Rev. Thruston chuckled, “Well, I would like to take the credit, but I didn’t become the Rector of Frederick Parish until 1768. From what Daniel has told me, his initial change of behavior wasn’t so much spiritual as it was physical. He fell in love with Abigail Curry. They now have two daughters, Nancy and Betsy.”

I was immediately reminded of the pretty girl playing the flute at church. I could feel the color rising in my cheeks but asked, “Were they at church yesterday?”

The pastor laughed again and said, “I’m guessing what you’re thinking because I noticed you were very attentive to that attractive musician during our hymns. But no, none of the Morgans were there yesterday. Besides, if memory serves me right, Nancy is only twelve and Betsy is just ten. They both served as maids of honor when I officiated at their parents’ wedding two years ago, at Cunningham’s Chapel.”

At this revelation I looked hard at Rev. Thruston to determine if he was jesting. He wasn’t. But he didn’t make me ask.

“Don’t be off put by what I just told you Nathanael. I am well aware of what the church teaches about ‘living in sin.’ You know what I mean?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. As ‘believers’ we’re supposed to hate the sin but love the sinner. Well, we’re all sinners. Though I am an ordained minister, if I turned away every sinner who showed up at a church door, I would be preaching to an empty house every Sunday. Daniel and Abigail lived together out of wedlock for ten years. What undoubtedly started as a strong physical attraction, call it ‘lust’ if you wish, became love. Do you have a Bible at home?”

“Yes, sir. It’s how my mother taught my brothers and me to read.”

“Well, when next you have time, open the Old Testament to Genesis 2:24 and in the New Testament to Mark’s Gospel, chapter 10, verses 7 and 8 and read what it says about how a man shall ‘cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh . . .’ Do you know what ‘cleave’ and ‘one flesh’ means?”

By now I was very red in the face, but responded, “Yes, sir. Our parents explained it to us and told us it is one of the ways God made for us to express love.”

“Right. If your parents hadn’t ‘cleaved’ to one another and become ‘one flesh,’ you and your brothers would never have been born. It’s the same for Daniel and Abigail. It just took them a decade to have a minister bless their union. But I believe them when they say they have been faithful to one another throughout—and that’s what really matters.