Page 24 - Unseen Hands by Nona Freeman

Unseen Hands
denounce us to the emperor, and he would punish us. W e would be deposed from our positions and probably stoned to death. Fearing disgrace, the bishops refrain from tell ing the truth."
Tekle turned away, deeply disturbed. If the priests will not tell the people the right thing, he thought, I will be the first one to proclaim truth. He did not pause to consider the consequences of his action. From a rocky height overlookingthe courtyard he began to weep, shout and wail loudly until he had the attention of thousands of worshipers gathered for a religious festival.
"The books taught by the clergy are false!" he cried. "They will lead you to hell, not to the kingdom of God. The priests are afraid to tell you the truth; their god is their bellies!" He continued, "The Bible alone is the W ord of God! I am ready to die after I tell you the truth. Cursed be all other books but the Bible! Cursed be everyone who does not love Jesus!"
Priests and people converged on him in fury and began beating him with sticks and iron rods, trying to kill him. Suddenly, one of the priests threw himself over Tekle, crying to the people, "I command you by the name of the saints, Tekle-Haimont and Abbo not to shed this cin-sed man's blood upon this holy ground."
The crowd fell back. The priests delivered him to his parents, who took him home, beat him severely, disowned him and forbade him ever to set foot in their village again.
Driven away from family and friends, Tekle found himself alone and desolate. The unseen hand that had pro tected him this far moved on a stranger in Adua to give him six birr every month for the next two years. (The Ethiopian monetary imit is the birr, which is currently
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