The Word

Short story

In my bed, after a tiring day, I prayed, in my head, to God, if He or She exists, to make Himself known to me, to answer my prayer, to harden my faith, by doing something real in my life, something tangible, something specific, that would make my life better, and make the world a happier place.  I don’t know what that thing is, but I’ll know it when it happens, I thought.  God knows better than me, what needs to be done.  So we’ll see.  Maybe, even, God wants me to be an atheist, lol.  Maybe doing nothing is the best thing.  Maybe God loves everything, so nothing is bad, in the first place.  Maybe we’re in the best of all possible worlds.  Maybe regress is progress, too.  Maybe I should shut up and go to sleep.  Goodnite, God.

I dreamed of 

Satan and adversaries and devils and demons and death, monsters and bad guys and criminals and wicked evil sinners, twisted and corrupt predators, and the endless world of the rotten, the insane, the sick, the stupid, and the mad.  Malice, revenge, war, torture, pain.

I dreamed of

Saints and angels and beautiful women and innocent children, in heaven, a world of peace and harmony and lovely music, nature, love-bliss, joy, comfort, friendships, and laughter.  Immortality and the contentment of universal love, with all needs met, and libraries full of billions of books, with the time to read them all, and not get old, or blind, or bored.   You can watch baseball games in the sunshine, and not get sunburned.  You can eat delicious meals anytime.  You can fall asleep and dream of hell, to the satisfaction of waking up in the real world of utopian paradise.  You can play videogames.  You can have sex.  You can learn how to do anything.  You can turn off pain.  You can die, and then wake up, and start again!  You can eat meat.  The animals don’t care!  

I dreamed of the earth, reality, and the possibility of living in a gray world, everything neutral, without labels of good or bad, accepting truth for what it is.  

It’s all good, it’s all bad, it’s both, it’s neither, it’s all in your head.

Go read a book, fly a kite, climb a rock, watch a movie, listen to music, read the paper, exercise, nap, meditate, do yoga, relax, sleep, eat out, go to work, have sex, surf, write a blog, anything your heart desires.  Play real world chess with the police and fbi and interpol.  Be a bad guy, a villain, a nemesis.  Make your life interesting.  Just do it.  Have fun.

Play chess.  Talk to strangers.  Go to church.   Try a new religion.  Learn some languages.  Travel.  Go on adventures.  Take risks.  Feel alive.  Help people out.  Do good.  Make a difference.  Volunteer.  Lift weights.  Collect stamps, coins, postcards.  Go for a swim.  Life is good.  Do what you want.  That’s all there is to it.   Karma exists, and privacy doesn’t, so remember that all you think, say, and do is public, known, and even anticipated.   Computers are amazing.  Have fun in a world of near-omniscience!

Be good.  Don’t end up in hell.  Be an example.  Be a man for others.  Make the world a better place.  Let there be light!  Be light-hearted, not overly serious, and make people laugh.  Boo-ya!