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The HolyA Better WorldI ran into the Holy the other day."By the way," I asked, "how come you never answer any prayers?" "I stopped a long time ago," the Holy informed me, "because they never answered mine." "Yours?!" "Yeh, you can't expect me to say Yes; Alright; OK, again and again, but when I asked for help it was like talking to a mushroom. Nothing. The big zero. Suddenly they weren't there. I got to the point where I doubted the existence of humanity. They look like intelligent beings, but they act like creatures of a much lower order." "Well, if..." "I ask you, would you keep giving and giving if you never got anything in return? So I finally said, "Mehoidnigmet gediych!"* and stopped listening." *(Literally = Let them cook in their own stupidity; figuratively = fuck 'em!) "What were..." "I figured that they'd stop asking after a while, but they increase the amount and intensity of their begging all the time. Can you imagine how many requests I get every second? It's tinnitus for me. Buzzzzduhbuzzzz, gimmee-pleasegimmee duhbuzzbuzz. Con-Stant. The Holy was obviously upset and I didn't dare say anything. "I'm sorry," said the Holy. "Do you have tinnitus?" "No." "Well then you can't know what I'm going through. It's driving me crazy." "How come you were asking for help?" I nearly whispered. "How come!? Typical. Take a look around! What do you see? What does the world look like? Does it look like I got a handle on things? "Yes, I mean, no, but..." "I shouldn't even have to ask. Some people are helping, but all too few. I'm talking major assistance, masses of the masses, not just a few drops in a storm." "What were you asking for?" "I begged them to build a better world," said the Holy. My laugh popped out like a hiccup and I fought to prevent more laughter. "You find that amusing?" asked the Holy The lack of emotion in the Holy's voice frightened me. I couldn't think of an exit strategy and said in default rather than courage; "Yes, I find that amusing." The Holy, unamused, said nothing. "Build a better world!? Not an ark or a church or .... or a hospital or a cure for herpes?" I blurted out. "A better world!" If I had seen the look on the Holy's face, I would have shut up. "Oh sure," I continued, " I'll get right on it. Let me see, where's the nearest Build-a-better-world shop. I'll need some stuff..." BADUANGDUM!! Lightning struck nearby. My heart jumped and bruised itself against my rib cage. The Holy locked eyes with me. "Build a better world," spoke the Holy thunderously, slowly and distinctly, "or perish." Silence. "Do you understand what I have just told you?" I nodded. "Repeat it!" "Build a better world," I said meekly. "Or PERISH," the Holy said thunderously. I nodded. "Say it!" "Or Perish." "If you don't start building a better world, a world without war and without poverty, you will be buried in the dust of this world. Your survival, everyone's survival, depends on the survival of the community. No individual outlives the community. A cell cannot outlive the body. ... Do you understand?" "If I don't start..." "You don't have to repeat it. Just think a second and tell me if you understand." I nodded. "Of all the things you do every day, which are more important than building a better world? More important than surviving. Do you think someone else is going to do it?" Before I could say anything, the Holy repeat emphatically, "DO YOU THINK SOMEONE ELSE IS GOING TO DO IT?" "Well,... no, but..." "Well! No. But. Of course you thought someone else would do it. You assumed that the leaders would solve the problems that they are causing. Or did you assume that I would do something about it?" That was a thought. Why didn't the Holy do something about it? "Here's a sound bite for you," said the Holy reading my thoughts. "I wouldn't tolerate a world diseased with war and sick with wide-spread poverty - not to mention other evils. If people do tolerate these conditions, don't do anything about it, I have no intention of aiding them. They do not deserve to survive. That's not an opinion but a fact of biological life. If you can't manage survival, you're not worthy of it. Goodbye! Let the other species do their thing. It's rather simple and straightforward." The Holy turned, took a few steps as though leaving and stopped, stood still and look off into the distance. If it weren't the Holy I'd expect there'd be tears. "I'd like to help. I'll try to build a better world," I cried out, "but I don't know what to do. I haven't the faintest idea where to start. It's so big, so abstract." The Holy returned to me. Glowing. "That's the first step, the awareness that something must be done and the willingness to do it. The rest follows." "What rest? If I don't know where to start how can there be a rest." "Relax," said the Holy, "be calm! Once you direct your thoughts and motivation toward a goal, you will discover steps leading to that goal. You are well equipped. You know what has to be done, and you know that you must do it." "Are you talking to the right person? Haven't you noticed that I'm one rather normal guy, not a super hero. I can't even build a decent snowman. How am I supposed to build a better world?" The Holy smiled at me and I felt warmth and strength. I felt like a super hero. "You would quickly discover this by yourself, but I'll save you a little time. Of course you cannot build a better world by yourself. You need to work together with the other members of the world, your companions in the great battle for survival. Building a better world is another way of saying building a better community. The world was here before people and will still be here when people are gone. Build a healthy community, a peaceful global community - together with you contemporaries - and you will have a better world." Something clicked within me - the Holy had thrown the On switch - and building a better world, a better community, seemed like a reasonable request, something I could manage by the end of the week. "I'm going to send Captain K to explain the basics of war to you," said the Holy, "That will help you get started." "Captain K?" "Our foremost expert on war and the author of the 6W principle. Don't worry, K will explain everything. Just one last thing: I'll help. You can count on my help. As long as you do your part, I'll do mine." © Joel Miller/BenTarZ ⇐ Back - 09 The Slum of Eden Next - 11 Captain K ⇒ |