The Peacock 1881

"And we already know what happened from there", says Jesus.  "Instead of getting out of the car with you, he drove away and left you helpless and vulnerable.  And then, you saw a boat approaching you on the water." "I was crying, and I felt so frightened, vulnerable and helpless.  The man steering the boat was wearing what looked like a black hoodie.  At first I couldn't see his face, but then he lowered the hood.  A young man, from what I could see in the dark, but there appeared to be a light coming from him and his eyes were so kind.  I was still a bit high so things did seem very intense, but in a quiet, almost musical voice, he said, "Won't you come with me?"  I didn't even think to ask him who he was or where he was going to take me.  He motioned toward what looked like a dock or a wharf nearby.  I climbed onto the boat which he steered over to where I was waiting for him and then I climbed into the boat behind me.  I felt I could trust him, for some reason..

The Peacock 1880

Jesus says, "You said that you picked him up, and not vice versa." And I am reminded here of Jesus' "Woman, you have five husbands" chat with the woman of Samaria. "I was married back then", she says, "to a very cynical and self interested psychiatrist some fifteen years my senior. I at the time was a welfare verification officer, and it was my job to see that those receiving assistance were playing by some very harsh and unjust rules. I hurt a lot of vulnerable people, some of whom committed suicide when, thanks to my interventions they were cut off their meagre assistance and left homeless and on the brink of starvation I had a conscience which I most effectivelly drowned with liquor. I was in Victoria, on the lam from my husband whom I had already grown to hate, I was at a party hosted by a highschool girlfriend. We went clubbing and this incredibly handsome man approached me. I was dancing solo on the floor and already rather high on stuff. I grabbed him by the arm and tried to get him to twirl around with me. He just stood there, his hand holding me firmly by the arm, and said, "You are needed elsewhere.) I told him to fuck off and asked if we could find a quiet beach somewhere where we could have a good shag. "Come with me", was all he said...

The Peacok 1879

"Amaris". says Jesus, "Would you be so kind as to tell everyone here your story." She is wedged between Francois and Jeffrey, her white robe dress (because I cannot tell if it is a dress made to look like a robe or a robe that resembles a dress, but it is completely elegant on her.  Yet there is something about this young woman that suggests she is not even remotely interested in making any fashion statements. "I would be very honoured, my lord",she says, looking around at all of us seated here with her.  If she was indeed in her twenties when she claims to have come here, then now she might be around fifty.  But just as the parents of Jesus seem incredibly ancient, this Amaris appears to have cornered the fountain of youth.  She puts down the fork with which she was just about to spear a wedge of mango. "As Jesus has just mentioned, my name used to be Letitia Van Smit.  I grew up in Richmond where my parents and grandparents settled when they moved here from Holland in the nineteen fifties.  We had a huge cranberry farm that was in later years turned into a subdivision of townhouses and large homes.  As I mentioned already, I was brought here to this island under rather inauspicious circumstances.  I had been invited to a party for a weekend in Victoria, we went nightclubbing and there I picked up a young man who drove me out to Saanich to a remote and deserted beach.  I was not expecting he would leave me there untouched, but soon after came to see what a complete blessing this was going to be...

The Peacock 1878

Jesus looks at Maureen, then at Jennifer and Sarah tenderly but sternly, "I have appointed an angel, one of my servitors, to stand guard over your house.  You three particularly were wounded when the emissaries of darkness tried to gain a foothold in your home.  It is still not time yet for you to return.  First you will all three be staying, remaining here with me, with us, for your healing."  And then, with a playful grin, he adds, "Provided this is where you all want to be." "Yes", says Maureen joyfully, without hesitation. "Yes", says Jennifer, solemn and reticent. "Yes", says Sarah, as though committing herself to a new marriage. Jesus, still smiling, enfolds both Maureen and Jennifer in his arms, then Sarah gets up and hugs him from behind....

The Peacock 1876

Lawrence has already relaxed and is now leaning and cuddling into Mary as she continues to feed him. He has gone curiously quiet as she feeds him like her own baby. "Shall we continue with introductions?" says Jesus. "I don't believe you know three individuals of a particularly difficult provenance, and here they are now in my care. First, Maureen, Jennifer, and Sarah, may I present to you Isabella, who calls herself Stella, Sven, her twin sibling, and their stepfather, Caspar, who is much much older than he appears. And over here we have Kenny, an old and very dear friend of Christopher's who was raised by me from the dead and has lived here in this house with us for many years now. And there", he is gesturing both to Joseph and Mary, "Are my own parents, Mary, whom you would recognize in a much younger form, all draped in blue, and Joseph, not actually my biological father, but still the most dear and loving and patient and kind stepdad one could ever wish for. Do not be deceived by their aged appearance, they are both eternal and stronger and more robust than any twenty year old. And over here is Amaris, formerly called Letiitia Van Smit, who came here more than twenty years ago, lives here as one of my many faithful ones and has been gifted with eternal youth...

The Peacock 1875

As though thoroughly shamed and humiliated, Lawrence does not reply, but bows his head over his plateful of artisanal potato salad.  The ancient Mother of God at his side, she places on his back a consoling hand.  Then she takes hold of his fork with her free hand and as though Lawrence is her darling little infant, she begins to feed him his potato salad.  He accepts and appears to be even beginning to smile. "Christoper", says Jesus.  "When you return to your life in the world you will find that all your ties with the mental health profession will be completely severed and you will be starting anew in my service.  They have built their work upon lies.  I am the truth, and I alone am the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

The Peacock 1874

"I have carefully and thoroughly read all your charts and records.  It's all there, I'm afraid." I am just preparing to raise my voice in my own defence when Jesus raises me a cautionary hand.  "I Am your defense, Christopher."  Then, addressing Lawrence, he goes on to say, "Christopher is my servant.  Any false charge that is made against him must first be directed to me.  Young, Lawrence", and here I just want to laugh because despite the eternal Godhead of our Lord, he looks maybe half Lawrence's age.  "Your profession of psychiatric medicine, and your own mind  have been so tainted and corrupted by secular atheism that I really don't know where to begin.  It would appear that every single person whom I have gifted with visions and revelations is doomed to fall into and suffer gravely in your hands.  Because none of you believe in me, nor  my Father, or the Holy Spirit, you have utterly destroyed the lives of many of my innocent servants with bogus mental illness diagnoses and you have posoned them with drugs and chemicals that have no place in the human organism and banished them to languish in institutions and psychiatric wards.  Christopher has been rescued from this fate, and for this reason I have summoned you here before me: that you come to a place of humility and repentance and that you abandon this specious and dangerous nonsense that pays your keep and return into a life of my service, love and joy..."