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“But they believed in Him!”
“I don’t want to disappoint you, but they believed in a miracle, and not in Him as a person. They started to pray and the crowd followed Him only when they heard about healings and miracles. And, again, who followed him?”
“Who?”
“The poor, because they hoped He would miraculously solve the problem of lack of shelter, because they found protection in Him. The guilty followed Him seeking the appease of their conscience and forgiveness. The sick followed Him, hoping for healing...”
“But they followed!”
“And who remained?”
“I don’t understand you…”
“The healed went back to their families, the wise became rich and got their shelter and confidence and no longer needed Him. And those who remained were held not by faith, but by simple human responsibility, affection... As Antoine de Saint Exupéry later stated: “You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed”. Miracles do not exist without viewers. Rather, Jesus needed them more than they needed Him. Same thing with Devil. People don’t just give him their souls for nothing. And now I have a question for you. I’m serious, without irony. I would really like you to answer it because this thought has been torturing me for a long time... If people are made in His image, then what is He like? Or not in His image, then what is this lie for? It appears it is a lie. And you accuse me of lying. I’m by no means to be ironic, I really want to know. Since I have a soul, sometimes I think too much. And there are some thoughts that bother me a lot. The answers given by the priests I’ve ever talked with don’t satisfy my thirst for knowledge.”
“For example?”
“For example, since we are talking about the Bible, then tell me this... Here God created him and her. What for?”
“What do you mean ‘what for’?! This is the obvious truth that’s impossible to prove!”
“Well, just what for?”
“To live.”
“Ok, let’s move along. He created them for them to... live. Why did He then create this damn apple? By the way, please note that nowhere in the primary sources does it say that this was an apple tree. Or another question: why did He create people curious and disobedient from the begi
ing? Where did the others come from their children tied their lives with? If you could answer these of my questions, I would probably stop thinking that God created people solely for the purpose of keeping Himself busy with toys...
“Don't you even dare to think that way! He created people for them to live! And the apple tree…”
“A dead end again?”
“No!” She exclaimed angrily. “There’s no dead end! People should live and mind their own business! What, your chief didn’t answer your questions?..”
‘He does have a point.’ A treacherous thought crossed her mind, but she drove it away immediately. If I don’t see the answer, it doesn’t mean it doesn't exist.
“So that’s all, go ahead and live! And here’s the apple tree, I’ll plant it under your very nose for me to check your faith while you’re forcing yourselves every day! Because I’m not getting enough attention!”
She slapped him in the face and a great silence settled in the room.
Mary was looking with fear at the imp with her huge eyes. Why do people and imps think in the same direction? After all, Georgie said the same thing. Would it be better to insincerely keep silent about the things that trouble you, the things you don’t find the answer to, than say them out loud and try to find the answers?
He smiled sadly.
“And what does this have to do with the Bible? It was written by people. And then it was rewritten, again and again, translated and interpreted by others at their own discretion…And what people read nowadays is too far from the true revelations of those sufferers who had their own Joey. Is that a lie too?”
She lowered her head, looking thoughtfully at the bottom of her dress.
‘The clothes are so uncomfortable,’ she thought absently. ‘And I ca
ot change it. It seems I’ve stayed here for too long. What will be with me then after the whole month of life among people?’ Mary was thinking, terrified. But her ier voice was coming up with a completely different question. Will she remember her previous assignments if she stays on earth for so long? Will she be missed? Or is a soldier needed only at the battlefield?
Mary raised her head blankly, driving away the a
oying thoughts her chief would hardly approve.
“It seems that our cooperation is inevitable,” she said timidly, offering her hand. “Mary.”
He blinked in surprise several times and gently pressed the offered hand which was almost half his hand. He reflexively compared their hands, noting her helplessness in front of him. His heart sank.