Chapters (76)
- Title Page
- Copyright Notice
- Dedication
- PROLOGUE
- PART I
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- PART II
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- PART III
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- INTERLUDE
- PART IV
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- INTERLUDE
- PART V
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- PART VI
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- INTERLUDE
- PART VII
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- PART VIII
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- EPILOGUE
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- Newsletter Sign-up
Tuck nodded, as always, but his smile was personal and painful. “I sought those sorts of answers myself once. In a lot of places. In my travels I’ve spent time with Jews, pagans, Muslims, and stranger types, and a colorful variety of sects within each one. The White Monks at Fountains Abbey claim the key to revelation is in isolation. I shared the road with a Carmelite Friar named Pantaleo for some time, preaching the power of building communities. None of them had all the answers, of course. They can’t. If the answers were to be had, then we wouldn’t have to call it faith. There will always be doubt, and that’s good! It’s what keeps us open to other people, to other ideas. The moment someone thinks their beliefs are facts, they become dangerous. It is uncertainty itself that makes true devotion possible. The divine is strongest within its mysteries.”
Marion watched the lone flame flicker against the weight of their breath. “That’s not much of an answer.”
“Well it’s not much of a question, really.” He smirked. “You make your case for His three qualities, but you assume that He cares for things we care about, knows things the way we know things, and is powerful in the way we describe power. But we cannot know any of this. We cannot, and we should not. You want to describe Him with these three aspects, to make Him more human, but He is not. If we do not understand why terrible things happen, that is our failing, not His. That is the time to stay true to Him. It’s the only time it really matters.”
Marion breathed in, and reached out for his good hand, finding it as cold and stiff as her own. He was right about at least one thing, that there were no solid answers to be had. “Powerful in the way we describe power”—if there was some other version of power out there, she did not know what it was. She had used every power available to her, and half the power that wasn’t, and still come out wanting. “I admire your optimism. But you want to tell me that the best answer is that there is no answer. How is that supposed to make someone feel better at a time such as this?”
“Honestly,” Tuck’s eyes twinkled, “how could it not?”
IT WOULD BE THEIR final dinner together around the campfire. Across the flames, John Little closed his eyes. Next to him, the memory of Will and Elena bowed their heads as well. Alan would have been next, grasping his knuckles together, his eyes closed too tightly. Much would have lowered his head but peeked around with one eye open.