The Teacher

The Teacher: Part III Day of Declaration, Chapter 56

CHAPTER 56

EVERYWHERE I WENT REBELS and former Disciples enthusiastically embraced the Good News of what was coming—that eventually the Time of Troubles would end and they could look forward to being alive during an era when Jesus would once again walk the earth. The last night of my stay in Ephraim I was treated to one of Door County's formerly famous Scandinavian fish boils, once a restaurant favorite by tourists and locals alike.

A large cast-iron kettle is filled with water and set over an open log fire. When the salted water begins boiling, the red potatoes and onions, contained in a wire basket, are lowered in. The whitefish, lake trout, or salmon, cut up in chunks, go in next, and are also caged. During the cooking the fish oils rise to the surface. At just the right time, kerosene is added to the fire, the flames surge, the pot experiences a boilover and the dinner is ready to be served!

After sleeping soundly on a full stomach, the next morning I prepared to leave.

By this time we had acquired horses so travel was not nearly as tedious and time consuming as when we had to walk everywhere. Making sure our horses were cared for and fed helped keep us connected to the natural world. Saddling up after a dawn worship service mixed in with a going-away breakfast of fire-roasted venison strips, fresh apples, cherries, and nuts, I led my small band of hearty believers northeast along the western shore of Door County.

We passed the remains of several ghost towns; once-thriving tourist destinations—Sister Bay, Ellison Bay, and Gill's Rock. We took an old-fashioned, but functional small wooden ferry to Washington Island. It was a day's ride across the island and another ferry to the shores of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. From there it was a relatively short distance to Manistique.

FIVE YEARS HAD NOW PASSED SINCE I landed on the East Coast from Israel until finally making it back to my home in Manistique. Of course, like everywhere else, there were no buildings, homes, stores, factories, schools—no remaining infrastructure that hadn't been destroyed by all the upheavals during the Time of Troubles.

Seven years passed since the initial signs that escalating severe weather events and associated earthquakes seemed to mark the beginning of the biblical Tribulation period. If that was true, then, along with the prophesy of devastation came the promise that those days would be shortened so that all mankind would not be destroyed.

Though we hadn't dared to hope that was the case, it was apparent to everyone everywhere in the world that as the months went by things were slowly returning to normal. Within a year after getting back to Manistique the people there began rebuilding—a house here, a blacksmith shop there, a saw mill, and a general store all positioned on a newly-graded main street paved with cobblestones.

This was happening everywhere as the people who'd survived the Time of Troubles began to piece together the trappings of civilization. Since we all had the knowledge of what made up a modern community, and because many of us had the specialized training and skills needed to recreate our former technological world, the pace of rebuilding was highly accelerated.

Had we learned our ecological lessons...sadly, no, because we were all still just trying to survive.

THE FIRST THING PEOPLE BURNED FOR fuel was, of course, wood. Because coal was plentiful, easily mined, and cheap, that was the next energy source of choice. When it became all too apparent that the smoke was affecting people's health, the growing need for energy turned once again to oil.

Within ten years, much of what characterized a modern society in the Before Times had been rebuilt, and as before we were slipping into the ecological sink hole caused by air and water pollution. Renewable energy sources were being developed, but lagged far behind because they were costly by comparison.