Touches of Beauty: Meeting Jesus Saga, #9.5

By David Bergsland

Some good news to counter the bad news

A group of believing silversmiths and stone cutters, who are focused on sharing the touches of beauty which the Lord has left scattered around His creation for our enjoyment, begins their work.

Jason is an abject failure. When his wife died suddenly, without warning, he fell apart. But as the owner of a jewelry store in Albuquerque, he had people dependent upon him, and he had failed them badly. He was going bankrupt, but worse he was having thoughts of suicide.

The Lord saw His opportunity to get Jason to make the necessary decisions, and the depressed widower is transformed—but it takes a while. However, it is remarkable what happens when a new believer is introduced to Truth—the conversational presence of Jesus in his or her life (plus, a Holy Spirit-sent mentor). Jason soon realizes that radical changes are needed, and by the grace of God, he makes them.

But he needs help. The Lord's solution is his normal first option—a spouse designed to meet his need, while he is designed to meet hers. He didn't expect her to fall out of the sky, but it was wonderful. From that beginning, the Lord assembles a strong working group building it with truly messed up people. But they all fit well into His plan. And the work grows.

It's a tale told Biblically, focusing on the people called by the Lord, and leaving the nasties to their own devices in the past. Because of the times, things are compressed. In the Bible the Holy Spirit skips over the years of waiting, and development of character. But at this point in time, the Lord doesn't have that luxury, for the end of the age of the Gentiles is upon us. So, things happen quickly, but it still reads like a tale out of scripture.

It's fiction, so there is fun along the way. Plus, a lot of heart-felt thanksgiving and worship. The story will build you up allowing you a glimpse of what your life would be like if you just trust Jesus and do what He suggests. It could transform your life, as well.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Bergsland
• Release date: Jul 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781954026209

David Bergsland

For me, my early life culminated with the great rebellion of the sixties. Ending up as a fine artist and heavy user of pot and acid, I needed help. I met Jesus in 1974, and my life began, for real. The Lord gave me an amazing Godly woman for my wife in 1976. I became a graphic designer, font designer, and desktop publisher. In 1991, I began teaching printing and digital publishing. That resulted in writing dozens of books and booklets about the practical processes, using InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. In 2009, I began the transformation into an author of fiction. By the end of 2022, I had 17 novels in five series, as I have developed my craft. This book is #20, and is the third book of the sixth series. I’m using Christian contemporary speculative fiction with some Biblical romance to share stories about the reality of how Jesus touches our day-to-day lives, while being strongly focused upon Biblical truth. I put the stereotypical Bible quoters in the same category as robo-callers. I attempt to reveal Jesus within a realistic world sharing my experiences. The goal is to reveal Jesus as a loving Creator building people into what they are designed to be. I currently assume time is running short, and the final harvest is here.

Book preview

Welcome to the Kingdom of God!

•We are called to be witnesses: sharing what we’ve seen, heard, or touched

In here, we share what we experience honestly and openly. We’ve got nothing to hide. In fact, we are commanded to walk in the light. This is a tale based on that. It’s just a simple story of believers living out their lives, in the Kingdom of God.

For some of you, this may be a real surprise. Walking in the Holy Spirit is an exciting life. This life is available to all believers. The book might change your life. For some of you this will be an immersion into wonder. We don’t often get to talk openly in society these days.

My prayer is that it will bless you and lift you up.

This is a separate novel during book 9, so this is Book #9.5 in the Meeting Jesus Saga.

Hagiai Gem Hunters become suppliers for the saga.

1

Jason at the end of himself

•Sunday, March 24: Dad’s home, Placitas, NM

Jason Fletcher had finally accepted that grief was not a positive step forward. He’d been told that grief was necessary. What they, whoever they were, forgot to mention was that grief is also useless. Though it had seemed necessary, it also seemed to have landed him where he was today.

He was facing bankruptcy. What he was doing was not working. Worse, he didn’t care. But, and it was a big BUT, he was responsible for nine employees. You selfish bastard! Now he was back at being stuck again.

He looked up, and discovered that it was nearly dawn. Oops, I guess it’s time to climb back down from the ledge. He was spending a lot of time balancing there recently. The business really was a serious problem, but he had the resources to make it all work. What he didn’t have was the will to do it.

It dawned on him, my motivator is missing. The pain just washed over him again. Every time he got ready to get up and do something, the pain, emptiness, and loneliness would just wash over him.

That was another part of this whole mess. Helen, his wife, had been more than their social secretary. She had been his entire access to social life. He had no social life. Once Helen had died, he’d quickly found out what he had been ignoring. He had no friends.

Fletcher Jewelry had been a growing thriving business when Helen had been alive. But now that she’d abandoned him, he was paralyzed because of the fact that her drive, courage, and social skills were what had made it work. That aneurysm had thrown him out on his own. He felt guilty as Hell that he’d just accused her of abandonment. He knew that wasn’t true. But, it sure felt like it a lot of the time.

Get it over with! That nasty thought was new. He’d never had any problems with stuff like that. But for the past few weeks, those little nagging thoughts had been getting louder, and more insistent. It was approaching intolerable.

It was headed downhill quickly. The external voice kept getting louder. His doubts were stronger and more confused. He began to be afraid—an irrational fear that simply horrified him. Then he noticed that the idea of doing himself in was gaining strength. That was crazy, and it gave him something rational of which to be afraid. He was scared of dying.

By the end of the day, the fear, confusion, and nastiness were doing him in. His fear was he was going to give in. He knew that Helen had none of those fears. She was peaceful to be going home, as she used to put it. How could she be peaceful? I have no idea where I’m going, but I know it’s not good. But, a teeny puff of hope entered the room. She claimed it was all Jesus. What the Hell does that mean?

Wait a second. If Jesus is real, it certainly doesn’t mean Hell. She used to say I could just talk to him. He sat there with hope barely emerging from the chaos of the day. Jesus, are you there? Of course I am, Jason.

And something changed. In those five words, hope arrived. But then the nagging voices resumed. Now, he realized they were coming from outside him—they were not his thoughts. You’ve gone completely nuts. You idiot. You really do deserve to die. Do it while you can! You don’t want to be a drooling fool. Get it over with, stupid. And it all got louder, and his confusion and fear slammed back into his mind. But as bad as it was, he could see all of it was from the same place as the nasty voice. Words just erupted from his throat, coming from deep within, Jesus, will you help me, please?

And it was silent, totally silent, and out here in the high desert, that usually meant he could hear his blood pumping. But not tonight. He slapped his hands together, but he couldn’t hear that either, though it stung his palms. But he was enveloped in peace. It made no sense, but he could wait. And he did that, for a long time.

What do you want me to do, Jason?

And the noise all crashed back. But this time he knew it was external and he tried to think. It wasn’t working well, at all. But then he knew, I want what my wife had, and I want a solution to the problems with Fletcher Jewelry. I want a life that makes sense, where I can help the people who work for me. And it was silent again.

It was all right. He knew he’d been heard. He knew that somehow Jesus had the answer. So, he waited. After a long time, he got the response he needed.

I need to make sure you’re serious. In the stuff you brought back from the emergency room, in your closet, you’ll find Helen’s Bible. Go to the Gospel of John, and read chapter three, until you have a question.

He gulped, a little. He’d never even looked inside that bag. He knows how to test me. He smiled, and got up and went into his new bedroom, his father’s old one. He opened the closet door, and found the bag. As he opened it, he found her Bible right on top. Relieved, he picked it up and went back out to his chair in the office.

He dropped the Bible on his desk and started flipping through the pages, he found that something was urging him to keep going, that it was near the back. Then he saw the page which said, New Testament and he slowed down, a little. As he passed through Luke, he somehow knew that John was next, and it was. He paged through quickly to chapter three, and started reading.

He saw Helen’s underlining, but he harshly put down the emotion. Not now, he muttered. Then he was drawn into the scene in the book. Nicodemus was trying to flatter Jesus, but Jesus just cut through that. Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Talk about cutting through the crap. But somehow he knew it was true. As he read on, the two births made sense. Jesus knew exactly who He was and how things worked. The promises were powerful, and he knew Helen had that eternal life. But he grew a little concerned. He couldn’t see, How do I get born again?

I’ll show you, but you have a decision to make. And the silence returned. What decision? A bit of fear raised its ugly head.

You need to get rid of all your sin. How? Ask the Holy Spirit to show it to you. That was a tough one. But he could deal with that. Quietly, he spoke, Holy Spirit, show me all my sin, please.

A flood of video reports filled his mind, as images of things he’d done roared through his mind. It was horrible, and it kept getting worse, finally he broke, I can’t stand it! I don’t want to be like that any more. What do I do? Ask me to forgive you. It was like a bucket of ice water to the face. That’s all? … Please forgive me, Jesus. And it was all gone! The smothering weight of it all disappeared. Thank you!… Now, can you live in me and be my Lord like Helen said you were for her? … Oh, my God! You love me! I had no idea. He could only think about thanking Him, praising Him, and then worshiping Him—for now Jason knew who Jesus was.

The words streamed out, but he was running out of words. He didn’t care, he just kept going, he’d babble like a baby if that’s all he could do, but he simply switched to a new language which let him worship freely. It went on for a long time until he just slumped, dropping his head on his arms on the desk, on top of the Bible, and wept in joy.

When it was over, he asked, like a little kid, What do I do now?

Call Larry Helpington.

He laughed. The name was a joke between he and Larry Peniton. Of course, Larry will know.

So, he called.

The joy of an old friend

Larry was lost in laughter.

Jason had just finished telling the tale of the day, and Larry Helpington pushed it over the top.

After a bit, Is Jesus really this funny?

He sure is. He cracks me up regularly, gasped Larry. Then as he calmed down. More than that He has a wonderful dry, sharp wit for those ready to hear it. How wonderful it is to know what the King of the Universe is really like. I mean, he doesn’t take any guff either, but he even does that in love. So, what do you do now? Let me ask the Lord.

It was quiet for a while, then his old friend was back. "First, it’s really good to hear what you’ve done. I’ve been praying for you for a long time. I’m pleased you saw how the Holy Spirit makes the scripture come alive. That’s your main resource. Always ask the Holy Spirit before you start reading to show you what He wants you to learn at that point in time.

"In a very real way, He wrote the scriptures through people. More than that, being God, He absolutely knows what God meant when He had that portion recorded for us.

"Another very important part of learning scripture is very simple. If it makes sense, it’s probably absolutely literal. For example, there’s a couple places in the Gospels and Acts where the text implies teleportation. It just says things like ‘and immediately they were at the far side of the lake.’ That was literally true. I asked the Lord and He said it was.

That’s another important aspect of walking in the Kingdom, you can ask Jesus anything, at any time. He’s aware of what you are thinking, anyway. You’ll discover as you read through the Bible (I’d start with John and Romans, by the way) that we were created in the image of Jesus because God wanted people who chose to love Him so He could have friends. You’ve already discovered how much He loves you.

It’s like a whole new world. I must have brought Helen down. That’s a sad thought.

No, it’s not. She loved you immensely. You were a joy to her. She prayed for you constantly. It’s all good. That was her life work, showing you how Jesus worked in her. If she knows already, she’s overjoyed. Imagine when you meet, after the Lord pulls the church out of here.

What does that mean?

"There’s a lot of words you probably don’t know yet. But the church is all the true believers in Jesus—mostly among the heathen. Biblically, the heathen are called Gentiles. The final days talked about in Revelation are about the Lord going back to deal with the Jews exclusively, again.

When the last Gentile is saved, scripture says the Lord Jesus will come in the clouds and call us all out of this old messy Satanic world system. Those of us who have studied it believe that event could happen right now or any time in the near future. The end of the church age is near at hand.

But we’ll have plenty of time to talk about that in the coming days. It’s such a joy that you’re now my brother in the Messiah. You’ve moved from the world system to the kingdom of the Lord Jesus. You’ll discover that your life has changed for the better in radical ways. If you have any questions, just ask Jesus. If He wants you to talk with me, he’ll tell you to call. But I imagine we’ll be talking a lot more anyway. FaceTime works really well, if you have Apple gear, especially a desktop computer like the iMac or a Mac Studio.

They talked for another hour or so. Then Jason said he was tired, and Larry admitted he was too. So, they headed off to get ready for bed.

2

It’s a new kingdom outside

•Monday, March 25: Dad’s place, Placitas, New Mexico

He’d slept well. In fact, he felt better than he had for a long time. Good morning, Jason. "Hello, Jesus, what a joy it is to be woken by my Savior and King. It’s nearly incredible.

So, what should I do now in this new life?

Talk with me, and then read some scripture. It’s a good habit to develop.

Great! I think I’ll start with a shower and then get some breakfast for while I read.

One thing for later, ask your people what they need you to do for them.

OK, I will. That sounds like a good place to start. As he was taking his shower, he thought, That really is a good place to start. I’ve been assuming I knew, but I really don’t.

His study of John that morning was mesmerizing. The explanation of what Jesus did in the first verses of John made so much sense. He was just reading Helen’s Bible. It’s all he had. He made a note to get one.

When he finished reading, he googled Bibles for sale, and found Bibles Plus up on Wyoming. It seemed to be by far the biggest place in Albuquerque. That would be an easy run up from the shop down on Menaul near the Flying Star just west of Wyoming.

The shop opened at nine, and he got there a half hour early. Might as well, surprise them off the bat. He chuckled. When he got there, the morning shift was well underway. He asked them if he could have their attention for a couple minutes. They were obviously puzzled.

"First, I want to apologize for pretty much disappearing since Helen died. There’s really no excuse for that. So, I went through some major changes over the weekend, and I’m ready to get back to it. What I really want to do is ask you all a question. What can I do that would help you? I know that Helen did a lot of things I have quit doing because I didn’t think I could do them. But, like I say, please forgive me.

I don’t expect immediate answers, but talk with each other and let me know what I can do. What would really help you the most? I appreciate all your work during the past two years. I know it’s been difficult, and I haven’t helped. But my plan is to change that and get this place running again the way it used to when Helen was here. Thanks again for your help.

After he finished, he went into the office and asked the Lord if he did all right. It was a good start. Haloke belongs to me, also. He heard a knock on the door jamb. It was Haloke Tsosie, his shop manager. Can I tell her? Of course.

Hi Haloke. Come in. How can I help you? He smiled at her. She and her husband, Notah, had been with them for almost two decades now. He was his best silversmith.

She came in with a big smile. Can I ask you a question?

Certainly.

Did you meet Jesus?

Yes, I did, last night. How did you know?

He told me, and I was just making sure I’d heard right. That is wonderful news, sir.

Please, Haloke, after nineteen years or so, surely you can use Jason. I don’t do well with the sir title.

She laughed, She was very happy. They had a nice conversation for twenty minutes or so. Then she had to get back to work. He said he was going up to Bibles Plus to get a Bible and asked for a recommendation.

I normally use what your wife used, the Modern English Version. I like it. They’ve got one in large type that I like. You should get some Mildliners to highlight—they’re pastel.

Bibles Plus was a whole new world. Before he walked in, he told the Lord he was dependent upon His advice. He planned on asking a lot of questions. A delightful young woman helped him.

When He told her he was looking for a Modern English Version, large type, preferably single column, he ran into immediate trouble. They had one in MEV with large type. But the single column choices were much more rare.

After she asked, he shared how he’d met the Lord. She was delighted, and said that he would be considered Charismatic, probably. She had known Helen, so that helped a lot. After they talked for a bit, she recommended the Inductive Study Bible in New American Standard. He really liked how that one was laid out.

She told him, that he needed real leather, or at least a good imitation. Any other cover would fall apart very quickly. So, he did that. When he mentioned Haloke had recommended Mildliners, she showed him them as well.

But when he asked about some recommended reading, she pulled back a little. Just between you and me, that’s turned into a real mine field lately. Helen bought a lot, do you have her books?

Yea, they’re back at the old house, but I moved out. It was too painful. I think what I’ll do is ask Larry—the old friend the Lord had me call. He lives down in Tomé, so I don’t see him often. But he offered FaceTime, anytime. So, that seems to be a good place to start. He and Karol knew Helen also.

So, he took his loot and checked out. Back at the shop he asked Haloke if there was any consensus on what he could do that would help.

She replied, Generally, it’s that Helen was our guide on new styles and new materials. We all feel like we need that. Maybe now that you know the Creator, He could help you?

That hit him between the eyes. Will you do that?

Of course, Jason.

A large smile broke out on his face, Thank you, Haloke. That’s a major revelation. I asked Him, and He said of course He will. I’m going upfront to talk with Henry. Then I’m going home to see what I need to do about your needs back here.

Be careful. She got serious instantly.

OK. Why so serious?

She drew her fingers across her lips and gently shook her head. Then she turned and went back to work.

What was that about, Lord? He’d never had any trouble with either Henry or Germaine. Just good advice. That shook him a little, he relied on them.

All right. I’m determined to let you lead me in all of this. But that didn’t feel right. But then he saw the problem. Forgive me, Jesus. I repent of that. Who am I to let you lead? You are the Lord of my life. I want you to lead me in this. Will you do that? That felt a lot better.

Yes, but only when you ask. Call Larry.

All right, something I don’t understand yet. He felt a brief touch of the Lord’s presence. He smiled and headed up to talk with Henry and Germaine.

He was careful when he talked with them. And, for the first time he saw their basic arrogance and aloofness. He told them he would be up in Placitas, and to be sure they called him if anything came up. Deep inside, he saw them actually raise their noses, and sniff.

He let nothing show, and left. In his old Mercedes, he broke into laughter. As he got ready to pull out, he muttered, Larry wasn’t kidding. It’s a whole new world. What do I do about the Hightowers? Ask for protection. Once he did that, he felt better about the whole situation.

3

Learning some basics

•Monday, March 25: Dad’s place, Placitas, New Mexico

He’d stopped at Whole Foods on the way up. So, he could bunker up for a few days. It had become obvious that he had many things to decide. Parts of this new life made him uneasy. He was still not ready to get too risky. He’d been hurt too many times. The Lord had asked him to forgive several of the people who had hurt him. But he was still very defensive.

He FaceTimed Larry. He smiled as his friend’s happy face appeared. He had aged well. His short white hair was looking a little ragged, as usual. The face was built around the smile lines, his broken nose hanging crookedly between two brilliant green eyes. He hid his lack of teeth well. Hi, Larry, do you have some time?

Of course, Jason. The changes getting too radical?

"Something like that. Before I get into it, this morning at the shop, something was mentioned that shook me little. I asked the Lord about something that we’ll talk about in a bit. I had been given some advice that shook me a little. Finally, I said, ‘I’m determined to let you lead me in all of this.’ But that didn’t feel right.

"Somehow I saw my bad attitude in allowing Jesus to lead in my life. It wasn’t pretty. I mean, who am I that I feel I have the right to control what the position of the King of the Universe has in my life? So, I repented and got that straightened out. I told Him that He was the Lord of my life, and that I wanted Him to lead me in this decision. I felt a lot better about being in that position. I asked Him if he would do that.

"He responded, Yes, but only when you ask. Call Larry.

A little later, I was muttering about something else, and wondered about I needed to do. His response was, Ask for protection. Obviously, this asking thing is a major thing. Am I right about that?

Larry held up his finger. Jason could see he was praying. Though he wondered how he could see something like that. Then, Larry replied, "this is talking about an area in the life of a believer, which starts out being frustrating. That is the need for everything to be built out of your faith.

"First of all, the Lord has indeed given us the ability to control what level of access He has in our life. Before we meet him, the enemy keeps that fact well hidden, because he can’t do anything to us without our permission either. Now that you’ve been reborn, you are aware of that control for the first time. If you recall, when He led you through the rebirth process, He made you ask for everything.

"Why? He has made faith very important in our new lives. Faith is never a long term thing. It will not work for us to ask for anything and assume it will be in effect from then on. His mercies are new every morning, and our faith needs to be expressed every day also—even for ongoing problems.

"As born again believers, we can never do anything by rote. That’s one of the main problems with the church. Liturgy is not the problem. A well-run, well-designed service of worship is a beautiful thing and very helpful to the people. But, once it’s all written down, people do it from memory, by habit, without thought—and that negates faith.

Hebrews tells us that we need to understand that without faith, it’s impossible to please God. So the problem is how do we keep it fresh? It’ll be a problem as long as we live here on earth. So, we have to ask—without falling into ritual or habit. It must be fresh every time.

Thank you. That makes sense. Liking it doesn’t matter. OK, now about those problems I was mentioning…

4

The path was becoming more clear

•Friday, April 5: on I-25 headed south, into the shop

He’d really taken things seriously. He’d read John, Romans, I Corinthians, Galatians, Colossians, and Hebrews so far. Plus, he had read Isaiah, Zechariah, most of Proverbs, and more. He did like the pastel highlighters. When he started, he had called Larry a lot, and he had really helped. But now he was doing fairly well on his own—though he still felt over his head most of the time.

He was going to share with the shop some of his decisions. He was asking for pretty radical changes. He’d learned a lot. One of the most exciting areas came when Larry turned him on to Dr. Walt Brown’s book at creationscience.com. Now he was convinced the Flood was literal truth.

Sometimes his head was whirling, but the Lord had been good and kept him on the strait and narrow. The guidance of the Holy Spirit was purely amazing. He was convinced that the Lord was going to back him up this morning. Thinking of which, Lord, I ask that you keep the Hightowers out of the way. I bind their activities in our business. I pray you give me a good, Godly solution to their influence.

He’d become more convinced of their problematic conniving over the past two weeks. Since he had been warned by Haloke, he had found several things they had done which undermined his leadership at the company. Jesus had told him to let it ride, for now. He’d obeyed—though the temptation to do something was very strong.

He arrived just as the silversmiths and stone workers were arriving. When he got in, he asked Haloke and Notah to get a meeting together of all the people in jewelry production. That took a little while, as morning routines were interrupted. The most important was the fresh coffee. Thankfully, he had brought his stainless tumbler.

When they were ready, he started in prayer, Lord Jesus, I put this time in your hands. I ask that you guide me into sharing what you have shown me recently. I do need your help, for sure. Give my people ears to hear.

Most of the said, Amen, clearly. But just to be sure, he asked, How many of you know Jesus personally?

All seven raised their hands. That is absolutely wonderful. Thank you, Lord. As he looked around at all of them with his new-found love, they could clearly see the changes Jesus had made in their boss.

"I’m hoping that Haloke has shared this with all of you, but I had a radical rebirth (with Jesus’ help) on Sunday, the twenty fourth of March. As I’m sure you all know, I’m a very cautious person, but I can not deny the changes He has made in my life.

"One of the major ones is that I can see that I am called to provide for you what Helen did while she was with us. I find this quite frightening, but the Lord has assured me that He will guide me through the process. More than that, I will really like the results. So, with a lot of generalized fear, I will do it.

"I am in the process of forming a new company. It will be called Hagiai Gem Hunters. That’s H-a-g-i-a-i which is the feminine plural form of the Greek word for Holy. It’s pronounced hagias for reasons only known to the Greeks. What I want to do is hire all of you into this new company. It will be exclusively owned by me. Your pay and benefits will not change. We will still work here, for now. If we do move, I will have the final decision, of course. But, I very much want to have you involved in the process.

"I expect things will change in the future, as I make changes to our product line. But please believe me, I want you to work for me, and I cannot do this without you. If you have any problems or questions please route them through Haloke. But be kind. This is all brand new to her also—the first she’s heard. These changes were begun as a result of her quiet polite warning the last time I was here.

"The last thing before I start talking about my plans is that I have tied down hagiaigems.com for the new Website. Most of you probably don’t know, but before Helen and I began Fletcher jewelry, I was a graphic designer throughout the late eighties and the nineties. That has remained a strong interest of mine. So, I am working on the logo, the site, and the rest of new company image package.

So, are there any questions? There weren’t. "Good. The decisions for the new company will always be based on prayerful consideration with the leadership team. I haven’t talked to them, but I’m hoping that Haloke and Notah will join that group. If any one else is qualified, please talk to either of them. I hope to keep the leadership small and efficient. But this company is focused on your talents and skills.

"Now, on to the fun stuff. I’m basing a lot of this on what I have discovered in my talks with Jesus, and scripture study. I’m convinced we are made in the image of our Creator. Many references tell us that everything was created through our Messiah, Jesus. He is the image of the Father.

"So, how does the Creator work? He never makes the same thing twice. From people, to snowflakes, to fingerprints, to almost everything He creates, it’s all unique. So, I question how much we should be making multiple copies of anything. I suspect we’ll head toward producing one-offs—but that is certainly open to discussion. I’m open to good suggestions. But it’s more than that.

"Throughout His Creation, the Lord has placed little things of beauty to bring joy to His people. The Messiah’s taste and style is wondrous—quiet, elegant, restrained, and incredibly gorgeous.

"As I was thinking about what we have been producing, I was struck by how often the beauty of His rocks and gems are set off by the contrast of the matrix. To me, turquoise without matrix is bland and boring. We can duplicate the color with artificial stones made of plastic and glass. It’s the matrix and the so-called flaws which produce the most gorgeous stones. I think one of the most beautiful stones I ever saw was the one Helen wore all the time. It was a large ametrine gem, with spectacular faceting and an embedded swirl of yellow-orange. The variations in the purples of the amethyst made the gem look on fire—set off by the spot of orange flame.

So, I’m thinking unique pieces, using polished stones we cut, and gems we facet ourselves. I’d like the silverwork with rich detailing—like what you see in this belt buckle I’m wearing—or much better. I want pieces where the reaction is normally, ‘Praise the Lord! Look what He did.’ What do you think?

Their faces all lit up. They were enthused. Conversations broke out all over the shop.

Jason muttered, Thank you, Jesus.

You’re welcome, Jason.

5

Picking up the pieces of Helen

•Saturday, May 6: workshop, Hagiai Gem Hunters

Jason had asked Haloke and Notah if they could stay a little late tonight. They were meeting at the Flying Star for supper to let the shop empty. After they ordered and sat down, Jason could see they were a little on edge. Do you mind if I ask what you are concerned about?

Notah replied, his normal expansive joy tamped down, We like what you said yesterday, but we are concerned. Our experience tells us you really don’t know a lot about what you were talking about.

Jason chuckled. "Thank you, Notah. That’s what I need—open, honest telling of the truth. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I will always want to hear that.

"I agree with you. I was telling