CHAPTER 1
"Good morning, students. As all of you know, this will be our last religious studies class before you leave later today for Christmas vacation."
The spontaneous cheers erupting from the back of the classroom are quickly stifled as the teacher eyes the obvious culprits. Sister Ann picks up where she left off and continues her walk around the seventh grade classroom while handing out sheets of colored construction paper.
"As your assignment, I have something a little different in mind. I'm asking each of you to write something you know for sure is true."
Interrupted once again, this time by muffled whispers and giggles, she stops and casts an ominous look around her classroom. "Be warned that this is a religious studies assignment. I remind all of you of the inspiration to be found in your catechism."
After waiting a few seconds for complete silence, she continues with her instructions.
"At the end of the day, each of you will have to share what you have written with the rest of the class. Over Christmas break, I shall select twelve statements and pair each one with an appropriate apostle. I will then display them around the classroom as monthly inspirations for the New Year." She cups her right ear. "And what year will that be?"
"1953!" chants the class in unison. The giddy anticipation of Christmas vacation is evident in their voices.
It's going to be a long day, thinks Sister Ann as she continues her stroll up and down the aisles.
"And don't be afraid to be creative with your presentation," she adds. "It will be factored in when I make my final selection."
In the classroom, the desks are arranged two by two, with one girl and one boy at each. Rena Kapoor sits next to Charles Montgomery.
Rena is surprised to note that Charles, who is always a bit of a daydreamer, has straightened up in his seat and begun working almost as soon as he received his two sheets of construction paper.
She focuses in on the assignment and puts on her thinking cap. I know for sure I'm happy I don't have to go to school for the next two weeks, but I don't think Sister will find that very inspirational.
Having been exposed to other types of spirituality by way of her heritage, Rena has always been intrigued with the symbolism embedded in various religions. In her mind, she shuffles through the Catholic symbolism file, stopping at the sign of the cross.
I'm certain the sign of the cross represents the three aspects of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Sister Ann will like it for sure.
After carefully transcribing her quote into the shape of a cross on her pink construction paper, she attempts to peek at what Charles has come up with. She catches him glancing sideways at her sheet. He turns and with vacant eyes stares directly at her. It catches her off guard, but what comes out of his mouth is even more surprising.
"In the light of expanded consciousness, we offer the following insight: It is a certainty that God is in you and all around you. You are to God as a single drop is to the ocean, and you are the entire ocean in a single drop."
Although Charles is known to be peculiar at times, he now looks and sounds possessed.
"Charles!" she whispers harshly, elbowing him on his right side.
"All is in divine order. And so it is," concludes Charles.
After rubbing his eyes as if he were just waking up, he seems oblivious to the fact Rena has just elbowed him.
She stares as he picks up a pencil crayon to start writing. Surprise and confusion are written all over his face when he sees something already formulated on his sheet. He reads it under his breath. "It is a certainty that God is in ... Did you do this?" he asks, turning sharply to Rena.
"Yeah, right," she replies with a smirk on her face.
"I bet you did." He searches her eyes.
She nervously indicates the teacher is coming back down their aisle.
On the sheet in front of him, Charles admires the quote placed inside a perfectly shaped water droplet. "It's beautiful," he mumbles.
"It is, but unless you can show Sister where it's written in the catechism," Rena says as she motions again to warn of the teacher's proximity, "I'd tear it up fast." Refocusing her attention, she picks up her light-blue pencil crayon and gets busy coloring in the negative space around the cross she has formed with her words.
"What a shame," mumbles Charles before he shreds the sheet into tiny pieces.
He pulls out a second yellow one and, after a few short moments, begins writing as neatly as he possibly can. I know for sure the Holy Trinity represents God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He thinks it very clever when he dots each i with a tiny cross in a contrasting color.
Behind them, the teacher has stopped to admire Amanda Campbell's creation. Charles takes the opportunity to show off his handiwork and discretely gives Rena a nudge.
She can't believe her eyes. "You'd better stop messing around, Charles! You know that's way too close to what I wrote."
"Girls. You can never figure them out," he mumbles. "I don't even know what she wrote."
Rena doesn't quite know what to make of Charles's behavior, but she knows she will be the one accused of copying, not him. She manages to tear up her sheet just as Sister Ann's robes swish by her desk. The teacher nods and smiles at Charles, obviously pleased with what she sees on his sheet.
Phew! That was close, thinks Rena. God is in you and all around you. Hum!
She has no idea where Charles got them from, but his words have stirred something in her. She pulls out her second pink sheet, throws caution to the wind, and begins transcribing her new quote.
The rest of the day drags by until last period finally rolls around, and Sister makes an announcement.
"It's time now for each of you to stand and read the quote you were asked to write in religious studies class this morning. When you are finished reading, please rest your sheets on my desk in two piles, one for girls and one for boys."
When it appears that all of the students are settled and ready with their sheets on their desktop, she nods to Tommy Burke to stand. As the class clown, he has the choice spot up front near her desk.
Trying not to giggle, he shares his quote. "I know for sure boys are more important than girls because God sent a son down to earth at Christmas, not a daughter."
He holds his paper up for everyone to see. At the end of the quote, he has drawn a stick figure boy with a halo, and next to him is a stick figure girl with an X over her. Some of the boys clap and cheer while the girls roll their eyes and some stick out their tongues.
In the middle of the clamor, and before Sister Ann can bring order to the classroom, Charles gets up out of his seat. He has such a presence about him that the room goes instantly quiet. His vacant expression wipes the grin right off Tommy's face. In the same mature voice Rena first heard earlier that day, Charles speaks.
"Energy is energy. On the earth plane, which is dualistic in nature, energy is distinguished as either masculine or feminine. Although each serves different purposes, both are of equal value. In reference to your statement, the feminine is indeed represented as an equal aspect of God, by what your doctrine refers to as the Holy Spirit. All is in divine order. And so it is."
After taking his seat, Charles puts his head down on his desk and rubs his eyes.
Across the aisle, his identical twin brother, Peter, sits with his mouth agape. He and Rena exchange glances as a collective gasp goes around the room.
The teacher looks astonished before quickly composing herself. Charles's posture and behavior are so unusual that she is more concerned with his physical state than with his statement. She approaches his desk and gently touches his head.
"Oh, is it my turn?" he asks. After jumping up with his paper in hand, he reads. "I know for sure the Holy Trinity represents God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit."
"Don't you mean 'and God the Daughter'?" snickers Tommy Burke under his breath.
There are some nervous giggles, but mostly everyone just waits for Sister Ann to take the lead.
Trying hard not to seem rattled, and reassured that Charles now seems normal, she scans his face intently for a moment, raises an eyebrow, and reluctantly decides to keep the ball rolling. She throws Tommy an "I'll deal with you later" look and then nods toward Rena to go next.
Rena's hand trembles as she holds her construction paper directly in front of her face.
"I know for sure sometimes things happen to make us question the things we thought we knew for sure."
As another collective gasp goes around the room, Rena peeks over her sheet at the teacher.
Sister Ann grimaces and comes storming toward her, snatching the paper right out of her hand as if she doesn't believe what Rena has just read is what she has actually written down. But there it is, beautifully transcribed into the shape of a violet question mark. The dot is perfectly drawn and colored in as a golden water droplet, with a violet heart at its center.
Before Sister can help it, her face says, "Wow!" Then it abruptly turns into a scowl. She asks, "What does this have to do with religious studies?" Rena, unable to find her voice, swallows hard.
Charles, both dazed and confused, is speechless.
There is a pregnant pause.
"The two of you are very fortunate we are about to leave for Christmas vacation. And that goes for you too, Tommy Burke!" She glares at Tommy, then at Charles and Rena. One can hear a pin drop in the classroom.
"You two, rest your papers on my desk as instructed."
Rena and Charles quickly do as they are told.
"You, Tommy Burke, will stay after class until you manage to come up with an appropriate quote. And after that, you will kneel in the corner and say three complete rosaries, perhaps by praying to the Virgin Mary, she will remind you of the importance of womanhood."
Tommy bites his lip as several of his friends snicker.
"Would all of you like to stay back as well?" Sister Ann's voice is threatening as she glares at the guilty boys. They instantly sober up. "That's what I thought," she says.
After glaring at them for a few seconds longer, she then motions for the teacher's pet, Amanda Campbell, to go next.
Amanda does not disappoint. "I know for sure our Holy Father, Pope Pius XII, is infallible because he is God's representative on earth."
To Sister Ann's great relief, the rest of the students have managed to find inspiration directly from their catechism. By the time everyone has read aloud, things appear to be back to normal, and just before the bell rings, the class sings a rowdy rendition of "We Wish you a Merry Christmas."
Charles seems completely normal as he heads out to the school yard. Rena, however, cannot get the earlier incident out of her head, and just as she catches up with Charles, Peter sneaks up from behind.
"What were you two doing in there?" he asks, laughing.
Rena turns toward him with a serious look on her face. "I wasn't doing anything, Peter."
Charles furrows his brow. "What about those words and that artwork on my first piece of construction paper?"
"You mean you really don't remember putting them there?" Rena's confusion is turning into intrigue.
"No. I really thought you were playing a trick on me."
"What are you two talking about?" asks Peter.
"I'll tell you about it later," replies Rena, throwing Peter a funny look.
Charles darts his eyes back and forth at the two of them. "What did I do to make the teacher so upset? "
They glance at each other and then back at him.
Rena's eyes light up for a moment. "You said some interesting things."
"You say interesting. I say weird. Where on earth did you get that stuff?" asks Peter, trying to laugh it off again.
"What do you mean?" asks Charles's, his face turning beet red.
Peter waits for a moment and then impetuously picks up some snow, makes a snowball, and throws it at his brother. "That's what I mean!" he says, running away.
Charles attempts to retaliate but slips and falls on his backside. Peter makes fun of him, and soon it's an all-out snowball fight.
"Hope to see you guys over the holiday," shouts Rena, but the boys are caught up in their mischief, and her words go unheard.
She heads home, distracted by thoughts of Charles.
CHAPTER 2
It has become a Christmas tradition for most Catholics in the town of Mammoth to get the whole family, young and old, dressed up in their Sunday best to attend midnight mass. Tonight is no exception, and it's standing room only at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
Charles and Peter spent the day helping their dad put up the outdoor Christmas lights and decorations. Their mom and grandmother were busy in the kitchen baking. As was a Christmas Eve tradition for the Montgomery family, they had put up the tree and decorated it before heading out to mass. Peter, having devised a plan of retaliation against Tommy Burke for having made fun of Charles, had discretely slipped a few strands of tinsel into his coat pocket before leaving the house.
The adults in the congregation, many of whom have spent a large part of the mass either trying to appease or to ignore crying babies, are doing their best to be attentive as Father Doyle delivers his sermon. To the delight of the older children, whose behavior has caused their parents further distraction, and to the seniors who have nodded off more than once, he seems just about ready to wrap it up.
"And so my friends, Jesus, God the Son came into this world as one of us that he might be a shining example ..."
Tommy Burke is sitting in his usual pew in front of Peter and Charles. The brothers giggle as they watch him finally brush off the top of his head the tinsel Peter had flung there earlier in the mass. When Tommy turns around, Peter sticks out his tongue, and Charles bends down to pick the evidence up off the floor. No one notices the blank look in Charles's eyes when he sits back up, and before anyone knows it, he has climbed up onto the pew.
"The one known to you as Jesus lived as a man yet moved in the awareness of his divinity — this was his example. Although the physical is ephemeral, the divinity from which it emanates is eternal. Living in this awareness is indeed the way, the truth, and the light."
His family looks at Charles in utter disbelief. They don't recognize the voice, but the words are definitely coming out of his mouth. Peter tries to shut him up as his father quickly yanks him down off the pew. All eyes are upon them, and the church is buzzing with astonishment.
"I told you he's been acting weird, Mom," says Tommy, smirking at Peter while his mother stares at Charles.
When none, not even his grandmother, can get through to him, Charles is hustled out, flanked on both sides by his father, Joe; his mother, Mary; his Grandmother, June; and Peter.
A hush falls over the congregation as they walk down the center aisle toward the exit. Charles continues his monologue on Jesus, proclaiming his message of love and forgiveness to be at the core of all major religions, and offered to cultures far and wide by prophets of a different name. Amid gasps from the congregation, his family rushes him outside as fast as they can.
Just as they get inside the car, Charles ends his pronouncements. "All is in divine order. And so it is."
After rubbing his eyes, he notices he's in the front seat of the car, lodged between his parents. "What's going on?" he asks, confused.
"Are you all right, Charles?" His mother is relieved, as are all of them, because he seems to be himself again.
"What do you mean?"
Grandma, hearing the alarm in his voice, responds. "Let's just get you home, dear." She rubs his shoulder from the back seat. Charles is once again rubbing his eyes.
"Grandma's right," says Mary, nodding at Joe to start the car. "Let's just get him home."
Peter stares out of the window as they drive home in silence. His stomach is in a knot as he remembers the incident in the classroom. He didn't tell the rest of the family about it.
When they arrive, Joe's tone is one of concern. "Do you have anything at all to say, son?"
After taking a glass of water from his mother, Charles is frightened by the look on her face. He stares at her for a moment before turning to his brother.
Peter takes a deep breath. As he recounts the incident in Sister Ann's classroom, all of them, including Charles, listen in dismay.
"I don't remember any of it!" Charles is stunned. "And so what happened at church?"
