Bright Star was reading her Bible again a year later. It was odd, she thought, that Reverend Paulson never mentioned God telling people to rest on Saturday.

So, if Saturday’s God’s holy day, why do we worship on Sunday? she wondered.

“What is it, Bright Star?” Bright Sun asked.

“So many times in the Bible,” Bright Star said, looking up, “God tells us to rest on the Sabbath day, which is the seventh day, which is Saturday.”

Bright Sun turned around in the chair. “What are you saying?”

“Why do we worship on Sunday instead of Saturday?” Bright Star wanted to know.

“Umm, maybe because we’ve been doing it for years and years and years? It’s tradition,” Bright Sun shrugged and turned back around.

“But tradition did not stop the sun from stopping over the battlefield. Tradition did not stop Jesus,” Bright Star muttered.

“You say something?”

“Just thinking out loud,” Bright Star nodded.

“You know, if you are so all-fired concerned about this Sunday-Saturday thing, you should talk to Pa,” Bright Sun suggested.

“Maybe I should,” Bright Star mused.

“Girls!” Annie called. “Time for church.”

“Coming, Ma!” Bright Sun called.

Bright Star closed her Bible and went downstairs. They went out to the stable and while Annie and Reverend Paulson sat in the buggy, John, Bright Sun, and Bright Star rode their foals.

When they were there, Bright Star and Bright Sun dismounted and waited for Reverend Paulson. Bright Star was glad that she could still dress in buckskin and not the itchy dresses that Annie wore. They went in and sat at the front like they always did. Reverend Paulson preached a sermon on the story of creation.

That’s odd, Bright Star thought, he left out the part about God resting on the seventh day. He’s never done that before. I wonder, is something going on that he hasn’t told us about?

But he continued and preached a good sermon. As usual, everyone thanked him for “a great sermon” at the door. Bright Star waited in the church for him like people did when they wanted to talk to the reverend after church.

“Bright Star?” Reverend Paulson asked afterwards. “What’s wrong?”

“You cut out a part,” Bright Star said, staring at the wall, “in the verses you read.”

“Oh,” Reverend Paulson shuffled his feet. “Uh, I was hoping no one would notice that.”

With a bit of pressuring, Bright Star found that the general synod had told him to buzz off about Saturday and mind his own business, which was to give God a good name and not make people question Him…or them. He didn’t want to cut off their one paycheck, so he obeyed.

And with that, Bright Star left him, determined to send a good message to the synod and give them a piece of her mind. But she had to be careful about it. After all, Reverend Paulson was right, it was his paycheck. So she might endanger the family if she didn’t have a good back-up plan.

I’m not going to lose this family! she told herself.

The next day, when she went to school, she asked Miss Wilson, “When did we start worshipping on Sunday?”

Miss Wilson smiled. “Now there’s a good piece of history! Why don’t you stay after class and we’ll talk all about it?”

Bright Star waited patiently till the end of the day. She walked up to Miss Wilson’s desk.

“Bright Star,” she said, “when you’ve read all there is to know, let me know.”

“About what?” Bright Star asked.

“You have a huge library,” Miss Wilson smiled. “Look up ‘Constantine.’ I like that you’re digging so deep, Bright Star, it shows promise.”

“Three years ago,” Bright Star shook her head, “I could not have imagined being here! I had no ambitions but to see another day!”

Bright Star trotted back home and she did her chores but her mind was on other things.

After dinner, Bright Star searched through the fairly large library.

“History, history…” she murmured as went down the bookshelves. “History. Roman: Roman mythology, Roman practices, Roman emperors. That is what I want.”

She picked up the book and sat down in the chair. She opened it and found the index. It was in alphabetical order and she quickly flipped until she found Constantine.

She found out that the Sunday thing came from paganism when Emperor Constantine converted the whole Roman empire. It wasn’t biblical at all!

She put the book away and went to bed. She slept well but was eager to get to school the next day.

When she reached school, she rushed inside eagerly. At recess, Miss Wilson made an announcement.

“Today,” Miss Wilson said, “the girls will continue basket weaving and the boys may continue their baseball tournament. Bright Star, would you come here, please?”

Erica, for Bright Star still sat next to her, snickered at Bright Star as she walked up.

“I finished,” Bright Star said eagerly.

“Yes, I could see by your face. I have something for you,” Miss Wilson nodded. “Do you want to continue the tournament?”

“I can do that tomorrow, John will cover for me,” Bright Star waved a hand. “This is more important!”

“John Paulson!” Miss Wilson called when the boy were filing out and John stopped and turned. “Would you please take over for Bright Star?”

John nodded, casting an odd glance at Bright Star, before disappearing out the door.

“Bright Star,” Miss Wilson got up from her desk, “walk with me.”

Bright Star was only too willing and quickly got up to follow Miss Wilson out the back door. Miss Wilson took a bag from her buggy, which was behind the schoolhouse, and dug through it. She gave Bright Star a newspaper and told her about some people called the Adventists. Miss Wilson concluded, “And they seek to draw as many people to Jesus before God’s second coming and they could always use another minister.”

“Pa,” Bright Star knew what Miss Wilson meant.

“There’s talk of starting an Adventist church a little farther south of here,” Miss Wilson continued. “I’d like you to have that newspaper. You might be able to find something out about it.”

“Can you get more stuff on this?” Bright Star asked.

“If you want, I’ll bring more,” Miss Wilson promised.

Miss Wilson brought Bright Star something until she had enough for her letter. Friday, Bright Star told the fam and they helped her write it. She first penned why she thought Saturday was the right day, then how the Sunday thing got started. Then she finished it off, and signed her name: Bright Star Paulson.