From God's Lips to the Devil's Ear

Chapter 3: The Gift Is Revealed As suddenly as it had started, Zechariah abruptly stopped shuddering and his eyes were once again blue and clear. He looked up at his mother with bewildered apprehension, and managed to give her a weak, broken smile. Miriam slowly stopped trembling as well, thankfully realizing that her son was only ill. She realized no whispered revelations would be exposed, and was grateful beyond words that her son's secret was still safe and secure. She quickly drew Zechariah close to her in an attempt to reassure and comfort her ailing child. An instant later, with panicked thoughts flooding his brain again, Zech quickly grabbed hold of his mother's arm. He then took his free hand and grasped hold of her neck. With panicked urgency, he drew her ear to his lips, anxiously whispering, “We have to go now!” Miriam looked down quizzically at her son. She wondered if he was still feeling nauseous and needed to go to the rest room. Zech's frantic eyes met his mother's, his face now visibly distressed. Suddenly, his words seemed strangely commanding and his hand squeezed hers painfully. “We need to go now, or we will all die!” Miriam was at first stunned by her son's grim message. Astonished by his calamitous words and forceful tone, she simply stared down at Zech in disbelief. Then, with all the strength he could muster, Zechariah grabbed his mother around the neck with both arms and desperately pulled her so close that their faces were touching. As her eyes grew wide with fear, she heard her son's final warning, the all too familiar gravelly voice now spitting out its ominous forewarning of disaster: “Miriam, get your family out from the Temple, or they all will die! Make haste, for God's wrath will soon be upon you!” Upon hearing her son's raspy prediction of doom, Miriam realized it was the gift, and it was no longer a sacred message concealed within a young child's sleepy trance. Her son was now having his holy visions while awake and he was fully aware of the message. Miriam swiftly leaned toward her husband, urgently pleading with him to round up the kids. She knew the entire family needed to leave the premises immediately. Lukas, who was totally immersed in the holiday concert, disinterestedly asked his wife what was going on. “Zechariah is ill and we need to take him home right away,” she whimpered. Miriam realized that she had to lie. Although she didn't want her husband to know about their son's gift, she knew that his visions had never been inaccurate, and that for some unknown reason, they had to evacuate the Temple quickly. Since the time the gift had first been revealed, Zechariah had never been wrong. During the hushed argument between stubborn husband and exasperated wife, no one noticed Zechariah rising from his seat and standing up on the church pew. Just as the Christmas Day sermon was about to begin, a solitary voice, strangely disturbing, was heard above the whistling winds and sleet pattering outside. Piercingly scratchy, like out-of-sync metal plates scraping violently against each other, Zech desperately screamed out his ominous warning for all to hear. “Flee from this Temple! Get out now, or die! The icy tears of God will soon wreak havoc from above! Go quickly, or perish in all-consuming flame!” The entire congregation immediately turned, trying to locate the purveyor of this unanticipated and ill-omened disruption. Even members of the orchestra and choir could be seen shifting around, the baffled performers turning to one another in whispered discussions. With his mouth agape, Lukas stared in horror at Zechariah, mortified by his son's insane and irreverent behavior. He forcibly grabbed hold of Miriam's arm and commanded her to remove her son from the premises immediately. Both visibly angry and ashamed, he was sure his son's appallingly bizarre actions would not bode well for him and his position within the church. Miriam knew she had little time to argue with her brooding husband. Her unwavering duty was servitude to her spouse and she quickly obeyed his orders. In a panicked frenzy, she grabbed Zech by the waist and carried him out under her arm, amazed by both her new-found strength and anxiousness to vacate the sanctuary. She ran to the rear exit with Zech in tow, his body bouncing about like a half-full sack of potatoes. Miriam wasted no time in getting her youngest child to the van, absolutely certain that their very lives depended on it. Gradually, the echoing banter of gossip-laden voices slowly faded, the murmuring sound now replaced with nature's tympanic rumbling, echoing urgently through the Temple. Suddenly, a bright streak of light pierced the skies, the brilliant, vein-like luminescence framed in the grand windows of the great church. The flash was quickly followed by a sharp, thunderous clap that made the entire congregation jump in surprise. Thrust forcibly at the Temple by the ever-mounting tempest, the sleet had now morphed into small hail, the once soft and comforting sound now replaced by the angry pinging of ice chunks on the majestic arches of stained glass. Energized by nature's electrical display outside, the euphoric gathering of Mormons had no way of knowing what was soon going to be in store for them all. In the turbulent skies above, a diabolical storm, the likes of which had never before been witnessed by modern man, was now taking direct aim on Salt Lake City.