Chapter 8: Love always Trusts.
PING. “Oh, a meeting invite”, said Cynthia opening her calendar, “HR? What is this about…” Cynthia accepted the meeting, it was set for 13:00. “The big boss? Oh, he’s optional… maybe its just a formality to have him invited”, she thought. The invite didn’t give any details about what the meeting was about. At 12:45, Cynthia made her way to the 1st floor where the companies HR department was. She got to the meeting room, “Hi Cynthia”, said the HR Director, “you can come inside, the big boss is just finishing in the bathroom and then he’ll join us so we can begin.” Cynthia felt a cold come into her stomach. She recognised it, that familiar nervous tummy feeling that she would get before tests or going on stage during school. “Why is he here? Why would the big boss need to be here?”, she thought.
“Hi Cynthia”, the big boss said firmly walking into the room and closing the door behind him, “sorry I’m late, let’s begin”. “Cynthia we’ve received a complaint against you from an employee.” said the HR director, “It’s serious enough that we need to speak with you about it. You’ve been here for a long time already and this is the first time anybody has submitted anything against you.” Cynthia’s mind was reeling, “a complaint? from who? about what?” she thought trying to figure out what was happening. She could feel the panic building. There was a noticeable sweat building on her forehead, “keep it cool Cynthia. If they see your panic they will think you’re automatically guilty.” Her face felt flushed, “Are you okay?” asked the big boss, “Uhm, ye.. yes I am, just a bit hot” she lied, “what the fuck Cynthia? It’s the middle of winter, how can it be hot??” she continued, berating herself.
“Okay then, Cynthia I have to say I am not happy about this. You’ve been in this position for less than a year and already there are serious problems.” the big boss continued, “this complaint against you, the cyber threat from your employee…” he began listing, “who happens to also be the person whose complained about you? What is going on? How are you defending this?” he said pointedly. “Relax Jim, let me handle this…” said the HR director, putting her hand on his arm. “Cynthia?” she continued, “can you explain it to us?” she asked calmly. Cynthia had gone white, all the blood had drained from her face. Her tongue felt like sandpaper against the top of her mouth. She forced her lips open, “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you are talking about? What cybersecurity threat?” she asked in horror. Jim erupted, “So incompetent that she does not even know what is happening in her own department? How did we hire this woman.” “Not here Jim”, said the HR Director.
“The IT director, Micah, has informed us that your staff member Jude has hacked our systems but he is not able to figure out how. The IT department has been investigating the breech for the last 4 months now to find out what is going on and how this has happened.” the director explained, “I’m a little bit shocked that you are not aware of this” she said flatly, “I would expect that a senior manager who is supposed to be good at strategy would have identified a strategy to derail the company?” Cynthia felt completely overwhelmed. “Cynthia, look, it’s clear that there has been at least negligence on your part as a manager. Not knowing about and more importantly, not reporting something as serious as a cybersecurity threat is very bad. You also don’t seem to have any real evidence to defend yourself?” the HR director continued, “Jim,” she turned to look at the big boss, “I think the best course of action is suspension.” Jim nodded in agreement, “at the very least so that we can further investigate whether the official charge meets the criteria for gross negligence or even criminal negligence.” “CRIMINAL?!?” burst Cynthia, “What do you mean criminal?”. “We just don’t know yet if you are involved with your employee. Your silence on the matter and lack of defence give the impression that you might be involved.” Jim clarified, “if you are involved, we will open a case against you.” “I argee with you Jim” said the HR Director, “Cynthia, can you please hand in your security clearance. You will be placed on suspension until this has been resolved. In the meantime, George will act in your position.”
“What about Jude?” said Cynthia, “don’t worry about Jude. We are investigating and we will handle it.” said Jim, “Cynthia.” said Jim, Cynthia looked at him with concern and defeat on her face, “I am instructing you to remain silent about this. Do not talk to or confront Jude about anything. We cannot find his hack and we need him to continue thinking that everything is normal in the hope he will make a mistake and slip up”. “Agreed, I will make sure that your instruction is logged as part of the disciplinary process” said the HR director. “Okay Cynthia, unless there is anything else from your side?” said Jim – Cynthia just stared blankly – “Okay then, I think that we are done here.” “You can pack your things and return home until further notice. Do not worry about your pay, this is a paid suspension until the investigation is over. I will email you the documents with our findings and detailing the way forward” she continued. With that, Jim and the HR director both stood up, shook Cynthia’s hands and walked out speaking amongst themselves. Cynthia just heard background noise.
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“What just happened? I thought everything was fine? Sure I’ve been a bit offish with Jude, but surely not enough to warrant this? What did he even say to them?”. She sat there for about 10 minutes and then slowly steadied herself to her feet. As she entered the lobby she was greeted by the security guard, “Ms Cynthia, here are your things from the office. I was asked to pack them for you and bring them” “Thank you, where is my laptop?” “No laptop Ma’am, that stays”, the security guard said holding out his arm to block Cynthia from going to the elevator. “I will walk with you to your car” he continued.
The Takeover.
BING. The elevator door opened. George turned to see who was coming out the elevator. He was surprised to see the big boss walk out. He moved purposefully toward his office, “George, my office” he commanded, “yes sir”, George replied and got up. The big boss was moving quickly, George was nearly jogging to keep up. “Close the door”, he said. George turned and closed the door behind him. While he was moving to the chairs in front of the big boss’s desk, “No need to sit”, he said. George stopped. “Cynthia’s been put on suspension. You will act in her place. You can use her office.” “Okay” said George stunned, “Can I ask what happened?” he said cautiously, “What does it matter?” the big boss retorted, “you wanted the position previously. Now you’ve got it. Show me what you can do.” The big boss looked down and began worked, George took this as his sign that he should leave. “Tell Jude I want to see him” he said to George as he walked out the room.
KNOCK KNOCK. “Ah, Jude. Please come in” the big boss said with a smile. “Thank you sir, George said you wanted to see me?” asked Jude. “Yes, I wanted to let you know that Cynthia will be away for a while so George will act in her place while she’s away.” “Oh is everything okay?”, Jude asked, “Yes.” the big boss said, “We had a meeting with her today to discuss your HR complaint. We have placed her on suspended leave while we investigate your claims further.” “Thank you sir, I appreciate the feedback. I don’t have anything against her personally, but it’s been very difficult working with a manager who doesn’t want to communicate or give feedback and input. I need her support and guidance. My intension is not to harm her, just to try and restore a working relationship between us? I understand if we are not friends or have no relationship outside of work, but at work I feel we should be able to speak and interact professionally.” Jude explained. The big boss nodded, “I understand your concerns and we are looking into it. You will be notified about the outcomes and any permanent changes if that is an outcome. I advise you not to contact her so that we do not contaminate the investigation.” “Okay sir”, said Jude, he sat submissively in the chair. Leaning forward, with his bum at the edge, his hands clasped and between his legs. The big boss smiled and leaned on the desk in a friendly manner, “for now you can work with George, he’s a brilliant economist and can be a good mentor to you.” “Thank you Sir” said Jude. “Please will you ask George to come to me, I need to go over some things that Cynthia was working on with him.”
Jude got up and made his way to his desk. George was standing in the doorway leaning on the door frame to Cynthia's office, “What happened?” he asked, “nothing really, He just said that Cynthia has been put on suspension pending an investigation and that you and I will work together until she’s back.” Jude replied, “Oh” George said. “The big boss asked that you go back with your laptop because there were things that he needed to talk with you about regarding ongoing projects that Cynthia was working on.” Jude said. George got his laptop and locked the office door behind him.
“Hi Sir, Jude said you wanted to see me?”, “Yes George, please sit down. You can close the door.” said the big boss. “George, Jude lodged a complaint against Cynthia which is why she has been placed on suspension. We are investigating what happened and what was the fallout. Please work with him and do not cause problems. You know that he is very skilled, we cannot afford any retaliation from him. I need you to keep him happy while we investigate further.” explained the big boss, noticeably calmer. “Sure Sir” replied George. “Did you bring your laptop?” said the big boss, with George opening it up on his desk, “Okay, what has Cynthia shared with you and what hasn’t she?” he said, turning to his desktop screen, and double clicking the folder “Strategy”.
Peace.
“Thank you, father,” Jude prayed silently in his chair. “I feel a sense of peace. You have moved to protect me. Bless me and establish the work of my hands Father.” Glen was standing next to Jude worshipping God, “Peace and Power! Lord of Glory! You have given Peace!” The sound of the worship was visible in the spirit, multiple thick strands of blue fire that cracked like a whip at the conflict spirit trying to access Jude. The fire left burn marks where it landed and the floor was left scorched. The conflict spirit grumbled intensely under the pain of the burns, Glen continued to stare starkly at it, “you will not enter here” he declared to the conflict spirit. The conflict spirit saw the radiant blue glow of the word of God imprinted on the flesh of Jude as he sat at his desk. The salvation sigil on Jude's head, righteous on his chest, Faith as a shield covering him. The tips of the blue glory fire whips turning into the double edged sword of the word of God. Peace on Jude's feet and truth around his waist. Panicking, it thought, "There is a lot of chaos between the others, but there is no way to access this one..."
The boardroom storm broke, but one tselem stood untouched…
Romans 12:3 – “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
Pistis (faith), the root word for pisteuo, isn’t evenly distributed—it’s apportioned by the King according to His purpose. Is trust and Faith the same? Are there differences in the way the tselem-demut of trust vs Faith play out in Ch 8?
?? Mapping Challenge ??
? What demut-difference is there between the pistis of 1 Corinthians 13:7 vs Philippians 4:22?
? Where did Jude’s “measure of faith” make chaos bounce off?
? Genesis 50:20 just played out—which spirit patterns got exposed?
? Thank you to everyone reading, rating, and favoriting – your eyes see what the Seer foretold!
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