Chapter 7

" From the thorn bush comes forth the rose." - Old Jewish Proverb The Crayon community hall was not as big as the main sanctuary. However, it was quite spacious. Where the walls of the great church were painted a light brown, a soft yellow grazed its walls and instead of the dark wooden pews that filled the former room, singular seats occupied this space with the occasional triangle table standing out from among their masses. The windows, however, remained huge and wide but they were not stained and where an altar had graced the front of the main sanctuary, this one had a podium that was completely bare except for a little pulpit that was stashed away on one of its corners. Apart from that, this room was filled with people, young people that is. They were scattered all over the room as they chatted away with their friends, sipping away at their cups of tea, while the rest of them congregated near the back where a tea-table had been set up. All in all, the crowd was made up of about fifty persons including Ryan and Mrs. Beufont who were now standing by its doorway. "What do you think?" Mrs. Beufont asked him. Her eyes swept through the room as a smile continued to play on her painted lips. "Okay, I'll stay and observe." he answered, now more curious about this group that Mrs. B had been going on about. "That's good. I think you'll love it here. As you can see, we all differ in ages, but it is home nonetheless and here, no one will judge you. After all, every one of these people that you see here as their own story to tell. Of course, you can't tell that from they way that they are laughing, but they have learnt to confront their demons and have now found peace because of it." "Truly?" he marveled as his eyes followed a familiar pair as they made their way from the back of the room to the front of the hall where the podium was. "But they are so young?" he remarked. "Janice and Bernice?" Mrs. Beufont laughed as her eyes continued to follow his gaze. "They are sisters and orphans and have the almost amazing set of vocals you will ever find here in Crayon City." "Truly?" he turned back to smile at her skeptically. "Truly." "It is quite the artistic group that you have here Mrs Beufont." he said his gaze trailing to the other groups that were huddled together. "Yea... Most of them were actually my students, hence the artistic inclination as you like to call it, but that is not why we meet here." Ryan turned a questioning glance at her as she continued to explain. "Music or art in general is a great way to escape, especially for the artist with a great deal of pain and hurt in his past. However, the therapy that art provides is not as permanent as I myself came to find out. However, through this our meeting here, we have all found ways to find peace and keep it beyond the boundaries and limitations that our art could not. " Ryan's brows furrowed but this time not out of skepticism. He was curious. More than curious so to speak, about the answers to his past, to all his questions, and to all the hurt that had been plaguing him for years passed. For these reasons, Ryan found that he was beyond skepticism. For anything that could work where his art or booze had failed him, he felt was worth a try and hence the step that he took forward and the next, even as he walked on after Mrs. Beufont who continued to lead the way to the front of the hall where she ushered him to his seat. Leaving him settled, the woman took to the podium. Slowly, as she tapped the microphone to catch their attention, the room grew quiet as they stopped whatever it was that they had been doing just to listen to her. '' Okay, everybody. Are we ready to start now ?'' '' Mostly!'' a voice quipped from the very behind and the rest of the room burst out into boisterous laughter. Somehow, Ryan also found himself smiling. '' Okay, Samuel... Three seconds to swallow and you can lead us in a word of prayer. " "Oh men..." A loud groan answered her and the room split into another round of laughter and this time, Ryan joined in. It was impossible not to, as with laughter, their happiness was quite infectious. Nonetheless, the same guy led them in a word of prayer, and at that moment, Ryan realized that this group, despite being a jolly lot, really respected Mrs. Beufont and everything that she stood for. For who wouldn't when her heart was always open, always ready, always loving even with strangers like him who had no place and no one else in this sad sad world. 'So as always we shall begin with our devotion,' Mrs. Beufont said as she ushered the two girls from before to the top of the podium, "and again, as always, Janice and Bernice will lead us." she smiled as the eldest of the two girls received the microphone. Now Ryan was not a religious person, neither could he ever call himself spiritual, but as the chorus continued to flow, the words of the song resonated in his heart and rang in his mind. Somehow he also found that his frayed feelings were being soothed and for the first time in a very long time, Ryan relaxed as he was finally able to experience some semblance of inner peace. As the words of the song continued to resonate throughout the hall, Ryan found himself thinking, meditating even on the words that spoke of a story that he had heard of so many times before but had never quite given much thought to. These words, the words that told the story of a man who was more broken than he was, yet more righteous than most was quite touching. For how could one who was so pure, so undeserving of such treatment suffer like so. It was the way of the world, Ryan had to agree. Yet, this man, this man that had suffered so much could still be capable of love, of forgiveness, and compassion to the very same people who had tortured him? It was unheard of, yet his heart witnessed to his soul that it was true and so Ryan believed it. All that for him as Mrs. Beufont had told him and as his mind registered the suffering that this man had to endure for the sake of his friends, for their freedom, his freedom - for he was now convinced that it was also for him - Ryan broke down and wept. It was not out of bitterness or pain, but the realization that he mattered. That in everything that he had gone through, thinking that he had been all alone, he was not and that assurance convicted him of so many things, so many truths that he had never thought of before. A hand patted his back, and the more it moved in even circles, a gesture that was meant to be comforting the more his tears flowed. Ryan continued to open up his heart and the pain that he had once buried inside came to the surface. All the anger, the disappointments, and the bitterness that he had once succumbed to became unearthed as his wounds got tended to. Then slowly, the pain began to ebb and like a distant memory that no longer had any control over him, it all dissipated. He now felt new, renewed even and as Mrs. Beufont took over the podium again, Ryan could not help the smile. For he was feeling new albeit the pink nose, the puffy eyes, and the scratchy throat that made him look and sound like a clown. ' How are we feeling today?' the lady spoke with her usual smile still gracing her features. 'Great, Right?' Her eyes wandered as they moved from face to face even as a chorus yeses and yeahs greeted her warm remarks. 'Me too and I am so happy to see you all here...' Right Bernice.' she said smiling at the smaller of the two sisters who were now whispering to one of her friends. She blushed slightly as she nodded and turned her attention back to the front. 'I know that we usually start with sharing the word, but I would like us to do things quite differently today. To mix up abit, and yeah we will still share the word or otherwise it wouldn't be called a Bible study, right? ' the group nodded again as some of them burst out in laughter. 'So, this is what we are going to do today. ..' she began as she stepped out from the podium to walk between the seats and among them. 'we are going to pull all these tables together and seat around them.' she said pointing at the little triangular tables that were scattered among them. 'I want this to be an interactive session where each of you is going to teach us something. For a start, you can tell us what God has been teaching you or you can tell us about your favorite scriptures or the revelations that you have gleaned from them... That way it won't be as boring as me standing up there and talking at you! ' she finished with a quite dramatic pose that elicited another laugh from the group who now looking too eager to start. ' For our guests,' she said smiling at Ryan and some other faces that he assumed were also new to the group, 'We welcome you.' her appearance brightened as she adorned another smile that did not leave it. 'It is also okay if you feel like you want to just observe for now and it is even more okay if you feel like you have a question or something to share as well... All your insights are welcome as your presence is valuable, Okay?' another round of affirmatives and chairs moving back sounded out throughout the room as the chairs were pulled back to create room and the tables were joined at the center of the hall. Ryan watched as the small triangular tables came together and as each person found a place around the big table that they had just created. Again, Mrs. Beufont invited him to the seat beside her. 'For the sake of those who are new, we will begin with a brief introduction before moving on to the word you are sharing. We are also quite many and we thank God for that. However it may pose a challenge on our time since we only have about three hours...' A hand lifted and Mrs. Beufont turned to the tall dark-skinned who was seated at the end of the table. ' Yes Kia. ' ' How about we put a time limit?' ' Okay, any one else with an idea or a feedback... Yes Samuel? ' 'It is a great idea but we are still quite many. Unless we are to give a maximum of two minutes to each person which will still not be enough to share everything that we have to give... And even then there will not be enough time for discussion... That is, assuming that we are still going to have it. ' 'We are...' Mrs. Beufont smiled and the way she held out on her solutions made Ryan feel like this woman already had an answer but was holding out waiting for students to come up with the same solution or a better one themselves. For that, he respected her. 'Any other suggestions...Yes Daniel,' she said turning to a young man who could have been Ryan's age or older and as he began to talk, Ryan's eyes wandered taking in all the faces that were seated at that table, curious as to the age diversity that was presented there. He counted forty-eight give or take and their ages ranged from mid-teens to young adults who seemed to be way in their twenties. A few elderly faces were also present but these looked more like chaperones who were in charge, helping Mrs. Beufont with the running of that huge group. 'Kia is right.' Daniel began. 'Though the time limit should not be on the presentation per se but on the time we conduct this. Of course it means that not everyone will be able to share, but we can always continue where we leave off the next time we meet.' 'That's a good idea, Daniel. I thought so too...' She smiled back at him before turning back to the rest of the group. ' Do we all agree on this?' another round of affirmatives passed through the group as Mrs. Beufont nodded. ' Okay, Sasha...' She said turning to the girl seated to her right, will you start us off?' It is safe to say that Ryan had a great time and when it became the time for him to leave, he remained and dallied with the rest of them, snacking with the new friends that he had made. He had very few of those now, none considering that he could only think of his sister. His acquaintances, however, were many but few of those who wanted anything to do with him, seeing that he had been a perpetual drunk who managed to instigate everyone against him through his poor choice of words and callous behavior. He had always blamed it on the alcohol but even he knew that it was just bitterness. Booze could only work to lose his tongue and the rest of the words, those had been the thoughts that he had already been thinking. Then, there were those that he hurt through his lack of tact and all-around insensitivity. Those had once been his greatest friends and among them, the love of his life. The same woman who he had so wronged and was now paying for it. He had hurt her so badly that it killed him just to think about it. How could he have been so stupid, foolish, insensitive, and because of it, he had managed to turn even his son against him. Hadn't he called him dad? He could never forget it, even if he wanted to. However, he would have to move on, just like Mrs. B had suggested. What had been done was done and there was no changing it, but he could be better. He could have a new life, a new lease of life. He had just needed the courage to take the very first step and he had already done it and now, he would make the most of it. This new opportunity that God had given to him to be the best father that he could ever be.