The World of NightsEnd

The words that are truly difficult to translate are often the small … common words, such as “go” .

Wikipedia cr. 2006

Jim and Elizabeth sat side by side staring on the papers before them. For almost a year the couple had lived in nearly isolation near the north end of Haven. They were neither exiles nor recluses but simply needed the solitude to enable to them to finish the work both of their fathers had begun almost forty years earlier.

Elizabeth rubbed her eyes and then shook her head. She was a fairly plain looking though not unattractive woman of thirty-five who had no problem expressing herself when she disagreed with her husband or anyone else for that matter. “I’m not sure that’s what the word means in context Jim.”

With his eyes still fixed on the paper, her husband frowned and ran his hands through his tussled brown hair. “But that is what it means in all the other books we have translated. Look.” He turned a tattered lexicon toward her and pointed. “To ‘stand in a certain place’. It’s as plain as that cut nose that sits on your face.”

Elizabeth laughed. Jim always found a way to lighten up any situation and she loved him for that. “Yes, that’s true. But, in this context that doesn’t make any sense. First off, this word is not the operative word in the sentence. It exists as a unifier for the main verbs. And then there’s the fact its tense indicates an action that starts and never stops. Add to that it’s is an active rather than a passive word.”

Jim’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the illusive word and started to protest when a noise off to their right caught their attention. By the time the pair could rise to look toward the source of the sound they caught the briefest glimpse of Wesley and his father disappearing to the far side of a large granite outcropping in the distance. When neither of the men reappeared Jim Elizabeth on the shoulder and ran to check things out.

Making his way across the rocks and through the tangled vines Jim came to where they had last seen Elliot and his father. No one was there. “Hum, we must have not seen them leave,” he mused to himself.

Satisfied with his conclusion Jim stood to drink in the scene of the sea far below. From this vantage point one could see all the varying shades of blues and turquoise. Sky and sea were so nearly the same shade it was like they were one seamless tapestry laid out before him.

Jim’s daydream was broken by Elizabeth’s high pitched voice yelling for him to come quickly. Fearing some danger Jim ran as fast as he could only to find Elizabeth standing, paper in hand, with a smile as broad as the sea gracing her bronzed face.

“What in Haven is going on?” he gasped as he sucked in wind.

“I know what the word means Jim.”

“Are you sure?”

Elizabeth sat back down and motioned for her out of breath husband to join her. There were no complaints for that so he plopped beside his wife. “Jim, the word doesn’t mean to stand somewhere close by. That is how we have always conceived of it. And the reason is obvious. Haven is a small place. Why it only takes a couple of hours to walk from one end to the other.”

Jim shrugged his shoulders and remained silent. It was obvious he wasn’t getting it.

“Don’t you see granite head? We know from the teacher’s books that the world is much much bigger than Haven. It’s just that we have lived here for so many generations it is very difficult for us to conceive of anything bigger than here.”

Jim’s eyes brightened ; “So you’re saying that the word entails something more than going from say that tree to this tree.”

“Right, it means taking a journey. And in this context the tense means ‘as you are continuing to journey.’”

Jim and Elizabeth had been married since they were both teenagers and now eighteen years later they operated as one soul and mind. Almost in concert they were seeing the implications of the words they had translated. Neither felt the need to voice their thoughts. Both knew they shared the same revelation.

Jim quietly rolled up the papers and placed them in their protective cover. He turned and hugged Elizabeth tightly and whispered in her ear. “I think our work is finished. Let’s get this to the Counsel.”

Elizabeth moved a step away and looked at her husband. “Jim, does this mean what I think it does?”

“It’s not for us to decide alone. You know that all Scripture is to be interpreted in the Counsel with all of us together. It protects us from wild conjectures and selfish motives.”

Elizabeth knew the rules but she also knew what she had just read. And as always in Haven; when the Word spoke it was obeyed. The Counsel may have to meet but she knew what their collective decision would be. Someone or ones were about to leave the Island. And that was something that had not happened in four generations.

The couple walked slowly through the lush undergrowth back toward the village unaware that Wesley and his father had just made a discovery of their own. Hundreds of feet beneath the surface of Haven they stood looking as though they had just arrived on another planet.

The older of the two sat on a sleek bench molded into the face of the wall and shook his head. “What is this place?”

“It’s like I told you father; this is the way off of Haven;” replied Graham.

“Maybe you had better take it from top again son.”

And so Wesley explained what he had translated again. The papers he, his father, and grandfather had been working on for forty years made up a technical manual written in an oriental language. Wesley guessed from examining other of the Teacher’s books the language was Mandarin Chinese.

Apparently the Chinese had planned on using their island as a staging ground for an attack on a place called the United States. Now the reason that no outside contact had ever come to Haven in the last one hundred years was understandable. The granite outcroppings at the north end of Haven were actually something called at Emission Damper. This, whatever it was, allowed no one outside of Haven to see that the island was there.

“You mean we’re invisible?” interrupted Graham.

“No father, but we are invisible to devices that can see the island from outside of visual range. The manual talks about radio and something called radar.”

Wesley knew that neither he nor his father understood the technical side of the paper so he continued concentrating on the practical. He explained that the Chinese secretly built something called a GRAV-LEV tunnel sometime between 2085 and 2091. For unknown reasons the tunnel was abandoned at this end with the secret to its entrance recorded in the papers Wesley had translated.

“What does this GRAV-LEV tube do?” asked Graham.

Wesley frowned as he squinted to examine the papers in his hand. He raised a hand and walked toward a panel inset in the granite wall. “I have no idea father, but there is one way to find out.”

With that Wesley looked at the paper again and then touched a green circle indented in the translucent panel. He then slowly punched the odd Mandarin symbols in a prescribed sequence and stepped back. There was whoosh of stale air followed by the deafening noise of wind blowing through the tunnel like a cyclone. The blast mellowed to a low hum coming from the walls

A moment later, father and son, could detect the unmistakable scent of ocean air replacing the musty atmosphere of the cave. Artificial lights blazed to life in banks down the tunnel until daylight had arrived far below ground. Both blinked in wonder at what lay before them

Wesley had read the Teacher’s books describing such things but reading and seeing were two very different things. Feeling more confident, he stepped to a second panel and followed the same procedure as the first. Neither son nor father was prepared for what happened next.

First the low hum intensified progressively to a constant throb that made their skin tingle and the hair stand on the back of their necks. Graham instinctively grabbed a rail on the wall as though he was about to be sucked away into the tunnel and then grinned like a child when nothing happened.

An artificial voice in some unknown language echoed up and down the tunnel in an hauntingly melodic tone. Then an oblong silver object as long as the tallest coconut tree was tall rose up from beneath the tunnel. The object looked for all the world like a dolphin accept rounded at both ends instead of just one. Silently a sleek silver walkway appeared from the far wall and connected to the middle of the object. And then all was still save for the gentle breeze of sea air flowing from openings in the top of the tunnel.

“Now what?” Graham’s father’s voice quavered with the wondering fear of a child about to dive from the cliffs for the first time.

Wesley looked at his father. It has just stuck him this was the first time he had been treated as one with knowledge of any importance. His father was looking to him for guidance. “Now we go to the Counsel and seek consensus and what we do next.”

Graham nodded and the two men made their way back to the outside entrance. Wesley pulled the hidden door shut and the two stood back on what they had both once believed was all there was. Wesley started to try the door again. Perhaps this was just another dream. That thought evaporated at the sound of his father calling for him down the path.

As they walked the path back to the village father and son said little to each other. They understood little of what they had just seen and less of what it all meant. There was one thing they both were sure of without even speaking it; things would never be the same on Haven. What they had always assumed would be, would not.

Just as Wesley and Graham came within sight of the village a sound moaned across through the trees to where they stood. It was the assembly call for Counsel. The Counsel was not a ruling body in any formal or codified sense. No one was elected so to speak. Instead all descendents of the Teacher were members and the eldest was the spokesman. But this did not exclude others on the island. Anyone could attend and anyone could speak.

There was only one hard rule of order for the Counsel. The Word was the final authority. Men and ideas could be questioned and even challenged. But the Word stood above men and ideas. It was the very mind of the Creator Himself and all embraced that fully.

As the longhouse filled Wesley was surprised to see Jim and Elizabeth sitting near the front. They had been away from the village for many months and had not been in Counsel in all that time. Graham started toward the front but realized the Speaker of the Counsel had already begun.

The Speaker stood, supported by a cane, his white hair cut short and his face as old as the sands of the sea. His eyes were weak but his voice was clear. “Brothers and sisters, The Counsel is in order; Maranatha.”

With one voice everyone replied, “Maranatha.”

A moment of hallowed silence followed and then the old man spoke again.“As you all know my grandson is a dreamer. None of us understand why some are dreamers but there is no doubt that Judson is indeed such a man. I have asked him to address the counsel and describe the dream he has brought to us.”

Wesley felt a familiar hand on his shoulder and glance up as Judson walked by him. His friend winked and whispered, “I think today is the day.”

Judson stood beside his grandfather and spoke softly. Someone raised their hand asking him to speak up. And so he did. “As my grandfather has told you, I am a dreamer. Since my childhood I prayed to be something important like a translator but the Creator did not see fit. Instead, for reasons I do not comprehend, I dream. I have read the Teacher’s books as many of you have. They speak of things and places none of us understand or will probably ever experience. Who among us does not know of fantastic accounts of the great assemblies with thousands of followers of Christ in them?”

Judson paused and let his words sink in. Heads shook in affirmation and ears listened for more. He took a breath and plunged forward. “We have all read those things but only some of us really believe them. Our world is closed and small. We say our faith in the Creator is strong but we live in a vacuum. We are not challenged. The dream I declare to you is this. Three times I have seen myself riding inside a silver tube to a place called San Diego by the Sea. There someone beckons for me to come. I am unsure if it is to carry the word or to receive more of the Word. Either way I know I must somehow go there.”

Judson sat down and his grandfather sighed. What to do now?

A voice in the assembly spared the Speaker the task. “That is a wonderful dream Judson but where is this silver tube and what is a San Diego by the Sea.”

A ripple of laughter made its way across the room until it was stopped cold by the stern look on the Speaker’s face. The words of people in the Counsel were never to be ridiculed. All were free to speak as long as they submitted to the Word.

Judson didn’t reply. He couldn’t. He was just a dreamer. Dreamers only knew what they saw. Now God and the Counsel must decide how to act on that dream.

Someone else raised a hand and stood. “Even if there were a Word confirming this dream there is no such silver tube to take anyone anywhere. Haven is our world and always will be.” Muted agreement rippled across the meeting hall.

Though they had not expected to present their findings so soon Wesley knew that Providence was in control of this meeting. He summoned the courage to speak but was interrupted by a strong, clear voice beside him.

“But there is such a thing?”

Every head turned and every fastened on Graham.

The Speaker stood and motioned for Graham to come forward. He turned and faced his friends. He knew this was going to sound unreal. They would think he had been drinking rotten Ti juice. But he knew what he had seen.

Slowly and then building to a crescendo Graham described the door and the tunnel. He told them of the silver tube thing that looked like a dolphin with heads at both ends. And then he told them what the tube thing could do. With the fantastic tale still hanging in the air, Graham walked back to his seat and sat down.

Silence prevailed as the assembly struggled to embrace what they had been told.

The Speaker cleared his throat and addressed the group. “Friends, there are things we can now understand. The Teacher’s journal tells us that he had a device in his heart that made it beat properly. Now we know why it ceased to do its job and the Teacher died. This Emission Damper must have caused his early death.”

Silence and a few nods.

“Now the question is what do we do? We have a dream confirmed by a reality. What more remains?”

Almost unanimously one voice cried out together, “The Word!”

Judson’s grandfather nodded and raised his feeble arms. “Yes, the Word. All in the Counsel on Haven know that opinions, ideas and even dreams must submit to the Word of the One True God. It is the way of a true follower of Christ.”

Again, silence. But this time accompanied by affirming nods.

“I did not know Wesley and his father would return so soon but it is obvious why they have. Unknown to them the confirmation of the Word came before they discovered the tunnel. That is why Jim and Elizabeth have returned to us today. They have completed their translation of the book of Matthew.”

No more silence. The place came to life with excitement. It had been over twenty years since the book of Romans and been completed. Now, at last, an account of the Lord’s life and work was complete.

The Speaker gave way to Elizabeth and she stood near the front. Jim never had liked to speak in public and knew his wife could do much better. “As you know, Jim and I have labored alone striving to complete the Book of Matthew. We came so far and then ran into a wall. One little word at the end of the book blocked our completion. It is a word used in John and Romans. Though we are sure it has been improperly translated it does not change in any way the meanings of those passages.”

Another stir rippled across the crowd. What word could she mean?

“It is a small word. As all translators know, it is usually the small words and phrases that give us the most problem. They seem so simple but that is the catch. They are very common words that everyone in the culture of that language would understand. It is the common, little words that take the longest.”

A buzz of affirmation filled the room. Elizabeth paused until silence returned. “As we worked on this word we realized something. We were translating the word in the context of the world we know here instead of the world where it was written.”

Elizabeth paused and someone yelled out, “So what was the word?”

“Go!”

Everyone turned toward Jim. Elizabeth smiled and called her husband up. She patted his hand and sat down.

Jim looked sheepish for a moment but then became consumed with a boldness totally foreign to his nature. “The word is go,” repeated Jim. “We always thought it meant to go from one place and stand at another. That is because our world is so small. It isn’t far to anywhere here. But that is not true in the world the Teacher brought us the books from. The world out there is immense. Now we know just how big it really is. If silver tubes are needed to move people through tunnels under the sea the world must be quite large.”

Heads nodded and murmurs of approval sounded. For the people of Haven, the only thing simple about them was their dress. This was a culture of thoughts and ideas. Language, syntax and idioms were intertwined in conversations with the same casualness one might use when speaking of the weather.

After pausing for effect, Jim continued. “Anyway, once Elizabeth saw this, the Spirit showed her that the word doesn’t mean to stand. It means to journey from one place to another. When translated that way we discover what the very last words of our Lord were before he left the first followers.”

Jim stopped to let that sink in. And sink it did. Everyone understood the import of what was being said. Everyone waited to hear the Word. Someone rose in the back and uttered a phrase all had heard numerous times before. It commanded respect and attention. As one, all stood in reverence to what they were about to hear.

Jim coughed and then spoke. “Thus says the Lord God.”

He paused as every eye closed in the place, each heart eagerly awaiting to absorb a Word from the Creator of the Universe.

“Thus says the Lord God. ‘All authority stands given to Me in heaven and on earth. Therefore, as you are journeying into all the world, make learners of Me in all the nations.’”

A long silence was followed by the familiar reply to such a pronouncement.

“May it so be.”

No one moved for a long time. It was almost as though everyone there feared even taking a breath lest they spoil the moment. And then the Speaker rose. “We have three witnesses today. We have the witness of Judson the dreamer. He has seen where someone must go. We have the witness of Wesley and Graham. They have seen the reality that confirms the dream. And now we have the witness of the Word.”

Again the words “May it so be” echoed throughout the building. The Speaker paused and spoke once more. “All that remains is what we do with this. A command has been given for someone to go to an unknown place by an untested means. As far as we know that person will never return. Who will go?”

Silence reigned again. Not one eye even blinked. Then one lone young man stood up next to his grandfather. “I will go,” replied Judson.

“I will go to San Diego by the Sea in the silver tube. Should I not return know that I went in obedience not to the dream but to the Word.”

Wesley walked over and shook his friend’s hand and embraced him. He looked into his eyes and their souls connected. Together they had dreamed and now alone Judson would follow the Word to wherever that dream ended.

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NightFall: Second Revision July 2008

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