Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 10:31:11 -0400
From: Sequoyah <sequoyah@charter.net>
Subject: CF-21

		 ASP--The Concord Five--Chapter Twenty-one

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				 Comments

This chapter of The Concord Five is dedicated to all those faithful fans
who have encourage the author. Thanks.

A note is always appreciated: sequoyah@charter.net. Also check out the
Yahoo groups devoted to the story at Sequoyahs_Place@yahoogroups.com.
(interesting reading, but no longer active) and
SequoyahsPlace@yahoogroups.com.


ASP--The Concord Five--Chapter Twenty-one--Mary Kathryn

When the sweat was over and we had all showered and dressed, we went back
to the Greywolf house for a feast. Yong Jin had food left over from
Thanksgiving ready when we arrived, and it didn't take long to get the
table set and the food on it. After grace, we all dived in and, as soon
everyone had gotten a good start on breaking their fast, we started talking
about our experience in the sweat. We sat around the table for a couple
hours talking, recalling what we had experienced. I was surprised that the
expectations for the sweat had been so low and the experience so high for
all those participating in their first sweat.

It was 8:30 before we finished eating and cleaning up. When we were done,
Linda said, "Look, we are stuck here so we might as well make the best of
it. How about a dance?" She hardly had the words out of her mouth before
the living room was cleared and a CD started, and the dancing began.

I was surprised when Climbing Bear got Taequo on the floor. We were all
dancing pretty wildly and soon were sweating without the help of a
lodge. When everyone was ready for a break, Susan asked Wounded Hawk if he
would teach us to dance Indian style. He said he'd be happy to, but he
didn't have a drum.

"Think you could manage with a recording?" Greywolf asked. "I have a couple
tapes of the Pine Ridge drum." Greywolf then remembered there were a lot of
things we didn't know, and he and Wounded Hawk finally got us to understand
that the drummers and singers who play together are known as a
drum. Between the two of them they explained that the rhythm of a drum is
very steady with only a few changes. "The drum beat is the heartbeat of
Mother Earth--your heartbeat," Greywolf said.

Greywolf started the tape and he and Wounded Hawk demonstrated the step for
male dancers. "We can get into other movements later," Wounded Hawk said,
"but, for now, just keep it simple." He, Greywolf, Taequo and Climbing Bear
each had a guy stand on either side of them, and kept working with them how
until all had gotten the hang of it.

"In pow-wow dancing the men all have fancy clothing--some traditional and
some of recent design with all kinds of glitter and glitz. Most women wear
very restrained clothing, not a lot of flash and glitter--well, among young
girls there is some, but mostly not. That's because women shed blood every
month so they don't have to prove they are brave. Men have to get all
dolled-up to remind themselves they are warriors," Wounded Hawk
laughed. "It's a testosterone thing. Women's movements are very soft and
subtle. Very gentle," he said. Then he showed us women how to dance. It
looked easy, but I guess that's the feminine in it. It looked easy, but it
was hard to make it look gentle, flowing and effortless.

After we had gotten the basic steps and rhythm down, we were shown other
movements, such as how to honor the drum. It was great fun, but serious at
the same time. Finally it was 11:30 and Taequo said, "I think I'm ready for
bed, but we do have the makings of a good number of pow-wow dancers here
and I guess, since Red Hawk made them relatives, they could dance with BIA
Indians". He then started laughing and pointing to me then Luke. Soon
Wounded Hawk, Greywolf and Climbing Bear were also laughing. We all stood
around looking lost. When Taequo finally stopped laughing long enough to
talk he said, "I can just see some of those tight-ass BIA Indians when
those two blond Indians join a dance". Greywolf explained that BIA Indians
were "official Indians".*

After the three visiting Indians gathered up what they needed and headed
for the falls, Matt, Luke, Michael and I went to the kitchen to prepare a
snack. Marc followed and asked about using the phone. "I'll use my phone
card," he said.

"Not to worry," Matt told him, but he did anyway. He said he was calling
Douglas. As soon as Douglas answered, Marc gave the phone to Luke to say
hello and then sat down on a kitchen stool to talk to Douglas himself.


ASP--The Concord Five--Chapter Twenty-one--Douglas

I wasn't surprised when Marc called me from North Carolina. I had expected
it. However, I wasn't prepared for his weather report of snow and more
snow. He told me about Thanksgiving dinner and the sweat, and now everyone
spending Friday night together as they had Thursday night. They had danced
and then had Indian dance lessons. He was very excited and it was obvious
my bud was having one fantastic time. I asked about Keith and I could
almost hear Marc blushing. All he would say was that it sure was nice to
have someone to snuggle up to on cold winter nights.

I had nothing to report beyond the fact that Mr. Blalock had found another
lawyer to assist him. He told me he was just too old to do the
rough-and-tumble my case would require. My parents had decided to try to
gain control of everything by saying grandmother had been incompetent when
she made her will, thus voiding it. Mr. Neumann, the assisting lawyer, and
Mr. Blalock both assured me the outcome was not in doubt, "Your Grandmother
was as sane as any of us when she died, and the will was made well before
she became ill," Mr. Blalock said. "But that doesn't mean it won't take
time and money to defeat this latest ploy to get control of you and, more
especially, your grandmother's money," he added.

A part of my parents' plan was to show how irresponsible I was and, thus,
how Grams had to be incompetent to give me anything without a lot of
strings attached. They had launched their attack while I was in Ohio, a
trip they used to show I wasn't capable of using good judgement. They had
stated in their petition that I obviously was irresponsible because I
thought nothing of hiring a private jet to go party in Ohio. Of course
their statement was not true, but that had to be proven false, along with a
lot of other things they had included in their petition to the court.

Mr. Blalock said he hated to ask me to stay in Florida and not spend
Thanksgiving with my friends, but he thought I better stay close. He almost
cracked up when Janet said, "I guess that means I have to prepare the
family's Thanksgiving dinner". But she did--with a lot of help from
Lupe--and invited the Blalocks, and Mr. Neumann and his wife and son, along
with my parents. My parents, of course, didn't show up, so we had a great
dinner.

Marc told me he had some great news, but he wouldn't tell me anything
more--not even a hint. Janet and I were both anxious to see Marc and find
out what had him so excited.


The Concord Five--Chapter Twenty-one--Marc

After we had eaten and were pretty much wound down, Matt put a
fifties-sixties tape in the boom box and soon we were all slow
dancing. Matt had turned out all the lights and the room was lit only by
the flickering fire in the fireplace.

As Keith and I danced, I held him very close. We were barely moving when I
drew his lips to mine, thrust my tongue deep into his mouth and pressed my
hips into his. I could feel his hardness pressing against my leg as I was
sure he could feel mine. When I broke the kiss, I gazed into his eyes and
whispered, "Ready for bed, Babe?".

Keith looked up and nodded as a smile spread across his face. Before he
could change his mind, I took his hand, kissed it and we walked up the
stairs to MY room, no longer a guest room. I belonged here and I was taking
to MY bed a man I loved with my whole being.

When we reached my room I stopped Keith, took him into my arms and kissed
him passionately. I broke our kiss and then swept him into my arms and
carried him into the room, kicking the door closed as I did. I kissed Keith
again and stood him on his feet and started undressing him. As I slid his
shirt from his body, I bent forward and surrounded a nipple with my mouth,
flicking it with my tongue. I reached down, opening his belt and fly,
allowing his jeans to fall to the floor. His hard cock was straining at his
briefs, begging to be released. I was happy to oblige.

I embraced my nude lover and held him close, but he still managed to slip
my clothes from my body. We were both naked, very hard and very hot. We
stood, our hips pressed together and our tongues doing battle. I released
Keith, took his hand in mine and led him to my bed. I wrapped my arms
around him and pulled him to me until I was lying back on the bed, Keith
atop my body. Keith and I had talked a lot about our sexual experiences. We
had gotten to know each other--including telling each other about our
experiences with lovers, or people we had thought were our lovers. Truth be
told, we hadn't just gotten to know each other in Ohio, we had fallen in
love--but we'd had little privacy there, so our love-making had been
limited to some hot make-out sessions and snuggling together in bed.

Not that I think we would have gone much beyond that had we had more
privacy. We both had hang-ups about having sex. Well I really didn't have
any hang-ups, but I wasn't ready to rush into anything, especially since
Keith's sexual experiences were still painful to him. He really did have
hang-ups, so I certainly wasn't going to push him. He had told me what had
happened in the sweat, so I expected him to be freed-up and believe me he
was--and I was ready for him! We were so hot that we were clumsy and
bumbling. Finally I looked at Keith and said, "Babe, we have all night".

Keith looked into my eyes, smiled and said, "And I intend to make the most
of it," and gave me a hot but gentle kiss. Of course, we were so hot that
our love-making resulted in a climax for both of us long before we wanted,
but it was a fantastic experience. I was thinking only of Keith, and
wanting to give him my love. I concentrated totally on giving Keith
pleasure, so I was surprised when we reached a climax at the same time and
wave after wave of pleasure swept through my body. Our love-making was
hot--very, very hot--but very gentle as well. After we had given each other
the gift of our manhood, we curled together, exchanging soft kisses and
gazing into each other's eyes in the moonlight reflected from the white
blanket of snow outside. We lay, whispering of our love to each other
until, once again, we were ready to take our love-making to the heights.

Totally relaxed and wonderfully tired after long, tender, passionate, hot
love-making, we curled together and drifted into sleep where I dreamed of
Keith. True to his word, Keith made the most of the night as we made love
twice more before Luke called us for breakfast.


ASP--The Concord Five--Chapter Twenty-one--Luke

Sometime Friday night, the weather forecast for Thanksgiving day arrived,
only a day late. I awoke as the sun falling through the windows played
across my face. Matt was lying with his head on my chest, snoring softly. I
smiled when I remembered him denying that he snored and offered as proof
the fact that he had never heard himself snore. How long ago had that been?
Remembering the first time we had slept together with no holds barred, I
was amazed that it had been no longer than a few months. How the world had
changed in less than a year!

As I looked at my dark angel, I recalled how we had been so sure we could
never love each other more than we did when we first acknowledged our love,
and smiled. Maybe we could never lust for each other's body as we did then,
but our love had grown deeper each day. I also thought about what great
support and love we had from our families and friends. On all accounts, we
were richly blessed. I was lying very still so as not to awaken Matt, but
he stirred, raised his head, smiled and gave me a morning kiss.

"Babe," I whispered, "I love friends, but there can be too many for too
long. I'm ready for some plain, hot sex."

"No-one's in the shower, and I'm still Matt."

"Still hot-to-trot?" I smiled.

"Get me to the shower and I'll show you!"

We both got out of bed as quietly as possible and I picked Matt up and took
him down the hall to the shower. Since we, as always, slept naked, there
was no wasted time getting undressed, and even a piss did nothing to get
rid of the morning woodies.

As soon as the water in the shower was warm, we climbed in and soaped each
other's body, paying particular attention to the woodies and the balls
beneath. We played around a bit, then Matt took my hard cock in his mouth
and did wonderful things with his tongue, soon bringing me to a roaring
climax. After I had returned the favor, we again washed the body we loved,
dried each other and returned to our room, meeting Keith and Marc coming
out of Marc's room, and Dan and Christopher, towels about their waists, on
their way to the downstairs bathroom.

We dressed and went downstairs to find Taequo, Wounded Hawk and Climbing
Bear in the kitchen preparing breakfast. As we walked in, Taequo handed us
a cup of coffee as he said, "You know, Matt, I think I was right in saving
Luke. There was a time there I wondered if he was worth it," he laughed.

"Taequo, I will be forever in your debt. He may not be worth much, but he's
mine!" Matt laughed and gave me a kiss.

"Taequo, I was thinking about how much has happened in the last
year--actually less than a year--and it's hard to believe. It was only five
months or so ago that you pulled me from that guardrail--just a few
months. Can you believe that?"

"Damn, it HAS been only five months," Taequo said, a surprised look on his
face.

The five of us talked about all that had happened since we had known each
other and kept saying, "That's hard to believe," and it was, but it had all
happened.

"Taequo, five months ago you were alone, now you have Climbing Bear. I was
ready to throw this life away and Matt wasn't much better off, and now we
have each other in a bond deeper than ever. Life has been good to us," I
said, as Matt kissed my cheek.

As he did, Marc and Keith came into the room. "Boyfriend for breakfast? I
can go for that," Marc said and kissed Keith.

"From the looks on your faces, I think you must have had an early
breakfast," Climbing Bear responded, and then burst out laughing when both
Keith and Marc turned bright red.

"What's all the blushing about?" Dan asked, as he and Christopher joined
us. "Marc and Keith contracted the Matt Greywolf transmitted disease?"

"Looks like it. I think they're blushing about what Marc had for
breakfast," Wounded Hawk chuckled.

"Who's had breakfast?" Greywolf asked, after he and Yong Jin had said good
morning.

"Don't think anyone has, at least not a regular breakfast," Wounded Hawk
said. "You guys get the table set. Breakfast is ready."

We got the dishes from the cabinet and as soon as we were in the dining
room, Matt said, "I don't think you have to be a medicine man, Luke, to see
that something went on in the guest room last night."

"Yea, the goofy grins on two faces gave the secret away didn't they?" I
laughed.

Both Keith and Marc looked up at us and really grinned. "Nothing happened
in the guest room that I know about," Marc said, "but a good time was had
by all in MY room".

"Don't know that I like this pushy Florida sun-bunny taking over my house,"
Matt said, then added, "Good to have another brother though, Marc".

Marc quickly got a strange look on his face and started getting misty
eyed. "You don't know how good it is, Matt." Having said that, he walked
over to Matt and gave him a hug. "You really don't know because you've
always had Luke."

Wounded Hawk, Climbing Bear and Taequo brought the food and we all sat down
for breakfast.

Breakfast was over and the table cleared before the others arrived. "That
warm weather promised yesterday has arrived," Michael said, as he opened
the front door while he was still cleaning his shoes. "Snow rapidly
changing to mud out here. Should be no problem opening the club tonight."

As soon as the women arrived, we started the process of getting everyone
home. "It sure will be good to get home, take a hot shower and get on clean
clothes," Linda said as she and Bill left.

They took Jacob, Susan and Jack with them. Rachel had to go with us,
otherwise Jacob's dad would pitch a fit. According to Rachel, he had
reached the point where he exploded if he heard Jacob's name. "He rants and
raves about Jacob selling out Christ for Jewish pussy," she had told us.

"I'll take the van and we can get everyone else home," I said.

"I think I can find my way if you want me to take everyone home," Marc
said.

"We can tag along," Michael suggested, and he and Mary Kathryn went with
Keith in the van.

When they had gone, I said, "It was good seeing everyone, but..."

"I think I know what someone said about grand kids," Greywolf chuckled. "It
is hard to tell which is better, headlights coming or taillights going."

"Speaking of going, we have to hit the road," Taequo said.

"Matt, Luke, I'll be in contact," Wounded Hawk said.

"So will we," Climbing Bear said, extending his hand. After there were
handshakes all around, the three left.

"Now that there is peace and quiet again, I think we need to talk about the
new situation here," Greywolf said. "We have told Marc that he can live
with us, but we'd like to talk to our sons."

Dad told us what they had told Marc, namely that they would be happy to
have him live with them, but there were definite rules, "The same ones we
had for you, Matt. I'm afraid Marc has been left alone so much he will find
it difficult to remember to tell us where he's going, when he'll be back,
who he is with, you know the rules."

"Dad, I think he is so happy he will be in Concord that he wouldn't object
to anything except you telling him he can't see Keith. Besides, he needs to
know what real parents are like," Matt said. "There is one problem, I
think. What's the rule for him and Keith? I know they are both eighteen and
that was a milepost for me and Luke, but what about Keith and Marc?
Especially since Mr. Lewis has some say about the situation."

"Well, there's no question about whether or not they are virgins, we all
know they aren't. I don't think I am off-base in saying they had sex last
night, so what's the problem?" I asked.

"It could make a lot of difference and be downright sticky," Greywolf said,
"if Mr. Lewis wants to cause problems. I guess I will leave all that up to
Marc and Keith. What I told Marc was that I would expect him to be
responsible. So far as I am concerned, as long as he is responsible, what
he does in his room is his business. I can't imagine Mr. Lewis is so dense
that he won't know that when he gives Keith permission to sleep over, the
two will sleep together. What do you think?"

"I see your point, Dad. Luke and I will speak to Marc and make sure he
knows what is and is not acceptable," Matt promised.

"We'll be happy to, Greywolf. Anything else we need to speak to Marc
about?" I asked.

"I can't think of anything. I do know we have to do more talking about
money. Marc is used to having carte blanche and that will not be true so
long as he lives here. We'll have to work out some arrangement."

"Dad," Matt said, "he can have whatever he wants from his dad, but I think
you are right, he needs an allowance. He needs to learn to live within a
budget. He may never have to, but he needs to know. He will be paying room
and board, right? And he will have chores?"

Greywolf laughed, "Afraid he'll have it easier than you did?".

Matt grinned and then said, "Yea, I guess, but I think it did me good".

We talked some more about Marc coming to live with the Greywolfs and Matt
and I said we'd definitely have a talk with him before we left.

Since we had spent very little time with Mom and Dad, Matt and I went to my
place. Mom and Dad were busy straightening up from their influx of female
company. "I think girls make a bigger mess than boys," Mom said when she
came down from upstairs with a load of bedclothes. As soon as they were in
the washer, she sat down with us and Dad brought coffee, and the four of us
just had a good visit.

We told them about Matt's tour schedule and my exhibitions. "I start in
Charleston June 16 and Matt will be with me then, since his tour doesn't
start until July 7. He will be back in Charleston for that and I will be in
Chicago."

"We'll both be in Washington, Boston and New York at the same time, then
I'll travel with Luke until his exhibition tour ends. Of course if I had
selected the August tour, I would have been in Louisville, Los Angeles,
Seattle, and back to Chicago while Luke was in Dallas," Matt added.

"Don't let him kid you Dad, Matt will also be in Louisville, Los Angeles,
Seattle and Dallas. He'll be with me. The only time we would not be
together, if he did both months, would be his first week when he is in
Charleston and I am in Chicago, and his last week when he would be in
Chicago and I will be in Indianapolis."

"We will be finished at Oberlin May 23," I said. "I don't know what the
others are doing this summer. Paula, Kent and Eugene have done some talking
about playing clubs with a couple of the other combo members, but nothing's
solid. Paula has also talked about going back to the camp where she worked
last summer, and Kent is giving serious thought to staying at the place and
working on the landscape project he has going. Larry is looking for an
opportunity to do video work this summer. He laughed about an expedition to
India and Nepal his Case professor told him about. 'Yea, they'll take a
rising sophomore, yea, sure they will,' he said, but he did complete the
application and Eugene kept pushing him until he got his passport. I'm
looking forward to having some time here--some of May and June until I
start my exhibition tour!"

"Yea, I'll even enjoy working on the farm," Matt said.

"Been away so long you can romanticize the farm," Dad chuckled. "Hot sun,
sweaty work, hay down your back making you sting. Looking forward to that,
Matt?" Dad laughed.

We talked more about school, about the house and how things were going,
just easy talk. Suddenly Matt stopped in mid-sentence, walked over to Dad
and put his arms around him in a hug. "Jens, thank you so much for
accepting me and your son. I suddenly realized how great it is that we
still have our families. Dad said he had a hard time accepting Luke as my
lover, a man. I know how much more difficult it was for you and, Jens, I
really appreciate it. No, Jens, appreciate is not enough, but I don't have
a word for it except... thanks."

As it was in old times, clearly Dad was somewhat embarrassed by Matt's
display. He just reached around Matt and patted him a couple times and
cleared his throat. He was saved further embarrassment by the entrance of
Michael and Mary Kathryn.

"Everything's 'go' for the teen club," Michael said.

"Yea, we stopped by to check it out and stayed to talk with Fr. Tom. He
said he had a couple calls about the club from St. Mary's people. They were
very careful not to say why they were objecting, but Fr. Tom said clearly
some objected to black, white and Mexican kids being together, and
especially dancing together. Others, fewer, objected to men dancing with
men and women dancing with women. He had to admit he almost lost it when
one of the old biddies said if men danced with men it might turn them
gay. 'You mean like Matt Greywolf and Luke Larsen?' Fr. Tom had asked. He
said he could hardly keep from laughing out loud when he assured her that
Matt and Luke could dance forever and not change their sexual
orientation. 'I found it hard to believe there was anyone in Concord who
didn't know Matt and Luke are a couple,' he told us. 'But then I remembered
old Mrs. Foster thought Matt hung the moon and would never admit he was
gay'," Michael laughed.

"I hope Fr. Tom doesn't think he has heard the last of this," Dad
said. "There will be enough flack from people in Concord, but I suspect
there will be those from outside as well. One of the people I know through
business was behind the Lexington club from the beginning. You can imagine
what I had to say about his support a couple years ago," Jens said with a
weak smile.

"No problem imagining what you had to say, Jens. Not difficult at all,
recalling your reaction when you discovered Luke and I were lovers," Matt
said, with an "all is forgiven" smile.

"I know it took a long time before the bigots gave up trying to stop
it. The outsiders were the biggest problem. When they finally realized they
couldn't stop it, things settled down. I'm sure the same will be true in
Concord. Yea, I suspect Fr. Tom is seeing the beginning, not the end, of
protests about the club," Jens nodded wisely.

"Well, Fr. Tom said he would have something to say about the situation
tomorrow. I think he's kinda excited about having something to fight for,"
Michael said.

"Any adults be around tonight?" Dad asked. "It would be a good idea if
troublemakers turn up."

"There will be a couple off-duty police officers. One is a volunteer and
the club has hired one, and there will be four parent volunteers, that's
the way we set it up. Tonight there may be others because parents are
always welcome. I think Bill's parents are on duty and I don't recall who
else."


ASP--The Concord Five--Chapter Twenty-one--Matt

Michael and Mary Kathryn left for the club early since they were involved
in running it--actually, I think they were in the kitchen. When Matt and I
arrived, there was a good crowd already, but the music hadn't
started. Shortly afterward, Keith announced "More" and the dancing
started. The kitchen was going a land-office business until it closed at
10:00. Of course there were still drinks available and snack food from
machines. As soon as Michael and Mary Kathryn and the kitchen crew had
cleaned up, they joined Bill and Linda, Matt and me at a table. The evening
was going fine and all were having a good time, when a group of skinheads
came in shortly after Michael and Mary Kathryn sat down.

"Here comes trouble," Luke said as soon as he saw the four skinheads walk
in.

"I hope not," Michael said. "Things have been going so well. At least Pop
Cop is on the stick, he has moved around close to where they are sitting."

"Pop Cop?" I asked.

Bill laughed, "Yea, Pop Cop. He's near retirement age and I would have
thought he'd not be interested in the club if not, in fact, opposed to
it. But when we went to the police department to ask about hiring off-duty
officers for the club, he said he'd be here as a volunteer. Seems he had
only one child, a son who was killed in an auto accident when he was
seventeen, and he still misses kids."

"He has not taken his eyes off the skinheads," I said, "but they seem to be
enjoying themselves and causing no trouble."

"Maybe, but I don't trust them," Bill said, but nothing out of the ordinary
had happened when the club closed at midnight. As soon as the doors were
closed, we all pitched in to get things cleaned up and in order for Sunday.


ASP--The Concord Five--Matt

Luke and I spent the night with his parents and piled out of bed in a hurry
Sunday morning when Jens called us and said Gabrielle would have breakfast
ready shortly. After breakfast, we showered and got dressed for
church. Both of us were looking forward to being at St. Mary's
again. St. Anne's just wasn't home.

As I sat listening to Millie's prelude, I thought about the possibility I
would not be playing at St. Anne's when I returned to Oberlin. The organist
had recovered enough to play again and I hoped she would decide to take
over. Of course both Paula and Fr. Manville were hoping otherwise. With a
recital to prepare for, I really preferred to be free of the organist's
job.

Fr. Tom mounted the pulpit with more life--spirit--than usual, and looked
out at the congregation for several seconds before he started his sermon.

"It's been an interesting week in many ways. Something happened which I
don't recall ever having happened to me. I read the wrong lessons and
Gospel when I started preparing for today's sermon. But maybe that was no
accident since the events in mid-week showed me just how right the wrong
Gospel was. The Gospel I read is St. Matthew's story of the last judgement,
a story you all know, I suspect. It case you don't, I'll read it again."
Fr. Tom read the story (Matthew 25:31-46. See below**), closed his Bible
and said, "Not the way we think of the last judgement is it? But what does
it have to say about events in Concord last week?"

"Last Wednesday Concord saw an rather unusual parade and certainly a
different kind of football game. Both different as much for why they
happened as for how they happened. Your children, your grandchildren, your
neighbor's children decided there would be a football game to prove winning
is not everything. For them winning took second place to decency and honor,
a position which put some adults to shame, including the football coaches
who resigned rather than face a losing game. The fact that Independence won
was icing on a very special cake," he said. "Delicious icing, I'd add."

"The echoes of that game and the victory dance here at St. Mary's teen club
have kept the phones in my office and the rectory ringing. I have spent
many of my waking hours--and some when I would have been asleep--on the
phone. To be honest with you, only a few months ago I would have answered
the phone with soothing words, words to smooth ruffled feathers, placating
words, words of compromise. But this is a new day, a new day shown to me by
your children."

"Some of those calls, I am pleased to say few in number, were from members
of this parish, members of St. Mary's. Some of those who called are noticed
by their absence this morning. But most of the calls were from other
residents of our fair city, many of whom were cowards, refusing to give
their names, but very free with their threats. And some of the calls, the
most vicious and threatening, were from outsiders, none of whom identified
themselves by name, but were happy to identify themselves as members of one
hate organization or another."

"And why the calls? Because there is much hate in the world. Some spewed
out their hatred as racists--whites hating blacks, blacks hating whites and
both hating Hispanics. Hatred. Many were Bible-quoting, Bible-thumping
self-proclaimed Christians. 'Race-mixing produces mongrels, dogs,' I was
told by one such caller--a man whose voice I recognized as belonging to a
member of the country club set, the country club where race clearly is the
determining factor for membership, not honesty, decency,
honor. 'Race-mixing produces mongrels,' he kept shouting. 'Seems to me we
need more racial mixing then, because we can use a lot more mongrels if it
means we have more people and more families such as the Greywolfs,' I
replied. There was much stuttering and stammering on the other end of the
line."

"Others called to tell me the Bible condemns homosexuality. When I agreed
with one--a member of one of the so-called better families--he asked why,
then, I allowed men to dance with men and women to dance with women at the
victory dance Wednesday evening. 'Because some of them are in love with
each other and some are friends who like to dance together, I suspect,' I
told him. He again reminded me that the Bible condemns homosexuality. 'It
also condemns eating catfish--standard bill of fare at the country club
Fridays, I believe. Ever eat catfish? It condemns mixing fabrics. Still
wearing cotton and polyester shirts? How about shrimp, pork? Eating those?
Over the years I have been in Concord, we have had young women, old women,
middle-aged women having affairs with married men. Have you participated in
stoning any of them? I don't recall the stoning of one woman in
Concord. The Bible says women who commit adultery are to be stoned. I guess
it would be ok for a man to have an affair with your wife. He'd be safe,
but I guess you'd have to help stone your wife.' It was clear to me, if not
to him, that we pick and choose the commandments to follow and those to
ignore."

"So is there no standard? Of course there is. For years you heard it 'most
every Sunday. Remember? Jesus, being a good Jew, knew the standard. He
quoted his Hebrew forefathers: 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and
greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the
Prophets.' Loving God and loving your neighbor takes care of ALL the law
and ALL the prophets, period, end of debate. And even loving God involves
the neighbor. In the first Epistle of John, we are told about that for the
author writes, 'If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is
a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love
God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, that he
who loves God should love his brother also.' Clear enough isn't it?"

"And those who would separate the world into neighbors and not neighbors,
the standard--the rule by which the neighbor is determined--is simple, very
simple. Jesus got that said once and for all in the Parable of the Good
Samaritan. Your neighbor is anyone--I repeat ANYONE--in need. Anyone in
need--old or young, black or white, Hispanic or a good old Anglo-Saxon
Protestant or Roman Catholic or someone with no religion, resident of the
mill village or country club estates, gay or straight--ANYONE in need is
your neighbor."

"While not in the Gospel for today, you have heard it often enough to know
that judgement belongs to God, not to you or me. So it is before the throne
of the Son of Man that the judgement takes place, not in the barber shop,
or the teachers' lounge or the country club bar or other hangouts in
Concord. It is God's judgement and we better not interfere. As people step
before the judgement throne, they are separated, some to the right, some to
the left. To those on the right, the Son of Man says, 'Come, you that are
blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world'. To those on the left he says, 'You are accursed,
depart form me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his
angels'. And did you note the standard of judgement?"

"The righteous are not sent to the right because they are members of the
church. There are no statements about being a member of the church, or even
about being a Christian. In fact, it seems that being a Christian or a
Muslim or Buddhist or pagan--or nothing at all, so far as religion is
concerned, is not a matter of any consequence."

"And in light of those who called to straighten me out this week, I would
point out that there is nothing about race. There is nothing at all about
whether one is black or white, Hispanic or Anglo. Race has nothing to do
with it. There is nothing about socializing only with your race or your
social class. Nothing at all."

"Nor is there any concern with whether you are gay or straight. None,
zilch, nada. One caller was ready to send me straight to hell because I
allowed men to dance with each other. 'After all,' he reminded me, 'God
created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.' I responded from the depth of my
being, 'You are only half-right. God created Adam and Eve, true, but
equally true is the statement that he DID create Adam and Steve. For we are
all created of God and, as such, are the beloved children of God--all of
us, black, white, yellow, red, brown and tan; gay, straight, and in
between. And we all have one task in this world: to love our neighbors--to
give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked and visit
the sick and prisoners."

"It strikes me that the question is not with whom you sleep, dance, or
socialize--for all are God's children. The question is whether you show
love for all people in active care for them. And surely a teen club is one
way some of us can visit those who have been imprisoned by prejudice,
hatred and bigotry. It is a place where we can visit those who are
suffering from the sickness of drugs, self-hate, prejudice. It is a place
where we can demonstrate the love we are required to show the
world. St. Mary's teen club is a wonderful place for us to show the love of
God to His children and it will remain so. Amen."

It was obvious to me that Fr. Tom had decided to take seriously the summary
of the law--love God, love your neighbor--in a new and powerful way.

Sunday dinner was at the Larsens'. I was glad it was just the Family since
we'd had little time together, without someone else around, this
Thanksgiving vacation. Even Marc had gone to dinner with Keith and his
dad. They planned to tell Mr. Lewis about Marc's move to Concord and both
were nervous about what his reaction might be.

During dinner we discussed the sermon. "I've never seem Fr. Tom dig his
heels in before, at least not as far as they are dug in now. You can bet
those who didn't show up this morning are just the beginning. There will be
more controversy at St. Mary's, but Fr. Tom has picked a good cause to
champion," David said and we all agreed.

After dinner, Luke and I got our things together and Marc and Keith came
by, with Larry and Eugene, to pick us up at 2:30. "Thanksgiving's over,"
Eugene said later, as he looked out the plane's window to Concord below.

"Yea," Luke agreed. "Now we are winging our way back to Oberlin and Paula
and Kent."


^^^^^^^^^^
* BIA Indians: In order to be recognized as an Indian by the Bureau of
Indian Affairs, a person must prove they are one-eighth Indian. Because of
the dreadful way the BIA has treated Indians in the past (and, truth be
known, in the present as well) there is much ambivalence toward the BIA
among Indians and often some toward BIA "certified" Indians.

** Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels
with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will
be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at
his right hand and the goats at his left. Then the king will say to those
at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry
and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I
was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I
was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then
the righteous will answer him 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and
gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it
that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you
clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick and in Prison and visited
you?' And the king will answer them 'Truly I tell you just as you did it to
one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'
Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed, depart
from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I
was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing
to drink I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not
give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they
also will answer, 'Lord, when was it we saw you hungry or thirsty or a
stranger, or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?'
Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to
one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away
into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Matthew 25:31-46


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Special Note: At this point, The Concord Five is entering a hiatus of
undetermined length. A Special Place began two years ago this past March
and has continued for twenty-one chapters of The Concord Five in addition
to The Oberlin Five. I am sure you understand that it has become, for now,
a chore, not a joy. I suspect that after a break it will resume, but I
can't be sure. If it does and I have your e-mail addy, I will notify you.

Sequoyah--sequoyah@charter.net
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