A Battle Unseen

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Eveari Monthly Meeting House, October 2, 3:30 PM

The small group which constituted the Clearness Committee for Her Imperial Majesty sat with their chairs arranged into a small circle. In attendance were Sam Van Meter, Wendy Martin, Acting Clerk Javier Tancredo, and Melissa Albertson, all members of the Eveari Monthly Meeting. Also there were Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Mary I Ananto and the Chancellor of the Empire, Lady Jennifer Alvarez-Miller, who was herself a Birthright Brethrenist, but was a member of the Kaliburg Annual Meeting. She was required to attend the Clearness Committee by law, due to the nature of the meeting, but was also there on a personal level, to support Her Imperial Majesty.

The group sat in silence for more than 25 minutes before someone spoke.

"Friend Ananto. What led you to ask us for clearness today?" asked Sam.

"We..." the Brethren immediately perked up, and Lady Jennifer's spine straightened in an unspoken inhale. "I... I asked for this clearness committee because I feel like I've had some... well, some inclinations I suppose. I have had the chance to reflect on these, and have asked Lady Alvarez to talk with me, and she suggested that these ideas are something I should not be afraid to explore."

There was more silence, for perhaps a minute or two.

"Friend Ananto, can you talk about what you mean by inclinations?"

The Empress sat silently for a moment, to gather her thoughts. She took a deep breath, and exhaled, and felt a little release of some of the tension.

"Well, my mother... you all know she is dying, I trust. She's a devout member of the Hosian faith, and my Father was a Brethrenist, and I don't know. There is something to this. I have always found that the moments where I am most at peace are ones I spend in nature, and am focused on just my breathing, and the sounds of nature and the wind in the trees, and water over rocks and even the passage of the clouds fills my mind with clarity." The Empress paused here for a half a minute. "I have only felt that one other place, and that is when Lady Alvarez made me sit through Brethrenist meetings as we traveled across the country. I guess I attended more than 35 silent meetings in Kalistan over the last year and a half with Lady Alvarez... It's... I don't think I have an answer. It's not something I can explain, but I think it is something I want for myself."

The group sat silently for a while longer. Nobody said anything. The silence became deafening to Mary. She glanced around the group, a looked at each face without trying to be too noticeable. She wasn't sure if that was even the right answer: Nobody gave a look that said it had had any impact on anything at all. Were they going to ask her any more questions? As she prepared to speak, she drew in a breath, but before she could say anything, Melissa spoke.

"Friend Ananto, the Brethrenists do not have any answers. But the answers are not important: what is more important is one's willingness to ask the question."

The statement, which came out of nowhere and was a direct response to something she said almost five minutes before that moment was a bolt of lightning for the Empress. Whatever she had planned to say before that moment was forgotten; She said instead:

"I don't know what that means."

After a few seconds, certainly less than half a minute, Melissa answered: "The Questions are more important than the answers, Friend. It is up to each of us to be willing to try to hear answers, but the first step in that is of course asking the question. The Brethrenists are seekers. We seek the Truth. But if we assume we already know the Truth, if we think we already have the answers, we can't hear anything anyone else, including God says to us. The goal is to ask the questions and wait for that still small voice to point us in the right direction."

The response was profound and elegant, and the Empress did not have any response.

Four minutes later, Wendy spoke out of the silence, "Friend Ananto, this Meeting has cared for your family for generations. Yet you yourself have been resistant to even attending until just recently. Why do you think you are ready to become a member of this Community?"

This question would have taken Mary by surprise had Lady Alvarez not prepared her for it. She gave it some thought, and got her answer together.

"I don't know if I am ready," she answered. "There is still so much I need to learn, and to talk with you, and with the Brethren in Kaliburg about. But I look at the role that Lady Alvarez' faith plays in her life. I haven't met anyone outside of my own family who tells me the truth, and helps me come to the best answers to serious, and very weighty, if I can use your jargon, decisions the way she does. She told me once she doesn't fear the Truth. I would like to learn how she can feel this way. I attribute it to her Faith. I admire her and have come to view her as a friend and a trusted confidante. If she gets that from being a member of the Brethrenist community, there must be something worth exploring here."

The Brethren in the circle smiled politely and nodded at Lady Alvarez who herself was not prepared for that particular answer: She responded by blushing a bit, returning the smile and the nod, and then the Brethren settled back into silence.

Javier then spoke up and asked "Friend Ananto: You are probably familiar with the Brethrenist Testimonies. How do you think you will be able to hold those testimonies if you are required to take this nation to war again? I guess what I mean is: how do you square the Brethrenist Faith and Practice with your role as Empress and Sovereign of this nation?"

Mary sat silently for a few minutes. She did not know how to answer this one. She closed her eyes and was immediately overcome by an intense feeling of sadness. She had no explanation for this, but it swept over her like a wave. And she remembered the war.

"Friend Tancredo: My Father was a Brethrenist. As was my Grand Mother and my Great grandparents. All of them were not able to keep exactly to Brethrenist Testimonies. The one thing I am sure about both my father and Grandmother though is that they were devoted to trying to live your testimonies. I am sure their failure was on their minds but it was something they continued to try to strive for because they believed it was the right thing to do, I really believe that. I've found it easier in life to be guided by other beliefs. None of them have given me the answers to anything. I really think that even in my very limited experience with Brethrenism, I have found a way to test my leadings, and to learn if what I am inclined to do is the thing I should be doing. There was no contradiction between what Empress Carolina or Empress Nicolette or Emperor Fredrick believed and how they acted, because I believe they tried to do their best. I think I will try to do my best too."

Uncharacteristically, Javier immediately asked a follow up question: "Friend Ananto, have you become convinced of the Testimonies held by the Brethrenists, and do you wish to become a Convinced Member of the Kaliburg Yearly Meeting, under the care of the Eveari Monthly Meeting?"

Mary, slightly shocked by the abruptness of the question, looked right at Javier and answered, "I am certainly ready to try."

The five Brethren looked at each other, and then Javier, who was serving as Clerk of Clearness Committee said "I think we are ready. Let's settle into one more moment of silent worship." After the minute, Javier broke the Silence by saying "Thank you friends. I have the sense of this Committee that we should recommend a Minute to the Eveari Monthly Meeting that Friend Ananto has expressed that she is clear about her desires to join our community, and further to recommend that the Eveari Monthly Meeting take her under our care as a matter of specific concern, to support her in her journey and growth, to encourage and counsel her as she needs, and to ensure that we hold her in the light as she continues in her role as leader of our nation. Does anyone wish to say anything?"

There was a moment of silence, which was broken by Lady Alvarez, who herself was a member of the Kaliburg Meeting, who asked, "Thank you Friends. Would you add some words about sending a letter to Kaliburg Yearly Meeting to record the Minute and to ask the Meeting to also consider taking Her Imperial Majesty and her family, if they wish, up as a Concern of our meeting as well. She doesn't live here in Eveari, and you should let Kaliburg know that she has become convinced as well so we can reach out and welcome her."

The Clerk nodded and said "Of course: It's been so long since the Anantos have been to meeting that the things Eveari Meeting just used to automatically remember to do have sort of been laid down. But I think Eveari is ready to support the Empress as far as we can, and would be happy to write a Letter for her to Kaliburg. That is Proper, thank you Friend Alvarez."

"Thank you Friend," said Lady Alvarez.

"Anything else?" asked Javier.

"I just want to say Welcome Back, Your Imperial Majesty," said Wendy. "Your father was a wonderful man; he was so kind and so good tempered, and you should know, he was always so sorely missed by those of us who remember him. You were too."

Mary smiled. She was a little taken aback by how quickly the feeling in the room went from a heavy interrogation during the Clearness to a very businesslike and very warm and cordial feeling now that the silence was broken and the Brethren were speaking freely. She wasn't even sure how the group came to agreement that she was ready, or that she should be recommended. It's not like they discussed it or took a vote. She thought she understood how Brethrenists made decisions but clearly she didn't. But they all seemed to have almost telepathically spoken to one another in a brief glance around the room... Or something. It was all a very mystical experience just in that second.

"Thank you Ms. Martin. I remember you too from when I was a really little girl, before we stopped coming to the meeting."

"Oh please, call me Wendy, Friend Ananto," she said with an easy laugh. "We don't use titles in the Meeting! Except Friend."

"I will certainly try to remember that," said Mary.

Javier interrupted the friendly banter. "I hate to break it up, but if there are no objections, I'll propose the minute at the next business Meeting. Friend Ananto, you are invited to attend the business meeting in two First Days from now, and if the meeting has any other questions after I let them know what this Clearness Committee recommends, would you be open to answering them?"

Mary smiled, "Absolutely Friend Tancredo. And thank you."

"You are most certainly welcomed," he answered. And with that the Brethren all stood, shook hands and said "Thank you Friend." And then they filed out of the Meeting House's library and headed to their respective homes, Lady Alvarez accompanying the Empress back to Ananto Estate, where they would spend the evening relaxing and talking about what awaits the Empress, before the Empress returned to Wood House to begin closing the House for the winter season, and Lady Alvarez to Kaliburg.