40 
40 For one thing only, Lord, dear Lord, I plead:
Lead me aright.
ADELAIDE A. PROCTER
Four days later, as January was nearing an end, an unannounced meeting assembled at Samuel Beiler’s farmhouse. Only Malachi, the two hastily summoned bishops, and Abe Gingerich, the other preacher besides Malachi, attended.
Samuel Beiler was told only that they would meet with him and each of his sons one at a time, and that there would be no conversation among them between meetings.
One after another, the men entered, walking heavily, as if burdened by the awareness that after this night the community might never again be the same. Every face was serious, even grave. No words were spoken before the meeting commenced except for a brief and solemn greeting. No smiles were exchanged, for this evening held nothing to smile about. The deepening twilight, this gloaming time of day, somehow seemed appropriate for the events to be discussed and the decisions to be made.
They questioned Beiler’s sons first, warning them not to discuss their meeting with their father. They brought them into the room one at a time and talked to each alone. The two younger boys were reluctant but ultimately cooperative, although the youngest, Joe, was obviously shy and nervous about saying anything against his father.
As a preacher and without the authority of a bishop, Malachi would be asking no questions. All the same, he would be listening closely.
He knew Jacob Lehman to be a kindly and thoughtful bishop. Clearly, the man was doing his best to put young Joe at ease during his questioning. “Understand, Joe, you are in no trouble. None at all. But some are concerned about how you received those bruises and marks on your face. We mean merely to help you, but you must be completely truthful with us. Now, tell us what happened.”
The boy’s glance darted around the room as if he were looking for a way out. At first he shrugged, but Bishop Lehman prompted him. “It’s all right, Joe. Tell us who did this.”
Joe’s gaze swung back to him, but still he hesitated.
“Was it your dat?”
Finally the boy nodded. “Ja.”
The bishop drew a long breath. “Why, son? Why did he strike you?”
The boy shook his head. “He didn’t say why. He was mad at me, I guess.”
“He struck you with his hands?” Bishop Schrock asked.
Joe looked at him as if he didn’t quite understand. “Ja, his fists.”
Malachi saw the bishop wince.
“But he didn’t explain why you were being punished?”
Again the boy shook his head, his expression confused and seemingly embarrassed. “Sometimes he says I try his patience. He tries to make me a better boy.” He lowered his head, not looking at any of the men across from him.
“I’m sure you’re already a very good boy, Joe,” Bishop Schrock said gently.
Malachi’s heart wrenched at the child’s look of shame. He had explained to both bishops that young Joe was known to be a little slow in the head. He could tell they remembered, for they were being extremely kind and patient with the boy.
As soon as they excused Joe from the room, they brought his brother Noah in. Malachi was pleased to note that both bishops showed the same restraint and kindness toward the older boy as they had toward Joe. Even so, there was no mistaking their intent to learn the truth about the kind of man and father Samuel Beiler was.
They had to press Noah more firmly about his father, but not for long. The boy’s natural good nature found it hard to dissemble. Although his demeanor was awkward at first, he soon answered any question submitted to him with what appeared to be complete candor.
Yes, he admitted, his gaze only slightly diverted, he too had suffered numerous “punishments” at his father’s hands. And like his younger brother, the reason for those beatings—Malachi couldn’t bring himself to call them “punishments,” for both boys’ words spoke of beatings, not mere incidents—was never really explained. He mentioned only his father’s anger and his intention to make him, like Joe, a “better boy.”
The two bishops seemed to go out of their way to be gentle, but the longer Noah’s questioning continued, the more disturbed Malachi grew. It was no secret that some among the People believed in the “severe” disciplining of their children. He suspected that in all cultures there were those who trusted more in beatings to achieve their desired results than in less extreme methods of discipline.
But Samuel Beiler had often crossed the line in dealing out even the harshest of punishment. Malachi could not believe that the Lord God approved of a father beating his son with his bare hands to the point of disfigurement.
The oldest of Samuel’s three sons turned out to be an unpleasant surprise. Aaron Beiler was still in his rumspringa, so he might have predictably been more candid about his father than his younger brothers had been. He was known to be an independent sort, surly and gruff, intelligent, and often displaying a streak of belligerence. Malachi would have expected him to be the most outspoken about his father, even blunt.
He was anything but. At first, he seemed openly defiant, tossing off slick and empty remarks in reply to every question he was asked. When pressed to be more serious and sincere, instead he became curt and disagreeable.
Malachi was completely caught off guard when, rather than supporting his brothers’ remarks about their dat’s severe punishments and beatings, Aaron sneered. “Lecherich! They’re both such boppli! Carrying on like babies when their punishment is no more than what they deserve!”
He flatly denied any mistreatment from Samuel and stuck to his story that his brothers were spouting half-truths. “Our dat is a hard man, but he’s also a fair man.”
After a long pause, Bishop Lehman leaned forward and said, “Are you saying then, Aaron, that you have never received harsh treatment or beatings by your father?”
At first the youth delayed, but then he shrugged. “Nothing more than I had coming to me.”
There seemed nothing more to say after that, so the boys were allowed to leave. The two youngest were instructed to go to the home of Samuel Beiler’s sister and spend the night with their aunt.
When they called Samuel Beiler in, they gave him an account of the accusations leveled against him, concentrating more on the reports that he had abused his authority as bishop, issued directives not in keeping with the Ordnung, and inappropriately “threatened” a widow in the community with the Bann. Unwilling to invite even more severe beatings on Beiler’s sons, they deliberately didn’t dwell on the charges about the previous beatings he had inflicted upon his wife and children, although they would, of course, have to take all this into consideration.
Malachi thought Samuel might have been able to talk his way out of most of this had it not been for the final charge—his attempt to coerce Rachel Brenneman into marrying him by threatening to have her shunned.
Beiler appeared to seethe with what Malachi sensed to be a scarcely contained fury, but he said little throughout the meeting other than to deny each accusation. His delivery of each reply was given with a steely-eyed, tight-mouthed control and a strange tone of contempt.
Only at the end of the meeting did Beiler’s self-control clearly desert him. He rose from his chair and hurled a red-faced volley of objections at his questioners. “You dare to insult me, a bishop, a leader like yourselves, with such lies? Gossip! Rumors! That’s what you bring into my house—to me and my sons—and demand that I defend myself against such ridiculous lies? This is the work of the devil! You are all guilty of carrying out his mischief! Well, I don’t have to listen to this any longer and I won’t!”
He stormed out of the room, ignoring Bishop Schrock’s attempt to stop him.
Shocked by Beiler’s behavior, Malachi and the others left immediately to continue their meeting at Malachi’s house.
For a time, the two bishops, Abe, and Malachi sat in silence. Finally Bishop Schrock broke the silence. “Well then, it seems that our brother will make no attempt to explain or defend himself, so we must take what we know to the Lord God and ask for His guidance. We know what his sons have confided, and we know what Malachi has shared with us about Samuel’s attempt to force the widow Brenneman into marrying him by threatening to place her under the Meidung.”
He paused. “I’m sure we can trust Malachi’s word about Rachel’s virtue, that she is an honorable and God-fearing widow and in no way deserving of being shunned. I would suggest that she avoid the company of this auslander, Gant, but I sense that her only sin, should we choose to label it such, would be poor judgment on occasion. However, even if she were guilty of more than that, your bishop had no right to attempt some sort of forced alliance.”
He turned to Bishop Lehman. “Jacob? I’m sure we want to hear your thoughts as well.”
Bishop Lehman knitted his hands together on the table, saying in a thoughtful tone of voice, “I’ll admit that I’m somewhat confused about Aaron Beiler’s refusal to support the remarks of his brothers and his attitude in general. Nevertheless, I tend to trust what we heard from the two younger boys. And I’m grieved to learn about Samuel Beiler’s treatment of one of your widows. That’s nothing less than shameful!”
“We will, of course, need to speak with Samuel again,” put in Bishop Schrock. “He must be given every opportunity to defend himself—or repent.”
“But even if he repents,” said Jacob Lehman, “he will need a time for restoration. Perhaps a very long time. A decision has to be made about the People’s need for a bishop.”
Ordinarily, as Bishop Schrock had earlier explained, they would delay making such a decision for a longer period of time. But because they feared that Beiler’s sons might suffer repercussions from the situation, and because of Beiler’s threat to have Rachel Brenneman shunned, they were in agreement that a decision in this most serious of matters should not be delayed.
So after the bishops had had their say, there seemed nothing else to do except to spend a lengthy time in prayer, seeking God’s wisdom and guidance as they tried to come to a fair and right conclusion about Samuel Beiler.
“Tomorrow, then,” said Bishop Schrock, “we will speak with Samuel again, and then, after an additional time of prayer, come to a decision.”
Malachi almost spoke up at one point to voice his concern about Rachel. More than once he had felt a twist of genuine fear for her safety. Bishop or not, if Beiler were the kind of man who would beat his own sons, attempt to force an unwilling woman to become his wife, and raise a hand as if to strike her when she refused…what else might he be capable of?
In the end, he kept his silence, reminding himself that it wasn’t his place to add his opinions to those of the two bishops. No, he would take his private fear to his Lord and trust Him to protect Rachel as well as Samuel’s sons. He wasn’t at all sure his own personal concern was important enough to enter into the bishops’ decision, a decision that would affect the entire Riverhaven Amish community.
But he believed with all his heart it would be of great importance to their heavenly Father.