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Jeremiah Howard <sanguine@lydia.bradley.edu>
Political Science and Science Fiction
 

The Western Frontier of the Gods

Prologue
 Long ago, in the days of miracles, there were those gods who believed they were truly helping humanity with their divine interventions, and those who believed they harmed humanity with their interventions.  A council was assembled of all major deities of the areas after the fall of Rome at their hands.  Seven delegates in all from each pantheon, and of course the Jehovah with 6 of his arch-angels.  From Asia to the Americas, the Nordic countries to the far southern tip of Africa, they assembled in on a neutral ground, space.  People had always looked to the heavens, and thus it was a public domain to the gods, and this is where they put together the Treaty of Ba. The treaty stated that for 2000 years none of the gods would intervene, and would instead go into a deep slumber for the allotted time to see whether their intervention was in fact bad.
 After the 2000 year span, they return in the year XX to find the world to be a corrupt and desolate place.  The fertile fields of their home lands covered in cement housing, streets of asphalt, and mass produced breeding grounds of greed and other various sins.  The gods were aghast, even those that supported intervention of the gods were unable to comprehend the corruption that had taken place in their absence.  They searched for only minutes before they found the answer, a spider. A huge spider, with millions of followers, thousands of avatars ranging from personal computers to corporate mainframes, and a web that spanned the globe. The stage was set for the third world war, this one not fought with godlike weapons, but with the weapons of the gods themselves.
 Wary of bringing about destruction, the gods crept to their most loyal followers, and spoke with them in seclusion. Their goal was to gather the masses and take the enemy by surprise. There was no point in destroying their followers without a fight, so silently the gods crept onto the scene, moving as the ninja.
The struggle of Jehovah
 After careful deliberation, Jehovah decided to visit the Rabbi Gladstein.  This man had been quietly removed from the church for his treachorous teachings that God would return to help not only the Jews, but all people. Basing his belief on the idea that all of mankind were brothers, and the family of the Palastinians were the ones to be saved.  This was the true meaning that Jehovah had intended, and intended only that the Palastinians help spread such a word for the day of his return.  This man’s wisdom and loyalty, despite adversity, showed his purity far better than any time in the synagogue ever could.  As God came to Earth, he looked out around the lands of Jerusalem, and was well pleased that they had not nearly as many followers of the Spider within the country. The clear August night was scarcely lit at all by the marks of the Spider.
 Soon he came upon the house of Gladstein, and here he stood for a moment, contimplating how to explain the situation, and how to tell the man who he was without terrifying the poor mortal. It is no small feat to explain yourself as a god to these people in the current day, not all are able to accept the idea, and if they are, fewer still are willing to.
“Gladstein’s status as the Great Follower of Jehovah would make him as immortal as my first Good Son, but what will his body and mind be able to accept such a task and this great knowledge?” Jehovah thought as he reached for the door handle.
To his surprise, as he reached for the door it opened, and before him was a man, in his mid-fifties, and totally naked.  “I should have known,” said Jehovah, “that you would have felt me….”
 The Rabbi bowed silently to Jehovah, not at all uncomfortable in his nakedness, and not reacting at all to the god’s addmission of lack of knowledge. After a moment, he said, “Please come in my Lord, I’ve been expecting you.” He then motioned to the open room behind him as he stepped to the side to allow Jehovah to enter.
 Jehovah bowed in return solemnly, and slowly made his way into the little hut. It wasn’t at all extravegant, near poverty was this man, and without any modern appliances to be seen. One wall was a shrine to God, opposite it was a fireplace with two chairs in front of it. Simple wooden chairs, like the kind Jesus had sat in so long ago. The wall opposite the door that Jehovah entered through held only a door and a few candle holders, the candles unlit even during this night’s dark twilight.
 When he had made his way to a chair, he turned to the Rabbi and said, “You have bared yourself to me long ago, the moment I awoke I heard your soul singing, and you are the first and only that I will visit. Put on your garments, and know you are accepted by me, and my love for you is great.”
“Thank you my lord, I am… honored… by your presence.” He said as he moved to don the robe he had left hanging on the back of the door outside. “I have tried to serve you well, and there were times when I doubted, but I have had my prayers answered, you have returned.”
“Yes, I will perhaps explain that to you in a moment, but first sit and talk with me.  It is not an easy task I ask of you, nor one that your abilities now suit you for….”
“I would never think that my lord would visit me for a reason that were slight,” he said as he moved to a seat opposite where Jehovah stood, and sat in it as directed.  As he watched God, he too sat.
Jehovah chuckles softly, a rich musical laugh like one might think the choir of angels might sound, and said, “Your wisdom serves you well son…. I must ask you before we begin, what is the meaning of life?”
Without hesitation the Rabbi said, “To leave this world better than I found it.”
“Yes my son, and that is why you will be the Messiah if you so desire. I gave Jesus the choice before birth, but with you there was no such luxury. I will explain why should you accept.
The Rabbi sat in silence for perhaps ten minutes, his breath coming in slow shallow breaths. Finally, he said, tears in his eyes, “Your will be done Father.”
Jehova sat for a moment, thinking on the man’s courage, and finally nodded, “Then let me explain. Come, kneel before your father and let me annoint you with all things that make you my son.” He then paused for a moment to allow his son to follow the order, and as the man knelt in silence. God then slit open his brow, an old trick that Zeus was fond of, and from it drew a drop of blood, placing it on the man’s forhead. Immediately the man collapsed, writhing in agony. This was the true test, and both of them knew it.
  Gladstein fell as the blood hit his forhead. He soon realized he was dying, and he closed his eyes, wondering whether to fight or not. He decided that giving up was the path of the evil, life was never easy. It was in this moment that the physical pain stopped, and the mental pain began. His mind exploded with images, his neighbors making love, his roof as seen by a bird, and many other things at once. Then came the knowledge, with the pictures came others, of different shades, memories, knowledge of the divine. God was giving him the knowledge, the story of the gods…. It seemed an eternity before his eyes opened again, but when he did, the world was changed. Nothing escaped his attention, no shadow was able to hold his old eyes from their depths. With but a thought of a person, they were before his eyes.
An hour later, the Son rose, and Jehovah was waiting. They then ascended to the realm of the gods, and sought council with the children of the other gods made that very night.  This council, the gods combined with their avatars, was the war council. With the gods as rulers of hastily allied countries, and the avatars their generals. They laid plans that took near a decade of earthly time, but in this realm of dimensional proportion, time of Earth had no meaning. It was the realm of the gods, beyond man’s touch, and beyond his bounds.