Ruth Qualman was a long suffering woman. She had been quite taken with young Jacob ever since the day her father, a professor of Rhetoric at Harvard, brought home his brilliant young prot´eg´e to meet their family. She was astounded at the gift of this young man who, at the age of nineteen, could make an argument so convincing that lawyers three times his age were unable to refute him. He was so very much like her father, as his words seemed to draw every ear within range of them. But at the same time, Jacob was very much unlike her father. His words were tempered by compassion and understanding; they lacked the demanding and uncompromising quality of her father’s words.
Ruth quickly found herself falling under the spell of young Jacob. She hardly left his side throughout all of his days at Harvard, as every time he spoke she wished to be there that she might drink in every word and be intoxicated by them like wine. Every time he spoke she gazed straight into his eyes that she might see the soul from which these beautiful words proceeded. But Jacob would not meet her gaze, and he kept his soul hidden away. Ruth soon realized that her love for Jacob gentle and mild knew no bounds. She also realized that this love would only lead her into suffering, for Jacob’s love of the world knew no bounds.
Ruth had always found Esau’s words every bit as harsh and unyielding as her own father’s, but she endured them. She had come to hear Jacob speak on his day of days, and for that she was willing to pay any price. She applauded with the others and felt her eyes well up with tears when she saw Jacob finally receive that for which he had labored so long and so hard. When Jacob stepped up to the pulpit she found herself leaning forward as expectantly as any young hopeful waiting to
8 hear her hero speak.“Thank you, father, for your words of wisdom, and thank you all for coming. I have heard from many of you today words that lead me into questioning. You say that I am good, and I ask you why, for the goodness within me is but a reflection of the goodness that has been shown to me. You say that I am kind, and again I ask you why, for one can never show kindness until one has felt kindness. You say that I am loving, and again I ask you why, for the love I feel began from without, not from within. As a wise man once said, one candle lights another, and it takes but one small candle to hold back the darkness. Indeed, it is not my achievements that you have come here to celebrate but your own. God lifts those who lift one another. My love is the love that has been revealed to me, and if I have seen farther than others, then surely it is because I stand upon the shoulders of giants. Thank you.”
The gathered celebrants rose to their feet. They gave Jacob warm smiles and even warmer applause. The applause lasted for a long time, as Jacob was a man beloved by many. Many in the crowd could be seen shaking their heads and muttering to one another in disbelief that he who had spoken the least had said the most, but that is exactly what had just happened. Esau the officiator returned to the pulpit to find he had to wait a while for the applause to die down enough for his words to be heard once more. He thanked the assembled well-wishers once again and gave to them his dismissal. The crowd rose to their feet once again, some still shaking their heads in amazement.
A line formed near the pulpit once again, as all felt the need to give Jacob’s hand a good hearty pumping and express their great appreciation for the kind words he had just spoken. Esau took a place by the side of the now Reverend Jacob Channing, but this time he found himself the subject only of polite nods. At the end of the line stood Peter and Ruth, for they wished to have time enough to express their renewed sense of affection for their best and truest friend.
Finally Ruth’s time came and again she took Jacob by the hand. “Jacob that was wonderful! It was so stirring and touching; it moved me nearly to tears.”Jacob dropped his hand and gave his friend a beaming smile. “Thank you Ruth. As always you are too kind to me. We haven’t spoken in a while, how have you been?”
“Very well, I just read the most wonderful book. Tell me, have you read Uncle Tom’s Cabin?”Jacob’s mouth opened in an O of surprise, as he had finished the book only recently and been moved all the way to tears by it. He glanced over at Peter by her side. His nodding and earnest expression told Jacob all that he needed to know. Both of his friends had heard the call to action as well. The feeling of fellowship and comradeship rose up, and it was shared. “Don’t go anywhere, either of you. We simply must discuss this.”
One by one, they left by the way they had come. One be one, Jacob wished them well. One by one, Jacob said goodbye and promised they would see one another again soon, regardless of whether he meant it or not. He found a warm, long, and loving embrace for his dear mother before she went forth. His father found for him only a polite nod before he walked away once more, so unable to believe that he had just been eclipsed by his own son. Alone at last, the three friends smiled at one another, so happy to be together once more. Peter stepped out into the teaming city, with Ruth following soon after. With a deep and cleansing breath Jacob stepped from the sanctuary, out of darkness and into light.
