the 6th commandment

However, let me tell you a little bit more about Radford Kingsley. A humbler person never has trodden this earth. Someone who, in his letter to God tearfully addressed mankind in general: “I am ever so sorry for whatever wrongs I have committed.”

And the only sin Radford was ever to commit was that he then went ahead and murdered his wife. Only that….

At age 78 Kathleen Kingsley was 9 years younger than her Bradford, subsisting in the poorest of health. Suffering from diabetes her kidneys have failed, her sight was almost non-existent, and was she permanently condemned to a wheel chair. The excruciating pain she suffered in silence, for, above all else the subjugation of her dignity was the worst. Having to undergo dialyses twice a week, it was the one instance where her loving, caring Bradford mutely had to allow strangers to touch her, averting his eyes in shame for subjecting her to the impropriety.

And every evening, when they clinged to one another, there in their flatlet, in the almost light of a flickering candle, Kathleen escaped to the remotest corner of her heart, where not even her Bradford was allowed to accompany her. There she contemplated how selfishly she obliged her Bradford to exist solely for her comfort, and how, should she meet her Maker, he can at least spend his few remaining years in peace.

Oh, she was ever so sly, insidiously chipping away at his resolve. Finally convincing him to release her from this earthly torment. Above all else, he loves her dearly and thus would not allow her to writhe in agony any longer? Besides, did the pastor himself not declare that dying but implies an end to our earthly lives, in order that we can join Christ in heaven, where there is no pain, only peace and happiness? Think about it- in a few years he will join her, and they can live full lives again, together!

Bradford loved his Kathy to the extent that he wanted her every wish fulfilled. None the less, it was with trepidation that he wrote these final words: “May God have mercy on my soul,” then gently carried his beloved Katherine to the car. In silence they traversed the distance to the lake outside of Cranston, Maine.

There, sobbing with a finality that goes deeper than the physical, a kind of grief that consumes your heart to expose the rawness of your soul, Bradford kissed the reason for his existence a final time, tenderly so….. before starting the engine. Then, after one hour, he mindlessly set the vehicle alight, just to make sure....

When the sheriff arrived it was to gaze upon the smouldering wreck, and Bradford….

However, Bradford would never say anything again, at least not here on earth, the fat white sheriff thought to himself. Not drifting there in the lake. For he has known his Katherine so well, loved her so much, that he, unbeknownst to her, could visit that remotest corner of her heart at will, reading her every thought, making his own plans….

You see, it basically boils down to this: They were two people who have fulfilled the biblical pronouncement regarding love: “No greater love has he…..” Yes, they loved each other more than life itself, their own lives, and were more than willing to sacrifice themselves on behalf of each other.

Accordingly, with your permission, dearest reader, I want to beg the good Lord’s forgiveness: for not condemning Bradford because he has transgressed the 6th commandment.