1780

"When should we all be finished here?" say I. "That all depends on how much work you give me. You each have responsibility to work with me if I am to do well in your formation here. "Lawrence", what are you thinking right now. No don't tell me, I already know. Do not worry about getting out of here in time to contact Sarah and intervene the abortion. I have already appeared to her in a dream, since it is still early morning in Thailand, and all is well. She is going to talk to you when she is back, and together you both are going to begin the future of your new family." "Does that mean I'm staying here?" "We can talk about it after dinner. But now I want to move on to the guest I have particularly been wanting to see here", says Jesus. "My own beloved Caspar."

1779

Speaking of Sarahs, says Carl, what about our Sarah, and her two friends Jenn and Maureen. It would be nice if they could be here with us. "Yeah", says Francois, "It's a pity that we 're all men here." "Oh speak for yourself", barks Stella. "I happen to be both." "Better than nothing", I guess", quips Carl. "Oh be quiet and eat your peanuts", she says. "I will be sending for them and the others tomorrow", says Jesus. "What, do men get special privilege, being here first?" mutters Stella, as though unaware, rather, indifferent, of whose divine presence we all happen to be in right now. "No", replies our youthful Lord. "Then why were the twelve apostles all men?" "Those were the twelve recorded apostles. There were also my blessed mother here, the Magdalene, Susana, Johanna, other Maries, Martha, many others." "Oh yes, says Stella, "Patriarchy." "That and simple pragmatism", reples our Lord. "Those twelve men needed special and extra time with me as part of their formation. Not because their position was superior, but because as men, they were entirely way more selfish and self-centred than women, and needed particularly to be broken of those toxic tendencies if they were going to serve me well....

1778

"I can't understand", says Lawrence, "How Sarah could have become pregnant. She was always diligent about taking the pill." "It could be said that she conveniently forgot just that one night at Whistler. She had a lot on her mind, especially the preparations for your soon upcoming trip to Thailand, now her trip with her girlfirend Melanie , and some deep seated consternations about her future." "Her future with me?" "Dear Lawrence, please. This is not all about you. She is older than you,. thirty-nine next month and as they like to say, her biolgical clock is ticking. Of course she has never had time to actually sit down and think any of this through, but Sarah's body has been screaming at her to produce a child, one of the deepest motivating instincts that any woman has to live with...

1777

"Twins." "Identical twins, Lawrence. "Twin boys." "Identical twin boys. Your hands and your lives are about to become very full. But the choice is up to you, dear Lawrence." "I never would have thought..." "Which is very typical among male breeders, for that is the very apt slur that some homosexuals have towards heterosexuals. And breeder men never have to worry about pregnancy. They can simply make their little deposit, and off they go for the next coital opportunity. No fuss, no muss, and the woman is left having to carry everything, baby included. But, Lawrence, even if your mind is made up now, about staying here and enduring what is being offered to you, for my discernment is never incorrect, you and the others here, will still be offered the choice of leaving from here this evening. First we must dine, then you have the choice to go down to the beach and wait for the boat that will begin your journey home. But heed this warning. That will be your only opportunity to leave, and should you decline this evening, then you are all going to have to consider yourselves my guests here until we are finished...

1776

"I'm...I'm going to be a father?" "That all depends." "Depends." "Depends. It depends on what happens here between you and me. If you chose to abort this work of repentance, renewal and transformtion of life, then it is sure and likely that Sarah will also abort her pregnancy. That for her is going to be very tough decision, because she grew up Roman Catholic, and depite the feminism she has force-fed herself on since she was sn eleven year old, the old catholic teachings, especially about life, and about abortion contlinue to squat like as derelict tenant in the very recesses of her soul." "Which means." She is going to find out in Thailand that she is pregant." Then she is going to send you a text. That is going to occur in a couple of weeks time, just after you are finished here and back at home again. She is going to make it clear that she does not want to be a single mother, but that she still cannot do this alone, but neither is she prepared to return to living with an unfaithful partner. She is going to impose on you her own shotgun wedding. If you want to see your children alive, then you will repent of your philandering with any and all genders, and properly marry her and build a life together." "She's going to blackmail me." "Correct. But if you do decide to stay on here with me, it will soon become to you such a sweet proposal that you will not have it in yourself to turn her down....

1775

"Of course there is also the problem of family racism, since your sister married a Filipino-Canadian. Your mother, Lawrence, adores her new son-in-law. Your father, not so much, but he is being brought to repentance. And that is something you simply will not admit, not even to yourself, but when you were told that your new brother-in-law is Filipino, which is to say that he is not Caucasian , you simply went silent, and chose to ignore it all and have a lovely weekend full of unprotected sex with your girlfrend Sarah at Whistler. I am bringing this up, my dear Lawrence, because Sarah is just about to discover that she is pregnant with your children. Yes, I said children, because she is carrying twins, Two boys. Identical...

1774

Aaron, with his companion, Doug, was involved in a very intense and very delicate ministry to AIDS sufferers, and on the night of his brother's wedding a dear friend of his invited them both for dinner. This friend was already in the advanced stages of illness and would be dying within the following two months. He had given them the dinner in gratitude for all the help and service and love they had been rendering him. And Aaron had a lengthy history of friendship with Ken, who originally lusted after him, then realized that Aaron was his friend and brother in Christ, which is to say, within the purview of my love, authority and will. Ken accepted the limits on their relationship and for years cherished Aaron's friendship which in time led him to me and now he lives in the courts of heaven where he is among my many servitors in the unseen. Aaron was right to ignore his brother's wedding because of his service to me....