Billy Zee and his wife Dana moved to California to be part of the gold rush all those years ago. The place was miserable where they set up their home, but they made a go of it and settled in. The gold rush wasn't in its infancy anymore, but the young couple stayed because their prospects otherwise were dismal.
Well, the young couple became a slightly less young couple, at which time another prospector sold them his land. It had an abundance of gold, but he ran from the place like the Devil was chasing him. His bloodshot eyes and the sweat upon his brow spoke volumes, but Billy and Dana thought little of it. They thought Gold Fever was a bunch of superstitious nonsense, but that's because they'd never struck gold. So they gleefully took the property, made love there and conceived a son. We find them still on the property five years later...
Bill Jr. coughed as he crossed the patch of land, heading for where Daddy stood with his pan and his shovel. Bill Jr. didn't run much like most boys his age. Instead he walked briskly with a slight hobble, sprightly enough to conceal his condition. He was born with it, and nobody thought he'd live past his first year. He'd been a lucky boy.
When he was four he started to see the Serpent. It came into his room to see him, but did not speak, not at first. He waved to it, tried to grab at it and missed, and then it came back. It said that he was special. It talked sadly to him, told him he probably wasn't going to make it.
Make what?
His father had to keep digging, dig up all the gold and free it, because the Serpent was in the gold, and the gold was its source.
His father had no problem with this pronouncement. He never saw the Serpent, never believed in it, but he spent all day and night digging and panning, panning and digging.
Bill Jr. got to him and stopped on his butt. “I don't feel good, Daddy.”
“You don't ever feel good, B.J.” Daddy didn't look up from his work. He sounded detached, distant. He plucked tiny gold nuggets from a pan and tossed them on a pile behind him. B.J. Almost thought it had a glowing aura, but it could have been the sun.
“It's worse now!” He went into a coughing fit, mad at Daddy and the world and worried that he might die.
“Mm-hm. Talk to your Momma.”
Though he felt too tired to get up, he pushed himself back to his feet and hobbled into the house, where Momma sat by the window and stared out front.
“Momma!”
“Yes, dear,” she answered, disaffected, and did not look away from the window.
“I'm real sick!”
“I'm so sorry, dear. You know I worry about you.” She leaned longingly on the back of the couch, focused on something far away. The empty silence of the house only made B.J. more desperate.
“I need you! I need you to do something!”
“Oh, Billy Junior, I have to wait. I'm waiting for your father to get home. He said he would come home. I'm very hungry. Would you fetch your momma something to eat?”
“Momma, we ran out of food yesterday! I'm hungry too! You gotta get some!”
His momma used to bring food out to his daddy. She went less and less over time, and she had never been one for leaving the house or any sort of strenuous activity, but it got worse. Eventually she'd just make food and send B.J. Out with it. Then her only trips away from the couch were to the outhouse, and B.J. would prepare the food himself. Now, B.J. didn't think his momma even went to the outhouse, but he couldn't tell through the smell of his own clothes.
She responded to him with a despondent sigh. He produced a coughing fit, which resulted in an “Oh, baby...oh, my baby...”
He was too weak to fix their problems and nobody else was going to do anything. They had only one book, which he turned to for answers. As far as he knew, it was the only book in the world. The Bible, then, held the key to the absolute truth, although he didn't know what it was to “begat” someone and he couldn't understand who those Israelites were or whether or not the God in the book knew of him or cared about him.
The situation now was like God had made his parents like the Pharaoh, unable to do good even if they were inclined to. But why? Was B.J. like Moses? If he was, then he needed to find some faith and show it to God before he died.
But Jesus said it was okay to die, because then he would be with God the Father in Heaven...
Would Momma and Daddy come too? Probably not, if their hearts were hard and God was punishing them.
But Moses brought God's punishment out of the Pharaoh. Did B.J. bring God's punishment out of his parents?
He squeezed his eyes shut to block the tears that wouldn't stop, and he cried in pain and rage and fear, his soul yearning for answers...
“I'm so sorry, my boy...” the Serpent's cool voice soothed him.
“Y-you...” he was on the floor of his bedroom with his knees drawn up to his chest. He opened his eyes and looked on the Serpent in his doorway with hope.
“It is me, my child. You are one of mine, and I am sad to see you go.”
“Do you mean I...I don't belong to the Lord God? But which God are you? The Bible says there's lots of bad serpents.”
“Don't ever say that you don't belong to God the Father!” The Serpent's tail whipped back and forth in anger. “I'm one of the bad serpents, child, the very first. I'll never get to go to Heaven, and though it makes me sad every day...I should not have sinned. I should not have questioned the Lord. He put me here and he gave me people like you to nurture. I reach out, and sometimes it turns out like you and your parents. Other times...it goes better. But he trapped me inside a symbol of the temptation I used as my tool so long ago.”
“I don't understand your story, Mister Serpent! I don't know what to do!”
“I am sorry. My story means that you shouldn't make my mistake. Don't question his love for you, my boy. Don't ever question it. I am but a pale representative of his awesome power. You have so much hope, my boy, you're so pure. You haven't been exposed to the evil in the world, the people and the books that say...that try to trick you. I regret coming to you myself, because maybe if it wasn't for me, you'd be sure of your eternal destination.”
B.J. trembled and lay down on the floor. He opened the book and it showed the first chapter of Revelation.
“I am sure now, Mister Serpent. Will my parents come too? I think their hearts are hard now, and I'm scared for them.”
“I'll see what I can do. They'll be okay. Now you just go on reading that book until He calls your name. I think He'd like that.”
“Okay.”
B.J. spent an amount of time he couldn't measure reading all about the world to come. He didn't even notice as his eyes grew heavy and then things got dark. He didn't care anymore. He felt warmth and peace, and then a voice calling his name from really far away, and it got closer...and closer...
Well, the young couple became a slightly less young couple, at which time another prospector sold them his land. It had an abundance of gold, but he ran from the place like the Devil was chasing him. His bloodshot eyes and the sweat upon his brow spoke volumes, but Billy and Dana thought little of it. They thought Gold Fever was a bunch of superstitious nonsense, but that's because they'd never struck gold. So they gleefully took the property, made love there and conceived a son. We find them still on the property five years later...
Bill Jr. coughed as he crossed the patch of land, heading for where Daddy stood with his pan and his shovel. Bill Jr. didn't run much like most boys his age. Instead he walked briskly with a slight hobble, sprightly enough to conceal his condition. He was born with it, and nobody thought he'd live past his first year. He'd been a lucky boy.
When he was four he started to see the Serpent. It came into his room to see him, but did not speak, not at first. He waved to it, tried to grab at it and missed, and then it came back. It said that he was special. It talked sadly to him, told him he probably wasn't going to make it.
Make what?
His father had to keep digging, dig up all the gold and free it, because the Serpent was in the gold, and the gold was its source.
His father had no problem with this pronouncement. He never saw the Serpent, never believed in it, but he spent all day and night digging and panning, panning and digging.
Bill Jr. got to him and stopped on his butt. “I don't feel good, Daddy.”
“You don't ever feel good, B.J.” Daddy didn't look up from his work. He sounded detached, distant. He plucked tiny gold nuggets from a pan and tossed them on a pile behind him. B.J. Almost thought it had a glowing aura, but it could have been the sun.
“It's worse now!” He went into a coughing fit, mad at Daddy and the world and worried that he might die.
“Mm-hm. Talk to your Momma.”
Though he felt too tired to get up, he pushed himself back to his feet and hobbled into the house, where Momma sat by the window and stared out front.
“Momma!”
“Yes, dear,” she answered, disaffected, and did not look away from the window.
“I'm real sick!”
“I'm so sorry, dear. You know I worry about you.” She leaned longingly on the back of the couch, focused on something far away. The empty silence of the house only made B.J. more desperate.
“I need you! I need you to do something!”
“Oh, Billy Junior, I have to wait. I'm waiting for your father to get home. He said he would come home. I'm very hungry. Would you fetch your momma something to eat?”
“Momma, we ran out of food yesterday! I'm hungry too! You gotta get some!”
His momma used to bring food out to his daddy. She went less and less over time, and she had never been one for leaving the house or any sort of strenuous activity, but it got worse. Eventually she'd just make food and send B.J. Out with it. Then her only trips away from the couch were to the outhouse, and B.J. would prepare the food himself. Now, B.J. didn't think his momma even went to the outhouse, but he couldn't tell through the smell of his own clothes.
She responded to him with a despondent sigh. He produced a coughing fit, which resulted in an “Oh, baby...oh, my baby...”
He was too weak to fix their problems and nobody else was going to do anything. They had only one book, which he turned to for answers. As far as he knew, it was the only book in the world. The Bible, then, held the key to the absolute truth, although he didn't know what it was to “begat” someone and he couldn't understand who those Israelites were or whether or not the God in the book knew of him or cared about him.
The situation now was like God had made his parents like the Pharaoh, unable to do good even if they were inclined to. But why? Was B.J. like Moses? If he was, then he needed to find some faith and show it to God before he died.
But Jesus said it was okay to die, because then he would be with God the Father in Heaven...
Would Momma and Daddy come too? Probably not, if their hearts were hard and God was punishing them.
But Moses brought God's punishment out of the Pharaoh. Did B.J. bring God's punishment out of his parents?
He squeezed his eyes shut to block the tears that wouldn't stop, and he cried in pain and rage and fear, his soul yearning for answers...
“I'm so sorry, my boy...” the Serpent's cool voice soothed him.
“Y-you...” he was on the floor of his bedroom with his knees drawn up to his chest. He opened his eyes and looked on the Serpent in his doorway with hope.
“It is me, my child. You are one of mine, and I am sad to see you go.”
“Do you mean I...I don't belong to the Lord God? But which God are you? The Bible says there's lots of bad serpents.”
“Don't ever say that you don't belong to God the Father!” The Serpent's tail whipped back and forth in anger. “I'm one of the bad serpents, child, the very first. I'll never get to go to Heaven, and though it makes me sad every day...I should not have sinned. I should not have questioned the Lord. He put me here and he gave me people like you to nurture. I reach out, and sometimes it turns out like you and your parents. Other times...it goes better. But he trapped me inside a symbol of the temptation I used as my tool so long ago.”
“I don't understand your story, Mister Serpent! I don't know what to do!”
“I am sorry. My story means that you shouldn't make my mistake. Don't question his love for you, my boy. Don't ever question it. I am but a pale representative of his awesome power. You have so much hope, my boy, you're so pure. You haven't been exposed to the evil in the world, the people and the books that say...that try to trick you. I regret coming to you myself, because maybe if it wasn't for me, you'd be sure of your eternal destination.”
B.J. trembled and lay down on the floor. He opened the book and it showed the first chapter of Revelation.
“I am sure now, Mister Serpent. Will my parents come too? I think their hearts are hard now, and I'm scared for them.”
“I'll see what I can do. They'll be okay. Now you just go on reading that book until He calls your name. I think He'd like that.”
“Okay.”
B.J. spent an amount of time he couldn't measure reading all about the world to come. He didn't even notice as his eyes grew heavy and then things got dark. He didn't care anymore. He felt warmth and peace, and then a voice calling his name from really far away, and it got closer...and closer...
