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How would I know? Well, dead people didn't enjoy congee and Yu Za Kwei, did they? I was certainly enjoying mine.
"If you were Jewish, I could tell you about Isaiah's version. It goes "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." Or, there's Daniel: "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,..."
"You're saying that I'm dead," I began and then another conclusion dawned on me. "You're saying the Christian Bible has been right all along?"
That did bring a laugh. "Perhaps you would prefer to talk of moksa?"
"Moksa? That's Hindu, I think. I'm not Hindu nor am I Indian."
"Yet, when I refer to this place in the terms of your culture, you object to that as well."
Okay, she had a point but that didn't mean I was yielding to her the basic argument. "You're still claiming we're dead and I'm having trouble buying that. But, supposing you are correct, what does that make this place. Is that what was meant by the sign, Refuge? Is this some kind of heaven?" Then another thought hit me with a dread I could not explain. "Or is this some kind of hell?"
Huilang simply smiled.
"Oh, come on!" I said as if that summarized the fault in her assertion.
"Perhaps, hey you, if I speak of this place in terms I am familiar with it will help you."
Yeah, okay; let's try that."
"This place rests above a sea of clouds." I found no problem with that statement so I nodded my agreement. "Clouds are simply another form of water." I was still nodding agreement. "A place rising above a sea of water, surrounded on all sides by that water is called an island." Obviously. "Then, this place is an island refuge, a place above the storms of life."
As an explanation for a name such as Refuge, the logic was impeccable. As an explanation for something deeper, it made a nice allegory. I thought I could take the Refuge explanation and leave the Old Testament far behind along with moksa and anything else she decided to offer as metaphor. I thought that and I wished that and then I remembered yesterday's conversation and the peculiar notion ‘there is time for details; there always has been and there always will be.' My mind did not ask permission, it simply added the latter statement to the ‘place above the storms of life' to arrive at an uncomfortable sum.
That was more than I was prepared to deal with at the moment. My breakfast was over as was Huilang's. I rose from the table, my knees protesting vehemently for several minutes until blood resumed normal flow, tendons relaxed to a normal length and tension, and my legs reported they could support me. By that time, Huilang had almost cleared the table, moving dishes to the sink. Unwilling to let her wait on me, I joined in with the washing and drying and storing of dinnerware. A quiet comfort settled on me as we performed these tasks in a silence broken only by directions for where to store things. The feel of her presence seemed right, seemed to fit with the surroundings, seemed to fit with my mood.