Ruth stared after the departing children, amazed at their interaction. And the ease of their understanding. She remembered having heard Shereen tell Anna that story when the shepherd had been younger and beginning to grasp The Way. Now, it seemed, despite his concerns to the contrary, Jesus had come to embody the teachings. And as the distance they traveled increased, and the number of people they met grew, his sight only continued to strengthen and with it his influence.

It was then that a realization struck Ruth so directly and with such force that she toppled back against the olive tree.

Ever since they had left the caves, she had tried to temper Jesus’s sharing of his belief in the Mother and his knowledge of The Way. She had feared that his doing so would sound the alarm and draw their enemies. But all along Jesus had known intuitively that his remarkable appearance would cloak them in safety, and so he had insisted on leveraging his strange gift to its fullest. And now, having seen how the teachings could be spread by way of others, she suddenly understood that his instinct to reveal what the Sisters believed had been right all along!

His freedom in the world, Ruth could now see, had ushered an unprecedented possibility into the world.

A new time had come—a new cycle in which ensuring transmission of The Way did not require the Sisters to sequester themselves, nor even to serve as Awakeners, but to instill in the people themselves the ability to teach and heal.

As in Jesus’s dream, the single stream of water must divide into endless channels—its life-giving powers thereby multiplied and spread to enliven the world.

Ruth chided herself for not having deciphered her visions—and Jesus’s intentions—sooner. A key aspect of their quest, she realized, had been unfurling itself in front of her all along. And was, in fact, a much-anticipated phenomenon of The Way coming at long last to fruition!

Having been consumed with concerns about their survival, she could not have imagined that Jesus might come to serve as one of The Way’s most sacred beings. One who would not only protect its truths, but launch a powerful and far-reaching resurgence.

I have seen the sycamore rising, Mother Susana had said.

Ruth shook her head in disbelief.

Suddenly certain of what they must do, she stood and raced to find the others.

But would they have time to reach enough people before the rest of her visions unfolded?

CHAPTER 40

Somewhere within ancient Palestine—33 A.D.

The following morning, Jesus and his sisters woke early and called their supporters to the river. The people gathered quickly, those who had been traveling with Jesus expecting that he would hold Communion or tell one of his illuminating stories.