Arthur Pendelton
Listen to Closing the Circle by Arthur Pendelton as a bilingual audiobook with synchronized read-along text in English and Czech.
Rain tapped a rhythmic cadence against the stained-glass windows of St. Jude’s Sanctuary. Father Julian smoothed the crisp lapels of his woven linen chasuble, contemplating the quiet sanctuary before him. Decades had carved deep furrows into his countenance, yet his blue eyes retained a piercing clarity. On the altar lay a polished wooden urn crafted from reclaimed fallen cedar, surrounded by vibrant ferns and lilies. Today, he was scheduled to perform a solemn duty that bridged the distant past with the present. He was to deliver the funeral sermon for Clara Vance, a woman whose life had traversed a full, magnificent arc. Fifty years earlier, in this very stone nave, Julian had poured water over Clara’s tiny, inquisitive brow. He distinctly remembered how her infant eyes had blinked with uncanny alertness as the blessed water trickled down. Now, she had departed this world, leaving behind a legacy as enduring as the ancient oaks outside. Outside the tall arched windows, wild blackbirds glided effortlessly across the misty autumn canopy. Clara had grown up to become a visionary botanist who devoted her existence to ecological restoration.