Ruth
Ruth stood in the center of her parents' kitchen. A group of women gathered around the edges on cushioned pillows and chairs.
"All of you know Mother, Maria and me," Ruth said, somewhat nervous. "We called this meeting so you can get to know each other. We'd like you to start by introducing yourselves--give your name, where you're from and how you came to know of the rose. Who'd like to go first?"
Her mother nodded approval. She was pleased her middle daughter was taking the lead.
The women glanced at one another. Silence followed. Ruth was about to speak again. Her mother shook her head no.
"Well, uh," one woman, known as Rosemary, said in a course voice, "it's just that we're not used to being asked to speak out."
"No, we're not," said another woman, Ruth had come to know as Saide. "We have to listen to our husbands and fathers. If we don't, we pay."
"If we say anything," Rosemary said, "we are rebuked. They just want us to talk about family and chores, the things women are supposed to do."
"Us getting together like this could be considered heresy. I really don't want to be stoned, not today, anyway," a third woman, Clara, said with a halfway grin.
"And not just by men," Saide said. "A woman has her place. A man has his. It's always been that way. You're asking us to abandon what we've been taught."
"Is that how all of you feel?" Mother Mary said.
Murmuring broke out.
"Okay, then," Mother Mary said, "how many of you had trouble getting away to come here today?"
All but one raised their hands.
"My sister gave me flack, but I brushed her off. I didn't tell her what it's about. Oh, and I'm Mary. My friends call me Mary Be," said a woman with a genteel voice. "I've lived in Bethany with my sister and brother since my husband died of the fever."
Pretty with light brown hair, lighter than anyone else's in the group, Mary Be had symmetrical features, eyes the color of dawn and a radiating innocence. Her hands were delicate and smooth.
"My sister, Martha," Mary Be said, "has always thought I was a little off."
"Do you think your brother or sister will punish you for coming?" Maria said.
"My sister will give me a hard time," Mary Be said. "She always thinks I should be doing something else, no matter what I'm doing. But you know what? This whole thing.... I just had to come, after seeing him."
"Are you talking about the big man in white?" Rosemary asked.
"Yes," Mary Be said. "I was sick several winters back, same time as my husband. We were visiting Martha and Lazarus. I was out of my head for days, both my husband and I were. My brother went to get Mother Mary. My husband died while my brother was gone. Shortly after he died I saw a shining white rose. At first that's all I saw. Then late one night when everyone was asleep, the room became all glowy. That's when he appeared. He was a big man with golden hair and pure white clothes. He didn't say anything. I saw my husband standing beside him in the light. After that I knew my husband was all right. He made me joyful."
"Your husband?" Ruth asked, picturing what Mary Be was saying.
"The man in white. After the fever broke I told Mother Mary and Maria about him. They didn't laugh or tell me I was stupid like my sister always does when I talk about such things. They said it was a sign. Since then I've been even more different from Martha. She thinks I spend too much time helping the beggars outside our gate. She thinks I prattle on about things that aren't important. My brother's just so glad I didn't die, he doesn't bother me."
Mary Be looked about the group, uncertain what to say next. She had always been shy, but today, little of the emotion bothered her.
After a moment Mother Mary said, "That's good, Mary Be. Thank you. Who wants to go next? Maybe share what you fear most."
"I will, " said a woman of strong bearing. She wore a gown of Roman cut. Her hair was black, braided and drawn up on the back of her head. On her feet were delicate sandals worn by the Roman elite.
"My name is Celia. My father is magistrate of one of the army posts in Rome."
Chattering broke out.
Mother Mary said, "Please, ladies, give her a chance. I assure you, she's one of us. Go ahead, Celia."
"I was afraid to come, afraid of what you all might think of me, the daughter of your enemy." Celia took a broken breath, aware they were scrutinizing her. "The thing is, what I experienced was so out of the ordinary, I had to take the chance.
"You see, I was traveling with my father. Last year my husband was killed in a skirmish. Father thought the trip would help take my mind off things," she said, her voice breaking.
"Did it?" Maria asked, kindly.
"In a way," Celia said. "One day I was out seeing the countryside around Jerusalem. Father insisted I travel with a complement of guards. We stopped to overlook what they told me was a city dump. So many people lived there, eating scraps. I'd never been allowed to see that kind of thing. I had no idea so many had it so hard. I took my lunch basket from the carriage and ventured down the hill toward them. The guards had a fit.
"When I got to the bottom, I saw him. He was wearing white, such a contrast to the scruffy people around him, and holding a white rose. It grew larger and larger until it filled the sky. Apparently I was the only one who saw him, because the others didn't even glance at him or the rose. After a few minutes he vanished. By then the guards were behind me begging me to come back to the carriage. I set down the basket of food and backed away."
"That must have been hard," Saide said. "I've never been allowed to go to places like that either. I've been told it's too dangerous."
Other women agreed.
"Since then I've seen him several times. I was at a market in Capernaum to buy cloth. That's where I met Ruth." Celia smiled. "She was honest, kind and so different from other vendors. I bought everything she had. The greatest thing was, she invited me home. Me, daughter of the enemy. It changed me. The whole experience changed me."
"So you really were afraid of us?" Rosemary said. "Of us?"
"Yes," Celia said. "I've only been around women from my own culture. I didn't know, I just didn't know how I would be treated."
Mary Be, seated next to her, laid her hand on Celia's arm. "I never thought about what it might be like for someone in your position. I can see how it could be difficult. I mean, the men in your life do what they do, and you don't have much say in it either, right?"
"Yes," Celia said, sounding grateful.
"So as women, we have a lot in common, even if it doesn't seem like it at first," Mary Be said.
"Many cultures with the same song, singing similar words to the same melody," Ruth said.
"Yes," Mother Mary said, smiling. "This is good. For what we are doing to work, we need to share our concerns so we can work out the bugs. We will be facing the same kinds of issues with all the women we try to reach. What say we have refreshments? Ruth, could you help me?"
They served cakes and wine.
As others were eating, a girl in her teens, cleared her throat and said, "My name is Sara. I live in Capernaum. I sell fish for my father, Jeremiah, and my husband, Simon, in the marketplace next to the shore. I had to talk real hard to get them to let me come. Simon, seems a little radical at times, but he's a softy when it comes to me. He gave in, as long as I could find someone else to take my place selling fish.
"I knew I had to come because of what happened two years ago. I was late getting to market. It was already hot. The flies were worse than normal. My father brought in the morning's catch, and I wasn't there. He scolded me. Simon, who was my betrothed at the time, took me off to the side and said it was all right. He spoke to Father for me.
"Father and Simon went out again. The early catch had been sparse. I was tending my booth when a man appeared. I was surprised people weren't thronging him. He looked so clean, like he never worked. The main thing I noticed was his eyes.
They were bluer than the sky, intense, yet soft. I can still see them clearly. His hair was golden. He was more than handsome, pretty in a man's kind of way, and I thought, I could love him. He bought a fish, one fish, a small one. He gave me twice the price I was asking. He told me to take the extra and to go see the woman on the edge of town, the old gnarly one that everyone's afraid of, and buy what she had to sell.
"I worried about it for hours. When all my fish were gone, I made my way to her hut. I found her around back, tending a garden. Beside it was a bush bearing one white rose. She smiled at me, and as she did, I could see his face radiating in her eyes, the man with the golden hair. I thought she was going to pick the rose and give it to me. Instead she gave me this."
Sara opened her satchel and took out a tunic. On the breast was stitched a white rose. She said, 'You have something for me?'"
"I offered the extra coin the man had given me. She gave me the tunic and retreated into her hut. When I called after her for an explanation, she said, 'Be on your way.' Next day when I was back at the market I showed Ruth the garment. She invited me home to meet her mother. We've been friends ever since."
A woman named Claudia went next. "For me, well, the problem is my husband. Sometimes, he hits me when I don't do what he wants."
"So how did you get away today?" Maria asked.
"I told him I needed to buy cloth for diapers for the baby," she said, patting her stomach. "Ruth weaves the best cloth around."
"Do you think you'll have trouble every time?" Mary Be said.
"Probably," Claudia said, "but I'll figure it out. When I saw the man in white, everything changed for me. It happened like everyone is saying, except...." Tears gathered in her eyes.
"Except what?" Mother Mary said, kindly.
"He told me I was special. No one had ever said that to me before. He said I had a heart as soft was a summer breeze and because of that I'm perfect to help people." Claudia swallowed hard. Tears seeped down her cheeks. "He said, I was the way."
"To what?" Rosemary asked.
"To everything. He said we all are. It changed me inside," Claudia said. "So when I met Mother Mary and Ruth, I knew I had to help. I could see they were the same as me, that they knew what I knew. It's time for love to rule the world. Hate has been in charge too long. I want it to be different for my baby. Daniel says I'm going to have a girl. I don't want her to be treated as badly as me. The only way it's going to change is by me doing something about it. Me. I can't believe it's up to me. But that's what the golden man said. He said it's up to all the mes in the world."
"What about your husband?" Saide asked. "What about when he finds out"
"Then he finds out," Claudia said.
"And if he beats you?" Mary Be said.
"He beats me anyway, for things of no importance. I might as well get beaten for something worthwhile," Claudia said. "I have to do this. I was born to do it. I know that. It's one of the few things I do know."
"We are thinking of setting up a place for women to go whose families mistreat them," Maria said. "I'm not sure how to do it yet, but it's been needed for a long time."
"It would have to be a secret place," Saide said.
"Yes, it would," Maria said. "My uncle, Joseph, might be able to help. He has property all over the place, and he knows all kinds of people. He has a way of helping people be safe. I'll talk to him about it the next time I see him."
"That does sound like a good thing," another woman said. "I'm Joella. I live on a small farm on the edge of Nazareth. My husband and I can't have kids. It's made me real sad. I've been praying for a way to make my life meaningful. I think that's why I started seeing the man in white. He comes to me just as I wake up. He never says anything. He just stands there looking so good, so pure. He makes me want to be like him."
"That's how I feel," said yet another woman. "My name is Emerald. I live on the outskirts of Tiberias. My husband is a good man. He treats me well. It's my mother I have problems with. She doesn't understand why I can't be like everyone else. She beat me when I was little to try to get me to be like my sisters. My husband put a stop to that, so things are better now. When I told him about the man in white and the rose and Mother Mary, he insisted I come today. He's heard about Yeshua. He hopes to hear him speak when he gets back from the East. He said Yeshua has good ideas, so his family must be good people."
"Sounds like my husband," said Joella. "He's heard about Yeshua, too. Mother Mary came to our house once and healed my baby sister. I remember it so clearly. Everyone thought she was going to die. Mother Mary was so kind. She explained what we needed to do and how to care for my sister. She has special problems. She can't walk right, and she doesn't understand us very well. Sometimes she hurts herself. It's hard on the whole family. Mother Mary helped us understand."
"Mother Mary is like that," the next woman said. "I'm Cleo. I live in Nazareth. My father is the rabbi."
"Does he know you came?" Ruth asked. She'd heard kind things about the rabbi.
"Yes," Cleo said, "in fact, he's all for what Father Joseph and Mother Mary are doing. He likes the way they see things. It's not my family I'm worried about."
"What is it then?" Ruth asked.
"My betrothed," Cleo said. "I'm not sure how to tell him. His family is so traditional. I don't know how to bring it up."
"You might try what I did. I'm Philipa," said a dark haired woman of lesser means. Her clothes were clean though somewhat ragged.
"And what's that?" Cleo asked.
"I bribed him," Philipa said.
"With what?" Saide asked.
Philipa blushed. "I'd rather not say."
"And it worked?" Saide said, her face taking on a knowing sparkle.
"Oh, yes. Men aren't hard to figure out. There are only a few things they want. Once you understand that, there's a way around most everything," Philipa said.
"I've noticed that," Joella said. "It's one thing my mother taught me."
"It's called manipulation," Rosemary said. "Women have been doing it forever."
"Yes," Mother Mary said. "What we hope to do is to create a world where manipulation isn't necessary."
"In the meantime, if we are going to do this," said a woman named Joanna, "we have to help each other find ways to make it work."
Everyone agreed. Soon all had told their stories and were chatting like friends.
Finally Mother Mary said, "As you can see, each of you has a different story, but they have underlying similarities."
"True," Philipa said. "We hear rumors that your son, Yeshua, is the Messiah. Is he coming back to save us?"
"How long has he been gone?" Rosemary asked.
"Nearly three years," Maria said. It seemed like an eternity.
"We received word last week that he will be home soon," his mother said. "As for him being the Messiah, that's not what he's about."
"Yes, but we need deliverance," Cleo said, sounding impatient and disappointed.
"The seeds for that deliverance have been sown, in you," Yeshua's mother said, "in each one of you."
"Us? How?" Rosemary said. "We're just women."
"That's the kind of attitude that keeps the oppressed oppressed," Maria said. "That's what we need to change. We need to teach the value of each individual--rich, poor, male, female. All are an equal part of the Divine. We, us women here, will be concentrating on helping women. Our next meeting will be after Yeshua gets back."
"It should be after the next full moon, if all goes well," Mother Mary said. "In the meantime, I want you to think about love. Perfect love. What is it? How can it be administered? What does it mean? Is it important, or is it fantasy?"
"Why love?" Emerald said. She had always been too curious. It was a trait she seemed to have in common with the rest of the women in the room.
"Because as far as we can tell," Ruth said, "it's the only thing tha
t lasts."
"So like I was saying, by next time, I want you to come up with a definition of love. Each one of you in your own words, not what you've been taught," Mother Mary said, "but what feels right to you."
"I've been wondering, what are we anyway? What do we call this group?" Sara said.
"What would you like to call it?" Ruth asked.
"Circle of the White Rose," Sara said.
"Or maybe Order of the White Rose," Claudia said. "That's what the big man in white said."
"We will probably be called by many names," Mother Mary said. "Not all of them kind."
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