I know he’s still thinking on Red’s runaway because he done pulled out the old Philemon sermon again. He tells us that a Bible times slave ran away, but he became a Christian when he met Paul and came on back to his rightful master, Philemon. It’s the one he likes to tell whenever there’s talk of a runaway slave, in case anybody starts getting ideas. “You see, the Bible tells us all how to live,” he says, waving his fat, brown book around in the air. “It tells us how to be a good wife and a good husband. A good father and a good child. A good master and a good slave. It gives us all the instruction we’ll ever need. Now,” he points at us with his old, tired-looking book, “can you guess why that slave went on home to his master?”

We stare at him, but don’t say a thing. Far as I can see, he was a fool.

“When the slave became a Christian, he learned to do what was right. He was the rightful property of his master, Philemon. By leaving, he had stolen from his master. He had become a thief. But, by returning, he stopped being a thief. He did what was right and God forgave him all his sins.”

The sun’s shining in my eyes so I ain’t much looking at him, but I feel when the attention shifts. I look up to see Henry coming around the house. He strides right on up to our gathering and then right on up to me. I stare straight at Master’s feet, trying to pretend I ain’t seen him come.

Master stops his sermon and asks him what he’s doing there.

“I heard you talking about forgiveness, Mister Johnson, and I thought I’d like to hear about that.”

“This is the service for the slaves. There’s a service for us in town, Mister Taylor. Reverend Bates will be delighted to have you join us.”

“Oh, no, sir. I’m not one for jockeying about on the Lord’s Day of rest. This will do me just fine.”

Master looks like he wants to say something to that, but he just shakes his head at Henry and gets on back to his sermon.

I can feel Henry standing beside me and I can’t help stealing little glances at him. And he steals them right back at me. Master don’t seem to notice, but Annie and Maple and Red and the others sure do.

Master’s talking about how much God wants to forgive everybody, and how God loves it when a sinner repents. Seems to me if God loves forgiving so much then Philemon’s slave should have lived a good free life and asked for forgiveness at the end when it was all over. He may have done what he done, but I know for sure, if I ever get free, I won’t be marching myself back to bondage because some other free man thinks I ought to. How’s a free man gonna go tell a slave he ought to go back to that? Now, if Paul said, brother, I’ll take this burden for you and go back as a slave in your place, now that would be something.