Chapter 18
Year 35
The usual pleasant time around the evening fire was not part of the gathering this night. Adam Fish sat in the circle with Day at his side, and neither spoke a word to the others around them. Their children sat behind them, except for Fire, who was by Sunna on the far side of the circle. Sortes finally stood and even the quiet conversations ended.
"My family, we come together tonight in order to bring greater understanding. The things that are taking place in our village must be addressed if we are to live in harmony." Tuning to Adam Fish, he said, "You and I have been together for more seasons than I can remember. When you and Day came up the river, we were all excited to be together and to celebrate the new life and hope you two brought to us. You worked hard and taught us many things, and we are grateful to God for bringing us together. My sadness has grown as I have watched you slowly withdraw from the village and become distant. You told us you wanted us to stay off your land, and while we do not agree that the land belongs to any one person, we have honored your request. You have refused to share the things you produce unless we give you something for them. This we have not done, but we have continued to offer you the ability to share freely from all we have produced. We pray for you at every celebration of Mother Sun, and yet you do not join us. Now today, you have attempted to take the life of a fellow Adam, and we are now here to see why you do these things, and what it is we have done to trouble you. Our desire is to bring harmony among ourselves and not further separation."
With that, he sat and all eyes turned to Adam Fish. Slowly, he rose to his feet and looked each person over carefully. "I came up the river because I believed that more Adams were here, and we needed to find each other. When I came, I found a group of you who lived in small shelters on the ground and new little of hunting or fishing. I showed you how to build tents. I showed you how to fish and to hunt. Together we expanded our village and took from the surroundings all we needed. I did this with you—not some woman, but me. I have watched you become weaker as you grew in number, and I have seen how you do not look to me for your understanding, but trust in the voice of all. You men have become as women, filled with ideas that keep us buried in this place. We could be strong and find other Adams and bring them into our understanding, but you do nothing." He turned and looked at Eve and continued, "And then you come with your ideas of the God of All Good Things, and the Love we share. You are but a woman needing only to make children and keep us happy. You are not a man, you do not hunt, you do not build, you are here for my use, and yet you come to us and take over our minds as a man."
He turned and looked at every male in the group and said, "The woman is but a male who God has cursed. Her outside place for sex turns into her for her shame, and we are the ones who go into her to make children. We are strong and become stronger when we are ready to go into the woman, but she is only there to catch our life, as a horn catches water. We are the force of life and strength, not the woman. Yet this light-haired female, with her darkness and thinking, has taken all of you and made you weak. Now this one," he pointed at Dawn, "has come to make the evil grow stronger. I will not allow this to continue, so I will kill it and bring us back to our strength. I am Adam Fish, and unless you can see the truth I speak, you are all women, and I curse you."
Adam Fish sat down and glared at the group. No one spoke, for none could believe what he had said and what he believed. Eve looked around the group, and suddenly she began to see colors all about her. The trees and forest became a bright green. She looked at the tents and saw the sleeping children all covered with bright white lights. Looking around the circle, she saw many shades of light on all the people gathered there. Then she looked at Adam Fish and saw he was a deep, dark, red color. As she saw all this, she began to remember all she knew about the colors of light. She remembered that the lights were actually Providers who came when love and positive belief came forth. As though she was suddenly in a new world, Eve remembered all she had ever known in her journeys before Earth, and was flooded with eternal understanding. Quietly, she rose and began to speak.
"I am Adam, known as Eve, but I am not part of who you are. I have journeyed many lifetimes and come to you by the God of All Good Things to serve the new life on Earth. I bring you understanding of the Power of Love and Light so that you will all be able to remain in harmony with the plan of God. The Earth you are in is a gift from God for your new beginnings. God has created several female Adams and placed them on the Earth. Here we have three of them: Canna, Day, and Sky. Another female was Sun, who was my and Dawn's mother. One more is coming and her name is Wind. There are three more, but I do not know where they are located. These female Adams are new creatures made by God, and placed here to be one with the male Adams. The males are from a people who were just like Adams, but from another time. They did not know how to follow the power of light, and their shadow destroyed them all. However, from these people, a new beginning came forth, and the males carefully placed with the females on Earth are the remainder of these people. Here we have Sortes, Betoon, Adam Fish, and Adam Hunter. Another male know as Adam, is Dawn’s and my father, and he will come to us soon. The other three I believe are with the females, but I do not know where. These are the beginnings of the family of Adam, which is the opportunity for the beauty and Love of the God of All Good Things to come forth from a people who choose to walk in Light and not in shadow."
Eve stopped for a moment to gather her thoughts, and not a person moved in the circle. She walked around the circle and sat before Adam Fish. She could feel his anger and knew his shadow was very dark. She looked into his eyes and said, "Adam Fish, you are one of the gifts God has placed on the Earth to show forth Love and Light. From you will come forth countless numbers who will go forth and fill this world. You say I am evil and bring these people to weakness. You may think what you want, and I simply will not agree with you. Nevertheless, I ask you this: does your thinking bring you peace and joy? Or, does your thinking bring you unrest and emptiness? The way of God is always with peace and joy, and it is the guide to show us if we are in harmony with God's plan. You say that God curses the female for we are evil. Again, how you think is not something I may argue with, but it is also something with which I do not have to agree. We are all entitled to have opinions, but we are not entitled to force others to agree with our opinions. I know that God directly created the female for the beginning of this new creation. She is not a curse, but a vessel of love and joy for new life. I know the male was selected by God for this journey, and is not good or evil, but perfect for the new life."
Eve looked long and hard at Adam Fish, and sent him as much love energy as she could find in the Universe. She then stood and returned to sit between Adam and Sunna. At last she said, "My fellow Adams, who I love dearly, hear and remember these things. You are one with God, and are not separate from anything that is. You are one with all life, as all life is one with you. There is no division in the Universe, for all things are of God and nothing can be separate."
She paused for a moment and began to go deep into her own being. Finally, she said quietly, "There is no shadow without Light, and Light is always stronger than shadow. The deception of shadow is the thought that we are separate from Light. The truth is that you are one with God and can never be separate from that place of security. Shadow only brings the fear and uncertainty of being alone. The truth of Light brings us peace and joy for it shows we are one with God."
She lifted her eyes toward the fire and began to feel the depth of the Love of God for this new creation. She felt the fullness of God in her as it sought to bring love to all of creation. She saw thousands and thousand of Adams all around her, and felt the love of God pour over them. With tears in her eyes, and sobbing out the words she finally said, "In love, there is ultimate joy, peace, and abundance. God creates and sustains all things by the Power of Love and Light. Love does not seek to receive it only seeks to give. You must love yourself as part of God, and you must love oth
ers as yourself, as you are all one. Love is the first sound of God and the completion of all thoughts. Love creates joy and abundance."
Eve felt the Power of Love and Light pour out of her toward Adam Fish. She saw the light of the Providers speed toward him and his redness began to change to a lighter color. Exhausted, she leaned over into her Adam, and he held her close. She watched as the Providers covered the people around the circle, and saw how they had received God's truth and blazed with Love and Light. Then she watched as Adam Fish looked at her, and she saw the Providers fall away, and his color begin to turn even darker red. He stood and, looking directly at Eve, spoke, "You are good with your words, but they are lies to keep us weak. You speak of others who are out there, and I believe it may be true, but I will not trust you or your word. I will find them myself. I will leave you, light-haired woman. I will leave you because you choose to walk in evil, and not in truth. I am Adam Fish. I am Adam." He looked around the group and finally said, "And you are all fools."
Eve began to sob with a broken heart as Adam Fish walked away. Day rose to her feet and turned to follow Adam Fish, when Fire jumped up and said, "Do not go with him Day. Stay here and I will care for you and protect you." Day turned and looked at him, and with sadness simply said, "I cannot leave him, for I am one with him. It must be the way of God for us to be together. I love you all, and I do not believe Eve is evil. I do not believe that females are cursed. However, I do believe that Adam Fish is the one I must follow, for I am his." She started to walk away and then stopped and turned to Eve and said, "I do not understand all you told us tonight. Even so, I felt in my heart that you spoke truth from another place. Know I will think often of what you have said, and I will treasure the fact that God directly created me. I do believe at the end of my journey, I will see you all again."
She turned and, taking the hand of the children, disappeared into the night.
Sunna turned to Eve and said, "I know you for being someone else I have known in another time. As you spoke, I felt your words deep within me and knew I had heard you speak these things to me before this night. Do you remember when we were together before this life?"
Eve looked at her daughter, and she knew that the life energy within Sunna was Sun herself. She smiled and thought, "My mother has become my daughter. Now that is hard to explain."
She simply reached out, pulled Sunna close, and said, I do not know all of our journeys, but I too know we were together before this time. When our journey here is over, perhaps we will have better understanding."
Sortes stood and said, "It is with sadness we face the moving on of Adam Fish and Day. However, tonight I believe I have heard the messenger of God, and I have great peace. Eve has come to us from God, and now we have Dawn and Hunter. Soon the others will join us and our family will become much larger. Tonight, let us feel joy for the new beginnings, and pray the God of All Good Things will bring an understanding of Love and Light to Adam Fish as he journeys forth. Let us break forth with celebration that we may truly welcome Dawn and Hunter into our family. I am Adam." Each person stood and repeated "I am Adam" and then in one voice, they proclaimed, "We are Adam."
Eve spent the night as if being moved by another force. She spent a long time with Fire and Sunna and they talked about the Power of Love and Light and she gave them deeper understanding of this mystery. She and the Elders talked long about the insight Eve had shared with them, and she felt them grasp new thoughts and rekindle old understanding. She, Dawn, and Hunter had long conversations about how Wind and Adam were and what Star and Moon had gone through in their time on the river. They made plans to go to the others and bring them to the river and their new home, as soon as they rested and prepared for the journey.
Finally, Eve found herself with Adam, and they settled together before the fire. They shared their love for each other in a quiet and unspoken way, which only those who trust can do. Finally, as the camp settled into sleep, Eve rose and descended the hill toward Adam Fish. She felt driven by the need to try one more time to transform his thinking.
She entered the camp and all was quiet. Again, she saw the glowing lights of the Providers, and the tents filled with lights of Love and peace. However, she could not see Adam Fish.
Then Eve turned and saw the redness of his shadow and anger. "You have come to torment me one more time," Adam Fish growled at her.
Eve walked to Adam Fish and quietly stood before him and said, "I have come to tell you I love you and to provide you one more time to try to understand. If you go, you will start a pathway of shadow that others will follow. Please try to see that the Love of God is the only way of joy."
She reached up, pressed her hands on his face, and sent forth the Power of Love. In her mind, she heard a voice saying, "Remember, we cannot change another individual’s journey, we can only give them Light and then hope they will see truth." She knew the voice and quietly said "Domatarious."
She felt Adams Fish's fist hit her in her stomach, but she stood and looked into his eyes. She felt a pain, but it was in her heart and not her stomach. "Why Adam Fish? With so much love, why do this?" Eve felt her hands slip from Adam Fishes face and slide to her side. As she looked down from his face, she saw his hand on her stomach, and the blood that flowed over it. She saw, but never felt, the long sharp stone with which he stabbed her. Instead, she felt the sharp pain of his shadow as he stabbed into the beauty of the creation. She slowly slid to the ground and became aware of the brightness of light all around her. She knew her journey was over, and with her last breath of life on Earth she said, "I am Adam, and we are all one".
In the morning, Fire came to the campsite to see if Adam Fish was gone. He found Eve lying in her blood with Adam Fish's cutting stone still in her. He felt a rage come within him that blinded him. He wanted to run down the river until he found Adam Fish and kill him with his own hands. He also felt shame that his father had done this cruel act to the mother of the woman he loved. Finally, he sat on the ground and wept over Eve's body, unsure of what to do next. He looked at Eve's lifeless form, and found even in her death, she was able to bring a peace to his inner places. He sat there for a long time, and simply watched the waters flow by his resting place. He heard footsteps in the woods and turned to see Sunna enter the clearing. He rose and quickly went to her and held her tight.
"What is wrong Fire? You look and feel like you are deeply troubled."
Holding her tightly, Fire explained to Sunna what had happened and how he had found Eve. She broke from his embrace, ran to Eve's lifeless body, and fell on it with a scream of pain. He came and knelt by her side and held her as she cried out her pain and grief.
"I will go after him and either bring him back or kill him," Fire said as he wiped her tears. "He must not be allowed to escape punishment."
Sunna took Eve's hand in hers, and held it to her face. "She would not want that Fire," Sunna said. "Something inside me says that she came here to meet with Adam Fish and give him one more chance. She knew what might happen, but bringing us together as one Adam was worth the risk. We cannot further destroy our unity by seeking out Adam Fish and killing him. He and God will work through this; it is not up to us to take God's place."
She looked up from Eve and saw the confusion in his eyes. So much of the hatred and mistrust Adam Fish had taught Fire was now boiling to the surface. However, the desire to walk in Love and Light was his goal in life.
"Fire, look at me," she said quietly. His eyes met hers and she spoke, "Remember what Eve told us only last night. The way of God is always with peace and joy, and following it keeps us in harmony with God's plan. In our grief and confusion, let us not drift into the shadow and away from God."
Fire looked at her, and she felt his countenance change as her words took root. "You are right Sunna. I will not dishonor her with doing things she would not want. However, we will have to bring this thought to the others, and that will take strength. I will carry Eve up the hill, but you go before me and tell Adam to
meet us before we get to the village. He will need to work through his feeling before he is with the others." He touched her face and said, "You are different today. I feel a strength within you that gives me strength. I believe Eve imparted wisdom to us last night and touched us to prepare us for this journey."
He stood and helped her from the ground. Holding her tight, he allowed the comfort of their love to bring a moment of peace. "Go now;" he said as he pulled back, "the pain we will all go through is great. However, Eve would also have us remember the Eternity to which she has now returned. Bring Adam, and we will go through this pain together.”