roses in her hands, and roses were growing up along the path she was taking. “Logos, it is wonderful to see you,” she said excitedly as she approached them. She threw her arms around him and gave him a big warm hug. “Prudence, I would like to introduce you to Faith Victor.” “It’s very nice to meet you Faith, I’m Prudence Jones.” “Do you work in that building you just left?” Faith asked. “Oh, no, not any more,” Prudence exclaimed. “I worked there for thirty years and I just retired, my friends gave me a wonderful retirement party, I will surely miss them all.” Faith was flabbergasted, “but you can’t be old enough to retire.” “I’m 54 years old Faith, I just learned very young to spend my time and my life wisely.” “You give your best, forget the rest, and take time to stop and smell the roses.” “Logos, bring Faith over for cookies and milk, I baked some outstanding cookies yesterday, if I do say so myself, and my husband would love to see you again.” “That would be very nice, we’d be pleased to accept your offer,” Logos replied. Faith began to feel just a little impatient, she still didn’t know why Logos brought her here, but surely it wasn’t for cookies and milk, and she would just as soon they got on their way. She still didn’t quite understand this place he brought her to, but this was Logos and she knew she had a responsibility to obey him even if she couldn’t understand everything that was going on. One thing she was certain of, by the time this adventure was over with Logos would make sure she understood it’s purpose.

Peter Jones was busy in the garden when they arrived, he appeared to be a young man, a little older than Prudence, but now Faith knew better than to try to judge how old he was by his appearance. “Look who’s come for a visit, dear,” Prudence called out to her husband as they drew near. “Well, as I live and breathe, if it isn’t Logos,” he said grabbing his hand and shaking it as one would a dear friend he hadn’t seen in a while. “And who is this adorable child with you?” Peter asked, turning to give his wife a loving kiss on the cheek. “This is Faith Victor, Peter,” Logos replied. “It’s nice to meet you sir,” Faith said shyly, not sure whether she was greeting a very young or a very old man, or somewhere in between. “We’ve come for your wife’s wonderful cookies,” Logos told him, smiling teasingly. “Well come in, come in, we’ll make sure you don’t leave hungry.”

Prudence certainly hadn’t exaggerated about her cookies, they were the best Faith had ever tasted, but why wouldn’t they be in this strange place. Things were pretty normal inside the Joneses home, Faith almost forgot she was in such a strange place. The conversation was pleasant, laughter was abundant, Faith actually began to enjoy herself.

Faith suddenly became aware that it was time to leave, by now she wished she could stay but Logos stood up and took her arm and lifted her up. “Peter, Prudence, we appreciate your hospitality, the wonderful cookies and milk.” “It was good of you to come visit us,” Peter responded, “please come again soon.” “You can count on it.” The goodbyes said, they started for the door, as soon as Peter’s hand touched the doorknob to show them out the house and everything and everyone in it had vanished and they were in a beautiful rose garden.

Logos showed Faith to a bench and they sat down. “Faith, you may not be aware of it but you visit Time Junction everyday, and the decisions you make about how you use your time will determine the person you will become when you are older.” Suddenly Logos was no longer visible, but Faith knew he was still with her. She was back on the bus headed for church camp and she knew there would be opportunities there and throughout her life to use the lessons she had learned on her trip with Logos.

© 2009

Episode 1: IMAGE IS EVERYTHING

Faith had known Logos as long as she could remember, but to her it felt more like an eternity. Some of her friends and family members thought he was a figment of her imagination, they had never seen him, all they knew about him was what she told them and she talked about him all the time. Together they had struck down formidable enemies.

Logos was a king in the Realm of Peculiar People. Faith was beginning to feel more and more like an alien in her own world, she always felt more at home in his. In fact, she was a citizen of two worlds. His world was more real to her than the one in which she existed, someday she would move there permanently. Today she would be meeting Logos in a classroom in her own world, but as she often discovered the experiences of his realm and hers usually intertwined, and extraordinary things always seemed to happen when she and Logos were together.

When she arrived he was already there, sitting in the back of the room. In front of the class stood a well dressed, attractive, charismatic figure. There was something about him Faith didn't like, but she could barely think about that because the students in the classroom were so odd. Deeply engrossed in the expounding of their teacher were the strangest collection of...? She didn't know what they were. They were dressed like kids she would see in her own classroom but some were totally animals, wolves, vultures, dogs, cats, and other creatures; others were in various stages between human and animal; and three appeared to be completely human. "What kind of classroom is this?" she asked Logos while still looking around in disbelief. "The question should be 'Who is he'?," Logos responded, looking in the direction of the teacher. "He is Heylel Diabolos, listen to what he is saying."

"This concludes our exploration of the history of mankind, pathetic creatures that they are, now we will commence our study of the law of evolution." " 'Law of evolution', I thought it was the 'theory of evolution'," Faith mused. She turned and saw a familiar face in the classroom, a girl about her age, one of the three that appeared to be totally human. Faith noticed that she grimaced as the teacher began the lesson.

Faith met Sarah at the amusement park waiting in line to ride the roller coaster. They found out they had quite a bit in common, they both shared a friendship with Logos for one thing. Sarah told her about a class she had with a teacher she found particularly distasteful, he insisted on being called "Professor" Diabolos, Sarah had said, chuckling, even though he was only a middle school teacher. She often wanted to speak up and dispute much of what he asserted, but she was afraid. He encouraged the students to stand and offer comments but most of her classmates were enthralled with him and accepted whatever he said without question and when comments were made they were in agreement with his opinions. Sarah had a friend who once dared to dispute something he had said, and he was immediately removed from the room and suspended from school for a week. Faith had taken Sarah's hands in hers and they prayed together that God would give her wisdom to know what to do and courage to stand up for the truth.

Faith turned her attention back to Logos. He pulled out a bag he had tucked under his seat and told Faith to take it to Sarah. "I'll interupt the class," she objected. "Neither Heylel Diabolos nor the students know we are here yet," Logos assured her. The bag was big, and bulky, and looked heavy, but was very light when she lifted it to take it to her friend.

"Hi, Sarah," greeted Faith. "What are you doing here Faith?," Sarah questioned with a puzzled look on her face. "Logos and I are sitting in the back, he wanted me to bring this to you." Professor Diabolos continued the lesson seemingly without even noticing that Sarah was talking to someone, no one in the class seemed to notice. Sarah reached in the bag and pulled out a helmet, a belt, a shield, a breastplate, shoes, and the Word. Faith and Sarah looked a little bewildered, but Faith insisted that she put them on because if Logos sent them to her he meant for her to use them. Sarah dressed herself in the armor while the class continued, oblivious to what was going on, she opened the Word and began reading how God created man in His image, after His likeness, then a strange thing happened, the Word began to look like the most delicious, nourishing food she had ever seen, she had the strongest desire to eat it and so she did. Then it occured to her that she had in the past partaken from the nourishment of the Word, but then it was just like babies milk. She began to feel stronger, the more she ate the stronger she felt. She sat back down and refocused on what Professor Diabolos was saying.

He had just affirmed to the class that people had evolved from single cell amoeba to the class of animals they were today. "You may as well enjoy your animalistic natures," he suggested. At this Sarah stood up. "Sir, I respectfully disagree with you, I am not now, nor have I ever been an animal." " I was created by Almighty God, in His image." "I am a Spirit being, I have a soul, and my spirit occupies this body." Her words, like the sword of the Word of God which they were, which she had eaten and digested, cut down the deception the "professor" had perpetrated and she could see her classmates were listening and digesting what she was saying as well.

Fierce anger crossed the face of the professor as he turned to look at Sarah. He was suddenly taken aback as her armor became visible to him and the anger turned to fear. Less confident, but with a distinctly irate tone, he commented, "young lady, you are out of order, report to the Principal's office immediately, I will meet you there shortly." "But sir, I have a right to express my opinion," she asserted. The professor was on the verge of flying into full-blown rage, he advanced toward her, intending to remove her physically from the class, as he did he caught a glimpse of Logos calmly sitting in the back of the room grinning at him. The anger changed to terror and he turned to the exit and fled the room.

The students sat stunned, not knowing what to do next. Sarah turned to Logos, "Sir, would you please teach our class today?" "No, Sarah," he replied, "today that is your assignment." Sarah timidly walked to the front of the class and explained how God created the world and everything in it, He created Adam in His image, then Eve from Adam. "We are not animals," she concluded, "we are Spirit beings, who have been given dominion over the world we live in." The more she spoke the more confident she became. Sarah dismissed the class and she, Faith, and Logos left the room together. Logos smiled at Sarah and she knew he was pleased with her. "Wonderful lesson," congratulated Faith.

Sarah started to remove the armor to give it back to Logos. "Sarah, you must keep that armor always," warned Logos, "you will need it often."

A few months later Faith and Logos visited the classroom again. A middle aged man was teaching a lesson on the priceless value of human life. The students were almost entirely human now, less than a handful had any animalistic characteristics at all, only one was still entirely a vulture.

After class Sarah came over to Logos and Faith. "What happened to Professor Diabolos?," Faith asked. "He came back and tried to teach but most of the class no longer had any interest in what he had to say, so he quit, he huffed out one day saying he would teach more interesting pupils elsewhere," Sarah responded.

"Not for long, if someone in his next class has as much faith and courage as you do," Logos said, smiling at Sarah.

© 2007