7. Ted paused, a sudden stillness settling over him

Ted paused, a sudden stillness settling over him as the words swirled in his mind. Uncle AR was coming tomorrow. Patience, Ted reminded himself, feeling the weight of that word deep within his bones. Patience had never been easy for him, especially when his thoughts were racing like wild horses, pulling him toward revelations that felt so close he could almost touch them. But this time, he knew, the answers couldn’t be rushed. The timing had to be right, and Ted needed to wait.

He sat back, drawing in a deep breath, his mind moving with the rhythm of his thoughts. Patience is a virtue. Learn to depend on the greatest of all, the mover of thoughts, the mover of fire and water. Ted’s eyes drifted to the distant horizon, as if the answer lay in the setting sun, in the quiet ebb of the wind. Fire and water. Two forces that defined existence in their own way. The balance between them, the interplay of power, destruction, and renewal—everything seemed connected.

Fire burns, water is more powerful, water extinguishes fire. Ted thought about it for a moment. Fire, with all its heat and intensity, had a natural property—it burned, it consumed, it ravaged everything in its path. And yet, water, with its fluidity and quiet strength, had the power to put out fire, to soften its violence. Water had a quiet force, one that moved with purpose and patience, flowing into cracks, shaping the land over time. It was the more enduring of the two, though both had their place in the world.

Ted thought about what Uncle AR had often said, about how the Creator moved everything, how everything existed because of His command. He moved thoughts, He moved fire, He moved water. And then Ted recalled the stories his uncle had told him, the ancient ones, the ones that echoed in the back of his mind. One, in particular, stood out—the story of Nimrod and Abraham.

Nimrod, a king who had claimed to be God, had challenged Abraham, demanding that he prove his faith. Bring the sun up from the West, Nimrod had said, as if the power of the sun itself could be summoned at will. Prove that your God is real, that He can control the heavens. But Abraham, ever steadfast in his faith, simply responded, My God brings the sun up from the East. He had no need to show force or power—he trusted in the Creator’s will, knowing that His ways were not for man to challenge or manipulate.

When Nimrod failed, unable to bring the sun from the West, his pride had crumbled. But the disbeliever often hides his weakness, Ted thought. They cover their failures with force, masking their insecurity in an attempt to dominate, to prove something they can never truly prove. It was the same with those who sought to control fire, to control water—those who thought they could bend the natural world to their will.

Ted’s mind flickered to the next part of the story. Abraham was catapulted into a huge fire, the flames designed to burn him alive. Nimrod, in his arrogance, had sought to punish Abraham for his unwavering faith. But the Creator, the Lord of all, had commanded the fire to be something else entirely. The Creator of fire said to fire, "Be..."

Ted leaned forward slightly, as if he could sense the words coming to life. Be what? The answer was known to him, even without finishing the sentence. The Creator had commanded the fire to be cool and safe for Abraham. The flames that were meant to destroy became a protection, an environment that allowed Abraham to survive unscathed. It wasn’t the fire that had power, but the Creator who commanded it. Fire, in its essence, was an obedient force. It did what it was meant to do, but it followed the command of its Creator. And Abraham, despite the seeming impossibility of his survival, was untouched by the flames, standing unscathed as a testament to the power of trust and faith.

The story echoed in Ted’s mind, stirring a deep sense of reverence. In that moment, he understood the deeper lesson: it wasn’t about force, it wasn’t about power—it was about the command of the Creator, the ultimate source of all things. The Creator was the mover of thoughts, of fire, of water. Everything obeyed His command. And in the same way, Ted’s own thoughts, his actions, his very life—were all shaped by that divine force.

Ted’s breath slowed as he sat back, reflecting on the enormity of it all. He was reminded, yet again, that life didn’t follow the patterns that he expected. The world didn’t move according to his schedule or his desires. Everything had its place in the greater design, and sometimes, patience was the only path to understanding it.

Tomorrow, Uncle AR would arrive, and with him, more questions, more answers, and perhaps a few more pieces to the puzzle. But for now, Ted needed to remain still, to allow time to reveal the next step. The Creator, the mover of all things, would guide him. All he had to do was wait, trust, and listen.