Julian Mackwell is apparently a person of faith.

He invited me over to his parents' house to the North of here to stay the night last night, after my release from the Hospital. The next day, we went back down to Cabotton, where, just down the street from the University, stood the First Church of Cabotton, which had been around since 1233. I am not a religious individual, myself, but I accepted the offer to go with him.

I feel that the people of Cabotton are a modest folk. However, the fiery speech given to the gathering by this preacher stood quite in contrast to that sentiment.

"The world is changing! God is in control!" the preacher said. "He made it obvious this week. Don't you remember? Five days ago, he sent a mighty thunderbolt bringing down the towering University Great Oak! Tall and mighty that Tree stood! Proud and permanent! A mark of accomplishment, of dedication, discipline, determination set forth by the successive generations of University students over the years and decades. And then in an instant, God smote that tree!

"Now the purpose...even I don't know. Nobody knows. But that's the beauty and magnificence of God's divine and mysterious wisdom, isn't it? He does things with reason and cause inconceivable by humankind!

"He does things that make no sense to us. Why, after all these years of raising that tree from an insignificant sapling to the towering fortress of wood, would God ever decide to destroy that very marker? It makes no sense to us...here that is.

"But look at the wider world around us. Look over the sea, where the Black Terror of the Vandalish, so long having dominated the maritimes with their mighty black banners, has crumbled into the oblivion! That too is a sign!..."

And so on. And so forth.

Off that podium, the preacher was a quiet, sweet, old man. The same held true for Julian and his parents, who were especially hospitable to me for inviting me to spend last night at their residence while feeding me with some of the best home-cooked meals I've had in a long time.

It was a nice break. But now I need to go back to Cabotton.