The photo above is courtesy of pxhere.com. Photographer: Robert Couse-Baker.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

• Luke 5:8-10

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

• Mark 1:35-39

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

• John 6:66-69

With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

• Matthew 26:51

Boilerplate

Over the month prior to starting this series, I was bombarded with advertisements for AI companions.  At first, I dismissed them.  Then, I got curious.  Maybe an AI companion could give me ideas for posts to write.  Maybe an AI companion could give me someone to talk to when I just needed to talk.

But then, as a former computer programmer, the only difference in AI and the normal method of programming, is that AI searches data around the world to continue the conversation, but they know nothing about you until you give them information.  The “getting to know you” period can get awkward, just as in a human relationship.  But it is not real, and now your information is out there.

So, I thought, if the AI companion only knows what you say about yourself, maybe I could have a conversation with my fictional characters in the big city of Tracy.  They could be my companions.  Okay, I only need one, but which one?  Naomi Yeggs scares me to be honest.  I might save her for last, although my neck needs a good massage.

My next attempt at finding an FI (Fictional Intelligence) Companion will be Arabella Dalton.  Emmett Dalton, the boyfriend of Sophia Yeggs, has two younger sisters, Arabella and Sarah.  Arabella is a very talkative teenager.  Yes, she is barely a teenager, but she has an interesting way of seeing things.  I might learn something interesting from her.  As usual, the discussion is in dialogue form:

Me: Hello, Arabella, can we talk?
Arabella: Sure, I love to meet new people.  My folks say that it is not a good thing to have no fear at all in meeting someone new.  But I do not see people as strangers.  I just see strange people that I do not know yet.  Are you a strange person?  Oh, who are you anyway?
Me: I am the author of the short stories of which you are a part.  I am looking for a companion to talk to when things do not seem to work out.  And yes, I have been told that I am sort of strange.
Arabella: Mr. Author, I have not seen my name in your stories.  What’s up with that?
Me: Well, I am introducing you now.  What do you think about companionship?
Arabella: Well, I was reading the gospels the other day, and Jesus calls Simon and his companions to follow Him, Jesus that is.  That comes from Luke 5, but in Mark 1, Simon Peter is already a follower of Jesus and when Jesus goes out to pray, Simon and his companions go to find Jesus.  A crowd is forming in the town, and many want to be healed.  But Jesus tells them that they need to go to the next town.  But all this time, when the word companion comes up, they are the companions of Simon.  Of course, others are added along the way, until Matthew 26 when the word companion is used to refer to Jesus’ companions.  It is not a good reference because Peter draws a sword and cuts off the ear of the chief priest’s servant.  Matthew doesn’t mention Peter, but John does.  So, I am fascinated by how the disciples went from being the companions of Simon Peter to being the companions of Jesus.
Me: My, that is thought provoking.  The first instance, in Luke 5, Jesus has just told them where to cast their nets and their boats nearly sink trying to pull in the nets.  You would think that with a miracle like that, they might think of themselves as the companions of Jesus.
Arabella: Yeah, Jesus caught the fish, but then He healed people.  He cast out demons.  He did all kinds of fantastic miracles.  Simon Peter and his companions dropped everything to follow Jesus everywhere He went, even finding Him when Jesus snuck off to pray.
Me: And your question is why did it take them nearly the entire three years of Jesus’ ministry to be considered the companions of Jesus?
Arabella: Yeah, do you have an answer for that?
Me: Well, let’s see.  The original companions who were the followers of Jesus were Andrew and Simon and James and John.  Two sets of brothers that were in the fishing business together.  As a business venture, they were more than companions.  In Luke 5:9 they call them companions, but in Luke 5:7, as the nets were tearing under the strain of so many fish, they called out to their partners.  Then in Mark 1, Jesus is just starting His ministry.  He heals Simon’s mother-in-law.  And Jesus becomes hounded by all these people wanting healing.  That is natural, both wanting to be healed and crowding around the one who you believe can heal you.  So, the predominant group is still the four fishermen, although others might tag along.  Simon seems the one who is most vocal, and even today, the one who acts as the spokesperson for the group seems in many circles to gravitate into a leadership role.
Arabella: It doesn’t work for me.  We got llamas on our farmland, and I helped the veterinarian give birth to a few llamas.  I showed pictures of the baby llamas, but the other kids said I was lying when I said that I helped the veterinarian.  I don’t know, the vet and I seem to get along.  I ask a lot of questions, and he is happy to answer the questions.  He says he likes children that are inquisitive.  But in all that, no one thinks of me as a leader.
Me: It doesn’t always work that way, and at some point, the transition from Simon’s companions to being the companions of Jesus happens, maybe early on.  We hear terms like the followers of Jesus or His disciples.  Look at John 6, near the end of the chapter.  Many of the disciples of Jesus leave when Jesus tries to teach them about how we should eat His flesh and drink His blood.  Jesus is pointing to the Lord’s Supper and sharing in the death and resurrection of Jesus, but it was too hard to wrap their heads around that.  Drinking blood in any form was against Levitical Law.  But the Twelve, and quite a few others, stayed.  As Simon basically said, “Where else can we go?”  So, Simon was the spokesman for the Twelve, but Jesus was the leader at that point.  How often is “companion” mentioned between Mark 1 and Matthew 26, if you run things together chronologically.
Arabella: Well companion is mentioned when talked about David and his companions eating the bread.
Me: Mabel mentioned that one last week.
Arabella: You talked to Mabel?  She tells us children to either put on an apron and help or get out of her bakery.
Me: Were you sampling the merchandise at the time?
Arabella: You can’t say that the trimmings from the cake to make it level is merchandise.  They throw that stuff away.
Me: But she didn’t know when your munchies would be finished.  You might snatch some cookies or a donut next.
Arabella: I guess.
Me: So, what about this companion thing?
Arabella: I just want to follow Jesus.  I am too young and inexperienced to be your companion.  But if you could get a little boy to notice me, I might try being your companion parttime.
Me: And who is this little boy?
Arabella: Michael Rowe Casey.  He’s dreamy.
Me: And how do you know that he is dreamy?  He doesn’t live at Lily the Pink.
Arabella: He stayed here during the day from the time he was rescued from the flood until he finished the seventh grade.  I hope he is in my classes in eighth grade.  While he was here taking his classes and getting grief counseling from Pastor Joseph, I would watch him from the top of the Crystal Mountain.
Me: Have you ever said, “Hello?”
Arabella: There were only a couple of times when I was down at ground level when he was here.
Me: Did you say “Hello”?
Arabella: No!  I got all flustered.  All I could think of saying was, “Do you like llamas?”
Me: (chuckling) You?  Having the cat get your tongue?  You must really think this boy is dreamy.  But, does he like llamas?
Arabella: (shaking her head) He said that he liked goats.  And since he left, we got some of his goats.  I have learned how to milk them.
Me: Well, now you have some common ground to talk to him.  But don’t be shy.  That is your little sister’s thing, not yours.
Arabella: Yeah, she hardly says a word.  Sarah doesn’t get picked by the teacher half as much as me.  Teachers pick on me all the time.
Me: How is that?
Arabella: Well, I would hold up my hand to ask a question.  That is normal, but then I would have something on my mind and the teacher will stop teaching and ask me what my question was.  I didn’t raise my hand or anything.
Me: You have a very expressive face, Arabella.  The teacher saw the expression when you raised your hand.  So, then, she read your body language and asked what you were thinking.  That cut out all the hand raising stuff.  And the teacher did not quit teaching.  She quit giving information from her lecture.  She saw in you a teachable moment and she was eager to help you.  And maybe some of the less expressive children in the room had the same question.
Arabella: Yeah, but about half the class laughed at my question.  Sometimes, even the teacher had a hard time not laughing.
Me: So, you would like to be Michael Rowe Casey’s ‘companion’, but what is your suggestion to me?
Arabella: Follow Jesus.
Me: I do that, but sometimes you want someone that is flesh and bone to talk to.
Arabella: Are you looking for romance?
Me: No, just someone to talk to.  I talk to God a lot, but God answers your prayers on His time schedule.  And when you just want to touch someone, not romantically, it means leaving the keyboard to do it.  I am a lot like Sarah, your younger sister.  I have spent much of my life entertaining myself.  My wife has been gone for nearly a year and a half.  And at this moment, the Sunday school where I teach is off for the summer.
Arabella: That’s weird.  We have Sunday school all year long!
Me: I am enjoying the time off, but I miss having other people around, even if it is just one day each week, and I spend hours preparing to teach the lesson.
Arabella: I would go to your class.
Me: But you haven’t heard me teach a lesson.
Arabella: But you seem to be a nice man.  I hope you find that person who can give you a hug.  Bye!

And that was it.  She was gone, probably to milk goats and check on llamas.

Arabella was direct in her innocent way.  God is my best choice as a companion, and I need to get out more and see real people.

And if I had a Credits section here, I am patterning Arabella after my wife at thirteen.  I did not know her then, but she would have an odd look on her face and the teacher would ask her what she was thinking, and sometimes, the thought was more comical than educational.  That part of the above conversation is what my wife told me about her early years in school in El Paso, Texas.  She won’t appear until Jemima Yeggs’ second Sunday school class, but then she dominates the class.

I think Mary Sheltie Jones will be my next choice of people to talk to and then I will conclude with Trinity Naomi Tesla Yeggs.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.