Suddenly the sinking feeling came near to touch me, a strangeness of a roused animal approaching- through the glass panels of the mixer room, in which we observed outside events- 

there came a-thundering Chen's little sister, and it seemed as though a grenade with it's pin pulled was coming at us with intentional menace. I braced, and now the moment was demystified, which was good. I was getting carried away, heart in hand and all. I quickly place my heart back into my shirt pocket, with it's unanswered question. The right place, but not the right time.

Gilead slams the door- not a door sound you quite want to listen for.. rather than a squeak, it sounded as though the mouse in the door had been annihilated. I'm unsure as to whether I should be there, but both Chen and his sister were now blocking the way. A quick glance to my left: Chen was completely unfazed, and Gilead, his sister, was incensed by her brother's lack of interest.

I do not know the sister very well, except for the fact that she has been working with us, and is a year senior to me. She ensures that all her juniors know exactly the amount of time she has been around before us. She is like her name, a hilly region, craggy, and has been around for as long as you have known, but also you walk past it and are not sure what really is there. But it is pretty to look at, and hardy. 

Currently... Gilead was suffering from heavy storms, and it was unsafe to leave shelter, but she needed to speak out. I felt immediately that she would soon say something she might regret.

"Yes?" he prompted for her to speak. It seemed smoke escaped from her nostrils. 

"Do you think Yakov is walking right?" she let out in what I can only describe as a growling, thunderous strike. 

"No." Chen replied. I watched, squirming. Aside from being diligent and wonderful and perfect at executing every little task, he observed much and knew his position as a senior- and if you asked, (only Gilead ever did ask) he would criticize and dissect much of the public and private lives of his colleagues, always basing it on fact. Receiving one of his rebukes was like, in verbal terms, watching the person having their last meal, and then being led in total horror to the noose. I blocked out what he continued to say, because I have learned, from his previous deconstructions of others, that I could not look at the person the same way again. Yakov, whoever he was, I did not know so well, and it would be so sad for him to be marred even before I could meet him myself. It is the same, really, whether truth or lie- rather, gossip.

Gilead was very much a book left open for all to read. Her expression, the page that it was open to was always exactly as she felt. Oftentimes her mouth was agape, and the edges pointed downward, her eyes glassy, and never seemed to look at you, even when you were speaking to her, or trying to get her attention. Other times her eyes were sparkling crescents, uneven teeth showing in a broad, childish smile. She would say something and parrot it a few moments later, again and again, and say Sorry, I'm just excited!  She was always dampened, when, after a few repeats, the other person points out to her that she is repeating. Then the page turns and she is back to that look again- a defense mechanism of her own. Suddenly, she couldn't care less, and you had to squint to read between the lines of her book. Her feet then work together to move her away.. She always does that.. or at least, that's what I've gathered from my few encounters with her.

We were in a place of worship, and we lived here in a community together, serving our Lord in ministering to him. The place was mostly dominated by young peoples, and so Chen believes that rebuke is all the more critical, if not necessary. I've heard many a time him, and his sister Gilead quoting from Proverbs 27:6,Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

 And so him and few others keep to themselves, and friends at arms' length. No one really likes to do it, but Chen seemed to have a gifting in this area, believing that he was exercising the gift of discernment, which was to judge between good and evil, he spoke the truth of the condition of the hearts of men. 

Chen knew and lived a life outwardly perfect toward God, the Mighty One, and let on to nothing of his soulish struggles or misgivings, though he had them. It frustrated those around him constantly, but there was little to nothing you could say against him at all. I did not like him much at all from the beginning, but I've come to respect him as he is, (especially after finding and reading through his 'secret' blog). I mainly talked about Chen, but somehow, there are many like him around us, but none more pertinent to the Word of God than he.

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; 

1 Peter 2:9