Chapter 16

“Local law says that no church or synagogue can be taller than the shortest mosque in the area.”

“So some joker built a mosque that is five feet tall just to make the Christians and Jews unhappy?”

“It looks that way,” Oscar answered with a grin.

Georgia looked down at the roof of the decrepit building. The roof was about four feet above the ground. It was hard to believe that Oscar was taller than the building. She said, “I know you are short, but how can you possibly stand up in that building?”

He held a hand up to his neck. His hand was about the same height off of the ground as the roof. He squatted so that his head was below his hand. Oscar laughed at the expression on Georgia’s face. Standing, he said, “The churches and synagogues in the area are built into the ground rather than above it. There’s plenty of room to stand up inside the building.”

Shaking her head, Georgia said, “I guess people can find ways around even the most arbitrary law.”

She followed him around to the front of the building. From there, it was easy to see that the majority of the building was underground. She stopped at the top of the steps leading down to the door and turned back to watch the people coming to worship. Expecting to see people with Semitic features, she was rather surprised to see that the people coming were black. They were not chocolate skinned black, but ebony black. Shaking her head, she said, “They’re black.”

“That’s right.”

Wondering if she suffered from some hidden prejudice that she hadn’t know about, she asked, “How come I never heard of Jews that are black?”

“Ignorance,” Oscar answered shrugging his shoulders.

Taking a modicum of offense at his answer, Georgia said, “I hate to think of myself as ignorant.”

“Contrary to popular belief, ignorance is not a character flaw. The universe is a big place and there’s a lot to know. We’re all ignorant; it is just a question of degree. How can you be expected to know about a small group of people in a small country that’s halfway around the world from where you grew up?” Oscar said watching the people enter the synagogue.

“Where did they come from?”

“According to legend, they are the descendants of Solomon and Sheba,” Oscar said. Although they were speaking English, the last man to enter the synagogue looked at Oscar when he heard the last of his sentence. Switching to Amharic out of consideration for those who might be listening, he said, “We are currently in the part of Ethiopia that is often called Beta Israel.”

“Beta Israel? Sounds like it means second Israel,” Georgia said.

Nodding his head, Oscar said, “Legend says that they brought the Arc of the Covenant here after the fall of the Second Temple.”

“Maybe we could look for Arc of the Covenant while we’re here,” Georgia said with a grin. She laughed and said, “Too bad your last name isn’t Jones. I’d be Georgia Jones and could claim Indiana as a distant cousin.”

Oscar looked away for a moment and then said, “I better go in now.”

Georgia waited outside hearing the voice of Yahweh repeat the message that Oscar was to deliver to all who were willing to listen. She had heard that message hundreds of times, but each time it left her holding her breath. Not for the first time she wondered why the Gods had Oscar repeat the same message so many times.

When Oscar came out, she walked beside him to the Land Roamer. He was particularly quiet. After they had gotten into the Land Roamer, Oscar looked back at the synagogue and said, “You should have seen the looks on their faces.”

“Why?” Georgia asked. He very seldom remarked on the reaction of the people to his message.

Oscar drove away while answering her question. “Israel recognized them as Jews in 1975, but still has expressed doubts that they are one of the lost tribes. As a result, they have to undergo a formal conversion to immigrate into Israel as Jews. Israel requires that whenever there is doubt about the Jewishness of the immigrant.

“The fact that Yahweh spoke in their synagogue eliminates all doubt that they are Jews. You might say that my presence and the message gave them a legitimacy that they never had in the eyes of the world.”

Georgia was silent while she thought about his answer. In a soft voice, she said, “It seems to me that a lot more is being accomplished by your service, than bringing peace to the Middle East. This is just one example where an entire group of people have been given a special gift.”

Oscar smiled and said, “Yes. Our little friend, Mohammed, in Pakistan was selected to serve Allah for some great purpose. The young couple, whose wedding we attended, was told that their child was going to become a great leader. There have been lots of side effects to my service. The most obvious is that many of the young are returning to the religions of their parents.”

“That’s nice,” Georgia said.

“The Powers That Be are subtle in their actions. I have no idea why things are done in the way they are, but I know there is a reason for it,” Oscar said.

Georgia was quiet for several minutes and then asked, “Is Jewishness a word?”

“I don’t know. If it isn’t, then it should be,” Oscar answered with a grin.

Looking at the cross on the building, Georgia said, “Ah, a church this time. I was wrong again.”

“Yes, you were,” Oscar answered. Georgia had started predicting the order of the religions he would visit and would write her guesses down on a piece of paper. She claimed that the number she got right during the day was the minimal number of orgasms he had to give her that night.

“You’re doing that on purpose,” she accused. She looked down at her sheet of paper at her prediction. She had predicted church, synagogue, mosque, and then church. So far that day, they had visited a synagogue, mosque, and now a church.

“No, I’m not,” Oscar said.

Pouting she said, “At this rate, you won’t have to give me an orgasm tonight.”

Grinning at her, he asked, “Does that mean I’ll get some sleep, tonight?”

She stuck her tongue out at him and said, “Not if I’m right on the next guess.”

“We’ll see,” Oscar said getting out of the Land Roamer. The big vehicle wasn’t the only one suited for the terrain over which they were traveling, but it was their first choice for their trip. A Hugger could have served, but the back end of the Land Roamer provided a nice place to sleep.

Georgia waited inside the Land Roamer enjoying the air conditioner and absence of flies. Even inside the vehicle she could hear Jehovah giving Oscar his message. She watched the local people make their way to the church. It was a sight that she had seen hundreds of times.

The expressions on their faces were indescribable. It was more than awe. There was a touch of fear to the expression, but just a touch. There was also a tinge of bliss. She wondered what expression a person should have on their face when they heard their God speak. She pulled out her camera and took a picture of the crowd.

With a smile that was a little larger than normal, Oscar returned to the vehicle and said, “Onwards to the next one.”

“Which direction are we heading?” Georgia asked wondering why he was smiling like that. He looked like he was hiding something from her.

“Northeast to the Hadar region and then onto Axum,” Oscar answered with a grin. Steering the Land Roamer down the dusty trail that constituted a road in the region, he left the small town behind them. At the face she made at the idea of visiting another area that was filled with lots of nothing, he said, “We’ll have a slight detour through Addis Abeba.”

“What is in Addis Abeba?” Georgia asked thinking that two and two was suddenly adding up to three. They normally stayed out of the larger cities.

“Debbie,” Oscar answered.

“What?” Georgia screamed sitting up and turning to face Oscar.

“Well, she will be if you get on the telephone with Jennifer and arrange for her to meet us there. She finished her practicum project yesterday. She can meet us there, tomorrow,” Oscar said.

Getting excited at the prospect of seeing their wife again, Georgia said, “Why didn’t you tell me before? Stop this crate so that I can get out the satellite phone and make the call.”

“I wanted to get out of town so that you could line up the satellite dish without attracting a crowd,” Oscar answered before pulling off the road.

Debbie looked out the window of the Land Roamer and then over at Georgia seated beside her. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, “Why is he stopping here? There isn’t a building within thirty miles of here.”

Oscar turned around so that he was facing the two women in the back seats. He said, “It is almost lunch time. Let’s have a little picnic here and then we’ll turn around to get to Axum.”

They had just driven hours out of their way just to turn around? It didn’t make sense to Georgia. She asked, “Why here?”

“I’ll explain while we’re eating,” Oscar answered. He turned and exited the Land Roamer.

While he headed around to the rear of the vehicle to get a blanket and some food, Debbie asked, “Does he do things like this very often?”

“From time to time,” Georgia answered looking out the window for something that would suggest the reason for stopping. She could see nothing except for rough terrain with scattered brush. Shaking her head, she said, “Oscar occasionally gets very philosophical. I think he’s in one of those moods.”

“Is that bad?” Debbie asked.

“Actually, I enjoy them,” Georgia answered. She realized that Debbie had never been with Oscar on one of these little journeys.