The Peacekeeper Memoirs
by Michael E. Bull
Chapter Two
It occurs to me that you may be wondering how I came by these powers. Certainly, not all Saints, those who are now immortal citizens of the Kingdom of Christ, have such abilities. All of us have elevated recuperative powers. Injure us, and we will heal, quickly, but not almost instantaneously, as I have done since the day that I had a vision, or I thought it was a vision, in which I was taken to heaven and allowed to taste of the fruit of the Tree of Life. Since then I have healed of horrible injuries in moments at the least and minutes at the most.
Cut off my hand, and it will live until I or another who is helping me, presses it against the flesh and bone of my forearm, then it will heal in minutes and be whole, without a scar or any sign that it was damaged. Plunge a knife into my chest, and when I draw it out, the wound will heal in moments—mere seconds—though in both cases, I will feel the pain of the injury until the healing process is complete. This has been my gift since I tasted of the Fruit of Life. Whether in a vision or in reality, I cannot say.
The power that I have over electricity stems from the way I died under judgment from the evil one who ruled in Satan's name during the Great Tribulation. I was one of the early few who died through relatively humane means. In the days before the Tribulation, my faith had lapsed. Before that, I was a faithful church member, but my experience with God had been lacking in depth. I had shallow spiritual roots, and when times became rough, when I saw many suffering, and when I saw the signs put forth by the Antichrist and by his false prophet, I faltered in my belief, just long enough it seems to miss the rapture. Seeing then that sign, of the disappearance of so many faithful Christians, many of whom had been my friends, I returned to my faith, but it was too late to escape the worst days of the Tribulation, which I was forced to live through.
Under persecution, I hid with others that I found who had also returned to their earlier belief in Christ. Together, we hid in mountains and caves, hoping to ride out those terrible few years until Christ returned. Eventually, through superior technology we were found and sentenced to death. This was early on in the days of martyrdom. We were among the first to be put to death for the cause of Christ during those days.
I was reminded, as I waited to learn what form my execution would take, of a message I had once heard by a great man of God, who said in a sermon one day, "If you don't make it to heaven in the Rapture, try to be among the first who are martyred for Christ. For those who will hate you in those days will wax worse and worse and devise ever more cruel ways to kill God's people. In the early days of the Tribulation martyrs, there will be some mercy. Executions will be by lethal injection, or by the guillotine, or some other relatively painless means. They will resort to crueler means of murder only after some time has passed. Then they won't just kill God's people, they will kill them slowly, torturously. You don't want to die for Christ during those late days." And he was right. It wasn't just inspired preaching; it was a true prophecy; for that was exactly what we experienced.
The "relatively painless" means by which they chose to execute me was by electrocution. I was taken to prison to await my death day, and dared to hope for lethal injection, but was pained to learn that I was meant for the electric chair. I had my last meal, then made the long walk to that chamber of horrors, where a masked man waited to throw the breaker. Expert men secured me in the chair and attached the headband, straps, and electrodes through which powerful currents would flow, stopping my heart and frying my brain.
I won't describe the experience, which somehow I remember in vivid detail, through my final seconds of life. It is sufficient to say that, from the moment Christ returned and I was called up from the grave, I have had this power, that anyone who tries to hurt me risks death by electrocution, as happened to Scar, if they don't first die by my hand. This was my reward for suffering a martyr's death in an electric chair, to have power over lightning and all forms of electricity, and that power is most present when I am in danger. Other times, when I am at peace, I have some limited power over electromotive forces and static charges, but when I am threatened, I become a lightning rod for all electrical forces near me at the time. They are drawn to me and flow through me as easily as through water, and yet without harming me or even causing me pain. This is my mysterious gift, courtesy of God's mighty Spirit, Who controls all the forces of nature.
And so Scar died, because he tried to harm me. It was a foolish mistake. I tried to warn him, but he would not listen. And now he is gone. And I am saddened by his loss. That fool of a youth was once somebody's baby. He cuddled his mom and nursed from her and looked up into her eyes, and I hope, found love looking back at him. But he lost his way and became a danger to good people, and I am consecrated to putting an end to such dangerous existences. If I cannot convert them and thus put away the sinner from the living soul, then the sinner must die. Crime cannot be tolerated in a time of such light of the knowledge of God. There is no longer any excuse for following the dark path that leads to crime and to the assault and injury of good citizens of Christ's Kingdom.
It's almost hard to believe that there are still criminals in such a time as this, when the knowledge of God and of His Christ fills the world like sunlight on a summer's day. But there were dark pockets, even through the Tribulation, dim recesses of the city, where desperate gang members hid from all authority during the day and ran the streets by night, looting and killing, amidst the confusion of those days, and of those dark nights. Then they retreated again to their lairs by day to hide. Somehow, these escaped the demands of the evil dictator to bear his mark on their bodies. They lived off the grid. They didn't spend money, because none could do so without the mark, but stole what they needed to survive. Thus, when the evil days ended, since they did not have the mark, they were permitted to live and enter Christ's Kingdom. The angels who gathered all who had the mark, to take them to their destruction, passed over these, leaving them to whatever fate awaited them in the Kingdom. Being of a criminal mindset, they soon fell into mischief. And being skilled at hiding, they've been hard to catch. That's where I come in.
I have an advantage over other officers of the law. Having given myself over to a monastic life, a celibate life, a life of prayer and meditation, a life dedicated to the intimate knowledge of God, a life of communion with His Spirit, I sometimes receive special knowledge, of times and places where these miscreants may be found and brought to justice. I give them the opportunity to renounce their life of crime and turn to better ways, but they seldom avail themselves of the opportunity. And when that is the case, then whatever means are necessary to bring them to justice are considered acceptible.
This is my weighty calling. I hope that it will not always be so. One day, when I and others like me have dug out the last cockroaches who have dedicated themselves to crime, I can return to the Abbey to resume my devotions, full-time. Meanwhile, I am a man of cross purposes, to serve Christ to the best of my ability and to make of myself the most perfect gift that I can be, hopefully one that may enhance God's happiness in some small measure, and to also put down crime and rout criminals, until the very last one of them is gone from our society.
I stood at the mouth of the alley, staring out at the street under that blood moon's ruddy light, and considered my life and calling, renewing my resolve to put an end to Nightfang's gang and to open his dark lair to the light of day. His hidey-hole was three and a half blocks from where I stood. I had seen it and the route to it in a vision, as clear as day.
I turned and headed in that direction, praying as I went that I would not have to kill them all. "Please, God, help me to spare and convert just one. At least one. More, if possible. But your will, not mine, be done, Lord."
To God be the glory in all things. May His Kingdom prevail, both now and forever. Amen.
