Abandoned

Abandoned (Part Three - Chapter 38)

CHAPTER 38: A Great Mystery ...... (Your review here)

As everyone sat listening to Rama speak, a gentle breeze continued to move throughout the glen, cooling everyone ever so slightly. The evening was perfect. Rama turned to Maria and said, "Earlier today your father showed me your drawings and I must say they are very nice! Where did you learn to draw?"

Pleasantly surprised by Rama's inquiry, Maria replied, "Simply a gift from God. I have been able to draw ever since I can remember but after high school I attended college where my teachers really helped me to master my talents."

"Last night you told me that you went to school in New Mexico. I'm curious; did you ever go to Texas—where Father Mark lives?"

"Only once with my friends from college, not where he is from. There is a famous river in Texas and the water is very cold. It's a fantastic way to beat the summer heat." Knowing something about hot weather, all the monks began to smile.

Maria then said, "You mentioned that Father Mark is a Catholic priest in San Angelo, Texas but I have no idea where that is."

"Thank you Maria. Your drawings are just beautiful. He did mention West Texas but I'm not sure either. But Father Mark did tell me that after graduating from seminary school he moved back to his home in San Angelo so he could be near his father. This is where he began teaching."

"He also mentioned that one day while he was looking at some old history books in the school's library that he accidentally came across a very unusual story that he had never heard about. Later, after reading every book he could locate about this growing mystery, he finally began to find answers—but Mark also said that they involved events that he would have never thought possible.

"But first let me tell you, when I was introduced to Father Mark, he had already been living in Vrindavan for nearly a month and had made many friends, including other Americans who were living at the large Krishna temple that Shrila Prabhupada had built in Vrindavan.

"Father Mark told me that in the same way that Prabhupada had instructed his disciples to spread the message of Lord Krishna throughout the world, in both the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Spanish kings had ordered their Catholic missionaries and soldiers to colonize what they called, New Spain, which consists of present day Mexico and New Mexico. This was all part of Spain's efforts to increase her depleted treasury and at the same time spread the message of Lord Jesus Christ to the American Indians. Mark said that by royal decree, all Spanish explorations were required to take two missionaries with them—all their expenses paid for by the monarch."

Sitting there on the top of Elephant Mountain and to hear Rama suddenly mention New Mexico where Maria had gone to college, was beyond mind boggling to her. Sitting a bit straighter, from that moment on she never took her attention off Rama for even a split second. "Where was this all leading to? What was he going to say next?" Soon, everyone was about to find out.

Rama continued, "Father Mark told me that despite the efforts of the Spanish priests to fulfill their spiritual directives, historical records clearly show that whatever achievements were accomplished—converting the American Indians was not a great success. Only divine intervention saved the day because suddenly things began changing for the better—and all without the missionaries hardly having to lift a finger. This was the start of the mystery that Father Mark had discovered in that book; how in the early 1600s something very strange happened that left the priests in New Mexico simply mystified.

"As Mark was telling me this, I remember how he had stopped speaking for a few moments, as if searching for words. When he continued, he said that after studying what had taken place he was convinced that the events had actually happened. He said that there had even been eye witnesses—and then, when he stopped in Spain on his way to India, he was able to see the actual letters that had been written in the 1600s by the Spanish investigators, describing everything in detail.