You see Elias, it was several weeks ago, at a time when Jacob was no more and no less the leader he already is at present. A small group of us gathered, including some of whom are no longer here, and we discussed our thoughts and feelings about everybody, including you. You were not with us for you had volunteered to go to the far end of the village with Jacob to tend to a sick animal."
Elias now felt threatened, as if the entire village, be they for or against Jacob, were certainly against himself. He had miscalculated. His fear now turned to anger, directed at Lucius with a perceptibly raised tone of voice.
"Are you then Lucius the leader of a rebellion within this village? Are you one who wishes to turn brother against brother, sister against sister?"
Elias’ face showed rage. Pamela didn’t care none too much at what she perceived as a minor fracas involving a slightly raised voice, but a voice that was careful not to be audible to others. As for Jacob, to any casual observer, he was more involved with the dirty job of laying down manure, which was a job that he felt the leader should do, rather than impose it on other members of the flock. Though he could not hear Elias and Lucius’ conversation, he had no doubts that it was somehow directed against him. As such, he was receiving more confirmation that perhaps Elias was indeed not to be trusted, though he gave Lucius the benefit of the spiritual doubt.
All of Elias’ anger, however, was met with a defiant indifference on the part of Lucius, which was signaled by his resumption of his duties with the trowel. Having allowed a few seconds to pass for Elias to calm down, but not too much time which would have further aggravated him, Lucius spoke again.
"Elias, why do you speak so? Have I ever given you reason to anger? We met that evening to simply discuss who Jacob was, a concern you obviously have now. And we wanted to know just what our own true spiritual beliefs were. We took a leap of faith and decided that we would tell the complete truth to each other."
Lucius’ genuine warmth in his voice did much to return Elias to a state of calm again.
"You didn’t completely trust Jacob then, but why did you exclude me?" Elias asked, now suddenly believing momentarily that perhaps Jacob was his only ally after all, with the remaining five villagers plotting against the two of them.
"Forgive me; forgive us all Elias, but we had committed the sin of prejudging others, and that included you as well as Jacob. That is why we waited until both of you were away. We had always seen the two of you together and felt that you were your own team... your own private spiritual group. This led to a consensual feeling among us at that time that maybe we had to form our own alliance. We came to share and develop our spiritual faith Brother Elias, but despite our best intentions, the world is still in all of us. And that explains feelings of mistrust. Feelings of doubt. It is no excuse but it is a reason."
Lucius felt relief at having shared this information with one of the few villagers who had not known until now about the secret meeting, though secret no more. Relief quickly turned to an intense, though passing fear, as Lucius suddenly questioned the wisdom of sharing this information with a man who it had previously been hidden from. Had he betrayed several other villagers by confiding in just one? But maybe he had found a true brother among Elias. Such was the dilemma of all the villagers.