Story Bazaar

All The Tough Questions

Sophie asked Judy what she was writing.

"I'm working on my second novel."

"Oh! You have a book published?!"

"No."

"But... second..."

"Right. First one's in a drawer at home."

"Can I read it?"

"No."

Judy looked back at Bruce and said, "You must believe in God, right?"

"I do..."

"Why?"

"Seems the most logical hypothesis for where everything came from."

"What about evolution?"

"That's the particular way God decided to generate all us creatures."

Sophie said, "God and evolution... You're weird, Bruce."

"Why thank you, Sophie!"

Frank chuckled as he set Sophie's coffee down.

Judy went back to typing.

All was quiet in the group for about three minutes when Frank said, "Ya know, Bruce, I've never thought about evolution being a method that a supposed Creator would use..."

Bruce looked up from his reading and said, "Seems natural to me---the whole shebang is to help us learn---discovering evolution was concurrent with the collapse of the Spanish, Napoleonic, and Holy Roman empires---great time for individuals to ponder the earthly half of their existence..."

"What's the other half?"

"When the soul associates with the beginning of a body, at conception."

Sophie chimed in: "Weird stuff..."

"Well, Sophie, you said I was weird so shouldn't I talk about weird stuff?"

Judy stopped typing and said, "Weird comes from roots that mean fateful and destiny oriented."

Bruce: "I rest my case..."

Frank: "Yes, weird..."

Sophie stood up and said, "I gotta go..."

Judy: "Sophie, I appreciate your spiritual experiences."

Sophie sat back down.

Bruce said, "Judy, why do you think religion is all lies?"

"Bruce, why do you think it isn't?"

"Well, I think there are folks out there who claim things about religion that stack up as, essentially, lies; but, would someone who said all writers are liars suddenly make all writers liars?"

"No..."

"And, would a writer who did lie all the time make all writers liars?"

"No; but, religion is different than writing..."

"I agree---writing is what humans do and religion is what God does---true religion, that is."

"Which God is the real one?"

"Aha! Now we get to the tricky part---"

Sophie said, "Judy, don't let him trick you..."

"Wouldn't think of it, Sophie---so, what's tricky, Bruce?"

"Well, I'm starting to believe that all the Founders of the great religions were from the One and Only God---had the same Message. The tricky part is when you start comparing the words They each said---each One was talking to folks at different stages of human evolution---essentially, different kinds of human beings..."

"You mean the Bible and the Quran are saying the same thing?"

"Very much the same thing; but, written to be understood by very different kinds of humans. Thing is, too many followers of Jesus and Muhammad appear to be clinging to limited, materialistic interpretations..."

Frank said, "Bruce, where do you get these ideas?"

"It's all, really, right in front of everyone's face---try the Internet---search for 'bab persia', as a start..."

Sophie: "What's bab persia mean?"

"Well, Sophie, please forgive me for not giving it all away---I've spent years searching and only began to find answers in the last few months. And, since I appreciate not only what I'm finding but the search itself, I don't want to deny the search to others; but, what I've told you is, truly, one huge clue..."

Sophie: "What's that book you're reading?"

"It's called The Book of Certitude---another huge clue..."

Judy: "You believe everything you read, Bruce?"

"No... God gave us minds to investigate and find the truth---kind of implies there's a lot of crap floating around..."

Frank: "So, how are you learning where to put science?"

"Science is the other half of learning---the material version of spiritual science."

Judy: "Spiritual science!?"

"Exactly. I'm starting to realize that religion and spirituality should use reason, just as much as material science."

Sophie: "Totally weird..."

Bruce: "Yes, weird like Judy said..."

Judy: "I think science is more pure than religion---less chaotic."

Frank: "Science can be very chaotic..."

Bruce: "And, science can be too beholden to materialism."

Frank: "Didn't you call it, 'the material version of spiritual science'?

"Yes; but, a material version of something is very different from something that worships materialism..."

Judy: "The material world is all we've got---period!"

Bruce: "Is love material? How about honor? Better yet, what about magnetism?"

Frank: "Yep, plenty of abstract entities science tries to grapple with..."

Judy: "It all comes from matter! Religion is just cheating with all its emotional shortcuts."

Sophie: "I'm with Judy, different religions are so different they must all be lying."

Judy: "Sophie, that's not quite what I was saying..."

Frank: "I agree that the interpretation of scripture is the trickiest part..."

Bruce: "Takes a relatively pure heart..."

Judy: "You have a pure heart, Bruce?"

Bruce: "Relatively..."

Sophie: "Bruce, the Mumbo Jumboist..."

Judy: "Frank, you still buying?"

"Sure."

"Mocha Latte, then..."

Sophie stood up and said, "I gotta go..."

Bruce went back to his reading.

Judy stood up, walked to Bruce's table, grabbed his book, walked it to the trash receptacle, and tossed it in...

[The world kept turning; but, four folks in a cafe had brushed up against the Ineffable...]

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