The Left Hand of God Page #2

Perhaps it was just a

little too magnificent.

The Chinese love a gesture like

that. You'll see.

They'll flock to the mission now.

It ought to make the doctor happy.

I'll fill his clinic and the

mission can now stay open.

Aren't you glad, Father, to

have the mission continue?

Uh-huh.

Where does that road lead to?

Number Five village.

- Nowhere else?

No.

Dr Sigman tells me the trade

caravans come through here often.

They used to. It's been months

since the last caravan.

There's no other means of

transportation to the coast?

You mean without the caravan?

- Uh-huh. - I'm afraid not.

Mmm, I see.

You're stuck here, Father

O'Shea, whether you like it or not.

That's the way it looks, doesn't it?

Sorry to interrupt, Father.

I make bed.

No, thank you, John.

I'll take care of the bed myself.

Father must visit six villages soon

and meet people.

I must?

- Very necessary. Today visit one village and bless people.

Christ died for all.

You got a good point, John,

Christ died for all. No favourites.

You say mass tomorrow, Father?

Well, I'm afraid

I won't be able to, John.

Tomorrow Sunday, will be first mass

at St Mary's since Father Coleman died.

Well the bag I lost in the river

contained my vestments and chalice.

I'm afraid we'll have to wait

until I can replace them.

Whole village be in church tomorrow.

Have to wait. They can carry their

sins around with them a little longer.

No, Father O'Shea wrong.

Sins cannot wait.

People tired. Carry sins with them

long time since Father Coleman.

Heavy. Father O'Shea lift,

then people not tired.

Well, what would you suggest, John?

Father O'Shea preach strong sermon.

Very well. I'll see the parish gets

an extra strong sermon tomorrow.

Good night, John.

Yes, Father.

Good morning.

You'll have to go. John Wong will have

to excommunicate you if you're late.

Mm, Shalimar.

I had a little left.

For church? You look nice too, Anne.

Technically, it's spring.

Of course, a Father O'Shea does

have a terrific lot of appeal.

Beryl, please.

Is that sacrilege, darling?

But he does, you know.

It's partly his eyes,

they're so beautifully unhappy.

Beryl, please,

you can't talk like that.

But, darling, I'm complimenting him.

He's a good priest or he wouldn't

be way out here in this wilderness.

It's just, the man has magnetism, he has it,

it's not anything to do with the collar he wears.

Look, Beryl,

Father O'Shea is a priest.

I know you're not a Catholic

but you know what that means to me.

I can't think of him as a man.

I mustn't.

I know, I understand.

Now you've got me all flustered

and I can't even think straight.

I feel self-conscious

about getting dressed up.

Of course, it is spring. I added

a few touches myself and I wasn't

thinking of trading Dave in either.

Beloved, I taught you as strangers

and pilgrims

to abstain from carnal desires

which war against the soul.

Such is the will of God

that by doing good,

you should put to silence

the ignorance of foolish men.

Live as free men, yet not using your

freedom as a cloak for malice

but as servants of God.

Honour all men,

love the brotherhood,

fear God, honour the King.

I've just read you a letter from a

very good friend of yours, St Peter.

What are you doing here?

Fix tea, slippers.

No, thanks.

Father Coleman always take tea

after church.

Never mind, forget

it, I don't want any.

Never mind, forget

Good morning.

- Good morning.

Forgive me, Father,

I had to see if you were all right.

Of course I'm all right.

Sit down, won't you?

Want a cup of tea?

Wong fixed it with

all the loving care of a wife.

No, thank you.

- Wife for priest, no good.

Thanks for reminding me.

That man, the man you hit,

he was a stranger, wasn't he?

I've never seen him

in any of the villages.

He spit and I forgot

for a moment I was a priest.

You're disappointed in me,

aren't you?

Violence wasn't quite what you

expected from Father O'Shea.

Difficult to be what one is

expected to be all of the time.

Yeah, I just found that out.

Anne, I'm thinking of

closing the mission.

Closing the mission?

But you can't close the mission.

Why not?

- Because these people need a priest.

No more than people anywhere.

Even Father Coleman didn't accomplish as much

as you have in the short time you've been here.

I haven't accomplished anything.

I've been talking with Dr Sigman.

He thinks it's dangerous

to stay here and he's right.

You saw what happened

today in the compound.

China is becoming a nightmare, Anne.

Here we are, the four of us, what

are we really doing for these people?

You stick a thermometer in their mouths to

check their temperature and I check their souls.

You're wrong.

- Am I?

I get the villagers into church and preach

them a sermon about love and brotherhood

and I walk out and hit

the first stranger I see.

I don't belong here, Anne,

neither do you.

You belong back in the States,

married, raising a family.

I was married, Father.

Yes. That's why I'm in China.

He was a pilot

but he crashed somewhere up there.

I had a stupid, romantic idea that

Tom might be brought into a mission

hospital and I was a nurse.

I know now it's hopeless.

And yet you stayed on.

What else is there to do?

There's so much work

to be done here.

Somebody had to do it.

Even if we fail, Father, we'd still be

leaving something of ourselves in China.

The things we're doing, for

whatever reasons we're doing them,

are the things that are necessary

for the people of these villages.

They need them, medicine or grace.

And we have them to give.

No, Father, even if you

close the mission, I'll stay.

Alone, if I have to.

Do these people really

mean so much to you?

Yes, Father.

And you'll stay,

in spite of the danger?

Yes, Father.

I'm sorry,

I didn't mean to make a speech.

Goodbye, Father.

You know, Father, our professions

aren't too dissimilar.

I have my trinity too -

diagnosis prognosis and cure.

The difference is, my profession ends

where yours begins.

What do you mean?

Well, for example,

there's a beer joint, the Yellow

House, in number one village.

It's owned by a couple of rather

notorious women.

You didn't know that?

- No, I didn't.

Well, it's there and it's filthy.

I had the women in and treated them,

bawled out the town elders

but that's as far as I can go.

If these women are such a bad

influence, why don't you go a little

further and make the town elders put

the women out of business? Check.

That's stepping out of my field.

Morality is your department, Father.

Then you think as a priest,

I should do something about it?

Not necessarily.

Of course, the old method used to be

to stone women like that to death.

That's not the way

Christ handled the problem.

Check.

No, I believe not.

But you seem to favour direct action.

My wife tells me you knocked down

one of the villagers a few days ago.

He was not a villager.

I'm not objecting, Father. I like to

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