Chapter 9 A Chance Encounter
The old woman overheard some others talking about the man who owned the field. It appeared that he was a prominent figure in this place called Bethlehem where she was and his name was Boaz. In her dream, the old woman was living with a woman she referred to as her mother. After a long day of working in the field she took home food for her mother and they discussed all that had happened to her that day. It turned out that the owner of the field was a relative of the old woman's mother and so the old woman's mother determined in her mind that the younger woman should be married to her relative Boaz.
Now there was a big party being held that evening and the man Boaz was the guest of honor. So the two women busied themselves in getting the younger all cleaned up and in her best attire to the fancy of the man Boaz. By the end of the night the man Boaz had well drunk and was sleeping at the end of a row of barley. The old woman went softly to him and lay down at his feet, which was the custom of women in the place Bethlehem where she was.
When the man Boaz awoke he was initially startled at the woman's presence and also her beauty. She explained to him who she was and the man Boaz purposed in his heart that he should marry the young damsel. He informed her that there were a few legalities he would have to handle first but that all would be well with them.
He then gave her some barley to carry home to her mother and bid her to wait there until she heard word from him again. The old woman was on her way walking to meet her mother when suddenly she was awake staring at the wall. As she sat there in the dark, the old woman smiled to herself wondering if there was one like Boaz still out in the world for her.
She had loved once but nothing ever came of it. She wasn't sure now that anything ever would, but she was hopeful. Soon the old woman was sound asleep again. Again, she dreamed a dream.
“Isabel”, the old woman heard a voice behind her.
Turning around there stood her beloved Jacob. “These fourteen years that I have labored for your father in hopes of having your hand in marriage, have been as but one day for the love I have for you,” Jacob said to her. “And though your father beguiled me in the first and caused me to marry your sister Leah, the Power has been with me and today because of you my joy is made full.”'
Isabel was excited and saddened at the same time. She could finally embrace her beloved Jacob but all the while her sister Leah's heart was breaking. Leah also counted Jacob to be her beloved. The old woman was suddenly awakened out of her dream by a knock at the door. Looking at the clock she saw that it was 3 am.
“Who could possibly be knocking on my door at this hour?”, she thought to herself as she made her way to the door.
“Who's there”, the old woman demanded. There was no answer. Again she asked, “Who's there?” There was no answer so she lay back down.
But as the old woman lay there the Watcher's words came to her. “It is He who stands at your door and knocks. If you hear Him and open unto Him He will come in and dine with you.”
And the old woman wished she had opened the door. She became restless and so she got up and put on a kettle for tea. After sipping a cup and letting it warm her she took a shower and packed her bag for the day.
She was determined to be down at the dock early enough to meet the Watcher and so she headed out. The old woman was the first to arrive at the dock.
“I know you can hear me”, she whispered out on the wind. “I need to talk to you and I know you’re here”, she said directing her words at the Watcher.
“Yes, I am here. I'm always here”, a voice said behind her. It was the Watcher.
“Indeed the Great One is cruel”, the old woman began, “to give an old woman false hope of love.”
“Is it not you who seeks love?” the Watcher asked. “Is that not the reason that you've come down to this old dock year after year, no matter the weather, be it rain, snow , sleet or hail, without fail standing upon your watch? From Can see in the morning; Till Can't see at night you stand waiting, ” the Watcher reminded her, “staring out into the distance, watching the ships from whither they come to hence and back out again? Are you not waiting for love?”
“But I am an old woman now, and will I now have pleasure?” she said.
“If love were so trivial as to be affected by time would it really be worth the effort exhausted in attaining it?” the Watcher asked her. “Would it be worth the Great One orchestrating time and space, people, places and events all for the sole purpose of uniting two who would've otherwise been happily oblivious to each others existence?”
“Then are you saying the Great One has done all of this for me also?” the old woman asked excitedly.
“What I'm saying is that there is no failure in love. Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy and it does not boast. It is not proud. Love bears all things; believes all things; hopes all things; endures all things; even if it took one fourteen years to attain it. Those fourteen years would have been as one day to the possessor of love.”
“I've been waiting much longer than that”, the woman replied.
“Well who better then to prove my point than you?” The Watcher said. “You've been waiting many years and are willing to wait even longer still, for love.”
Right then a sea of men began to flood the dock. As if in some military formation they hurried and arranged themselves into perfect rows and columns. They hardly made a sound as they assembled.
The old woman watched in amazement. In just a few minutes they were all standing at attention as it were, staring out into the distance with their heads slightly tilted as if they saw something wonderful.
“I wish I could hear the Siren's Song,” the old lady said breaking the silence.
“There are many more beautiful songs in the world”, the Watcher replied.
“Well what is meant by this grand assembly of men here at the dock every morning”, the old lady asked. “Does it not mean that the Song of the Siren is more beautiful than any other?”
“Meaning is attributed to a thing as the giver sees fit”, the Watcher replied. “What may hold great meaning for one could mean absolutely nothing to another.”
“And what meaning do you attribute to love?” the old woman asked the Watcher.
“I was not created to place any particular meaning or feeling on love”, He answered.
“Well then how can you explain love to me?” the old woman asked.
“The Great One has given meaning to love. On the day that I was created He designed me to see things only as He Himself sees them,” the Watcher said.
“So then you've never experienced love?” the woman asked him.
“Not as humans do,” he replied. “When I obey the commands of the Great One and carry out His Will perfectly. That for me is love.”