"King
Saul said unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar
spirit, that I may go to her." King James Bible.
On
the battlefield, King Saul, first king of the Israelites, was
beginning to lose his fight against two Philistine warriors. When two
Israelite warriors burst in to help their king, the Philistines broke
battle, and fled.
Thank
you, soldiers.
Most
welcome, your majesty.
The
two of you hold this post. The rest of the Philistines are coming
this way. I will go after those two. I will join up with you later.
Yes,
sir, your majesty.
King
Saul went after the fleeing Philistines.
‘Your
majesty’?
Yes.
That is our king Saul.
That
is our king?
Yes.
Under all that mud and blood. I hope all that blood on him is not
his.
In
the front line with us?
Magnificent,
isn't he?
I
thought our king is a Benjamite.
He
is. That is he. Under all that mud and blood.
Wow!
Could have fooled me. I was brought up to believe all Benjamites are
cowards. Cannot be his father's son.
Ask
him yourself when you see him again. It will be the last thing you
ask anybody. I've known him since Primary School. It always was open
season on Benjamites, because they were always a minority. Still are
everywhere. It is like God has cursed them always to be a minority.
Saul was the only one who fought back. Took a lot of beating. Never
won. Never gave in. Never ran or hid. It helped that he was always
the tallest one among us.
Were
there not any other Benjamite children?
A
few. But they never joined up with him. He tried to rally them, but
they just wouldn’t.
I
heard Philistines took the town his parents lived in. Burned it to
the ground. He is offering a reward for information about the
whereabouts of his parents.
About
that. I have information. I will share with you only if you give me
permission to kill you if you tell anyone.
Permission
granted. Cross my heart and hope to die; by your hands.
You
know the twins Chetty and Naidoo?
Of
course. Which red-blooded Israelite man has not known them? Many of
us know them several times a month. The best ladies ever.
A
few days before the Philistines invaded, those twins left the
country. I spoke to them on the road. They said they might return if
we win. Invited me to join them. Freebies forever. I turned them
down. I joined up to fight the Philistines.
You
are not married; and you turned them down? Freebies forever?
Regretting
it to my dying days. This war is not about the noble principles I
thought it would be about.
That's
the secret information I must not share, on pain of death?
No,
not that information.
He
lowered his voice to nearly a whisper: Those twins had said they saw
the king's parents on the road, too, fleeing the country.
Where
were they headed?
No
idea.
I
do not get it. Why would the king not know where his parents are when
they are on the road with refugees? Why don't they go to the king?
That's
the information I meant. I got it from the twins.
How
reliable can the information be if you got it from them?
How
reliable do you think, if they got it from the king's parents
themselves?
Get
outta here! Whoa!
Hey,
you and I have run helter-skelter as refugees many times. You know
how rough it is. And we know how easy it is to get close to persons
as friendly as those twins.
You're
right.
From
the mouths of those parents themselves. The parents were so thankful
when the Philistines burned down the town. It made it easy for them
to get lost from their son, the king.
Yikes!
Do I need to know more? Parents glad they can get away from their
child, the king?
Up
to you. I think you need to know because we are fighting side-by-side
with the king. If he had been like a usual king who stayed far away
behind the front lines, it would not hurt any soldier to not know why
his parents are trying to hide from him.
Hurt?
Hurt.
Mind you, if we never see the king again in this war, his parents'
reason won't mean anything, to anyone. It would be just gossip.
Okay.
What? Why are they running from the king? Their only child.
You
know how Benjamite students get teased and bullied on the
schoolgrounds. You and I were among the bullies.
Yes.
Benjamites were always a minority.
And
always among the lower IQs, too. Well, Saul, in his student days
resorted to voodoo, and witchcraft to protect himself from being a
victim.
Yish!
Did it work?
What
do you think? He is now our king. Do you see anybody trying to bully
him around nowadays? Look at us. We serve him. We take orders from
him. Just hope he never remembers you and I were among those
schoolground bullies.
Let
me guess. His parents knew about his voodooism, and are ashamed?
And
were especially horrified when the High Priest anointed their evil
son to be king. The High Priest had been so proud and happy to
announce that God, Himself, had hand-picked Saul to be our first-ever
king.
God
did not know about the voodoo and witchcraft?
Nobody
knows the answer to that question.
Not
even the High Priest?
The
twins said they asked the parents if they had mentioned it to the
High Priest. They tried, but the High Priest said he could not
believe them unless they confessed it to him inside the Temple.
Did
they?
They
did not get the chance. The war broke out. The enemy burned down the
town. The parents saw that defeat to be a curse from God on their
son. The parents chose to not risk being included in the curse. They
did not know when he got married. When they asked friends and
neighbours, none knew the woman their son had married, to be his
queen.
The
parents cannot be hoping we win this war.
If
we win, they had better be living anonymously in another country.
It
won't help against the king's winning voodoo witchcraft.
If
you and I are alive, we, too, might be in danger from that winning
voodoo.
I
propose that the moment we know our side is going to win this war, we
go find the twins and run far away with them. And with the king’s
parents.
Take
cover. I hear something.
King
Saul staggered into view. He was bloodier, and muddier. Impaled on
his broken sword were the heads of two Philistine warriors.
Contact
Ezra (Unless
you
type
the
author's name in
the subject
line
of the message we
won't know where to send it.)
