“Do you mean,” Marnie ventured from her place on the floor beside Gabi, her voice throaty from sleep and cigarettes, “what are the obstacles to purity of body or of mind? Or did you mean spirit?” Gabi stole a look at her, but Marnie kept her raccoon eyes fixed on Ruth, her expression all innocence.
“Ah.” Ruth nodded. “Good question, Marian. Impurity on one level affects all others of course, but it is important to understand the variety of ways we can be tempted. Let’s start with the mind. Anyone?” Gabi’s hand shot up, jumping at the chance to redeem herself. Ruth beamed. “Whoa, we’ve got an eager beaver here! How nice to see some enthusiasm so early in the morning. Go ahead, Gabriela.”
“Impurity of mind is caused by an ignorance of the doctrine,” Gabi recited. “If we don’t know and follow the true Word to the letter, we are in sin.” It was straight out of one of her father’s translations. She felt no shame in drawing attention to the fact she was Brother Lowell’s daughter, even if it wasn’t actually true. She needed every advantage she could get.
“Very nice, Sister Lowell.” Ruth twinkled at her. “You really know your stuff. Must run in the family.” Gabi forced an answering grin. Being favorably compared to Sam might help her with the recruiters, but it still landed like an insult. She would never be like him. “And how about spirit?” Ruth urged, continuing her circuit around the room. “How do we risk corruption of the spirit?” Natalie thrust her arm into the air and waved it dramatically. “Yes, Natalie?”
“Same thing, really,” the pretty girl simpered, swinging her shiny hair over one shoulder. “If we don’t follow the doctrine, like, to the letter, we go outside the protection of God. That’s what it was like before the Gathering In. Too many people ignoring the Word and suffering because of it.”
“Excellent,” Ruth praised. “But what are some specific ways we act against doctrine that damage our spirits?”
“Um, hoarding?” This from a quiet girl with thick bangs, pulling her knees into her chest as if she were trying to make herself disappear.
“Okay, yeah,” Ruth said slowly. “That’s doctrine and super important, but I’m talking about something else here. I’m talking about lying. When we don’t tell the truth, we go outside the protection of God. God knows all. Sees all. Even if human ears do not detect our lies, they are heard by God. And lying isn’t just telling an untruth about ourselves but concealing the lies of others. By protecting their sin, we become sinners. It’s all the same in the eyes of God.”
“Right! It’s like we’re excommunicating ourselves!” Ginny, the luscious redhead assigned to mentor Jordan, bounced with fervor as she spoke.
“Amen!” Ruth answered, lowering her head for a solemn beat and raising her hands to the sky. “Amen, Sister Packard.
“And this brings us to the body,” Ruth continued. “How do we, and by ‘we’ I am talking specifically about women, how do we sin with our bodies? How do we invite impurity?” Gabi could hear the thick-banged girl on her other side swallow and feared the volume of her own gurgling belly. They all knew the answer Ruth was looking for, but such things were not spoken of. “I know this is tough stuff, sisters,” Ruth soothed, moving to the outside of the circle and placing comforting hands on the shoulders of each girl she passed. “But this is a sacred space. We are here to purify so we can be worthy servants of God. It takes devotion. Faith. Courage.” The words landed like small explosions around the room, their implication clear. Devotion, faith, and courage were the three words emblazoned on the badge each Witness received upon embarking on their first mission. This morning was a ritual, yes, but it was also another test.
“Sex!” Marnie shouted, pumping a fist in the air. “You’re talking about doing it!” Giggles erupted around the room, then quieted as the head counselor’s displeasure grew apparent. Ruth approached Marnie and squatted in front of her.
“Yes, Marian,” she said in a silky tone. “I am talking about sex. Fornication. And kissing and touching and impure thoughts and everything else that goes along with it. Do you have anything more you’d like to tell us about that?”
Marnie pulled back from Ruth’s scrutiny but kept her chin raised.
“No, I think that about covers it.” Ruth stood and resumed her circuit. “When we live an unconsecrated life, we condemn ourselves to suffering. Love and the ways we demonstrate that love must be consecrated by the sacrament of marriage. It is one thing to commit childish mistakes before you receive your calling and another to intentionally desecrate God’s gift. That is why we take this time to prepare ourselves to receive him, so that you may purge the sins of your youth and come before him a perfect vessel.”
“Amen!” the counselors shouted, raising their hands above their heads. The younger girls copied them, though they were saucer-eyed with uncertainty. Ruth moved behind Ginny and placed her hands on the redhead’s shoulders. “Sister Packard, would you like to give us your testimony? Are you moved to speak?”
Ginny nodded solemnly and began. “When I was your age, sisters, I had an undisciplined mind. I did not let God guide my thoughts, and instead I daydreamed about boys, about letting them touch me and me touching them.” Every camper but Marnie stared at the floor, face afire. “I was overcome by lust,” Ginny continued, “and because I developed early, the boys noticed me. They sensed my weakness and were tempted by it, as Adam was tempted by Eve. I became close with one boy in particular. We spent time together whenever we could, after school or between classes when we would sneak off. We did things,
