Why the Law:
“Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.”vii
-Moses (Genesis 3:6-7 HCSB)
Have you ever made one mistake that caused consequences in your life that last your whole life? One mistake can back a person into a corner and the only way out is by giving in to that mistake, defending self and throwing punches at anyone who opposes you. Such an irreversible decision costs honesty, time, innocence and even lives. The mistake is so costly that it can’t be backed out of and it begins to consume a person’s identity. Such was the case with Melissa. One decision to save her sister would back her into a corner. Now she was on the run and her sister’s life was still in danger. She had to clean up her mess; it was the only way out and she hated herself. She hated that she would even consider taking another life to try and save the life of her sister. She hated how many other lives were also lost. She hated planning to finish the job and hated the fact that she had no idea where her instructions came from.
There was still some time before the candidates would arrive in Greenville for the public debate there. She needed to know who was behind this. If she could get to them, she could at least save more lives. Where would she start? The only place she knew where there might be some sort of connection was the offshore account that belonged to her. Obviously, the account was not connected to a name, but someone had authority to make changes to the account. If Melissa could find out who, she might be able get an upper hand. The card she received was a credit card in the name of a U.S. corporation so it could only be traced to that corporation and not to an individual. This would be the only connection she could make.
On this intuition, Melissa gathered her things, made sure the hotel room door was locked and walked to a local library. A quick web search revealed the company’s home page. The only contact info presented on the page was a phone number. Calling from a land line there at the library, Melissa only heard a recording and was not presented with any options to speak to a representative. The corporation was a façade; a fake front for something hidden.
She looked at the bank name on the front of the card and used the phone to call the bank. They asked for the last four of her social security number and, after receiving it, asked how they could help.
Melissa fabricated a problem, “Yes, I’ve noticed some questionable activity on my statement. Since this is a company card, I just need to know who else is authorized to make purchases using this account. Even if it’s on a different card. I need to know who to ask about it.”
“Yes, ma’am. That shouldn’t be a problem,” answered the representative, “It looks like the Trajan Corporation has also authorized one other person to use the account; by the name of Brent Woods.”
“Thank you,” Melissa replied, “Where did Brent make his last purchase?”
“It looks like he bought some take out in Greenville, South Carolina.”
The Greenville debate neared and Detective Casey arrived. It was perturbing to him that the most intelligent woman he knew, Melissa, would use bad judgment in any circumstance. This investigation revealed that wisdom was more important, or at least as important as intellect. It was by wisdom that the dumb stayed innocent and by a lack thereof that the genius became criminal. In a world with perfect reason and perfect knowledge, it seemed there would be no need for law because law is based on the fact that people either do not know or have not wisdom. As human knowledge is perfected, reason is more and more at a loss.
Casey walked around the Peace Center, noting the possible security risks. There were few hotels from where someone, Melissa, could set up and get a shot off. The bureau would place a tactical team on the roof of each and three guns on top of the Center facing in each direction.
At this point the bureau had frozen Melissa’s accounts and had given Casey the task to find her and bring her in.
They wanted her alive. Little did they now that, at least for now, she would not be able to tell them anything about the people she was working for. Intelligence specifically relied on revelation. It seemed the capacity for knowledge could be made whole, but reason was a different animal altogether.
Reason was intuition: a natural faculty that was somehow broken in every person. Even the highest intelligence was null without reason, without wisdom.
Detective Casey was early, and purposefully so. He got back into his car and drove to the nearest police station. There he explained who he was and asked if he could have an office. He also gave the detectives there a picture of the car he was looking for, the car that Melissa had stolen in Glenn Bluff.
Who was Brent Woods? If information began with revelation then it was this information that might help Melissa to correct her mistake. She went back to the computer and searched the web first. Too many results. Then she searched social media. Still too many results. Of course, if he was in Greenville, he was probably watching her to be sure she would complete her assignment. If she spent too much time searching she may not only lose the money, but also her life. She closed everything out and walked back to her hotel.
From location to location in the back of a black van; Senator Hardin was probably the only candidate who travelled this way. They stopped and the preacher stepped out of the driver seat to fill up and switch places with Huddles. As they started to drive again, Hardin laid his head back to catch a nap and the preacher pulled out a book.
T.J. opened his eyes slightly to look at the book, “No nap for you, Preacher?”
“After I read a couple pages,” he responded and set his page marker in his lap, “Something for my mind to think about while I sleep.”
“Why?”
“Because knowledge is infinitely deep and reason is currently imperfect.”
Hardin looked up, “Do you think we will ever know everything?”
The preacher laughed, “I’d have to say that since God is infinite then no. Infinite knowledge by any finite creature could never be realized even in a perfect world. Wisdom, though, wisdom will be perfected.”
“How do you know?” asked T.J.
“Well, I imagine that God will restore us to the way He created us only more complete because we will have a complete capacity for knowledge, unlike Adam and Eve. They were wise without a full capacity for knowledge. We have a full capacity for knowledge because we experienced evil, but our wisdom is fallen. Christ will restore it and we will be more complete than even Adam and Eve. Else, why would God allow people to fall from Him?”
“Huh,” T.J. shrugged and closed his eyes.
The senator asked another question, “Do you think our reason can get better on this earth?”
“That’s why I read before I sleep,” answered the preacher, “It’s also one of the accomplishments of Christ’s death. He offers to begin removing the effects of the Fall now for those who trust in Him. Jesus is not only the fulfillment of law, but the restoration of reason and the two are utterly connected. The law cannot be fulfilled and a perfect society realized without restoring perfect reason to each person.”
Senator Hardin laid his head back again, “And this is why we oppose standardized education as described in Senator Elliot’s bill? Because the more standardized education is, the less our children learn to think critically and imaginatively. We severely limit their reasoning capacities don’t we?”
“It seems so,” the preacher admitted, “If we desire the fullest degree of liberty now, we must encourage the growth of our children’s capacity to reason; not limit it.”
“Greenville in 8 hours!” Huddles yelled from the driver’s seat. Everyone but the preacher closed their eyes. He finally got to read.
If this Brent Woods was watching Melissa, he would have a spot from which he could observe her hotel room.
Melissa was paranoid. She went to the window and looked at all the possible spots where he might be. Of course, she didn’t know for sure he was watching. You know that moment when you feel like someone is waving at you, but your not sure. So, you wave back only to discover that the person waving was waving to someone standing behind you? That’s how Melissa felt every time she saw someone standing in another window, only each time she thought she had discovered the man who might be watching her. She couldn’t know for sure, though, and that is what made her paranoid.
Down below, Melissa saw a black van pull into the parking lot of the Peace Center. After stopping, the back door opened and she saw the man who was on trial in the courtroom step out. At least she thought that’s who it was. She rushed to her rifle, which was perched in the back corner of the room out of sight, and peered through the scope. It was him alright, and by the time she got to her gun his friend had also gotten out of the vehicle; the dark one with the big chin who helped him to escape from the courtroom. They walked around the center. It looked almost as though they were noting the various security risks. Melissa watched as Zack pointed toward her hotel room, or maybe it was the building: she couldn’t be sure. She also could not shoot despite her current fear and paranoia. A lockdown would mean no debate. No debate would mean no second chance at Hardin or chance to take out the person holding her sister’s life in the balance.
She watched as they pointed toward another building, a news outlet by the looks of it, got back in the van and rode off. What could their purpose possibly be? They had reopened the case, which is what they wanted, unless the goal was much bigger. Were they after her, too? Did they seek revenge? After all, Melissa was the one who framed Zack. If so, how did they know that she would be here at this location? The scariest part of this was that Melissa didn’t know if this was the paranoia, or if these were reasonable fears.
Quickly, Melissa closed the shades on her window and rushed down stairs. If they were anything like her, they’d be staying a one of the hotels close by. She walked around her hotel building and did not see the van, then she made her way to another. It was an impulse, an action made without a thought as to what the consequences might be. Once again, there was a lack of wisdom: Only this time it did not lead to bondage, but was a result of bondage. Melissa’s urgent need to pursue Zack because she had framed him left her with seemingly no other option. It seemed the ability to reason well was not only necessary for the existence of a society with the greatest degree of liberty possible on this earth, but was the reward of a free people because decisions must be made well. The great consequence of a government that seeks more control and more power, particularly through the law which should be liberating, is that its people lose the ability to reason and to make good decisions because they are always told what to do. The future of such a nation seems perilous.
Melissa stepped out onto the street to cross it and walk around the next hotel, but her peripherals caught a glimpse of a man stepping out of one of the cars that had stopped to let her cross. She turned to see who it was, and it was Detective Casey, her former partner and the man who was leading the hunt.
She turned to run, but there were two other men there who stopped her, each one taking hold of one of her arms. “Melissa, don’t try to run,” Casey yelled from the street.
“Cause and effect,” Melissa replied under her breath. In an instant, she stomped on one guys foot causing him to let go. With her free arm she snagged the sidearm from the other officer’s holster and fired two shots hitting Casey’s front, left tire. Before anyone had a chance to react, Melissa was running down the street, away from the officers.
“No pursuit,” Casey commanded, “Set up a perimeter around these two hotels and around the Peace Center. We don’t want to put any more lives in danger. I will try to find a way to contact Senator Hardin, but I imagine he will not want to miss the debate in two days.”
Melissa didn’t run far. She was back in her hotel room, overlooking the center. She knew she would not be able to leave again until after the debate, and if she carried out her plan she wouldn’t be able to leave at all.
She heard a knock at the door. She turned and saw an envelope slide under it into her room. Brent! It had to be and he had a message for her, but she didn’t care about the message. She flung the door open in time to see a man in a black jacket hurrying around the corner of the hallway.
Melissa was in pursuit all the way down to the lobby, only catching glimpses of this guy as he walked quickly away. She started to push the lobby door open to continue her pursuit outside, but she saw the police patrol and turned her face before they noticed. Back up to her room she trudged. Melissa was unable to do anything, she was a slave to her own decisions and bound by a world she did not control. Like Zack who was a slave to circumstance and like Casey who was a slave to the system; she freed herself from one master only to be put in chains by another and she was in the land of the free. Perhaps liberty here meant that one person simply had the opportunity to choose which master he or she would submit to, but some people didn’t even get that.
She took the envelope that the man, presumably Brent, slid under her door. That coward wouldn’t even face her.
Surely in this envelope there would be some kind of reminder that her sister’s life was at stake and that she needed to follow through with her assignment.
In the note was a videodisk that said “copy” on it and instructions telling her to take this DVD to local news outlet. She was curious, and she couldn’t go anywhere yet, but she imagined this instruction was being given to make up for the loss here in Greenville. She put the DVD in and watched it there in the hotel room. It was of the president and she didn’t believe what she saw. It seemed even the most free man was a slave to something, and in this case it was desire. “I wish I could go back and do the right thing,” Melissa said to herself as she lay back in the hotel room bed.