Room of Marvels by James Bryan Smith

Author:James Bryan Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Published: 2009-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

“THERE IS MORE GRACE

THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE.”

Blood of mine,” she called out to me, “Speak that I may hear your voice.”

I stuttered and then said, “Who are you?”

“Hello, Tim. My name is Celia.”

She began to emanate a great light at the sound of my voice, which seemed to fill her with joy.

“He turned my sorrow into joy as well,” she said while standing on the ground beneath Ike. She had a large jaw and narrow eyes that were kind but looked as if they had once been sad. She was dressed in a dark blue gown. She was plain, not pretty. She had high cheekbones, a thin nose, and long brown hair. She looked like someone I knew, but I could not place her.

“Excuse me, but…who are you?” I asked.

“I am your great-grandmother.”

“But, I, uh?” I fell off of my horse and landed hard on my elbow. Lying on my back, I began crawling away from her in fear. Up to this point, everyone I had met was a dear person, someone I once knew (Ernie), knew and loved (Wayne), or felt like I knew (Jack). I never knew my great-grandmother. I didn't even know her name until a few years ago. Growing up, all I knew was that my grandfather, Harry, had been raised in an orphanage. Throughout my life I never knew why. Though it seems strange to me now, I never even thought to inquire. There were some terrible secrets in our family that no one talked about. My own father knew nothing about his paternal grandmother except her name. But then one day he decided to do a little genealogy work to find out about her. He went to the library in her hometown in Indiana and, for a fee, was told he would be sent whatever they could find.

I remember the day the brown envelope arrived in the mail. I didn't know what it was, and I opened it accidentally. There was a photocopy of the front page of the Richmond Palladium, dated May 14, 1913. The headline read,

SUCCUMBS 18 HOURS AFTER TAKING ACID

Mrs. Warren Hudson, Aged 33,

Drank Poison Yesterday Afternoon

Died Late This Morning

In bold letters beneath were these words:

THIRD MEMBER OF FAMILY

TO COMMIT SUICIDE

My body became numb when I read it. Suicide, madness, insanity—how much was hereditary? A family of suicides. What drove them to kill themselves? Fear? Despair?

“Don't be afraid of me, Tim. It's all right. I won't hurt you,” she said.

“But, I…you…” I stammered.

“Yes, I know that you know about me. And your recollection is correct. I was one of the ones who committed suicide.”

“But...how did you...what are you... ?”

“You are wondering how a person who commits suicide gets into heaven?” she said.

“Well, yeah, I mean,...wow. I don't know what to say.”

“It's all right. I understand. There is more grace than you can imagine.”

“Gosh, you gotta give me a minute. My theology has taken a beating up here. Don't get me wrong—I am glad you are here, but—”

“I made a mistake, Tim, a terrible mistake, and one with far-reaching consequences.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.