energy of the cosmic bridge which spanned from the dawn of creation into their current selves and energized every aspect of their lives.”
“These cooperative rituals sustained their confidence in the process of nature and they were not blinded to any of nature’s indifference’s. Their powers of perception and observation were totally embedded in the meditation of nature. There was no compartmentalization of their lives. They had no word for art, because everything they did was art. They had no word for religion, because everything they practiced was religious. Everything these people did was either a preparation, prayer or purification to the pursuit of staying oriented to a single cosmos of the divine source.”
“We need to ask ourselves what in the world happened to these ingrained virtues which are missing in our modern day men.” He took a breath and as Andrew slowly exhaled he told us the answer. “Civilization is seductive. Our democratic dogma is to despoil and destroy. We have no planetary partnership or mutual respect for anything but power or money. Our unknowable powers have been lost or looted. We live in but a pale shadow of a reality we cannot return to. Modern man’s original spiritual dimension has escaped and only evil intentions seem to survive.”
He took his glasses off and wiped the bridge of his nose with a freshly pressed monogrammed handkerchief that seemed out of place with his causal attire. “Gentlemen, let me digress for a moment. Some of you know I have a daughter whose birth has radically changed my wife’s and my life. We moved from Los Angeles back to Florida to escape from some of the holy hype and weirdness, and of course, the chaos of constant crime. I survived the cocaine war stories I wrote and even kept my emotional distance during the plane crash stories about the survivors. But this story we are about to impart upon has captured my total attention, and I am in awe about what we are about to attempt to do.” His eyes took in the group as he said, “I write a hard book about hard subjects, but I grew up in a soft life. I was lucky to grow up in a full family atmosphere which was filled with fun and loving. The culmination of my work so far has allowed me to rise early each and every morning to practice my craft while my wife and little girl still sleep peacefully in comfort. My paternal instincts now guide many of my thoughts and actions. I feel a great empathy for crime victims who survive and go on to make good lives for themselves. But best of all I feel actually elated about participating in this adventure which may save my little girl from growing up in a cruel and hard world. So before I continue on, let me say that whatever you might care to label our common work, I consider it a blessing to be part of this project.”
I didn’t hear any hallelujahs or amens, but it was very obvious that the group was affected by Andrew’s heartfelt words as he returned to his teacher’s stance and put his glasses back on.
With a loud and assured voice he announced, “No longer do we have preternatural powers to perceive spiritual realities or reintegrate our lives in a mode of religious powers. Idealization and industrialization are our most deadly illnesses, and they will cause a holocaust of a global scale that may indeed finally re-balance nature and mankind’s desires. In the end, I am afraid we will harvest the bitter fruits of the seeds we have sown.”
As Andrew sat down he was visibly shaken from his own words. He stared about the circle of writers as he added his final say. “There is but one thing that connects every single member of mankind from early cavemen to current theologians. Every single tribe has had its own High God who lives and works through its prophets. So it seems for humanity’s own self survival, that even if we didn’t believe a God existed, we would have had to make one up.”
LABYRINTH of LIES
We all left that meeting with Andrew’s words in our minds and the highly professional bound text of his study in our hands. His discourse about the dawn of divinity did seem to shake the foundation of today’s church congregations. Most all of the chosen twelve were quiet except for words of praise about Andrew’s meeting. What started out with a laugh certainly finished with a solemn note of self discovery. For it seemed that the truest truths had been forgotten by our post-modern minds, as we attempted to forge but one nation under God with bigger and better business in control.
We would continue to explore the world’s religions the next day when we would hear from Simon Peter discussing the labyrinth of lies and the longevity of other ancient faiths of God-seekers. During this point of departure we would hope to see into the hearts of these ancient followers and maybe even feel the spirits that guided their lives. His assignment started with the religious forces that were first formed sometime about 5 to 10,000 years B.C.
After a quiet evening of discussing the current day’s problems of what to do with Saddam since his capture and what happened to his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and where might Bin Laden be hiding and why in the world we couldn’t protect our country’s own inbound flights from other nations who were not being as diligent as us with airport security, the next morning the twelve writers and I met again in yet another location deep within the bowels of the ship.
Upon being seated in a Spartan room with but functional chairs and one table bolted to the deck, we were informed via the intercom by a non-decrypted voice that this particular section of the ship was designed to resist any attack from conventional weapons or W.M.D.s, including germ warfare. The group being more sober and solemn than normal was wondering why such accommodations would be necessary and then the intercom provided the answer by replying to the unasked question. “Should any country attempt to release any form of W.M.D.s”, the voice said, “then we only wish to assure you that every possible precaution has been taken to ensure the safety of you and your family or guests. Although we hope nothing of this nature ever transpires between warring nations, we do believe it is best to be prepared for any contingencies.”
It was then I realized that my masters were responding to the group’s conversation of last night. My only question was, were they attempting to frighten us or forge our mutual forces to a fighting nature? Nevertheless the meeting was called to order by me and the ball of authority was passed to Simon, who opened his remarks by stating, “Here I stand amongst the lions of our industry and yet I have no fear of being bitten.” After our laughter subsided, he continued on. “All of you know that I used to be a news correspondent in the Middle East. When I was stationed in Cairo I used to have to worry more about being stabbed in the back by another network reporter who wanted to steal our U.P.I.s headlines than getting cut up by the enemy.” As he took a breath and flashed his boyish smile he said, “So I just want to say how great it really is to work together with the leaders of this industry whose critical acclaim cannot be surpassed.”
“This assignment of researching the roots of religion is right up my alley because during my stint as a director of public affairs, I got to see the truth presented in many shades of gray. I learned that nothing in life is an absolute black or white, except the love I have for my wife and my two teenage children. Although my kids might think otherwise, my wife knows that the main reason I have succeeded in writing is because she met me in the Persian Gulf where writing was much rougher than in our home in Georgetown. So now I know I have it easy. Much like my first novel, I too am an unlikely, but very willing participant in this project. You all may be asking yourselves what all of this has to do with the dawn of divinity? But before I dropped out of graduate school to cover the Democratic National Convention, I learned how to best know a subject, was to first know something about the teacher. So there you are. To quote a great source … I am who I am.”
The Popeye the Sailor joke went over some of our team’s heads, and others just smiled at the godlike simile. At this point he passed out the thick synopsis which summarized the roots of today’s religious forces.
“The origins of religions were developed throughout the Paleolithic and Neolithic epochs and provided the frameworks for systematic religious cultures, which in turn culminated in the birth of the three major monotheistic religions which dominate today’s opinions and faith. The history of God is long and diverse, but I will try to lead you through the ideological sequence from primitive to modern man.”
“Yesterday Andrew spoke very well about mankind’s loss of preternatural powers which allowed our ancestors to perceive spiritual realities, and the fact that every single tribe had its own high God to protect and work with.