* Preparing the Way-man, the Truth, and two baby boys

Preparing the Way-man, the Truth, and two baby boys
The Arranger went over the list of things he had to arrange for the Fleshing to happen:
- two sets of parents – an older couple for the Way-man and a younger one for the Child
- a Wicked King
- two heralds – male and female
- world peace, a common culture, and good roads
- the Festivities – really, this last had caused more problems than any other because the Watchers had wanted aurora borealis for all the world. Of course that meant the Arrange had to cause the sun to flare, well, it was just too gaudy, even for the birth of the Child. Finally the Awesome one had decided on a simple heavenly choir – made up of Watchers, of course, plus a star in the east to alert the king-makers who would have to come and confirm the birth of the Child.
- The Heavenly Spokesperson was ready – he had been busy flying back and forth in time telling the Writers clues to be planted in the Holy Writings for the most important event in history. The Awesome one wouldn’t entrust the Announcement to anyone but his Hero, Gabriel.
- Minor personages such as the Sheep herders and inn keepers and poll tax collectors and soldiers … and the donkey, he almost forgot the sturdy beast whose grandson would also be important – but that was another event he had to Arrange.

The Arranger hummed quietly as he nudged and arranged the final happenings which would precede the Seeding of the boys. How he love his job, overseeing thousands of lives and working all things according the purposes of the Awesome one for the good of those who loved him!
Right then the Awesome one sent a tendril of thought his way, “are you sure that Emma won’t be frightened when I overshadow her? The Seeding requires her acceptance and cooperation.”
The Arranger replied, “I’ve been preparing her since she was a child, sending sparks of love, giving her promises and whispering in her ear that she is special. Other than a few moments of straying and choosing her own way, she has responded to Our voice. Her father and mother are the result of several centuries of shaping and molding to produce their genes and character, since they had to prepare a woman different from most of the peasant girls in her era. They had teach her to read, to work with her hands, to have a quiet and gentle spirit, to keep her own counsel, have good judgment, to trust them and by extension, Us. Above all, she has learned to hear our voice in the intimacy of her family and in the House of Prayer. When Gabriel speaks to her and you begin to pour out love to her, she will respond. It is the season of receptivity in her life, although she dreams only of the Carpenter. And have you observed Seedings enough to touch her gently? “
The Awesome one replied, “I have centuries of observing this race of people, fragile as the flowers of the field which spring up in the morning and wither at night. Choosing the X and Y chromosomes for each person for thousands of generations of Seedings and overseeing the growth in the mother and fleshing the bones and sinews and breathing life into each born since the First Man has taught me how to be gentle. But Seeding the Child into one of them – combining Our seed with theirs to produce a Son of Man and Ours – Fleshing Ourselves with their frailty to feel their pain and live among them – We’ve never done that. The Child must be sure that it will be done with out harming his Emma.”

The Arranger spoke, “We will have Watchers set up a safe zone around the parents of the Way-man from the time of his Seeding, perhaps we should have Emma moved there for her Seeding and the shaping of the Child also. We must be careful to send just Our shadow over her, softly and slowly, as she opens her heart and body to accept the Seeding of the Child. She will be loved and known and cherished in a way that no other person has or will be. Because of the Seeding and Fleshing she will be the most famous woman to ever live since the First Woman.”
“Yes, I see that you have chosen her well, and prepared her for the Seeding. And her relatives, the parents of the Way-man?” He continued, “tell me of them.”
The Arranger replied, “Well, as we decided, both they and the heralds are two generations older than Emma. Way-man’s father has been selected to serve in the House of Prayer, and thinks that this will be the high point of his life, since he has no children. His wife, Emma’s aunt, has been resigned to her shameful state and only prays that she doesn’t outlive her husband and be left in the street. The Heralds also are ready, for years they have been living in the House of Prayer telling those who love us that We are shaping events, that the Fleshing is about to happen. Really, there is beginning to be a stirring, sparks of life among the dead coals that only need Our breath to be fanned into flames.”
“Yes, the plan of the ages is about to come to pass, the Child who will become the Second Man is ready. But one last question,” murmered the Awesome one. “How will you get the Child’s Emma and the Carpenter to the City of David before the birth? The Carpenter won’t want to move Emma once she is carrying the Child.”
“Ah, well, I nudged the local ruler to declaring a Numbering which requires everyone to return to their ancestral home. The Carpenter will resist, as he will the idea of being a surrogate father, so we will have to send the Spokesman to visit him also. Really, since we chose him to be a strong shaper of wood and character, as well as protect Emma and the Child, we couldn’t combine that with the mysticism and sensitivity to Our voice we got in Emma. But together they will provide the home, security, and training that the Child needs after the Fleshing.”
And so the Arranger, the Awesome one and the Child set in motion the Fleshing which became the rescue of our lives from the rule of evil.