The Narrative – Last Days part c

I sometimes get concerned about what kind of world my children will face as they become adults, and especially their grand-children, but when I remember that already they are joining us in our ministry of music, I have hope that they will be like shining stars in a crooked and depraved generation.  Here’s the next installment of the Last Days section of the narrative, considering ideas of what it might be like:

“’You assume my allegation of rape is false just as you assume everything I say to be false, but we do not have world peace when men and women are forced into compounds and brain-washed to think as the government thinks or be punished for refusing!’

“’Silence!  Elizabeth, you will no longer speak in this session or you will be forcefully removed.  You were brain-washed by your religion.  We are here to help you practice your faith in a loving way, not in this spiteful manner that you are presenting to us today.  This is a place of education and free thinking, but you will not spit out your superstitions and rebellion here.’

“’I will not be silent while these injustices still remain; the elderly are euthanized, the disabled and unwanted terminated in the womb, sexual immorality is rampant and everyone thinks he or she is a god!  How right Jesus is in calling the world’s deeds evil, but you sanction them as good, how twisted…’

“’Guards!’

“Immediately a host of male police officers bounded through the automatic doors and seized Elizabeth from where she sat.  They forced her to come away to a small room where she was thrown to the floor and left alone for several hours.

“In these hours she had time to think, knowing the intention of the police was to arouse fear, but her thoughts went to I AM.  She prayed.

“When a tall man entered the room, bringing a padded chair for himself to sit on while she remained on the floor.  Elizabeth kept her head down.

“’I understand you have a complaint to file?’ he stated gently.  Now she peered upward locking eyes with the officer.  ‘I have been raped by your policemen and forcefully taken to this compound against my will.’  The officer stared back at her.  ‘What proof do you have that you were raped?’  Now she simply stared back at him.

“’I’ll assume that means you have none.  It will not help your case to make false accusations against the police.  So let me advise you, it is best to cooperate and learn some tolerance so that it will go well with you and you can live in harmony with everyone else.  The reason you’re here is that you haven’t yet learned to live in harmony with the rest of the world.  We found you on the streets with proof that you have been buying and selling in the underground market.  No identity chip was found in your wrist and there is absolutely no need for you to be on the streets when the government has aid programs with free housing, free meals, and free education, healthcare and entertainment.  So why were you on the streets?  Because you haven’t been able to interact properly with the world around you.  But we’re here to help you, not to harm you, so there’s no reason to be upset or contentious.’

“’Spare me the brain-washing.  Your idea of tolerance is so twisted you have no idea what the word means.  Forcing people into government compounds is not tolerance, it is intolerance.  You will not tolerate my faith in Jesus Christ and so you put me into this compound.’

“’We do tolerate your faith in Jesus Christ.  In fact, we honor your faith.  We’re just trying to help you practice your faith in a tolerant manner.  We cannot tolerate intolerance.  You have held to the insane belief that God is full of hatred for people and only by believing that Jesus was hated in your place can you be loved by God.  We are trying to help you see that God is love and Jesus is our example of love and tolerance.  God loves everyone and everything: Muslim people, Jewish people, those who practice Hinduism, Buddhism, and any other personal religion a person might have.  He is not exclusive, but inclusive.  His death was a metaphor of sacrifice for all people to imitate and his alleged resurrection is a symbol of newness and rebirth for all.  As the Bible says, “in Him we live and move and have our being.”  We are all a spark of the great Divinity…’

“’Please sir, I’ve heard this all before.  Yes, God loves everyone, but love is a choice and not everyone loves Him.  Few in these last days are willing to recognize that without His Grace we would not have any goodness.  We all want to take credit for our own goodness, but we have separated ourselves from God’s holy Presence with our selfishness and the rebellion in our hearts.  Only through Jesus taking the consequence of this selfishness on Himself can we be restored to God.  Even now you can have a love relationship with Him and walk in joy, real joy and love…’

“’You claim that we are trying to brainwash you, but you have already been brainwashed by the hypocrites in your archaic religion.  Wake up, Elizabeth.  Be evolved.

The time is new.  Be open to new things, not just letters on a page that are dead or teachings of chauvinistic men long gone…’

“’They are not just letters on a page, by God’s Spirit they are alive, life-giving, sharper than any two-edged sword…’

“’Don’t you understand even the language of a sharp two-edged sword is immersed in a militaristic, war-hungry culture?  Let your love relationship with God be bigger than the confines of an ancient culture and learn new things…’

“’Our battle has never been against flesh and blood, but against powers, authorities…’

“’Enough, silence!  I will return again tomorrow when you have had time to consider.’  The officer stood up, took his chair and walked out of the room quickly through the automatic door.

“Elizabeth still sat on the floor, staring forward.  She shook her head.  Then she prayed again.  At the edge of the room a small compartment suddenly opened out of the wall with a glass of water on it.  She wanted the water, but knew from its tint that it was drugged.  So she lay down to sleep, but as she lay down a mist filled the room.  It smelled of chemicals and kept her from sleeping.

“For days no one came to see her and all she could drink was the water given her, which kept her from sleeping.  So she continued to pray.  The days passed but she could not know how many since she could not sleep, nor see the light of day or dark of night.

“Finally after many days, the automatic door slid open and the tall officer entered the room, chair in hand.  Again he set the padded chair down and sat on it, peering down at Elizabeth blankly.  ‘You’ve had time to think, Elizabeth, much time…’

“She could hardly keep her eyes focused on him, she had become so dizzy.  ‘Why have you kept me awake by force?’

“’Haven’t you been sleeping?  Has your conscience bothered you so?  You finally understand that God is love?  You finally understand that yours is not the only way to God, that all loving paths lead back to love?  Will you finally let yourself rest in that love and tolerance that you know is true deep down?  You are divine, you are an expression of God; you are powerful beyond what you know.  You’re afraid to admit how powerful you are.  Don’t be afraid anymore.’  He spoke in such a way that one phrase overlapped into the next.  She could not get a word in edge-wise and she was too tired to do so.  Thus she kept her head down and stared forward, expressionless.

“’All these wars for religion, but they only led to strife, death, oppression, and starvation.  There are no poor any longer, we live for well over a hundred years, children can play in the streets, wars have ceased; there is one government, one common language, one economy, one world in harmony.  See with new eyes.  What more have we waited for?  What more did Jesus come to bring but world peace, harmony, and all on equal footing, realizing our potential, a people actualized, the whole of mankind together as one.’

“This kind of talk went on for several hours as Elizabeth kept her head to the floor.  Finally she fell forward in exhaustion.  The officer stopped speaking for a moment.  Then he asked her quietly.  ‘Do you now understand?  Just tell me you understand; that’s all.  This can all be ended if you simply tell me you understand.  I’m sure you will find that you will be able to rest easy with a clear conscience.  Your old beliefs are fading away as a dream when one awakes.  You’re waking up to understand the things I’m telling you, that they are true.  You can rest in them.  Just tell me you understand.  Say it with your lips and you will find yourself easing into slumber, I assure you.’

“’I understand,’ she repeated weakly.  The officer smiled.  ‘Good then, I’m so glad to hear that you’re coming to your senses.’

“’I understand that children play in the streets and wars have ceased and there is one common language, one government.’

“’Good, good,’ he said smiling again.

“’I understand that some of these children are adopted at an early age by sexual molesters and taught to have sex with them; that these molesters are called peda-sexuals, as if they are born that way, except that now most of them were also adopted and raised in the same way themselves.’

“At this the officer no longer smiled.

“’I understand that wars have ceased, but men and women still hate each other in their hearts and they choose to not live near each other or to be terminated because they hate their own lives.  One common government that forces people into submission if they do not cooperate…’

“’Silence!’  He stood up from his chair and Elizabeth stopped speaking, still lying on the floor.  ‘You do not understand!…’ ”

(To be continued…)