V. All in a Days Work

It was Sunday morning; Ariana wore a white dress with a blue ribbon tied around her waist. She wore her open white sandals and tied her hair in a cute ponytail. She was ready, so were her parents. It was time to go to Church.

 “Is that what you are wearing?” The wife asked the husband. 

“Yes, what’s wrong with it?” He remarked. 

“That shirt doesn’t go with that trousers. You look hideous,” she said in disgust. 

“Hideous? Why didn’t you display the clothes you want me to wear by the bed?" 

“I am not your maid. You can do it yourself,” she said storming out of the door. The husband glared at her walking away.

Ariana ran towards her room and picked a navy-blue shirt that she had unhung the previous day. As he was contemplating what to do to his wife, his thoughts were interrupted by a tag on his shirt. He looked down to find Ariana smiling. “Here Papa,” she said handing him the blue shirt. He seemed confused at first but eventually took it and thanked Ariana. 

“Where did you get this shirt,” he asked as he wore it.

” I washed it yesterday for you, I knew you didn’t have a good clean shirt, and this one is your favourite,” she answered. His wife refused to wash his clothes, and he hadn’t found time to clean them himself. 

“You washed it? Why would you do such a thing lulu?”

 “Because I Love you, and I knew it would make you happy.” He looked at Ariana, knelt and hugged her tightly. 

“Thank you. I love you too my lulu. Come now, let’s go. We shall be late.” They rushed out to find Ariana's mom waiting. 

“Took you long enough,” she said. “You took that long and still choose another hideous shirt.” The husband glared at her and was about to snap but was halted by Ariana's words. 

“I'm sorry Mama. I had to get his shirt from my room.” They both looked at her, a little startled.

 “Oh, mmmh Okay,” said her mother. 

“I was supposed to give it to him yesterday, but I forgot, so I'm sorry,” Ariana said.

 “It's okay. I am not angry at you,” her mom replied.

“Okay mama, let's go then. We are a little late, and I promised I would be in time.”  

“Who did you promise?” Her father asked curiously. 

“A friend of mine...” Ariana said, “He said that I would see him in church, that he had something special in-store.”

 “Oh…okay…what’s your friend's name?” The father asked. Her smile broadened. 

                                                              ▪▪▪

Adrian was going through the points he would disseminate today.

 It's been a while since I was in front of a crowd … Although it's not a large group. He was seated next to the podium; the church service had commenced, and Ariana had not yet arrived.

 I'm sure they will be here soon.

“So now that that’s taken care of, I would like to introduce our preacher for today, he is from out of town and has requested to share God’s word,” said a man at the podium. “It is my pleasure to introduce Mr Adrian.” There was a round of applause as Adrian approached the podium. 

The church doors opened to reveal a man, woman and a child looking for seats. Ah perfect. He thought as Ariana led her parents to some empty seats at the front of the church. The parents seemed reluctant at first but complied with the choice. Can’t do much when someone is literally pulling your hand. Ariana saw Adrian and smiled broadly. Alright, little one, you did your part, it's time for me to do mine. Adrian thought 

“Morning everyone, my name is Adrian…Adrian Al-Qaeda.” There was murmuring in the crowd.

Knew that would gather your attention… my full names always do. 

"I am glad to be here with you this lovely Sunday morning. I wish to take this opportunity to discuss with you the importance of forgiveness.” The crowd went silent, paying close attention to Adrian. “I will take a different approach today to help us develop a deeper understanding of the mysteries of marriage. So, feel free to ask questions at any point, it is a discussion after all." This is how it was supposed to be anyway…not the way it’s done today. A discussion among friends. 

"Any questions?” He asked the crowd, but there was no response. 

“Great, let's begin.” Adrian took a chair from a corner at the front of the church and sat facing the crowd. “So, have you guys ever asked yourselves why the initial way of marriage was between a man and woman, not men and woman or man and women. Why monogamy and not polygamy?” Adrian paused. No one answered. “No one?... Okay, well, I wish to delight you with an unconventional answer. It is simply because there is only one bonded partner for each soul.” 

The crowd started to mutter again. Guys just ask the question, Adrian thought. “A bonded partner is the one and the only one that can balance you out. He/she is the only one with whom you can share your existence, without hurting yourself in the process. The only one whose energy and yours mix and co-exist without hurting, in fact, there is a healing element.” 

The crowd again started murmuring, but this time a man raised his hand. “Yes,” Adrian said pointing at the man.

"But what are you talking about? Where is all this in the bible?” the man asked.

“It is in the bible. Eve was brought forth from Adam. That is why she was called Wo-man, from man she came to man she was and with man they shall be one.” The man stood there startled. “Eve was Adam’s bonded partner, not Lilith.” Adrian chuckled, though the crowd was silent. “That’s why it also states a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to the wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

He sat down, still surprised but seemed to contemplate Adrian’s words. “Any other question?” The crowd was silent. “To make it clear, you are composed of matter but are also energy. With that, it will be easier to understand what I am trying to say. This is why you are told not to pay heed to the flesh but the Spirit, for you are Spirit.”

Adrian paused as his gaze swept the congregation, “How do you know or how do you even find your balancer in the first place?” A young woman asked.

“Great question, the answer to that is love,” Adrian said.

“Love?” the woman curiously asked.

“I'm not talking about the love as defined by the world,  that which is reduced to just a feeling ... that love is a misconstrued idea born of dictation. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way (not self-seeking); it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing (evil), but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. The virtues of love should not be separated as all are love. ” 

“So, what should I do?” The woman asked.

“Practice and cultivate the values within yourself. Love is more than people think yet simple. When practised, it will make you whole and, in the process, lead you to your bonded partner who completes you.” Adrian answered. “To find your partner, you have to want to be whole, and to be whole you need to practice love on yourself, and it shall be your guide.”

“Alright,” The woman said sitting down, pondering on what Adrian said.

“The important thing is to realize that you and your bonded partner are one. The stories of the bible show the ruin of people when they take many wives. Such acts show you have fallen short of love.”

“What if you are already married?” A man asked from the crowd. Adrian’s eyes fell on the man, who was Ariana’s father. “How would you know you made a wrong choice if you already married?” 

“A very good question,” Adrian said smiling. “You will first need to be whole, by practising love within yourself. Then love shall guide you to whether you made the right choice or not.” 

“But one can’t just leave… God is against divorce,” A woman shouted from the crowd.

“Yes, he is against bonded partners leaving each other,” Adrian said. “...because that's what marriage is… It's not only a ceremony or ritual. It is the unification of bonded partners. Love supersedes the individual and the institution as it guides the meaning and purpose of anything; Self or others. Marriage is slowly turning into a ritual and a cultural ceremony, but love is more important than ritual and culture.”

“Are you telling us that one can simply leave their marriage….one can simply divorce?” The woman shouted again.

“Marriage is a beautiful thing, and divorce is a breaking of meaning and purpose,  so does marrying for the wrong reasons. Being with a person who is not your bonded partner; is a relationship, but it fails the qualification to be a marriage. The relationship and marriage are good things, but they exist because love exists. They are born from love, and therefore love knows their purpose and meaning. Love cultivates it and grows it, that is why marriage requires you to put God at the centre, as he is love. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. If you govern with the correct love the unity of bonded partners will flourish. Who and what is a better guide than that? Love is more important than both. It is what you should practice before everything, and it will guide you to the truth, the truth of marriage.” 

The crowd was silent. Love is the progenitor and guide to the new way of existence, Adrian thought.

“There are things that are core to us, and the concept of bonded partners is one of them. However, it is a choice, as one can reject or accept that truth. Let me give an illustration to summarize this.” Adrian stood from his chair and walked to the podium.

“When a relationship breaks due to a lack of love, the book that had both your stories intertwining closes. The relationship ceases to exist as it does not continue, and is left but as a past story in your story. However, for bonded partners it is different. Think of you and your bonded partner as one story in one book... it is your story as you are one. Even if in some chapters you are alone, and other chapters focus on your partner. It is still one story.” Adrian said. “If a person rejects their bonded partner… the consequences are dire... they rip out the pages of their story ...permanently. Your book now has an incomplete story. If you rip out pages in any story, meaning and purpose is lost.”

Adrian looked at the crowd, most seemed unaffected by his words, but Ariana’s parents were visibly shocked. Adrian surveyed the crowd again and noticed a few others were shocked as well. Yes, those are more than enough.

He looked at Ariana. Thank you little one, your parents will be okay now, it is your trust in love that brought them to this possibility and now it is a certainty that they will be okay… after all, they are each other’s bonded partner. They feel it deeply, that is why they are shocked… they understand the implications of the truth I have revealed.

“So, let us embrace love, not the worldly one but the one that Jesus exemplified in his life through practice…then we shall be whole,” Adrian said. “Thank you.”

He left the podium and sat down as the pastor took over church proceedings. 

                                                               ▪▪▪

Church activities came to an end after 20 minutes, Ariana was happy as she could now talk to Adrian. She ran off searching for him and found Adrian talking to some people, asking him questions. After 5 minutes Adrian was done, and walked over to her, “Hey little one, I see you made it,” He said. “

Yeah, I did not know you were a preacher Al,” She chuckled as they walked away from the church.

“Well technically, I'm not a preacher, I am a teacher.” 

“Oh, so you were teaching everyone on marriage?" Ariana asked, "I like the way you teach.,”

“Thank you, it was for everyone but mostly for people who really needed it like your parents.”

“So you were helping them?”

“Yes by reminding them, how important they are to each other.”

“So they will be okay now?” 

“Yes little one, they will be fine, it will happen  gradually over time, so don’t be frustrated, be patient with them, love them, remind them of how important love is and they will be okay.” 

Ariana smiled, “Thank you, Adrian, you are my angel.”

“No little one, you are the angel, the brightest one.”Ariana hugged Adrian with tears of joy on her face. 

“Adrian... Why were people so surprised at your name, even my mom seemed shocked.” 

“That is complicated, my dear… It is what it has been used to signify in this world.”

“Oh, what does it mean?” Ariana asked.

“My full names mean, the base of the sons of God,” Adrian said.

“What does that….”

“Ariana! …” A voice was heard, interrupting their conversation. 

“Seems like your mother is calling you little one,” Adrian said, “Go on, don’t keep her waiting.” Ariana smiled and as she was running towards her parents, stopped midway and looked back.

“ I hope I see you again Al.” 

“You will little one, just a matter of patience,” Adrian said as he was pulled into the metaphysical, disappearing from the physical. No one besides Ariana witnessed this, but she could still see him, “I love you Al, Thanks for everything.” 

“The pleasure is all mine, to serve you is my greatest joy,” Adrian said as he flew away, Ariana watching him in wonder.