26 I laughed and joined him. As we
walked he spoke to me. "You know," he explained, "what a person thinks
is nothing. It is only the breeze on a summer's day. Only when we
act on those thoughts do they become real.
27 In each of us there is a little bit of our
sisters, and in our sisters a little bit of us. It is not
unnatural to have the thoughts we have about each other, but they only
have meaning if we act on them.
28 I will always love you, but I would never
touch you, not the way that we desire. For to both of us, that
would bring shame. For we know it would be wrong. But we will
always be friends, always close, one to the other."
29 This was true. I stood at his mating,
and when he joined the army I drove the ox cart with his goods into the
city. When he was killed in the desert by bandits, I wept."
30 Mountain Glory had been silent all through
The Voice's story. "You say this only to make me feel better,"
she argued. "You are one with The Lords. You could not have
had such thoughts.....EVER!"
31 "Woman!" The Voice laughed, "Do you
think I am perfect? Do you think I have no faults? I am a
man, a living soul! I can not be perfect. No living soul can be!
32 What I have told you is true. I once felt
for a man the way you do for Yellow Blossom! And I knew the words
of wisdom he gave me were from The Lords. To have the desire is
natural. To submit to it is wrong. Do you understand me, sister?"
33 The girl smiled. "Yes, Lord," she answered.
"I expected myself to be perfect, to live without feeling, instead of
controlling those feelings.
34 I know now what I must do. I must speak to
Yellow Blossom. She must never ask me these things again.
If she does, I will have to tell my mate that I can no longer live with
them. I will have to make my own way."
35 The Voice nodded. As she rose,
Mountain Glory bent over and kissed him. "Few men," she praised,
"would have told me what you told me. They would have just gone
on about The Law. They would not have admitted that they,
themselves, are imperfect. Perhaps knowing that you are imperfect
makes you more perfect!"
36 "Perhaps that is true," answered the Voice,
"perhaps that is true, indeed!" He opened the door and the girl
departed. The Voice went to his bed.
37 The following day Gray Crow and his mates
were a long time coming from their room, even though it was a work
day. When Gray Crow finally emerged, he came to The Voice.
"Lord, I must thank you. I had no idea what was happening. But I think
we now have the matter settled. All is well with my mates.
I think their love now, is as it should be, and there will be no
reoccurance of the problem."
38 "Excellent!" said The Voice, "Considering the condition they are both in, that will be favorable!"
39 Gray Crow looked at him. "You mean..." he asked, "but how do you know?"
40 "I can see their light," The Voice
answered. "There is a second light with each of them. It is with
them, yet it is separate. But say nothing to them. Each is
keeping their secret. Let it be a greater surprise to both."
41 Gray Crow smiled. "As you say, Lord," he agreed, "it is a secret they cannot keep long!"
42 Now, Mountain Glory shared The Voice's
Teachings with those in the house, and those in the house shared it
with their friends. Soon it was all over the city. Those who were
against The Voice seized on it. "What have we been saying?"
they shouted. "This man is not of The Lords. He has told a woman
it is proper for her to desire another woman. How can such a man
be of The Lords?"
43 The next Worship Day, as The Voice rose to
speak in The Temple, one of those who was against him, rose also.
"Why should we hear this man?" he shouted. "He does not speak for
The Lords. He is evil. He speaks blasphemy."
44 "I speak the Truth," The Voice answered.
"It is you who speaks blasphemy. You have brought the teachings of the
gods into The House of The Lords. What I have taught this woman
is true. There is not one of us that at one time or another has
not thought an evil thought. We are not perfect, we cannot be perfect.
45 The Lords have taught us that again and
again. It is a Teaching of the gods that it is evil to even think bad
things. I say that this is not true.
46 Thoughts only become evil when we act on
them. That is The Lords Teachings. Merely for this woman to
desire her sister, is not evil. It is not GOOD, perhaps it is not
even wholesome, but it DOES NO HARM! Only if she turns that
thought into action, then is that thought evil.
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