Chance and Hope: Jacob Marley’s Ghost Story©

Chapter Eleven

Daniel and Andrew were gone, and Jacob was alone in the church once more. So much was going through his head that he could not focus on a single thought. His fatigue made thinking all the more difficult, and it was not long before he felt the familiar urge to move come over him. It was small, and he knew he had some time before he had to obey its command, but it was there, all the same. A constant reminder that he would never know peace.

A door opened and closed in the back of the church, and the minister came in with a large crate in his arms covering his torso and most of his face. He did not appear to notice Jacob and walked through him to set the crate down on the last pew in the back of the building. Jacob was lost in his thoughts as the man passed through him and took the minister’s entrance as his queue to leave.

As Jacob was about to walk through the main doors of the church a voice called after him.

“How did it go?”

Jacob turned around to see that the minister was the only person in the room with him, and he was sifting through the crate of books without looking up. Jacob continued to look around for the source of the voice before the minister spoke again.

“How did it go, Jacob?”

Jacob looked at the man as if he had seen him for the first time. He looked like any other minister he had seen before, wearing a standard black robe with a white collar. He was cleanly shaven with short brown hair, and there was nothing remarkable about him. He did not glow as a heavenly messenger or bring any sense of wonderment from his presence. He did not appear to be ethereal like himself or recently deceased in any way.

“I … do not know” Jacob replied hesitantly, puzzled at this strange turn of events.

The minister still had not looked up from his work, intent on organizing the content of the crate on the bench. Jacob could see several books in the crate with names and dates on their binding in uniform penmanship. The minister appeared to be separating and organizing them into piles, but to an unknown method.

“Why?” the minister said plainly, not looking up from his work.

The books coming out of the crate seemed to be multiplying, and now there was far more in the piles the minister had created than could ever fit inside of the crate. He was still pulling the books out by the armful before organizing them into piles.

“I am unsure of the goal of such scrutiny, and have no examples to form comparisons, so I truly do not know.”

The man laughed softly at Jacob’s response.

“I suppose that is a fair observation, and given your skills in life, I am unsurprised that you would come to such a conclusion,” the minister said.

The compulsion to journey, to move without peace, had been growing steadily in Jacob, and he was finding it difficult to resist the urge. He was intrigued by the man who appeared to be a mortal, yet who had a vast knowledge of transpired events and could speak to the souls of the dead with common knowledge, yet the pull was too strong.

“Go, if you must,” the minister said, never looking up from the piles of books he was still organizing.

Jacob was even more surprised that the man could see into his heart and witness the turmoil billowing inside him, even to the point of knowing he had to move on. Jacob had many questions he wanted to ask this man, but he could resist no more, so he walked out the door into a desert.

Jacob could not feel the heat around him, yet the scene was still a surprise that caught him off guard. He was stunned into silence for a moment as he took in the winds whipping sand into the air, and the dunes and hills around him. He could not see anything but sand in all directions. The church was even gone, leaving no trace it existed in any way.

Jacob began to walk without purpose, having no direction in particular given to him in his urge to wander. He struggled up the dunes, feeling the steepness of the terrain without actually touching the ground. His chains dragged upon the ground without leaving a mark, being somehow weighed down by the sand it could not physically interact with.

As Jacob walked he thought about the trial of his life that he had experienced. He thought of the words the most important people in his life, year after year, had said about him. He thought of their perspectives and opinions and how so many of them were intertwined with so many concepts.

All of it was confusing to him, yet the most confusing was the book attached to his chains. He knew what was within the pages of that book. He had seen them be written. He had been forced to read them repeatedly, to memorize them, to see nothing else in his vision except them for the course of a year … so why was that book not used in the trial of his life?

Jacob pondered long on the concept.

The desert appeared to have no end as Jacob had traveled its expanse for months while only seeing sand. He saw life in the desert, much more than he imagined he would see, but all of it ignored him as any mortal would. Jacob began to wonder how long the deliberation of his trial was going to take. He already knew that time was meaningless in death so the deliberation could in all rights take a day or a decade, and it wouldn’t matter either way.

Jacob began to see a figure in the distance standing just over the rise of a dune. The figure was blocked by a wall of sand as Jacob descended the dune, but he felt no restriction come upon him as he adjusted his path to intercept the figure. He would repeatedly see it at the peak of each dune so he knew he was heading in the right direction, and he walked for more than a day before he finally reached the figure.

Jacob was amazed to see that the figure was the robed specter standing with its back towards him. The figure was standing in what appeared to be a large man-made alcove in the sand. The stone wall of the alcove had deteriorated in the strong winds of the desert, pouring sand into the broken parts of the wall. In the center of the alcove was a half-buried stone with eroded writing carved into it. It was plain to Jacob that this was a burial site of some kind, although he had never before seen its like.

The figure seemed to be staring at the ground in front of the stone as if it was seeing past the sand and stone into something far below. It did not move or react to Jacob’s presence, although Jacob was not foolish enough to believe their meeting was simple circumstance.

“Why am I here?” Jacob asked the figure, knowing now that there was a lesson in all things he experienced.

There was no response or reaction from the specter, it just continued to stare at the ground at its feet. Jacob could feel the need to move on slowly creep into his heart, and he pushed it down. He wanted to know more, to be taught and learn more about the word of God, about goodness and happiness. He was surprised by this feeling.

“Specter, my urge to wander comes upon me, yet I wish to learn anything you can teach me. Please teach me before the pain becomes unbearable” Jacob said pleadingly.

“You wish to limit others through the product of your own limitations. Do you not see the irony in such oppression?” the specter said at last in a reproachful voice.

The voice was that of a woman and held authority and power as naturally as breathing. The specter’s glowing hand came to her shoulder to grab her dark robe, and she threw it into the air where it turned into sand on the wind. No longer repressed by the dark robes, the woman standing before Jacob radiated like the sun. She had brilliant hair which cascaded down her back and held her scythe in her right hand as if she held a scepter that weighed next to nothing.

Jacob was struck in awe at her presence and fell to his knees in respect.

“Rise, Jacob, I am not one deserving of your adoration. I am but a servant of our Lord as any others you have met on your journey. I am simply no longer holding my true self back from you as the others have hitherto done” the radiant woman said with a voice that somehow sounded as loud as thunder, and as soft as a whisper at the same time.

 “Why are we here?” Jacob asked breathlessly while raising to his feet.

He resisted the impulse to remain on his knees in her overpowering presence.

“I do not remember bidding you ask questions of me, but we are here because I was commanded to speak to you on a matter of some import. I rarely visit the desert’s beauty and decided we could converse here” she replied.

There was no reproach or harshness in her voice. No feeling of superiority. Yet she spoke with power and plainness that was almost refreshing.

“I await your teachings …” Jacob realized he did not know what to call the woman now that she was not appearing as a dark, foreboding specter.

“My name is Rehema, and I am not here to teach you. I am here to form an agreement with you, an agreement that may benefit many souls, save your own. I was sent here in answer to your prayer, Jacob.”

Jacob did not know what the heavenly being meant at first, but after a moment he realized that she was speaking of his prayer in the church all those months ago before he found himself in this desert.

“I prayed for many things that day … Rehema …” Jacob said haltingly.

He was not entirely comfortable calling such a holy being by name and did not want to ask questions unbidden again.

“Be at peace, Jacob Marley. I know the intent of your heart and you need not be afraid. Yes, you did pray for many things that day, but I will explain so your confusion may be somewhat abated. As you have most likely observed, things like time and deadlines are meaningless now. There was no specific moment when what you call judgment began or ended. Your prayer was part of the process, as was your wondering, your thoughts, your intents, your reactions, and everything that has or will come in life and in death.

“Nothing that has transpired is linear, and we can view it all in any direction necessary to complete our task of advising and educating you. To that end, your prayer has been included in our task, and we want to know if you meant it.”

“If I meant what?” Jacob asked softly

The woman pointed at an exact duplicate of Jacob which appeared in the sand next to them. He was on his knees in supplication, covered in chains, and it was clear that Jacob was witnessing the moment he had prayed in the church as if it was recorded in complete detail and projected for him to see.

“Please let these chains be a testament to someone, anyone, that they may pave the way for even one soul to be saved from my fate, that their love may be spread to others …”

The voice and image trailed off and disappeared as quickly as it had come.

“Did you mean it, Jacob?” Rehema asked fervently.

“Yes, with all of my heart I meant it” he quickly replied.

“And this?” she said as she pointed again. Another image of Jacob appeared of when he had been talking to Daniel and Andrew.

“… if I could help one person, even if it did not lessen my damnation so much as the weight of a farthing from these cash boxes I drag about … I would do so.”

The image faded away as before.

“Yes. Yes, even if I gain nothing from it … I would want to use my burden as an example to help even one soul to avoid my fate” Jacob replied.

“Do you think the hearts of men are so easily turned? How many miracles did Christ wrought among men, yet still they did not believe.”

“I believe it would work-” he started to say, but she cut him off.

“You believe?”

Jacob stood in silence for some time, realizing that Rehema was searching for something from him. Then he realized what he was missing.

“I have faith … Rehema, I have faith that there is someone who can be changed, someone who can see my suffering and learn from it” Jacob replied firmly.

She smiled at him, a warm smile.

“Very good, Jacob. You have learned. However, know that there is only one you have impacted enough in life, only one that would recognize you and uphold your memory in more than this …” she pointed to his chains “… and would heed your words.”

“Ebenezer Scrooge … yes … he would be the only person who would hold any esteem for my memory, and even that would be limited to my business acumen” Jacob replied sadly.

“I believe you are correct. Ebenezer is the only soul of whom you could sway, and if he does change there is much he could do for his fellow man. Do you still wish to proceed?”

“Yes, I meant what I said. No matter how difficult, no matter how harsh I must be, no matter what I must do or say to strike the fear of this afterlife into his heart … I will make him know my torment so that he may have a chance and hope of escaping that same fate.”

There was a warmth in the voice of the angel when she spoke to him.

“Jacob, your words lighten my heart … yet I fear it will not be enough. We do not know the future in the mortal world, or exactly how someone will react to a specific situation, but it is possible to predict how Ebenezer will react to your testimony” Rehema said.

“What do you mean?” Jacob asked with confusion.

“There are two concepts that help us determine how people will react to a situation. Much like a parent who knows their child well enough to predict their actions; our experience recording the vast number of lifespans and actions of mankind across all mortality help us know how people react to situations.”

“And the second concept?” Jacob asked

A book appeared in her hand which looked exactly like Jacob’s book from his judgment with Daniel and Andrew. She opened the book and images appeared in the air above the book. Although Jacob did not recognize most of the people floating before his eyes, he understood the concept enough to realize these were people in Ebenezer’s past.

The images moved quickly, none staying for more than a few seconds. He saw fleeting moments of his only friend as he was as a boy, suffering under a father who was not only neglectful as Jacob’s had been, but abusive. He saw that boy grow up far from family, alone, finding comfort only in education and labor. He saw him as a young man looking longingly into the eyes of a beautiful woman, love plain on his face. Jacob saw Ebenezer burying his sister before her time, the only family he had truly loved in life. Her death in poverty changed how he looked at life, and his desire for the safety and security of finances outgrew the love of the beautiful woman. In time, bitterness slowly crawled over Ebenezer, and a thickening of his heart formed, decades in the making.

All of this had happened before Jacob had met the man, and he had never known of the hardships his friend had endured. He openly wept for Ebenezer, knowing that he was his only friend in life, and he had never taken the time to ask the man of his past.

“Jacob, the second concept is we know of Ebenezer’s own, painful, past. His heart is hardened towards others, and some would say rightfully so. He will be shaken by your visit, he will think on it, maybe change his ways for a few days. However, then the memory will fade and he will return to his narrow lifestyle of financial pursuit. This is what makes him feel safe because it grounds him. It will take much to soften his heart again.”

Jacob was silent for some time. He had thought his horrendous appearance and testimony on how to avoid his fate would be enough to change the heart of anyone, yet he had forgotten how hard his heart was when he had died. He had changed, and it saddened him that it took death and damnation to improve who he was.

“I want to try. I cannot add regret and the unknown to my torment, even if it will be pointless in the end.”

“Very well then. Are you ready?” Rehema asked.

Jacob suddenly had an idea.

“Rehema, am I allowed to use the information from Ebenezer’s past to help him? Would that soften his heart enough that he could change his ways?” he asked,

“Possibly, but you wouldn’t have the time, Jacob. It would take far too long to break down the walls he has erected through simple conversation. Not to mention his own resistance to discussing the topics that cause him such pain. Your torment will only allow you to stay with him for a brief period of mortal time, minutes even.” she replied.

“But you are not restricted as I am, and time is irrelevant to you, is it not?”

Rehema only nodded in response.

“Does your instructed to help me include limitations on how I am to testify to Ebenezer?” he asked her earnestly.

Again, she responded without words, shaking her head with a guarded look on her face.

“Then I respectfully ask for your help in using Ebenezer’s memories to aid in his conversion, so that he may have the greatest opportunity to change.”

Rehema was silent for a long time, contemplating with a hard expression on her face.

“I think we should help him,” a voice said from the air.

Daniel and Andrew appeared instantly as if they had been present all along, and were only now showing themselves. Jacob did not know which had spoken.

“As do I,” a second voice said as Jared appeared next to the boys.

The three new arrivals were all looking to Rehema as if the decision was ultimately hers. She stared at them each, in turn, contemplating the request. This continued for quite some time before she finally let out a long sigh and spoke.

“I suppose we have not been restricted from helping in such a matter, and we are already allowing the veil between worlds to fall … but we must not appear as our true selves.”

“I agree, and I already have a plan to disguise who we are and still aid Jacob,” Jared said to Rehema.

She nodded for him to proceed.

Jared turned to Jacob.

“We will help you, if not in the way you would have imagined. Daniel and Andrew will use information from Ebenezer’s book of life to show him moments of his past, this will help him see where he came from freshly in his memory. Then I will show him his influence on those around him in what he perceives to be his present time. Finally, Rehema will show him the most likely outcome of his future if his path is not altered. We will use the great symbol of Christ’s birth as a focus of our teaching since that is a familiar context with many teachable moments in his memory, and falls on the anniversary of your mortal demise.

“How shall we appear to Ebenezer?” Daniel asked the group, although he was looking at Jared since he was the one explaining the plan.

Rather than responding, there was a moment of silence where no one moved and everyone seemed to be focused on something. Jacob looked from face to face, puzzled. Then the angels all acted normally again, and Daniel spoke.

“I see what you mean, yes, that will work.”

As he finished speaking, Daniel and Andrew seemed to shift, morph, and merge until they were a single entity. They wore white robes, a brilliant candle burned brightly on their head, and a large cone with a handle floated in the air at their side.

Jared seemed to become taller and grander, much taller than a man could be. His green sash became a large fur-lined robe, and his white curly hair turned a dark brown with a matching beard. A holly wreath set with shining icicles appeared like a crown on his head, and a large torch appeared in his hand. Oddly enough there was also a scabbard at his side without a sword to accompany it.

Rehema’s scythe disappeared and the black robe appeared around her again, yet the hood was thrown back.

“Of us, you may only tell Ebenezer that he shall be haunted by three spirits over the course of three nights, each appearing when the last stroke of twelve ceases to vibrate. What else you say to help him head our words is at your discretion” Jared said.

“I bid you one more boon upon this quest, Jacob” Rehema declared, holding a hand up to signify the importance of her next words. “Just before you depart from Ebenezer’s presence, I shall permit the veil between worlds to be rent, that you and Ebenezer may briefly see the collective multitude of souls living as you have lived in damnation. The moment will be brief, but powerful in its impact, to you and Ebenezer both.”

Rehema lowered her hand to signify she was finished, and Jacob bowed with his hand on his heart to show his gratitude for such a gift.

 “By the way, it is the seventh anniversary of your death,” Rehema finished while pulling the hood up over her face. With the hood in place, her countenance changed. A foreboding aura, cold and rigid oozed from her presence. No longer was she a holy manifestation of divinity, but a specter of death

The air around the group began to shimmer and stir, and before long they were all floating in the air above a lanterned street. The street was very familiar to Jacob, and it took only a moment for him to realize he was outside of his old home. There was a familiar man with a walking cane walking towards the house a few blocks away.

The twins spoke, their voices blending together in unison.

“You can allow Ebenezer to see you at your discretion, but you only have until midnight to give him your message before the incessant desire to continue your journey will overcome you. Then we shall do what we can. We pray that Ebenezer will heed our words.”

The three spirits disappeared, and Jacob headed toward his business partner’s front door. More specifically the knocker attached to the door.