Summer returned to Bear Ranch after spending the day helping at Crimson Ranch. Joyce was home from the hospital and wouldn’t be back on her feet for several weeks. Ron was ineffectual when it came to a mop and a broom. Chalcey entered the big country kitchen in a whirl, slamming down her back pack, throwing her coat on the closest chair, and yanking open the zero refrigerator.
“Whoa, girl, how was your day?” Summer could tell just by body language Chalcey was upset. Summer handed her a plate of homemade chocolate cookies and a glass of milk and sat down next to the chair buried in Chalcey’s school residue.
“What’s Hell, Summer?”
“Well, it depends on who you ask. Tell me the context of your question.” Summer never talked down to Chalcey and in many ways Chalcey was more sophisticated than her peers.
“Jenny asked me if I go to church. I said no we practice church every day. She told me if I don’t go to church I’m going to Hell. So does going to church save you from Hell? Or is this another one of those scare tactics used by so called Christians to increase their numbers?”
“Chalcey, what do you believe about God?”
“Well look at what God created, the beauty, the tiniest of creatures, the smells, the sights, and of course Red. God has to be good and full of love. God has to be patient. The world goes to war and kills the enemy, people rob from one another. Uhmm, I think God loves you, Marlowe, Mom and me. So in short, that’s what I believe about God.” Chalcey munched on cookies and drank long at her milk.
“Ok, so would the God you know send Oriole to Hell because she didn’t go to Church? Summer challenged the premise Chalcey’s schoolmate promoted.
“Mom saves people, she never raises her voice at me, she stopped that one time and rescued a raccoon baby, she donates time with Horses with Heart. So, no, God would see all the good she does and reward her. God wouldn’t send her to Hell. Wait, I’m getting it.” Chalcey’s eyes opened wide and she started pacing around the kitchen. “Our God doesn’t send good people to Hell and neither does Jenny’s, even if she believes that. So I’m not going to Hell if I do good things, clean my room, muck stalls, and obey you, Marlowe and Mom. So Jenny is full of manure.”
“It isn’t that she’s full of manure. She is full of what others have told her rather than, like in your case, full of what you discern by using your noggin. If there comes a time when you want to go to church, you can. We’ve all had this discussion over each generation and we’ve all decided to let the newest generation decide on her own what she wants to do about religion. My parents let me choose and I chose Shamanism. I let Marlowe decide, she chose Buddhism. Marlowe let Oriole decide and she hasn’t. So Oriole will let you decide, if and when you want. So tell me what you think about thinking through issues?”
“Summer, I’m the luckiest kid in the whole world. I’m given the opportunity to think things through and apply what I’ve learned to situations. I know I’m not always going to be right, but I’ve got skills that Jenny may never have because her parents tell her what to believe and what to think. She doesn’t use her head because she doesn’t know how to question and seek answers. Yep, I’m one lucky kid.”
Chalcey almost strutted across the kitchen and threw her arms around the seated Summer. “Well little miss lucky, how about getting out of your school clothes and getting your chores done. Maybe if you hurry you could help me over at Crimson’s. Then we’ll have time to get supper on.” Summer reflected on each of the generations’ growth and enlightenment and felt her heart swell with pride in seeing it in Chalcey. She acknowledged 70 years of diversity paid off in the fourth generation and at that moment she wanted Marlowe and Oriole to share Chalcey’s accomplishments still knowing they were busy with the day’s work; it could wait.