Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Worship (04/02/26)
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TITLE: Law Over JUustice | Previous Challenge Entry
By Art Westefeld
04/09/26 -
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Lori knew that if she wasn’t the daughter-in-law to Eesirahp, she would have to go back to the home she shared with her parents when she first started living underseas. Lori really didn’t enjoy the palace life, but it was better than living fin to mouth. She bubbled quietly, “I’ve even grown to love Eecuddas, despite him not accepting Christ as Lord.”
Just then, Eecuddas swam in. “Lori, I have some bad news for you. The High Council says since you haven’t fulfilled the prophecy, our marriage must be dissolved.”
Lori went through a gamut of emotions in about a minute, from shock to anger to unhappiness. She looked at her husband’s face and saw a horrid lack of concern about ending their marriage. She lashed out verbally, “So that’s it? My devotion to you means nothing, because the Council is annoyed I didn’t give you an heir quickly enough? I swear, sometimes I think you love the prophecy more than you do me!” She regretted that last part as soon as she said it.
Eecuddas tried to place his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. “Lori, I do love you, but as the heir to the High Priest I must also care about my people’s needs. We worship what is found in the ancient scrolls, just as you worship the Bible your Pastor Steve gave you. You must understand.”
Lori swam to the far side of the room. “We have been married three years and you still don’t understand me! I don’t worship my Bible, rather I worship the God revealed in it!”
Eecuddas looked confused, so she continued, “Can you worship Curi without those all important scrolls?”
He responded sheepishly, “I never thought about that before. They seem intertwined like coral.”
Lori hid her smile. He was beginning to understand. “So will you defy the High Council, for us?”
Eecuddas’s face hardened. “Lori, please don’t make me choose between you and my duties. I am to be the High Priest when my father’s spirit is joined to the great waves. How can I lead my people if I don’t follow the scrolls?”
She knew her first thought would not help her case, that just ‘bring them to the knowledge of Christ’. Unfortunately, her next thought might also bounce off his hardened heart. “One man can change the future! Be that one man!”
His face screwed up in concentration. “Defy the scrolls to show our people a better way? That they can worship Curi without a literal understanding of the scrolls? It is possible.”
He then looked suspiciously at her. “This is not an attempt to spread your Gospel to my people? Or are you so comfortable living in the palace with your family that you would say anything to stay?”
Lori wanted to say, ’It’s a Gospel for everyone!’, but held her tongue. She responded honestly, “If I was worried about being cast out, wouldn’t I have accepted the idea of worshipping Curi?”
“True,” he conceded. “I was just wondering why the desire to stay married to me, when I recall you originally hated the idea of a forced marriage?”
Lori thought angrily, ‘They think they are so advanced, yet he throws my past in my face like a boyfriend I had on the surface!’ Aloud she said, ”That’s true, but I have grown to love you as the man I thought I’d come to know, not someone who treats being married as a duty.”
Lori’s father-in-law floated in. “As High Priest, I hereby revoke the Council’s decision. Remain married to my son and hopefully next time you give him a son as his replacement. I have not forgotten how you swam a long distance to bring back a cure for me when I was dying.”
Lori chastized herself for thinking, ’That’s the real reason you don’t mind me staying. I helped save your life.’
Eesirahp wasn’t finished. “However, I must remind you that you agreed not to spread your worship beyond your family.”
Lori meekly responded, “Yes, sir.” Even though she was angry about being overheard.
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