THE ALL of IT - All a Work of Art and Understanding

This deceptively short, stunner,  THE ALL of IT, by Jeannette Haien, slowly reveals the lives of a couple, Edna & Kevin told to Father Declan, at Kevin's deathbed.  Kevin gravely ill confesses to Declan that he & Edna were never married.  Confess, demands the priest of Kevin and allow me to marry you & Edna immediately.  Kevin tells the priest that he cannot.  Kevin's explanation, "that there's some explanations as get you nowhere." Declan declares "that it's not for me to judge, but for God, and for Him to understand and forgive."  Oh that he should heed his own words and judge not, lest he be judge.  For it is Edna who reveals to the priest that she & Kevin were brother and sister and adamantly refuses to confess to him as a priest but will confide to him as a friend.  The priest's passion outside his parish is fly-fishing and he agrees to hear Edna out against his better judgement , "You've netted me with your telling."  Edna unfurls her tale  slowly like a fisherman casting his line.  It is with patience and understanding Declan condemns his own self-righteousness.  "... he had done naught but review his life in terms of the crime he had committed against her...To work one's imagination on someone else is evil." Patience is a virture and all we crave from one another is companionship. Reel in this elegant, moral story and take it to heart.