A destiny stepped forward: “This portion of God is for me.”
“True,” replied the angel. “And remember, whoever receives such a great portion of power as this is will surely be known by many. Ere your earthly pilgrimage is done, your true character will be known; yea, even revealed, by means of this power. Such is the destiny of all who wear and wield this portion, for it touches only the outward man, affecting the inner man not one whit. Outward power will always unveil the inner resources, or the lack thereof.”
The first destined one received and stepped back.
Gabriel spoke again.
“I have here the second of two elements of the Living God. This is not a gift but an inheritance. A gift is worn on the outer man; an inheritance is planted deep inside – like a seed. Yet, even though it is such a small planting, this planting grows and, in time, fills all the inner man.”
Another destiny stepped forward. “I believe this element is to be mine for my earthly pilgrimage.”
“True,” responded the angel again. “I must tell you that what has been given you is a glorious thing – the only element in the universe known to God or angels that can change the human heart. Yet, even this very element of God cannot accomplish its task nor can it grow and fill your entire being unless it be compounded well. It must be mixed lavishly with pain, sorrow, and crushing.”
The second destined one received and stepped back.
Beside Gabriel sat the angel Recorder. He dutifully entered into his ledger the record of the two destinies.
“And who shall these destinies become after they go through the door to the visible universe?” asked Recorder.
Replied Gabriel softly, “Each, in his time, shall be king.”
I don’t know when Edwards wrote his little book. The copyright on my edition is 1980 and I first ran across it in the early ‘90’s. He could have used a better editor (pot, meet kettle), but, all its faults aside, it is an interesting work. Edwards wrote it in response to abuses of power in authoritarian evangelical churches. It tells the story of Saul and David, then David and his son Absalom as a way of illustrating how to properly respond to abusive pastors and church leaders, church splits, and Christian-on-Christian bashing.
For some reason I could not find listed my favorite response to abusive authority: grab ‘em by the tie and slam them against the wall while foaming at the mouth and screaming assorted profanities and vulgarities. This is possibly because – though it is extremely effective, at least until the cops handcuff you – a minimum sixteen-inch bicep is usually required, depending, of course, on the size of the authority to be elevated.
People who “do the Lord’s work” have a tendency let it go to their heads. Though there are innumerable servants of God who are humble and self-sacrificing, too many in positions of authority think they have a right to dominate and control while making unreasonable demands on the time and resources of others.
Notice what Edwards says: power unveils. That is not limited to the spiritual realm – or maybe I should say the spiritual realm is not limited to church. Just look at the vast majority of politicians and others with political power. The smugness of power can go from the presidency right down to the dog-catcher. Pick any ten police officers and you’ll find at least one who just can’t keep from showing people who the man really is. Pick any ten U.S. Senators and you will find ten like that.
I still say McCain will win, and win more electoral votes than Bush did in 2004. I predict that Obama will not get 49% of the popular vote. I’m calling it 51 to 48.5 for McCain, with Bob Barr getting most of the remainder. However, if I am wrong (for an exhaustive list of things about which I have been wrong, contact my wife), and Obama does receive the mantle of power, we will see a lot of “unveiling” in a hurry.
