[ussbansheec] The Good and True
- From: Andy Maluhia <CaptainAndy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ussbansheec@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 11:44:37 -0400
/Nor need we power or splendor, wide hall or lordly dome; The good, the
true, the tender--these form the wealth of home. Sarah J. Hale
/
If there was ever a good place to think, it was the beach below Uncle
Daniel's house. The view was magnificent and it was universally
understood by the local cousins that anybody sitting there was to be
left alone for a while. Zachan had been sitting under the shadiest palm
tree, feet stuck in the white sand, practically since the family arrived
and he didn't particularly feel like getting up. I'm not moving til I'm
satisfied with my answers.
"Ah, there you are, Zachan. I was beginning to think you were avoiding me."
Zachan looked up to see Daniel, his eldest Human uncle, approaching.
Certainly the fact that he was seventeen years older than his father
showed in the few white hairs in his pony tail but, other than that,
Daniel looked like his father.
"No, sir, I'm not avoiding you at all. I'm just thinking," Zachan said
with a slight shrug.
"Mind if I join you?" Daniel asked. "I'm out on my ordered 'get away
for a few minutes every day break'."
"It's a free beach and the view's beautiful." His shrug made the earring
he wore jingle.
Daniel folded long legs to sit cross legged. "So what's doing, nephew?
I know you're fixing to go into Starfleet next year but no boy your age
ought to look that vexed."
Zachan rested his cheek on his upraised knees, His eyes were as blue as
Daniel's even if his hair was as his mother's. His uncle, the local
clergy to a rather large community, was wearing loose fitting khaki
slacks,a light colored shirt with its Roman collar off, and sandals.
"Uncle Daniel, how come you and Dad don't have one of those big
congregations that give you all sorts of fancy homes, clothes and such?"
Daniel regarded him curiously. His youngest brother and his family has
just returned from a visit to Bajor, to see the other grandparents. He
knew that the attention Zachan received when he was there often bothered
him. It had gotten worse as he got older. The boy wasn't at all shy
but he was respectably modest. The Bajorans believed that he'd been
he;d by their Emissary before he was born and therefore occasionally
looked at him as something of a miracle. Vilya even believed that event
had happened but she treated her son as the sort of miracle that all
children are.
"Now, Zachan, you know that's not how I am and that isn't how your dad
is. What's the matter, kid? You didn't enjoy the trip to Bajor?" he asked.
They sat shoulder to shoulder. Zachan looked over at the warm blue
eyes, cheek still resting on his knees. "Oh I did," the young man
began. "I love seeing Grandma and Grandpa and all the cousins but it
gets tiring to hear how Mom and Dad aren't raising me to my potential.
That the Blessed of the Emissary should have a father who is in a higher
position is his faith..."
"Annoying, isn't it?" Daniel asked.
"Very. I'm not unhappy. Cat's not unhappy. Nenya and Ben aren't
either. Prophets-- Mom and Dad are perfectly fine yet every other
vedek, Tom, and Harry's got something to say. /Why do you let the boy
go to this school? Why do you let him associate with those children/?"
Zachan gave a very uncharacteristic snort of disapproval. "That's not
very religious of them."
Daniel let out a sigh. "You know, I actually used to have one of those
expensive sort of congregations, Zachan. I could have been a bishop or
something by now and probably your dad could have been too. It's my
fault that he isn't. I'm a bad influence."
Zachan's eyes widened and he sat up straight. "You are not!" he
protested. "Next to Mom and God, you're Dad's best friend. Everybody
loves you, Uncle Daniel."
Daniel reached over to give his nephew a one armed hug. "You're a good
kid, you know that? Smart. It all comes down to is family and how you
view the Truth and I mean the short that's capitalized."
"What do you mean?" Zachan asked.
"I mean that people pay lip service to ideals when they ought to put
their hearts and hands to them instead. You want to hear the story
about how come me and mine live here. practically on the beach, instead
of back on Los Angeles, in one of those fancy bishop houses?" Daniel asked.
"Yes, sir, I think I would."
"Well, it begins with the fact that I have a problem with keeping my
mouth shut if I see something that's an injustice or if it's going to
cause trouble. I met Master Caine when I kept him from trying to
throttle his wife's father. The father objected to his daughter marrying
a Human. That worked out, as you well know, but it started me
thinking. I couldn't see how the arms of God wouldn't encompass every
bit of His creation, even if they weren't on Earth or Human. There are
those among my calling who think otherwise, even still," Daniel began.
Zachan nodded. "Kind of like certain vedeks we met. Grandpa Li said
some interesting things about them. It's a good thing Mom didn't hear
him. They were...ummm...choice as Dad says."
Daniel snorted in amusement. "I like your grandfather, Zachan. He's a
good man, very practical and honest. But you understand that part.
Good. Again, I don't keep quiet about my ideals and I began to rub the
more powerful sorts in my congregation the wrong way. I don't apologize
if I don't think I was wrong. Ah, but what to do? I had a family to
take care of--five children at the time."
Zachan nodded. Daniel and his wife Sarah had six now. "So you had a
choice to be practical or betray your ideals."
"Exactly. I was literally making myself sick over it. To this day, I
still have to take medication and these little walks away," Daniel told him.
"Then maybe we should just leave it at this?" Zachan asked. "I don't
want Aunt Sarah mad at me for making you sick..."
"Stupidity and cruelty make me mad, Zachan," Daniel said gently, "not my
nephew's questions. I want you to understand the reasons your dad and I
are the way we are. In fact, Ming was another one I felt responsible
for at the time. He was still in seminary and I was influencing him."
"Dad looked up to you," Zachan stated. "He still does."
"Because I'm his oldest brother, like you're the oldest and like your
friend Andy is the oldest of your little pack. It's another sort of
responsibility. But back to the story. So here is forty year old me:
stressed out, sick, and at the end of his philosophical and moral rope.
Said sad excuse for a priest encounters a man through a mutual friend.
Strange sorta guy, a doctor--married to a lovely lady. I find out that
he more or less follows my faith but that he wasn't married in the
church because their local priest would not allow it. His wife, it
seems, isn't Human," Daniel continued.
"Dr. Maluhia!" Zachan exclaimed, suddenly recognizing the characters in
the story. He liked Andy's uncle. The man was good natured and a good
doctor. He and his siblings were an honorary part of the Maluhia pack
and, therefore, always welcome in the doctor's home.
"That's him alright. After he fairly chewed me out for not taking care
of myself, I took his head off for having the nerve to tell the truth.
A few days later, I went over to his home and apologized. He
apologized, too. Seems he was a bit ticked at the local priest for what
I told you about," Daniel told him.
"Dad never told me about any of this," Zachan said curiously.
"Because you never asked. There's no need to speak ill of things if you
don't need to," Daniel replied. "But!", he continued in a cheerful
vein, "there's more to the story here, kiddo. I went home after that
visit and talked to Aunt Sarah. I handed in my resignation and we had
to move back in with Grandma and Grandpa Kabuki, like you guys live
there now."
"So you went from living in a decent sized house and having enough
credits to...back to square one?" Zachan asked.
"Right but not right. Personally, I was healthier, happier, and saner.
So were the kids and Sarah but...idle hands are a bad thing, you know,"
Daniel said with a shake of his head.
"The Devil's workshop," Zachan stated.
"Exactly so but God sent me a little messenger in the form of a
large, smiling Hawaiian with a letter of offering and a handful of
prescriptions. They'd fired their priest and wanted me. I," and Daniel
still flushed with humility at the memory, "suited their attitudes
perfectly. So, here I am. I'll never be rich or important like some
others of our faith but I'm happy with my conscience and with my faith.
My children are good people and my brother's followed my example."
Zachan sat there, staring out at the ocean. He understood what his
uncle meant. It wasn't the trappings that were important. "Maybe it
would be better if, next time, I just smile and nod but believe what I
know is the Truth," he said eventually, capitalizing the word in his
mind. "God's and the Prophets' Truths. Both of them."
"You're a smart boy, Zachan. Keep that attitude for the rest of your
life and you'll be a happier man for it."
"Then I shouldn't have to choose between this," Zachan asked as he held
up the crucifix he wore on a chain, "or this?" He tapped his earring.
"Not in my opinion. They are both good and true," Daniel replied.
"Good, I wasn't going to any way," Zachan said brightly. He smiled at
Daniel and gave him a one armed hug as they sat there under the palms.
"Thank you, Uncle Daniel."
"Always a pleasure, Zachan. Always."
Other related posts:
- » [ussbansheec] The Good and True
