He seemed taller than I remembered. Perhaps the pulpit added an impression of height. His voice was rich and commanding, and he spoke the Law with absolute certainty.
“God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them, for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments..”
The room was not crowded. There were perhaps eighty persons present, most of them my age or older, with only a few family groups with children. The church could have accommodated four or five times the number in attendance. I guessed most of the congregation had made the pilgrimage to the suburbs in the past twenty years, their places taken by Irish and Italians whose former neighborhoods were now black and Puerto Rican.
“Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”
Were there more people in attendance today than normally? Their minister had experienced great personal tragedy. He had not conducted the service the preceding Sunday. This would be their first official glimpse of him since the murder and suicide. Would curiosity bring more of them out? Or would restraint and embarrassment — and the cold air of morning — keep many at home?
“Thou shalt not kill.”
Unequivocal statements, these commandments. They brooked no argument. Not Thou shalt not kill except in special circumstances.
“Thou shalt not commit adultery.. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor..”
I rubbed at a pulse point in my temple. Could he see me? I remembered his thick glasses and decided he could not. And I was far in the back, and off to the side.
“Hear also what our Lord Jesus Christ saith: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
We stood up and sang a psalm.
The service took a little over an hour. The Old Testament reading was from Isaiah, the New Testament reading from Mark. There was another hymn, a prayer, still another hymn. The offering was taken and consecrated. I put a five on the plate.
The sermon, as promised, dealt with the proposition that the road to Hell was paved with good intentions. It was not enough for us to act with the best and most righteous goals in mind, Martin Vanderpoel told us, because the highest purpose could be betrayed if it were advanced by actions which were not good and righteous in and of themselves.
I didn’t pay too much attention to how he elaborated on this because my mind got caught up in the central thesis of the argument and played with it. I wondered whether it was worse for men to do the wrong things for the right reason or the right things for the wrong reason. It wasn’t the first time I wondered, or the last.
Then we were standing, and his arms were spread, his robed draping like the wings of an enormous bird, his voice vibrant and resonant.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be amongst you, and remain with you always. Amen.”
Amen.
A few people slipped out of the church without stopping for a few words with Reverend Vanderpoel. The rest lined up for a handshake. I managed to be at the end of the line. When it was finally my turn Vanderpoel blinked at me. He knew my face was familiar, but he couldn’t figure out why.
Then he said, “Why, it’s Mr. Scudder! I certainly never expected to see you at our services.”
“It was enjoyable.”
“I’m pleased to hear you say that. I hardly anticipated seeing you again, and I didn’t dream of hoping that our incidental meeting might lead you to search for the presence of God.” He looked past my shoulder, a half-smile on his lips. “He does work in mysterious ways, does He not?”
“So it seems.”
“That a particular tragedy could have this effect upon a person like yourself. I imagine I might find myself using that as a theme for a sermon at some later date.”
“I’d like to talk to you, Reverend Vanderpoel. In private, I think.”
“Oh, dear,” he said. “I’m quite pressed for time today, I’m afraid. I’m sure you have a great many questions about religion, one is always filled with questions that seem to have a great need for immediate answers, but—”
“I don’t want to talk about religion, sir.”
“Oh?”
“It’s about your son and Wendy Hanniford.”
“I already told you all that I know.”
“I’m afraid I have to tell you some things, sir. And we’d better have that conversation now, and it really will have to be private.”
“Oh?” He looked at me intently, and I watched the play of emotions on his face. “Very well,” he said. “I do have a few tasks that need to be attended to. I’ll just be a moment.”
I waited, and he wasn’t more than ten minutes. Then he took me companionably by the arm and led me through the back of the church and through a door into the rectory. We wound up in the room we had been in before. The electric fire glowed on the hearth, and again he stood in front of it and warmed his long-fingered hands.
“I like a cup of coffee after morning services,” he said. “You’ll join me?”
“No, thank you.”
He left the room and came back with coffee. “Well, Mr. Scudder? What’s so urgent?” His tone was deliberately light, but there was tension underneath it.
“I enjoyed the services this morning,” I said.
“Yes, so you said, and I’m pleased to hear it. However—”
“I was hoping for a different Old Testament text.”
“Isaiah is difficult to grasp, I agree. A poet and a man of vision. There are some interesting commentaries on today’s reading if you’re interested.”
“I was hoping the reading might be from Genesis.”
“Oh, we don’t start over until Whitsunday, you know. But why Genesis?”
“A particular portion of Genesis, actually.”
“Oh?”
“The Twenty-second Chapter.”
He closed his eyes for a moment and frowned in concentration. He opened them and shrugged apologetically. “I used to have a fair memory for chapter and verse. It’s been one of the casualties of the aging process, I’m afraid. Shall I look it up?”
I said, “ ‘And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.’ ”
“The temptation of Abraham. ‘God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.’ A very beautiful passage.” His eyes fixed on me. “It’s unusual that you can quote Scripture, Mr. Scudder.”
“I had reason to read that passage the other day. It stayed with me.”