THE TALE OF THE DAUGHTER OF TIME
Time summoned Death, stroked her brow, and looking into her eyes said:
‘My child, you are immortal and you are everywhere. And this is the very reason for which you love oblivion more than anyone else. Yet, you, even you, must remember you are alive.’
‘Father… please…’ Death whispered.
‘Go!’ Time commanded.
***
On her way back from school, near the trunk of the blooming lilac, in the raw grass, the girl found a dead sparrow chick. She bent down and took the little bird in the scoop of her palms. She stroked her wings and her fluffy chest. Her eyes got misty. Careful not to unsettle the chick, she took it to the garden of her parents’ house. There, in the earth, she made a nest for it. She placed the chick inside, covered it with dust mixed with grass and chamomile flowers and prayed for a miracle to bring it back to life. She arranged the roof of dust, grass, and flowers such that the little sparrow might push it aside and fly away. When she was done with everything, she smiled contented and went about her childish business.
***
At dawn the young sparrow flew away. It came to the blooming lilac. It landed in the grass around the tree trunk and died.
***
On her way back from school, the little girl found the dead sparrow. She bent down and took it in the scoop of her palms. Then with misty eyes she went on and did the same as the day before.
***
At dawn the young sparrow came back to life, then died as it had done the previous days. But the little girl no longer showed up. She had died.
***
Time summoned Death, stroked her brow, and looking into her eyes asked:
‘Have you performed your duty, my child?’
‘Yes, father,’ Death whispered. ‘I remembered I am immortal, I am everywhere, and… I am alive. But, again, each time I have to do it, I wish I could die.’
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OUR TALE
‘The Heaven and the Earth shall pass, but My words shall not pass’ …
… Thomas spoke slowly, clearly and crisply, there, in the Bengal Gulf, and it was as if the sunset pulsed with a white-golden light, and the sand swished long and silky; the ocean waves themselves seemed to beat the shores in silence.
The jungle nearby gave a short murmur, then fell silent too, as if with a new, unknown, and mild comfort.
Thomas stood there for a while, head raised at the heavens, eyes shut, lips half-open, erect and with his arms open wide.
He prayed silently for the Word of his Lord and Master. He prayed passionately, yet trustful and humble. For, he was at the gates of India the great, with its countless people of whom he knew almost nothing.
And he alone had been chosen to share the Gospel with them.
All he had on him was the Holy Ghost, a long linen shirt and a cedar walking stick. In his goatskin bag he kept enclosed in a sycamore box the scroll where God had asked him to mark down His words.
The night before, one of God’s Angels came to him in a dream. It commanded him to come to this place at this time of the day. He was to meet the three Magi from the East who worshipped the Infant and offered him gold, incense and myrrh in that holy hour in Bethlehem. They are to put him to the test and he shall be victorious. Then he, Thomas, shall baptize them, and the Magi shall assist him in the work that God commanded of him there, in the great and unknown India.
Though the prayer had filled his heart and mind with serenity, comfort, and hope, Thomas quivered with fear as he sat waiting on the warm sand. ‘I am still human’, he admitted.
***
‘Awake’, said a voice inside Thomas, as if God were by his side.
He started and opened his eyes wide. It was dusk. He saw the camp, the fretting servants, the fires and the tents. The horses gave subdued neighs, the kneeling camels snorted.
‘May the Angels watch over you, may God protect you, may Jesus guide your heart’, the deep whisper sounded in the break of night.
Thomas gave thanks by crossing himself and it was then that he saw the three Magi, Gaspar, Balthazar, and Melhior, standing in a circle ….
The Magi looked like ageless old people, and they smiled gently, as their eyes cast secret sparkles like the celebrated gems of India.
‘Thank you for coming. I await and honor your wisdom’, Thomas said.
‘Thomas’, Melhior spoke for the Magi, ‘the Word is everywhere and it is alive. In Bethany you said: “Let us go and die with Him!” And you received Word: “I am the Resurrection and the life.” At the Easter Supper you said: “Lord, we know not whither you are gone; how may we learn the way?” And you received Word: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. None shall come to the Father but by Me.” Then, what is the truth you are hiding, Thomas?’
Thomas breathed, seized by an unseen fire, then slowly, slowly he came to himself. The Holy Ghost filled him completely. His eyes opened wide, wide – and when he finally saw Him, he spoke:
‘O My Lord and Master, if this be Your wish, I witness the cross you gave me.’
Unflinching in their gentle smiles, shining their glowing eyes, palms pressed to their hearts, the Eastern Magi listened. And it seemed like the heaven and the earth passed at that very moment.
‘Behold, O Lord, what was, and You know well that thus it all came to pass. You were risen, O Lord, for You had died on the cross. And they all learned it. Jerusalem was up on its feet. The Sadducees and the Pharisees went mad. And I, Thomas, pure and humble and faithful as you had found me in Lazarus’ Bethany, and whom You anointed with Your Word at that Last Supper on Easter Day, I knew from You that it was to be like that. For I was commanded by You to preserve Your Words in eternity. Amen.
‘And remember, O Lord, when I saw the countenance of Mary Magdalene come out of the house where my brethren were hiding, I knew Your promise was true that You shall never suffer us to become orphans. I was speechless with joy. Yet I went in. I saw my brethren. I saw with my heart the inside of their hearts.
‘And then I asked : Lord, I happily take upon myself their sin, as You did to redeem us. Lord, help their lack of faith and come back into your frame of flesh that I may thrust my finger into their unfaithfulness and Your wounds, saving them, for they loved You best and shall witness with their lives their love for You.
‘Happily I say: Lord, may my name be Doubting Thomas, in eternity and until I shall pass from this world, if that may help me love my brethren as my self. Help me, my Lord and Master, teach me.’
Then fell silent Thomas, alias the Twin, alias the Doubting.
Melhior spoke for the Magi:
‘Let it be ours, the story of your brethren, let it be our story. Baptize us, Thomas.’
And Doubting Thomas baptized them. In the name of our Lord. With water of the Indian Ocean and with the Holy Spirit.
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( from “The Book of Theophil Magus or 40 Tales about Man” by Leonard Oprea // “AuthorHouse” Publishing House / 2003 / available on