When Frank explained to Fearwell the purpose of his journeyrnand told him of his plan to start his journey from Christian’srnhometown, the preacher took him by the arm and toldrnhim how dangerous it was. Did he know, for example, howrnmany people died in highway accidents every day? Yes, he knewrnall about Christian’s journey, but that road was still blocked byrnthe monster Apollyon, and now there were dangerous gangs ofrnprcmodern bandits who hijacked buses and kidnapped the passengers.rn”Do you know what Apollyon signifies, son? He is death, therndestroyer. No one can fight death. But you can run away. Lifernis all there is, it is all anybody has. We are promised life and thatrnabundantly as the reward for our faith, and you must learn to reverernlife as our greatest gift. That is why I’m here, handing outrnfree needles to the addicts and condoms to the hookers. MaybernI can’t save their souls, but I can help them save their lives.rnDidn’t the old Pilgrim go off crying ‘Life’? Without life, you’llrnnever make it to the Celestial City.”rnOnly half convinced, Frank allowed Fearwell to take him tornthe house of a friend who could do a better job of explaining tornhim the importance of life. Leaving the bus station, they drovernthrough a maze of suburban streets, past the entrances ofrnplanned developments with thematic names like: Smells andrnBells Heritage Estates, Social Gospel Apartments, JohnrnCourtenay Murray Villas—retirement homes for AmericanrnCatholics. “No point in taking any of those streets,” explainedrnFearwell, “They’re all cul-de-sacs.”rnThe lady’s name was Safechild, although, as she said, she wasrna Jellabv on her mother’s side. Besides taking care of her twornsmall children. Mistress Safechild was constantly busy with organizingrnprotests and raids against the agents of Apollyon. Herrnhouse—which bore the sign “Temple of Life” over the entry—rnwas a ranch-style mansion, and Frank marveled that she couldrnkeep it so clean with two children running around and so muchrnelse going on. “Grandmother Jellaby could never keep herrnhouse in order, but she hadn’t discovered daycare. Besides, Mr.rnSafechild works overtime to make the mortgage payments andrnpay for the cleaning service. That means he’s hardly everrnaround, but the children are so busy, between daycare,rnpreschool, and extracurricular activities, 1 don’t know whenrnthey’d find more time to spend with their father.”rnFearwell explained Frank’s predicament, and Mrs. Safechildrnoffered to enlist him immediately in Pilgrims for Life.rnTheir goal was to fight against Apollyon and all his works.rn”Did you know that all over this city, Apollyon has his templesrnof death, where they are killing babies and convincing seniorrncitizens to commit suicide? We block the doors, and somernof our more zealous members occasionally go in and break uprnthe equipment and kill the death-doctors—not that we condonernit, of course, although it does serve them right.”rn”But,” Frank argued, “in the Book of Life it says we are not torndo e’il that good may come of it. Isn’t it wrong to trespass andrndestroy property?”rn”Well, yes,” she conceded, “but less wrong than to let thisrnkilling go on. After all, if your neighbor were drowning in arnbathtub, you would still break in his door to save him, wouldn’trnyou?”rn”Yes, but in that case I’d know that he’d want to be saved andrnthat, if he could, he would give us permission to break into hisrnhouse.”rn”Well, these babies don’t want to die, either. Imagine yournknew that your neighbor were torturing his child. You’d naturallyrngo over and rescue the kid.”rn”But in that case I’d have law on my side, in the first place,rnand, in the second, we’re talking about my neighbor. I can’trnvery well travel all over the worid looking for parents who arernabusing their children. Wouldn’t it be better to preach thernWord of Life? No one who hears the Word or reads the Bookrnwould ever harm his child.”rn”In this sinful wodd? The Word is all very well, but it’s ourrnjob to enforce it. Our goal is someday to pass a law againstrnkilling children.”rn”I hate this killing as much as you do, but if you are rightrnabout how evil this world is, what makes you think the rulersrnwho legalized infanticide can be trusted to make good laws. Ifrnpeople are really bent on doing evil, I don’t see how we can stoprnthem. You can’t follow around every pregnant woman for 24rnhours a day just to prevent her from having an abortion, and ifrnwe hire police to do the job, they’ll be the same people who arernnow protecting the murderers and beating up your followers.rnDoesn’t He want us to make our own way to the Celestial City?rnIt’s not as if there’s a monorail. You can’t just buy a ticket forrnsomeone and send him in handcuffs to salvation.”rn”But think of all those poor sweet babies, millions of themrnkilled every year. The best thing we can do in this world is tornsave life, no matter what it costs.”rn”I would have thought,” suggested Frank, “that the bestrnthing you could do is to take care of your own kids instead ofrnputting them in daycare.” Momentarily flustered, Mrs.rnSafechild justified her neglect of her own children on therngrounds of “the greater good,” adding: “Sometimes we takernthem to the protests. We put them up in front, because thatrnway the cops won’t attack them.”rn”But what if they do get hurt?”rn”Well, my goodness, we all have to take some risks. I oncernhad to spend two weeks in jail, after I got carried away and hit arncop with one of ni}’ signs.”rnFrank was unconvinced. He could see that Safechild was arnwoman who wanted to do good, but her house was so far awayrnfrom the road that led to the wicket gate. He began to wonderrnif she meant the same thing as he did by life. Frogs andrnmosquitoes were alive, but he could not believe that thernpromise of abundant life referred to nothing more than merernexistence. There were, after all, circumstances when death wasrnpreferable. Jesus himself had shown the way by laying down hisrnlife. “I wonder,” he said to Safechild, “if you aren’t more afraidrnof death than you are in love with life.”rnFearwell, concluding that nothing was to be gained by furtherrndiscussion, offered to take him to a more able pleader, thernfamous Crosstitch who had woven the seamless garment of life.rnAs they were getting into the car, a young man hopped intornthe backseat and stuck a gun into Fearwell’s face and told himrnto drive. “And you, kid,” he said to Frank, “turn around andrnshut up and maybe you won’t get hurt.” The preacher told himrnto do as he was told: “I have heard of him. His name is Evil, andrnaren’t we told in the Book not to resist evil?”rn”You tell him, mister, because if you do resist you’re going tornend up dead. Of course,” he added giggling, “You’re going tornend up dead anyway and maybe a lot sooner than you think.rnEnough talk, give me your money.”rnFearwell, in his haste to pull his wallet out of his back pocket,rnalmost hit a parked car. Frank sat still and did nothing.rn”Come on, kid, yours too.”rnAUGUST 1997/11rnrnrn