The Gifted by Ann H. Gabhart

Author:Ann H. Gabhart [Gabhart, Ann H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical, FIC042030, FIC042040, FIC027050
ISBN: 9781611734713
Publisher: Center Point Pub
Published: 2012-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

18

When the rising bell sounded, Jessamine sat up and put her feet on the floor as she had every morning for years. The planks felt cool on her bare feet, and from outside the open window she heard the cheery trill of a mockingbird even though dawn was barely breaking. For a minute with that sound of joy in her ears and the lingering wispy remnants of a blissful dream tickling her mind, she forgot her day would not be as it might have been before Sunday.

That unpleasant truth slammed into her waking brain when her eyes caught on Sister Edna rising from the bed next to hers. Her watcher. Already the woman’s eyes were pinned on Jessamine. Waiting to catch her in some wrong. Waiting to squeeze the very joy out of the day. Jessamine dropped to her knees beside her bed as did all the sisters in the room. A Believer knelt to pray upon rising every morning. A silent appeal for an industrious day and right attitudes before they went out to their duties.

Jessamine let the familiar words whisper through her mind. Dear Father in heaven. Help me to work with willing hands at the tasks thou hast set for me this day. Let my heart rejoice in serving you. She kept her head bent and her eyes closed as she waited for more prayer words to surface in her mind. Words of love for her sisters and praise for the blessing gifts of the day. But she did not feel loved. She did not feel blessed. She felt burdened. And sorrowful. The same kind of sorrow she’d felt when her granny passed on.

But no one had died now. She was surrounded by her sisters. Surrounded by their love for her. And yet the sorrow mashed down heavy on her soul as though someone had dropped a heavy sack of troubles across her shoulders.

She kept her eyes tight shut while the sisters around her began rising to their feet. Prayer time was over. She knew that without peeking through her eyelids and yet she stayed on her knees hoping for a prayer to come to mind. A prayer that would help her endure Sister Edna by her side every moment of the day to come. She could almost feel the sister moving toward her to give Jessamine’s shoulder a shake and demand she conclude her morning prayer. She would remind Jessamine of Mother Ann’s admonition that time was wasting and they had none to waste.

Her words would be true. Wasting time was not the Shaker way. Duties called. But prayers weren’t wasted times. She thought of the song “Come down, Shaker life, come life eternal.” She wanted the prayers to come down, give her peace eternal, show her the way. She didn’t want to simply come up with the words she’d been told the Eternal Father wanted to hear. She wanted the words to be true prayer words from her heart. Besides, she had no way to imagine any words of her own on this morning.

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