Saving Faith: Chapter 1 Where is Faith?
© 2004, 2010
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Once upon a time, in the world during the 21st century, a new spirituality began to emerge among people. More and more people were turning to God-Jireh. Mega churches, synagogues, mosques and temples were being built at an unprecedented high rate. Crime had disappeared from the face of the earth; war was no more and everybody had a job and money in the bank. The devil, Jaaku Tanner was looking upon earth and pondering what was happening.
HELL
Pacing to and fro on his imaginary hardwood floors, Jaaku wondered out loud, “How in the hell did this happen? How did, Go… the man upstairs HIM get this one past me? I was on a roll after the major “movements.” With the Civil Rights movement, I thought that would have been the end of my reign. I thought that if that bill was passed; mankind would begin to get along, respect each other and really began to “love thy brother…” The Civil Rights Movement had the opposite effect, he thinks as he smirks. Common Street thugs began to organize young children into gangs; free love paved the way for erotic and lewd acts of sex, pornography, and orgies. Music began to glorify the mystical feel and powers of the use of illicit drugs and weapons. Respect for law and order was literally obliterated. Jaaku couldn’t stand to think about what went wrong anymore. “Six!” he barks out loud. All but for the sound of roaring flames, Jaaku could hear nothing.
Jaaku stops momentarily to look at a portrait of himself. In the picture Jaaku is painted high, high above the stars, the sky and even Heaven. He sits on a stately throne where masses and masses of humans are functioning as his feet, legs, arms and hands. Forming his Sergeant of Arms at his right, are his seven soldiers of deadly sin; Superbia (Pride), Avarita (Greed), Luxuria (Lust), Gula (Gluttony), Ira (Wrath) and Aceda (Sloth). Adorning his crown of glory, are his commanders of the flesh; fornication, adultery, witchcraft, drunkenness, lascivious, uncleanness, hatred, heresies, reveling, strife, sedition, idolatry, murder, variance, and emulations. Jaaku studies the painting carefully, allowing his spirit to feel prideful of the significance of the picture. His eyes come to rest on the ground that his stately figure rests upon.
Jaaku attempts to smile at the sight. Since there is no happiness in Hell, Jaaku can only slightly part his hardened and crusty mouth minimally, while lifting up the burdensome hardened pelts that form his eyebrows. From what should be parted lips, but is only a small slit in a poorly developed but oversized head, a purplish-blue forked tongue slips out of that opening. “One day,” he muses out loud… “One day this will be reality.” Jaaku revels at the image of Jesus Christ bounded and gagged while stooped over serving as his footstool. His heart quickens at the thought.
Jaaku is an impatient, angry, and an easily provoked soul, with a short-temper as one could imagine. When he calls his remaining “Diabolic Six,” he expects them to move Heaven and earth to get to him with quickness. “GOT-DAMN-YOU…” He raises his mangled hands upward in frustration. Spears of fire shoot out of his stubby little stumps of fingertips causing massive fireballs of molten earth to fall from above. “How, how did you annihilate my entire army leaving me with only these six diabolic demons?”
The devil is not happy (there is no happiness, nor joy in Hell). Frantically he continues to pace the imaginary floor. Sin is down therefore membership to Hell has reached a historical low. How in the hell did HIM get rid of Jaaku’s spawns? How is it, that only Jaaku and his remaining six demons (Wrath, Murdock (murderer), Envy, Sedition, Strife, and Idolatry) are burning in hell— alone? Jaaku recognizes that if he doesn’t do something quickly, Hell will be no more! Worse, Hell will actually freeze over without the continuity of burning souls. The devil decides to call an emergency meeting to see how to get membership back up. “Six!” He bellows once more making the imaginary walls tremble.
EARTH
Now the Diabolic Six were out and about roaming the earth seeing what mischief they could stir up on behalf of their Lordship, Jaaku. Wrath had divided himself in several parts of the world to create simultaneous chaos. He was in Austin Texas invading the minds of cattlemen about the beef industry demise. The mad-cow disease had scared the humans and they had stopped buying beef. Now the cattlemen were losing money and their emotions were stirred up. Wrath, decided to plant a seed in their heads for a scapegoat. I’m sure you’ve heard of the story about the big lawsuit against that famous television host woman. Wrath smiled to himself. That little stunt with the beef industry and Oprah got him a promotion from Jaaku.
Anyway, part of him was among the cattlemen, and a little of him was in New York, Seoul, Chicago, Tokyo and LA during rush hour. He was inciting minor fender-benders; people were cutting each other off in traffic; your typical modern day road rages that you read about in your local paper. “Man shot while driving in rush hour traffic. He cut off the lady behind him and she became incensed. She sped up, got side by side to him, pulled out her unregistered 9mm gun and fired. The bullet missed his windshield, but caught the windshield of another passing motorist. Hard working, God-serving, loving husband and father of three, on his way home from a business trip was shot. He died at the scene.” Wrath laughed at that story. That little ditty got him the gold award at their international conference, for bring turmoil in a Christian family’s life.
Still, Wrath being the ambitious little demon that he is, also had himself divided in parts of Asia, the Middle East and Africa. It was in Africa that he did his best work. Every insurgency, disease, and famine that you have ever heard or read about; is the signature work of Wrath. He takes great pride in his handy work here, because Africa is the beginning. And to tear apart God’s first creation, was like coming full-circle.
Now Strife and Sedition are twins; fraternal (but who can discern which is which). They are highly competitive and always are trying to out do one another. They’re the ones that mankind struggles with on a daily basis. Sibling rivalry and capitalism are their trademarks. Once they got people competing brother against brother on the local level, globalism was inevitable. People began to compete for jobs, money, houses and cars worldwide. Remember that whole Enron story and how those people lost everything to a few greedy executives? That was Strife and Sedition handy work. For that stunt, Jaaku threw them a surprise party and sent them to the Gulf. They thanked the devil when they returned. They introduced him to Hurricanes Hugo and Katrina. Because Strife and Sedition are two, they are more capable of being in many, many more places than all of the rest of Jaaku’s team.
Strife and Sedition were behind the “arms race,” WWI and WWII (they each had one). Now they compete to break the tie with WWIII. They are in North Korea getting them stirred up with having nuclear technology. But they don’t stop there. They are sowing seeds in the hearts and spirits of many men; from Iran, to China, to US, to Japan, India and Russia. The whole illegal alien, national healthcare, world peace and hunger, right to die; all those issues are theirs; whichever way it is decided; it is win-win for them.
Now Envy works alone most times. There is no way in hell that she is willing to let anyone see and steal her craft. She has always been suspicious. Of course she has, for she knows what she is capable of doing herself. If somebody has something that she desires, she would just steal it from him or her; and if they got in her way, she just put her beau Father Hito on them. Occasionally she works with Murdock (murderer). Father Hito, she smiles when she thinks of him. Did you know that he was one of her assignments?
Murdock, yes he used to be a Priest- Father Hito. He was charismatic, tall, and a good-looking man. Oh my, he was such a beautiful man. He was one of HIS special ones; he was being fast-tracked to Pope-ship. Jaaku was spit-mad at HIM. HE had converted one of Jaaku’s head henchmen. You may have heard of him also; one of the co-founders of the LA Street gang the Crip. You may have heard about his lost at his recent plight. Stanley “Tookie” Williams. Stanley had been an Admiral in Jaaku’s Army. He had single-handedly organized one of America’s largest, elusive and deadliest street gangs. With Tookie, LA had literally become a war zone in mainstream and Middle America. The government was at wits end at infiltration of this gang. Hell, even the police were scared. Things got so bad, that other gangs were formed and that’s when life got really ugly in America for kids.
Innocent children and adults were terrorized across the US, illegal drugs and weapons spread from the poor undeveloped neighborhoods, to America’s favorites; middle-class America. And then, Jeho… HE gave that beautiful evil man “Tookie Williams” redemption. Tookie began to speak and write books just for children, warning them about the dangers of street gangs. He pleaded for them to stay in school and stay away from gangs and drugs. Who knew the children would listen. Jaaku was hotter than his own urine. He would not let HIM get away with it. Jaaku was determined to fight spirit with fire.
Father Hito was on his way to be Pope by the year 2020. If Hito succeeded in becoming Pope, not only would he have been the youngest to ever be ordained Pope, but also the world would eventually come under one Christianity. One, oh that ugly number one thought Envy. There would be ONE Head and ONE body – unity. That would be the beginning of the end.
Jaaku had been reading the handwriting on the imaginary walls (for Hell has no boundaries). He saw the evolution of religion to spirituality. This evolution of spirituality would mark the beginning of the end for him. And Jaaku was right. The prices of oil reached an all time low making gas prices drop to a meager 32 cents a gallon. Inflation down, property and income taxes had been abolished. People were living the barter system. Neighborhoods were racially and ethically diverse. Hell, now even Hell was down to the “Diabolic Six.” Jaaku’s other spawns (fornication, adultery, witchcraft, drunkenness, lascivious, uncleanness, hatred, heresies, reveling, variance, emulations); had been driven off of the face of the earth along with a few of the seven deadly sins. If HE succeeded in ordaining Father Hito as Pope, the last six and Jaaku would be banished from the earth forever. Never to cause turmoil again.
However Envy never failed, she always got her man (and woman too). She would get this man and have a little something extra for herself. Her sister Eve had taught her well. Envy smirked, poor Adam, never stood a chance. Father Hito lost his battle of the flesh. One look at Envy, and he knew he had to have her. But the call on his life was strong. He had a mighty spiritual and fleshly war. The spirit fought the flesh something fierce; but one touch, one taste and he was lost; it was the forbidden fruit all over again.
Father Hito got to Hell, not because he had part-took of the forbidden fruit (God is a forgiving God), but rather because he acted out the modern day Cain and Abel story. Yes he murdered his spiritual brother for HIS favors. In the end, envy and jealousy had won out. How did he not know that to betray his brother he would be convicted by his own conscious? Didn’t he read what had happened to Judas Iscariot for betraying HIS son? Hito hung himself, thus making him the root of murder (that’s how he got his name). No matter, thought Envy, she still got her man.
To some degree Father Hito is still her beau. She smiles when she thinks about the good times they have shared together. They were a good team. They had increased illegal drug production and sales by over 300%. With the manufacture and sale of drugs; illegal weapons importation, homicide, suicide, armed robbery, prostitution, car jacking was up over 1,500%!
Because Envy is the best at what she does, people began signing up for credit cards and second mortgages so fast, that payday loan centers sprung up overnight. People were filing bankruptcy at such a great rate, that congress had to pass a law to slow down the process for filing for bankruptcy. It was just a matter of time, before people began to sell their souls to the devil just to ride in a new car. Jaaku had repossessed so many houses and cars, that he had to create special auctioning just to get rid of the foreclosed houses and repossessed cars (even Jaaku can’t take it with him). He had a waiting list for hell three miles long (Three Mile Island). But that wasn’t enough. Envy had done her job so well, that Jaaku couldn’t keep track of who was on his waiting list, that he had to create a mark. In 1982 they called that mark of Jaaku, AIDS.
Jaaku’s mark “AIDS” bordered genius. The mark was so potent, that it not only took the ones it should have, but also by default, it took some of the innocent ones too. Innocent people who needed blood transfusions for blood disorders and/or surgery got mistakenly taken. Envy smiled at one of her shining moments; Ryan White; that poor little boy from Indiana. Then she smiled even more so; Michael Jackson thought he would come in and rescue that little boy. Ha, she thought, I showed him. The next time he’ll be at the top of the pop charts, his great-great grandchildren will be black again. Yes that was Envy; that whole Michael Jackson molestation stuff. He reached out to help an innocent child; and that was the curse that Envy put on him. That’ll teach him.
Now Idolatry is a special case. He doesn’t get much credit, because his work is so elusive. He is the one true demon who can be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He’s the one that plants seeds in men’s hearts and minds of what to value. He by far has the highest success record out of all of Jaaku’s six diabolic. From the least of us, to the most of us; each and every one of us have something embedded within us that when left unchecked, will make us value some “thing” over other human beings and especially over HIM. People have killed, stolen and started wars for material possessions such as; pictures, paintings, houses, coins, rare rocks, gold, silver, oil, money, houses, cars, food, land; the list goes on and on and on. I’m sure you get the picture. Idolatry is the premise of the world’s modern day ideology.
Idolatry doesn’t get the credit he deserves, because he’s not a showboat. People “envy” for what other people have. People “murder” for what they feel they lack. People make “strife and sedition” for what they think they stand to lose and or gain. People have “wrath” when they feel like something has been taken from them or they have been slighted or offended. But no one ever calls it by it’s true name; Idolatry. If people didn’t value (worship) material objects, or weren’t prideful of self (worship), envy, strife, sedition, murder, and wrath could never get in. Idolatry is the key that unlocks the door for the others to enter.
Jaaku recognized Idolatry specialty. He recognized and understood the works of men’s hearts and minds. Because Idolatry embedded his mark within the soul of mankind, man is already born with this character flaw. It is not easily recognized or discernible because it is a parasite attached to the host. Therefore, Idolatry works the least of all the six, but it is he that has built the foundation of Jaaku’s Plantation.
“S—i—x …” The devil is heard bellowing throughout the interiors of the earth. People feel the rumble of the earth. They stop and look wondering if an earthquake is brewing. The diabolic six hears it also. They know it is their master calling them home. They collect their scattered pieces from among men, and head down, down, down towards eternal damnation, home.
HELL
The remaining six; Wrath, Envy, Strife, Sedition, Father Hito and Idolatry sit at an imaginary mahogany conference table. The table is filled with imaginary “goods.” The horn of plenty occupies a space on the table. It is filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, and desserts. The other end of the table is filled with imaginary “riches” of the world. From gadgets such as cell phones, laptops, gold, diamond rings, money, fur coats, etc. All that the mind can imagine to have is there in the imagination; but they do not exist. For those are physical things that can only exist within a physical realm. Hell is really empty, barren and void of any life. Therefore if there are to be any comforts and riches in Hell, it can only be what one can imagine.
Jaaku being the father of fear has crafted the imagination into an art form. Now imagine a void and barren desert, with not even a cactus, or tumbleweed blowing in the wind. For how can the cactus grow, if hell is always in a perpetual state of roaring flames? There is never any reprieve from the constant fire. The table, chairs and all of Hell’s furnishing and comforts exist only in the mind of its occupants.
“How did hell get so empty?” Jaaku barks at his staff.
“People started forgiving each other and having faith” replies Strife.
Jaaku stands from his imaginary leather overstuffed massaging chair and walks over to an imaginary window and looks out. “Trace the beginning of the end…” He takes a brief pause. He continues, “What was the catalyst that set everything in motion for people to open up to forgive each other?”
The devil’s six sit and ponder the thought. “When did mega churches start growing,” ponders Father Hito out loud.
“It was during the early 1980s,” guesses Envy.
“That’s right…” Jaaku chimes in rubbing his imaginary beard. “What was going on doing the early 80s that would give people a paradigm shift?” Jaaku poses to the group.
Clearing his throat, Idolatry says, “The 70s, were the height of drug use, the sexual revolution, abortions and the pill became legal. People stop taking marriage vows and began to co-habitat. The whole gay movement, and coming out of the closet liberated us from darkness.”
“We didn’t no longer have to slink in dark alleys or behind closed doors. We had successfully infiltrated the mainstream world,” reminisces Strife.
Not missing a beat to be outdone by her brother, Sedition continues, “The music industry through the use of rock, R&B, heavy metal and the newly formed rap music gave way to people exercising freedom of the speech in a new language.”
Jaaku impatiently yelps, “I know all of that; what I want to know is what was the root cause of the paradigm shift that made people stop being put on the waiting list for Hell, and now Heaven has to build an addition to pick-up the overflow?”
“AIDS,” blurts out Sedition.
“Nine-one-one.” blurts out Strife.
“Hmm,” the devil carefully considers the two major catastrophes in 20th century world history. “So we’re talking about an approximate 20-year span between the naming of AIDS and the 911 events.”
Father Hito silently mulls over the devil’s findings of the 20-year span, looking for the missing links. “July 1982 and September 11, 2001,” he muses out loud. “Let’s see the word AIDS was first used to describe our tagline on souls that had been sold to us; in July 1982. When Sedition went down and infiltrated the Taliban to start World War III and launched a successful attack; that was September 11, 2001.”
“What are you getting at Father Hito?” the devil demands.
“Wait a second, Jaaku, wait a second…” Father Hito replies as he does some calculation on a calculator and types something into his palm pilot…
“Patience has never been one of my strong suits, Father Hito.” Impatiently Jaaku warns.
“In a minute Luke, in a minute…”
After a few more minutes of pounding on the calculator and typing Father Hito looks up gleefully. “I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” He exclaims.
“What damn it! What?” Demand the other five.
“Nine five…” he replies.
Everyone at the table looks around puzzled. “Nine-five?” A puzzled Envy asks.
“I don’t get it…” Sedition interjects.
“Damn it Father Hito, be more precise… What in hell’s name is 9-5?” demands the devil.
“Don’t you get it Jaaku?” Father Hito prideful asks.
“If we got it, would we be wasting our time listening to your babbling?” Jaaku remarks.
“Nine-five is the culmination of the two dates in time when we began our Total World Apocalypse.” Continues Father Hito.
“TWA? Hmm, what about it…” Curiously Jaaku asks.
“Don’t you see when I total up all of the numbers of July 1982 I get the number nine? And when I total up all of the numbers for September 11, 2001 I get 5.”
“Please, Father Hito don’t provoke me… Hurry to your point.” Jaaku threatens.
“When you put those two numbers together you get a specific date in time – September 5th…
“Ah—ha… No, I still don’t get it…” Sedition adds.
“Quiet Sedition… Go on, Father Hito, your point…”
“I take this date, enter it into my palm-pilot and do a quick Internet search of a common event that happened on the dates of 9-5 every year between 1982 and 2001 I get birthday.”
“Ah-ha… No, I still don’t get it…” Sedition interrupts again.
The devil irritated by her interruptions points his finger at her and fires a fireball in her direction setting her mouth on fire. The fire spreads up and consumes her head. Worms, maggots and buzzards crawl and fly out of her neck. After her head burns off and her neck is left smothering, a new head emerges from the stump of her neck.
“Ou—ch, that stings…” She remarks.
Jaaku throws her a warning look. “Continue Father Hito, what about birthday.” He queries as he turns his attention back to Father Hito.
“Let me show you…” He boasts.
Father Hito gets up and plugs a cord into his palm-pilot. He then plugs the other end of the cord into a computer terminal built into the table. He punches a few buttons and a projector screen begins to roll downward out of the imaginary ceiling. A computer screen is shown with Father Hito’s findings.
Rolls and rolls of dates and names are shown on a master birth list.
“Here, let me isolate September 5Th from 1982 to 2001.” Expertly he continues. A few of the rolls and columns disappear off of the screen. “Now let me isolate it further by specific names.”
“Names, Why names?” Wonders Wrath.
“Here if you read the Bible…” Father Hito slips out before he remembers.
Jaaku openly finches as a larger red welt appear on his face and then burst into a pit of maggots and flies. Maggots and flies literally begin to eat up his flesh.
“DON’T MENTION THAT NAME… Get me my salve… Hurry get me my salve.”
Strife gets the salve from a shelf nearby. Jaaku snatches it from his hand. Strife gives the devil a hard-mean and murderous look. The devil ignores as he rubs the salve on his wound. The wound begins to heal itself.
“Careful Strife, you wear your heart on your sleeve. It is not good to let others know your intentions…. It could cause someone to get hurt…” That being said Jaaku inhales deeply and then coughs in Strife’s direction. Immediately Strife is rapped with large poisonous snakes. They bite Strife several times before he successfully frees himself. The snakes then slither back into the devil’s neck and feet. Strife is covered from head to toe by massive pus-filled boils. They burst and he regenerates a new and fresh outer body covering.
“Enough, interruptions… Father Hito, will you please get to the point of this ridiculously long saga…” Jaaku irritably barks.
Father Hito continues. “As I was saying in the Bi… I mean in that book there is a particular paragraph that talks about the war between flesh and spirit… Here let me show you…”
Father Hito punches some keys on his palm-pilot and excerpts of the Bible are shown. However, because it is hell the light illuminating off of the pages of the Bible becomes bright and blinding; and a powerful energy force is created. Something like a hurricane and tornado begins to happen, sucking out all of the evil.
Pandemonium ensues and they try to escape the force. They scatter and take cover behind anything large enough to shield them from the light of the Word. For if the light shall touch their skin, the evil inside will begin to burn up, making them good. They flip the large rectangle table on its side and hide behind it.
“Fool! Get rid of that! Turn it off! Are you trying to kill us…”? Jaaku barks angrily at Father Hito.
“Sorry, sorry I forgot…” Father Hito apologizes as he expertly keys something into his keypad and the Bible verses disappear from the screen. Instantly the whirlwind and bright light disappear. Order is restored…
“How can Father Hito look upon the pages of the Bi… that book without any repercussions?” Ponders Idolatry.
“He is a Priest,” Replies Strife.
“He was a Priest” A smiling Envy interjects.
“So help me Go–… Now you’ve got me doing it… You see what you have started? One mention of that-that book and it’s like a virus…” Jaaku notes.
“Exactly…” Exclaims Father Hito.
“My patience wears thin… Get to the point.” Jaaku charges.
“What I’m telling you is this… That book mentions a war between flesh and spirit. It goes on and on about the manifestation of the works of the flesh… Adultery, fornication, murder, witchcraft, envy, hatred, wrath, strife, idolatry…”
“You mean us? They talk about us in the Bi… I mean that book?” Asks Idolatry.
“Yeah, they do… They devote many books, chapters and versus about avoiding us and the consequences of when you don’t…”
“How do you know all this?” Asks Wrath.
“I was a Priest, before I fell from Grace…” Father Hito replies with a little sadness in his voice.
“You mean before I saved your wretched soul?” Brags Jaaku.
“Don’t you mean me…” jealously Envy asks. She is ignored.
“As I was saying, the war between flesh and spirit. In the Bi; I mean that book, it tells the people that for them to see the second coming of the Lord whom we know by as “HIS Son” they must crucify the works of the flesh.”
“Crucify? What you mean kill us? Like we did to what’s his face?” Questions Strife.
“Jesus.” Father Hito says.
“Yeah, that’s him… Now that’s mean…” Sedition observes.
“Take a look around, we’re down to six. Adultery, fornication, witchcraft, hatred, drunkenness, and the rest of them are all gone… It’s just us six and Luke here.” Wrath adds.
“How do they crucify us? What sign did we miss?” Envy asks.
“That’s what I’m telling you. They crucify the works of the flesh with the Fruits of the Spirit.”
“Fruit? Somebody got real fruit? Man I ain’t seen an apple since I was knee-high to a grasshopper… Boy I could sure go for some fresh strawberries… Mm, mm, my mom used to make the best apple pie. What I wouldn’t give… Oh sorry Luke.”
“Continue Father Hito, but do hurry, I grow tired with every passing nanosecond.” Wearily the devil replies.
“The fruits of the spirit. In order for humans to overcome the works of the flesh they would have had to begin living under the law of the Fruits of the Spirit. It is the only thing that can overcome the flesh.”
“So what exactly are these fruits and how do we get rid of them?” asks Wrath.
“What the hell does it have to do with the birthdays that you were babbling about? Please get on with this long, long and painful story.” Whines Jaaku.
“Don’t you get it? In order for us to help facilitate the seeds we planted into the hearts and minds of mankind we had to take on earthly bodies go down there and instigate strife, wrath, hatred, envy, adultery, etc.…” Father Hito explains.
“Oh, so that would mean in order for Go— HIM…” He points upwardly as he continues, “…to counter our attack HE would have had to send down HIS angels in earthly bodies also to cultivate his seeds of hope, love charity and Ugggh….” Before he can finish his sentence he begins to breakout into a rash. “I hate saying those god-awful words… Look at my skin….” Jaaku rubs more salve onto his new rashes.
“Exactly, he sent angels down to counter our attack.”
“Why that sneaky little son-of-a-gun… Oh, you’re good… You’re good, but we’re better…” Declares Jaaku as he points up.
“So how do we stop these damn angels? How do we find them?”
“Well it’s easy, and not so easy… See Go… I mean HIM has a few tricks up HIS sleeves. The angels came down and they used their real names…”
“Their names?” asks Sedition.
“Again in the Bi… I mean the book, the fruits of the spirits go by the names of: love, joy, peace, longsuffering gentleness goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance…”
“That’s simple enough… We just go to white pages dot com and whack them.” Says Wrath matter-of-factly.
“Yeah it is simple enough… Only we have to find the right ones. That’s why the date is important.”
“Ah-ha… No, I don’t get it…” Strife adds.
“See Go… I mean HIM, was clever. During those years, people were naming their children all kinds of wacky and crazy names. God, sorry, I mean HIM used that time to sandwich his angels between the people with odd names so that they wouldn’t stand out.”
“Clever… Very, very clever. So that is how HE got ahead of us. We were thinking the odd names were just a phase… Nothing unusual… All the while he was strategically placing his angels among the people. They just fit right in with the rest of those oddball names.”
“But as HE would tell you, there are no coincidences, for every time there is a season… It’s all there in that book…”
“Well I’ll be damn… I ought to pick up a book and read sometimes… What a soul can learn from reading… Continue…” A stumped Jaaku concedes.
“Yes, the date… Since HIM knows and sees everything including the heart of man, he knew what we were going to do.” Father Hito prideful speeds through his story.
“Therefore he marked HIS coming between our two disasters. But how do you know he didn’t reverse the dates? Couldn’t it be just as easily May 9Th?” Adds Idolatry with a clear understanding of Father Hito’s findings.
“It could but knowing HIM the way that I used to, HE is an orderly Go… HE’s orderly. He is not a sneaky or evasive HIM. Everything HE does is plain and open. You just have to look for the answers. They are always right in front of you…”
“Now we’re getting somewhere… So what do you get when you punch up the date September 5Th and cross-reference those names?” A relieved Jaaku asks.
Instead of this list of over 2 million names, we get a much smaller list of….”
“Nineteen? That’s it? We just have to find nineteen people and whack ‘em?” Wrath asks.
“Why only nineteen? Why such a small number?” Strife wonders.
“HE is a simple HIM. First and foremost, it takes a tremendous amount of energy for HIM to send down just one of HIS angels. Remember angels are not ordinary people; they just look like they are… They are invoked with special powers from HIM. Everyday approximately a million, maybe two million people are born and die every day. The energy flow remains constant. It is never off balance. Angels, are not born nor do they die everyday… With their special powers they’re functioning at a higher energy level. To send down too many of them at one time would cause simultaneous major, major catastrophe within the earth’s atmosphere…”
“Tsunami, major earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, hurricanes… All the signs were right there…” Wrath points out.
“Hugo, Katrina oh my Go… I mean HIM…” Slips out of Sedition mouth.
“All that time we thought it was us, some shifting in atmospheric pressures and global warming… It was HE all along…” A humbled Strife points out.
“Divergence leads to convergence.” Observes Father Hito.
“To bring together one must first divide.” Idolatry states soberly.
“So now that we know who we are looking for, when can we get started?” An eager and undeterred Envy asks.
“Again, it is simple but not easy at the same time. There are nine fruits of the spirit… But remember, he was working in a span of nineteen years…” Father Hito continues to explain. “He repeated them… Therefore we get two of each and only one of one of them… We can find the two Longsuffering, the two Temperance, the two Goodness the two Loves…” Father Hito explains.
“We got it… There’s two of each of them except one… Which one is that?” Impatiently Jaaku asks.
“That’s the most important one.” He hesitates as he clears his throat. “In the book it says work without faith is dead…” Continues Father Hito.
Confused, Strife asks, “If there is only one Faith that was born, why is that so hard? One September 5th between 1982 and 2001 a baby girl by the name of Faith is born…”
“Yeah, what’s so hard about that?” Sedition asks vying to distract attention from her brother.
“You don’t get it… works without faith is dead…” Father Hito explains.
“Ah-ah… No, I don’t get it…” Again Sedition.
“We can find all eighteen of the fruits of the spirit… But unless we get to Faith, they will just be reborn again.” Father Hito clarifies.
“As long as there is Faith, there is hope… Hmm.” Jaaku says with a renewed dawning.
“Exactly, it takes somebody to always believe in the Father. No matter what she experiences she must never give up her faith…”
“How do you know Faith is not a male child?” Muses Idolatry.
Boastfully Father Hito responds, “All of the babies that were born with the name of Faith are girls; I checked.”
“Actually, we don’t need to whack them all.” Jaaku muses out loud.
This time it is Father Hito who is confused.
“What would happen if we just got rid of Faith?” Jaaku poses to the group.
Father Hito, stops for a moment and ponders the question. Like a light bulb going off in his head, he stands in excitement and snaps his finger. Arrogantly he smiles.
“Without Faith, the others would just die out naturally…” He concludes.
“Exactly!” Exclaims Jaaku.
“So let me get this straight. Now we don’t need to kill all nineteen, we just need to get the one; Faith. Again why is that so difficult?” Wrath asks.
“Interesting enough, the name Faith became quite popular on earth… So much so that, between the years of 1982 and 2001 on the date of September 5th alone, there were over 10,000 baby girls born that were given the name Faith.”
“So what, we’re back up to 10,000 souls that need to be whacked? What’s the problem?” Impatiently Wrath interjects.
“You just can’t go whacking 10,000 girls and women that goes by the name of Faith and that were born on September 5th… You might as well hang a sign on your butt and say bull’s-eye.” Explains Strife.
“That’s right, that would alert HIM to what we’re doing…” Adds Wrath with more understanding of their dilemma.
“Don’t HE already know? I thought you said HE sees and knows all?” Sedition asks.
“Get out…” Blares Jaaku.
“I’m sorry… I’ll be quiet…” Begs Sedition.
“Get out…” Unrelenting he barks again.
“I said I’m sorry…” Pleas Sedition.
Jaaku motions like he’s about to inhale… Like a lightening bolt Sedition disappears from his presence.
“So HE hid Faith in a sea of Faith… Why HE is a clever son-of-a-gun.” An impressed Jaaku notes.
“Kind of metaphoric, don’t you think?” Father Hito says with a smirk.
“How so?” Asks Jaaku.
“Back to the number 19. There were nineteen years between our two events; the naming of the AIDS virus and the 911 event. But more importantly when you add the number of the years expand, which are, 1 and 9 until you are left with only one number you get …”
“The number one… Alpha…” Jaaku finishes Father Hito’s calculation.
“And to reach the Omega…” Wrath adds as he sees the picture more clearly.
“You must endure… Because works; temperance, longsuffering, patience, love, joy, peace, etc., without Faith are dead.” A proud Father Hito finishes.
“Thus you can not have the Alpha without the Omega. And both ironically are one and the same. So we must find the one true Faith in order to get to HIM…” Jaaku finishes.
HEAVEN
In front of a very immaculate clear blue window that mimics the sky on a clear sunny day, the angels, Andrew and Rei stand watching over Jaaku’s den. As the two souls listen to the devil’s liar, Rei the junior angel, studies his teacher’s troubled and pained expression. Rei makes a poor attempt to imitate his elder expressions. Lacking in maturity, his youthful expressions are not quite as expressive as his elder. They listen with vigor and dismay as the diabolic six and Jaaku figures out where they have gone wrong in the war. Jaaku has been recruiting in the physical realm while God has been recruiting in the spiritual realm.
Rei, the younger of the two wearily exhales, “HE’s not going to like this one bit.”
“I know, but HE has been preparing us for this day. We knew it was coming.”
“Just didn’t think it would be so soon, huh?”
“Remember we lost Father Hito… Had he not left Grace, Jaaku would not have been as successful with the calculations…”
“That is true. We better go, no need in putting off the inevitable. God wants to know about everything.” Rei exclaims.
They began walking down an exceedingly long but brightly lit corridor. The walls are decorated with some of the most beautiful authentic paintings. They continue their conversation as they walk.
“God already knows, doesn’t HE?”
“True Rei, nothing gets past HIM. Who do you think HE will want us to recommend to send?”
“Magdalene and Eli.”
“Very good Rei, I see you have been studying your lessons.” A proud Andrew remarks.
“That’s all, just the two, right?”
“You tell me Rei?”
“First, Jaaku knows he has got to find the right Faith. He has a span of nineteen years and over 10,000 souls to search before he can even remotely begin to wreak havoc in the life.”
“That’s true, He doesn’t know who the soul is nor its residency.”
“That along buys us a good hour.” Declares Andrew.
“An hour? Oh yeah, that’s right; we’re dealing in God’s time; not human time…” Rei blushes at his own innocence.
“You’re learning sprout,” Andrew jokes as he tussles the young boy’s hair.
They walk a little farther up the corridor; Jireh’s chamber is moving forward to meet them halfway. As they walk, the elder Andrew senses something in Rei’s spirit. “Seems like you are in deep thought my young student… Anything that you care to share?” Andrew probes.
Rei hesitates a moment as if he is deciding if he should ask. Andrew senses his hesitation. “It’s alright. Ask and you shall receive,” he admonishes.
A short hesitate, then Rei asks, “Is it true?”
“Is what true?”
“You know about Jaaku. Did he really used to be one us? Is it true that he’s a fallen angel?”
Andrew takes a deep breath. He pauses in his stride. Rei stops also and turns to face him. Andrew bends down so that they are eye-level. With barely contained painful strong emotions, Andrew explains, “Yes, yes he was. He was one of my students; just like you.”
Andrew stands upright and begins his stride again. Rei follows. This time Andrew senses Rei’s question, he continues. “You want to know what happened?”
A little intimidated, “Well yeah… Why would anyone turn away from Grace?”
Andrew exhales almost speaking more to himself he whispers, “I’ve asked myself that question a million times.”
“And?” an impatient Rei quizzes.
“Honestly Rei, only God and Jaaku really know the truth. However it is within every man and every spirit to choose whom shall he serve. Jireh gave all of us free-will. Will we be a servant of Jireh or a servant of our own pride?”
They walk a few moments in the tranquility of the corridor. Ever more they draw closer to God’s domain; and ever more, God’s domain draws closer to them.
After a few moments, Andrew continues, “Jaaku would like to just be able to strike Faith down in mid-stride…
“But he can’t. He’s got to get another human to do his dirty work.” Rei adds.
“Very good Rei. I see you are remembering your lessons. Jaaku is seldom seen on earth, but he always makes his presence known. It is not beneath him to use other humans for his own wicked purposes.”
“Who do you think Jaaku will send for Faith?”
“All of them.”
“But there are only six of them. Can he really afford to use all of them on this one soul?”
“Trust me sprout, this is the real war; the war between flesh and spirit. He’s going to need them and more. Remember we’re talking about Jaaku; there are no boundaries where he is concerned. He recognizes his time is almost up.”
“No, you don’t mean…” Rei doesn’t complete the thought.
“I’m afraid so. Once he finds out who the soul is, he’s going back to day one.”
“The day of her first breath… Come on Andrew, we better hurry.”
Together Andrew and Rei quicken their pace to meet Jireh’s chamber.
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