Hey, Weekend Writing Warriors. Feeling much better this week. Carolyn is still out of work and waiting to hear back on her application, but it is only a matter of time. There appears to be a fourth position opening up, but that opening is a tragic story. One of the branch managers in her district passed away this week. Carolyn worked close with this manager, as she did with all the managers in the district. It is interesting that my wife was so beloved in the WF world. So many tellers are messaging her about the loss. She has been the shoulder of support for many, she still is, I suppose.
The Five Barred Gate is available on Amazon! Pick up your copy today to get caught up before the second installment hits shelves in late February.
SYNOPSIS:
With NaNoWriMo, I am taking you on the journey with me and giving you snippets from the book I’m writing. Keep in mind that these will be raw and unedited. So, excuse errors and grammar.
My piece for NaNoWriMo will be The Five Barred Gate III. Considering that The Five Barred Gate II will be released on January 5th, it would be my next logical piece to pen. Enjoy.
The Five Barred Gate is a dystopian world where the government has enacted laws against freedom of speech. This has hurt the religious community the most.
SNIPPET:
Summary:
The Five Barred Gate III picks where The Five Barred Gate II leaves off. Derrick Andrews is talking with his wife, Rachel, and feels he needs to go with is dad, Jacob, to Austin to talk with the authorities. They’ve been demanding Jacob to release his sermons for scrutiny before they are delivered from the pulpit. He has refused. Facing arrest, he now wants to make his appeal.
Here is a bit from last week.
“Mr. Andrews,” Megan, or was it Mrs. Woodland now, began. “you need not explain yourself to me. I fully understand your situation.” Megan Woodland stood and extended her hand. “I thank you for your time. While you are in town you should avail yourself of the sights. The courthouse has a beautiful courtyard. It holds much history. Before you leave town, you should visit it. I’m sorry. I must prepare for my 5 PM appointment.”
“I understand,” Jacob said, nodding to Megan’s raised eyebrow.
We are still in Chapter Three, but jumping ahead a little bit. Megan Woodward has insinuated a secret meeting between them, we are now at the location, at the time to prove Jacob’s suspicions. —
Jacob paced in front of the bottom step of the courthouse while Michael sat on it.
“Are you sure she meant she would meet us here?”
“You were too busy in your rant to see the look in her eyes. She had something to say that she couldn’t say in her office,” Jacob looked down on his son.
“What? Was her office bugged or something?”
“Would you doubt it with everything we’ve been through the last year?” Jacob said.
Michael nodded. Jacob knew Michael understood. Both of them had experienced the depths of what Officials steep to gain the upper hand. Who’s to say they wouldn’t do the same to someone in a higher capacity, and a DA and a Christian to boot would be a prime target? A bug or bribe of someone close to them would be easy in such a law-abiding climate.
::There is your ten, or so, but let’s continue a bit with the scene. Sorry, this is a bit longer, but I want to continue to complete the thought..::
“I don’t know, Dad. She closed the door on us awfully fast.”
“But she listened. It wasn’t until the end of our conversation when I made the final push did she shut down. And it was reluctant. Remember, Michael. I can read people. And she was reluctant to render a sentence on me despite what we’ve been through. I tell you, there was something there. Something maybe she can do but can’t tell us among those who could be listening.”
“Then where is she?”
“Right here, Mr. Andrews,” the nearing female voice said.
Both men turned to see Megan Woodland in her suit, with a leather satchel briefcase in her hand. “I told you I’d be here, Michael. I am a woman of my word. Well, in this case coded word.”
“I never doubted you,” Jacob said. “Thank you for coming.”
“Sorry for bringing you out here like this, but there are ears in the building. I cannot prove it and don’t know where they are, but I have had too many instances where private conversations have been brought to light lately. I am still trying to figure out who and to what benefit they hope to accomplish. Most of the cases have been simple misdemeanors.”
“Perhaps they are testing the waters to see what they could get away with before going after the big fish. Do you have any big cases upcoming?” Jacob said.“No. Nothing,” Megan said.
“Then having it in place for when it does, then.”
“Yes,” Michael interjected. “Making sure they have you where they want you should a case come up that they need you for to lean in their favor.”
“Oh my,” Megan said. “Well, I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”
“Just maintain your integrity and you’ll be fine. You did all right today. You kept in line with the law and sent us packing. Along with the appropriate threat,” Jacob said.
“That is what I wanted to meet with you about. The threat. I can help with that. While those letters are sent from my desk, they are form and sent to all who are not in compliance with the federal mandate. You are not the only infraction. Within Texas alone we sent out about two thousand of those. So, you are not alone, Pastor.”
“So, you understand my point of view then that I am not a speech writer, I am a man who speaks what God gives him to write. That often doesn’t come as quarterly content.”
“Yes, and that is why I want to help you. There is a hidden provision to the subsection that could grant your church exclusion from law. It is vague, but taken in a certain context would apply to your situation perfectly.”
Megan knelt and opened her satchel. She pulled out a stapled packet of paper and handed it to Jacob. “I highlighted the subsection. Read it.”
Jacob took the article and fingered the highlighted section:
Title VI: Article C: Subsection II: Part A: Any entity that fails to comply with TVI:AC: SII shall receive notice and shall be prosecuted to the furthest extent of the law. The entity will be held accountable, and its license shall be revoked immediately. Any persons attempting to prohibit such action will be held in contempt of law and charges of obstruction brought against them. However, should the entity be subject to extenuating circumstances leniency shall be granted up to and including exclusion from said provision.
Jacob looked up at Megan. “It’s that final sentence that I want to bring your attention to. The extenuating circumstances and leniency granted. You fit that criteria due to your interaction with the Edwards family. Having been through the ordeal twice, I believe I can grant you the exception, but I still would need to take it before a judge and have my petition granted.”
“Then I could continue to preach as I saw fit?”
“I didn’t say that,” Megan said. “You would still most likely would need to submit your sermons, but you would have more time to submit them. As you said, you like to preach from the heart. I may be able to get a judge to grant you weekly in advance instead of quarterly. But you would still have to submit and adhere to Federal Speech Act guidelines.”
Jacob knew that his sermons skated on the edge of offense. A preacher’s job was to confront sin and help people turn to God. And the FSA guidelines prohibited that.
“I’m not sure that’s enough, Megan,” Jacob admitted.
Megan sighed. “I don’t know if I can do much more.”
“Megan,” Michael said. “My dad feels that it’s wrong to lie. He won’t submit a sermon to appease the mandate then preach something different than what was written.”
“You don’t have to submit your entire sermon, Pastor,” Megan said. “All you have to submit is the cliff notes version. A summary, leave out the details that conflict with the mandate.”
“That is still lying,” Jacob said. “Not directly but lying by omission. Like if I were to borrow your car and drive 100MPH and didn’t tell you. I broke the law. If I didn’t get caught, no one would know about it but me, but the fact that I broke the law would weigh on me. This is much greater because lying is a sin. And a sin to do good I don’t feel God would be glorified. The ends do not justify the means.
And submitting my sermons as is would draw a red stamp on each submission or an Official at my door threatening fines or jail time because I would be offending someone who chooses not to have their sin be called out or be labeled a sinner. I will not be silenced or fall into society’s trap of softening my speech, so others don’t have their feelings hurt.”
“That is an excellent speech, Jacob,” Megan said. “But it is unrealistic in today’s society. The laws don’t allow it. People don’t live like they did twenty years ago when these laws started to pass. The world is a much different place. It doesn’t take much for someone, anyone, to be set off by a word or phrase. If we don’t model after what is acceptable and then alter it as needed, then none of us are going to make it.
“You are not lying, Jacob. Remember Rahab and the spies. She hid them in her home, and she told their pursuers she did not know them and had sent them away. She told a bald-faced lie for the furtherance of Joshua and the men he was with, ultimately God and his will.”
Jacob had all but forgotten about the story of Rahab. She indeed hid the spies and lied to the authorities to further God’s kingdom. Was his story any different? Would misdirecting the authorities so he could hide God’s chosen message be truly a sin? Or would that be doing what is needed in the face of the challenges of the world being a different place?
As you can see, the scene couldn’t be cut up. And the Andrews’ do have an ally now. But how far DA Woodland can take them remains to be seen. She knows the Word, enough to point Jacob in the right direction and convince him of rule bending.
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Additional Titles by Jeff S. Bray
Little Reminders of Who I Am (2020)
The Transference (2022)
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