A great pity for Paul took possession of Jesus, and seeking to gain him, Jesus spoke of the Essenes and their life, and the advantage it would be to him to return to the Brook Kerith.  Among the brethren thou’lt seek and find thyself, and every man, he continued, is behoven sooner or later to seek himself; and thyself, Paul, if I read thee rightly, hath always been overlooked by thee, which is a fault.  So thou thinkest, Jesus, that I have always overlooked myself?  But which self?  For there have been many selves in me.  A Pharisee that went forth from Jerusalem with letters from the chief priests to persecute the saints in Damascus.  The self that has begun to wish that life were over so that I may be brought to Christ, never to be separated again from him.  Or the self that lies beyond my reason, that would hold me accursed from Christ, if thereby I might bring the whole world to Christ in exchange:  which self of those three wouldst thou have me seek and discover in the Brook Kerith?  He waited a little while for Jesus to answer, then he answered his own question:  my work is my conscience made manifest, and my soul is in the Lord Jesus Christ that was crucified and raised from the dead by his Father.  He lives in me, and it is by his power that I live.

The men stopped and looked into each other’s eyes, and it seemed to them that no two men were so irreparably divided.  Thou must bear with me, Paul, Jesus said, a little while longer, till we reach a certain hillside, distant about an hour’s journey from this valley.  I must see thee to a place of safety, and the thoughts in my mind I will consider while we strive up these sand-hills.  Now if thy sandals hurt thee tell me and I will arrange the thongs differently.  Paul answered that they were easy to wear, and they toiled up the dunes in silence, Paul thinking how he might persuade this madman to return to his cenoby and leave the world to him.

There are some, he said, as they came out of a valley, that think the time is long deferred before the Lord will come.  Thou’rt Jesus of Nazareth, I deny it not, but the Jesus of Nazareth that I preach is of the spirit and not of the flesh, and it was the spirit and not the flesh that was raised from the dead.  Thy doctrine that man’s own soul is his whole concern is well enough for the philosophers of Egypt and Greece, but we who know the judgment to be near, and that there is salvation for all, must hasten with the glad tidings.  Wilt tell me, Paul, of what value would thy teaching be if Jesus did not die on the cross?  Many times and in many places I have said my teaching would be as naught if our Lord Jesus had not died, Paul answered.  Are not my hands and feet testimony, Paul, that I speak the truth?  Look unto them.  Pilate put many beside thee on the cross, Paul replied, and, as I have told thee, my Christ is not of this world.  If he be not of this world, is he God or angel?  Jesus asked, and Paul said:  neither, but God’s