A Deep Yearning

Tears rained down Sheila’s cheeks as she carefully turned the lamb on the splint connected to a tripod build with forked branches. Manley sank heavily on the ground beside her and tossed his bow and arrows to one side.
“Why are you crying now?” he asked gruffly.

“Oh, Manley, this lamb was my pet! Little Bella was the sweetest of the batch, but I had to kill her, because wicked, wicked Mr. Raven swooped down and pecked out her eyes! ”
Manley swallowed. It was hard for him to see Sheila suffer so. It was several weeks since they were barred from the lovely Gardens, but she still cried every day. Sheila stroked the lovely fawn garment the Father had made for her and tears came to her eyes once again.

“Faira was such a friendly deer. She always wanted to know what I was doing and would follow me around.

Manley nodded without answering. He also keenly remembered how pleasant it was to visit with the animals, ride on a lion’s back, or swim with the dolphins. He got up to put some more wood on the fire, and Sheila protested that it would get too hot for the roasting meat. That protest he could handle. What he didn’t like it when she got to lamenting about how they were destroying the lovely trees to use for firewood, and they would end up so ugly and charred.

But none of those things bothered him as much as the sullied relationship they had with the Father.

“Oh, Father, Father,” he moaned, “Wilt thou not restore us again?”

Sheila wrapped her arms around her husband and laid her head on his shoulder. “Father,” she cried. “We ache with longing to be in your presence once more.” She fell silent. Nothing hurt so much as the rift with their Creator, and the longing to be reunited never completely went away.

Manley carved the meat and laid it out on large, thick leaves, but neither of them were hungry.

“It seems like a crying shame that we need to eat meat in order to keep our strength up.” Sheila murmured, wishing she could hurl the undesirable morsels into the gathering darkness and live off the fruit of the land, but it had become too inadequate to sustain them. “

While eating, Manley was moodily looking into the gathering darkness. Father, please, please came and talk to us. I need thee. I yearn to fellowship with thee.

“I’m so afraid of the dark,” Sheila whispered.

Manley nodded and stroked her hair. How he missed the laughing, bubbling girl who was afraid of nothing when they lived in the Gardens. But life was different now. Many of the animals were becoming unfriendly, and only a few could they actually trust. These few, unfortunately, were sometimes difficult to tame.

They quietly reminisced about the precious fellowship ‘back home’ and Sheila wondered out loud if the Father would still talked to them if they would ask Him to.

“We’ve talked about this before,” Manley muttered. “Our sin has separated us from Father. He’s the one that locked the door.”

“But can’t we try? Can we just try?”
Manley was silent for a long moment. “Yeah, let’s.”

Sheila got on her knees and clasped her hands imploringly. “Oh, Father, please. We are sorry. We have repented a thousand times a thousand. Won’t you restore us into thy loving favour?’

Manley added his pleas to hers.

Not far away the Father stood, invisible to their sin-clouded eyes. His face was aglow with joy. Now if they would only stop begging and start listening, I could comfort them.”

That fellowship was sweet that night, but oh it tasted like more. Gradually over the coming weeks, months and years, they discovered that the Father would still commune with them if they wanted Him to, although it was never quite as gratifying as in bygone days. Manley said it was like a mist or a veil had come between them and their beloved father. The lack of perfect fulfillment kept them yearning and coming back for more, which was exactly what the Father intended. That yearning kept them from straying too far into sin.