"The Lord ... will fulfill the desire of them that fear him;
he will also hear their cry."--_Psalms 156:19._
Rachel found continual delight in all the wonders of spirit-land. Her
circle of acquaintances enlarged rapidly, as those for whom she had done
temple work were glad to know her, and to know her was to love her.
These brought her in touch with many others; thus her sphere of
usefulness extended until she, too, could say that she was busier than
ever in joy-giving activities.
Sometimes Rachel went on what she called "excursions of exploration."
Usually she went alone, for the habit of doing things of herself still
clung to her. Frequently, in the throngs of people with whom she
mingled, she was accosted by someone who recognized her. Rachel did not
remember faces easily, but (she was on one of her excursions) she knew
this woman who touched her on the arm, and said:
"You are Sister Rachel, are you not?"
"Yes; and you--yes, I know you. I am glad to meet you. How are you? Has
the Lord shown you,--has He satisfied you? You see I remember you well."
The woman showed her gladness at Rachel's recognition. "The Lord has
shown me abundantly and graciously," she replied; "but come with me away
from the crowd. I shall be pleased to tell you all about it." Rachel
accompanied the woman, who led her out into some quieter streets, thence
to a beautiful home under tall trees. Flowers bloomed and birds sang in
the garden. The two women seated themselves by a playing fountain.
"I am glad you have not forgotten me. My name you may not remember--it
is Sister Rose."
"Your face, dear sister, your beautiful face marked with that deep
sorrow, no one could forget;" said Rachel, "but now the sorrow is gone,
I see, and the beauty remains."
Sister Rose took the other's hand caressingly. "That day in the temple,"
she said, "I came there as a place of last resort. I was suffering, and
had tried everything that I could think of to ease my troubled soul. I
had prayed to God to give me some manifestation regarding my boy. I came
to the temple to get a great favor, and I obtained a blessing. Instead
of receiving some miraculous manifestation, you came to me and led me
gently to a seat by ourselves. And there you talked to me. It was not so
much what you said, but the spirit by which you said it that soothed and
quieted and rested me. You repeated to me some verses, do you remember?
I had you write them out, and I committed them to memory."
"Do you remember them yet?"
"Listen:
"Thou knowest, O my Father! Why should I
Weary high heaven with restless prayers and tears!
Thou knowest all! My heart's unuttered cry
Hath soared beyond the stars and reached Thine ears.
Thou knowest--ah, Thou knowest! Then what need,
Oh, loving God, to tell Thee o'er and o'er.
And with persistent iteration plead
As one who crieth at some closed door."
"That day I went away comforted and strengthened. Do you recollect?"
"Yes; but what was your trouble? I do not remember that."
"My son, my only child, was taken so cruelly from me. He was the hope of
my life, and when he answered the call to go on a mission to the islands
of the sea, I let him go gladly, because it was on the Lord's business.
Then some months later the news came that he had died. I was crazed with
grief. I could not understand why the Lord would permit such a thing to
take place. Was my boy not in His service? Why did not the Lord take
care of His own?"
"And so you suffered, both because of your loss and because of your
thoughts," said Rachel. "Poor sister,--but now?"
"He is with me now, and it has all been explained. We live in this
house. Do you care to hear the story?"
"If you desire to tell it, yes."
"You seem so near and dear to me that I may tell it to you. My boy,
while on his mission, was tempted. He has told me all about it--he was
tempted sorely. He was in great danger, and so the Lord, to prevent him
from falling into the mire of sin, permitted him to be taken away. They
brought his lifeless body home to me, but his spirit went back to its
Maker pure and unspotted from the sins of the world,--and thus I found
him here, a big, fine-looking man as he was. You ought to see him."
"Mother," someone called from the direction of the house.
"That is he now," said the mother, rising.
"Mother, where are you? Oh!" the son exclaimed as he caught sight of the
two women. He came up to them and rested his arm tenderly on his
mother's shoulder. He was big and handsome, and Rachel's eyes dropped
before his curious gaze.
"David, this is Sister Rachel, whom I first met in earth-life in the
temple. I think I have told you about her and what a comfort she was to
me."
"I am very glad to know you," said he, as he clasped Rachel's hand. Then
there was a pause which promised to become awkward, at which David said:
"Mother, I want to show you something in the back garden. You know I
have been experimenting with my roses. I believe I have obtained some
wonderful color effects. You'll come also?" he asked Rachel.
The three walked on together into the garden where David exhibited and
explained his work. When, at length, Rachel said it was time she was
going, the mother urged her to come again.
"I'm going along with Sister Rachel to her home, and to find out where
she lives," explained David, as he stepped along, unbidden, by Rachel's
side.
And so these two walked side by side for the first time. They talked
freely on many topics, she listening contentedly. They smiled into each
other's eyes, and at the end of that short journey, something had
happened. True love had awakened in two hearts. Through all the shifting
scenes of earth-life, nothing like this had ever come to this man and
this woman. Love had waited all this time. The power that draws kindred
souls together is not limited to the few years of earth-life. While time
lasts, God will provide sometime, somewhere, in which to give
opportunity for every deserving soul. Here were two whose hearts beat as
one; but one must needs have left mortality early in his course, while
the other went on to the end alone. The reason for this was difficult to
see by mortal eyes, but now--
"I'm coming again to see you," said David, as he prepared to depart. "I
have so much to tell you; and you,--you have said very little. I must
hear your story too."
"I have no story," said she. "My earth-life was very uneventful. I just
seemed to be waiting--"
"Yes?"
But Rachel was confused. Her simple heart had spoken, and true to
earthly habit, she now tried to cover up her tell-tale words; but he saw
and understood, and as they stood there, his heart burned with a great
joy.
"Good-bye," he said, as he took her hand, "may I come again soon?"
"Yes;" she answered. "I shall be pleased to see more of your beautiful
flower garden."
This was the beginning of a courtship, not the less sweet because it had
been postponed for so long; not the less real, from the fact that the
man and the woman were spiritual beings. "Sin," said the apostle, "is
without the body;" so love and affection are attributes of the spirit,
whether that spirit is within or without a tabernacle of flesh. And this
courtship did not differ to any great extent from all others which had
taken place from the beginning of time. There were the same timid
approaches and responses; the getting acquainted with each other,
wherein each lover's eyes glorified every act in the other; the
tremulous pressure of hands; the love-laden looks and words; the thrill
of inexpressible joy when the two were together. Neither was this
courtship exceptional. Among the vast multitude in the spirit world
there are many who did not mate in the brief time allotted to them in
the earth-life; therefore, congenial spirits are continually meeting and
reading "life's meaning in each other's eyes."
Rachel, though she claimed to have no "story" to tell, interested David
greatly in her account of how the Lord had chosen her as one of a family
to become a savior on Mt. Zion. The work for the dead had not interested
him. He, in connection with the youth of his time, had neglected that
part of the gospel plan; and now, of course, he saw his mistake.
"Yes," David acknowledged to Rachel, "I see my error now, as usual, when
it is too late to remedy it. You who were faithful rank above me here."
"Don't say that," she pleaded.
"But it is true. Your good deeds came before you here and gave you a
standing. Some of the treasures you destined for heaven were detained
here, and you are now reaping benefits from them. Do I not see it all
the time? When we meet new people, you are received with delight--I am
unknown."
"David, what comes to me, you partake of also, because--"
"Because you shall belong to me. Yes, dear one; that is the blessed
truth. The Lord has brought us together, and all else should be
forgotten in our gratitude to Him.... Rachel, we would have known each
other in earth-life had I behaved myself. Our lives were surely trending
toward each other, and our paths would have met. We would have loved and
have wedded there, had it not been for my--"
"Say no more. Let us forget the past in thinking of and planning for
the future. I am happy now, and so is your mother."
"And so am I."