The Quest for Paradise - Page 12/94

"Where do you think he got it from? Another planet maybe?"

I felt reticence to say anymore and so I didn't. My father held his hand to his ear as if he was a very poorly trained spy and nodding his head as if in answer to a unheard conversation he then smiled at me and said, "You're in if you want to be."

"In what?" I asked.

"Enrolled in an expedition that's tasked with the unraveling of such mysteries as this red dirt and beautiful amulet."

I looked to the amulet resting upon the table. To some it may seem beautiful, but to me it held no allure. The symbology of design was a bit simplistic, but the general idea trying to be represented in the amulet piece was that of a curiously worked altar.

The altar even had a name, the altar of power. The problem for me though was that the altar was not to my God. In my work I came across many such pagan symbologies and to a one they all shared in the commonality of all having seen the passage of innocent human babies pressed down upon them to be slaughtered.

My God required no such sacrifice. In fact He had provided the sacrifice needed by offering up Himself to serve as the replacement for any future sacrifice whether of animals or of anything else. All one had to do was to believe in that sacrifice of the Savior, Jesus, His son in order to be saved, as by Jesus's intercessory sacrifice and resurrection all sins are forgiven.

"Aren't you going to answer me?" My father asked impatiently.

Coming out of my daze I glanced from the amulet to my father as all that had transpired in my office with my Heavenly Father earlier in the day reoccurred in fast-paced realization. Nodding my head I said, "I'm in. When do I pack my bags?"

He blinked and then blinking again he asked, "Don't you even want to know how much the job pays?"

I smiled somewhat bittersweetly, "Some of us don't formulate all our decisions off of what the bottom dollar accrued amount will be."

He actually had the good grace to blush a little and with the decision made I went about devouring the excellent food set before me. I wasn't as hungry as I had been but something said I had better pack down the calories while they were available.

I was going on an expedition. I wasn't quite sure where they intended this expedition to be headed for, but if I was the one in charge I knew where I would look.