Gary R Simonds

An Exit Interview

So, what is this supposed to be?

Well, remember when you left your job and you arranged a meeting with your CEO to discuss things—all that had happened through the years, your concerns, some thoughtful suggestions, that sort of thing?

Of course I remember, it was only a few months ago—then all hell breaks loose and I’m here with you. It hardly seems fair…

Who told you that life is inherently fair?

Well, no one, really, but it sure would have been nice if it was. I worked so hard for so very long. I helped a lot of people, I think. I kept my nose clean, for the most part. I may have even had a positive impact. And did I mention that I worked like a dog? Then, when I finally realize the chance to take my foot off the gas a little, kick back, enjoy things, explore, think, consider the big picture—Kaboom.

You don’t sound too happy about it.

Should I be?

Well, just being here should tell you something. It should at least allay some of your most primary fears—about whether there is something or not after death… Shouldn’t that please you to some degree? Hasn’t mankind troubled itself so profoundly about the concept throughout the millennia?

I guess, but why did you need to keep it such a secret from us? I mean, if we knew, it sure could have “allayed” a lot of those fears right there on earth.

It’s a little complicated. You’re all so embryonic. Knowing could have significantly impacted your development. Full exposure to the “big picture” might have been a little overwhelming for you.

Well, judging from this place, I can’t say that things are all that “overwhelming.” I mean, look at this office—it feels like one of the C-Suites back at our organization. Nice leather and wood and all, but it’s certainly not awe-inspiring. I thought it would be so much more…otherworldly than this…

So you’re not impressed?

Not really, I mean the chairs are cool and all, but it all seems rather pedestrian.

Do you think that this is all there is? Or, that what you are experiencing right now is a fair representation? Could it be that we’ve arranged an environment that might make it easier for you to feel comfortable — surround you with familiar, tangible, things — so you could ease into your new existence?

How should I know? You tell me. I don’t even know why I am here speaking with you.

You asked for it.

Say what?

You asked me for this over and over again—for decades. I thought it would be only fair to grant your request. 

My request?

Yes, for some form of exit interview, like you had with your boss. To discuss things, make some sense of them, ease your transition, and allow you to offer some constructive criticism.

When in the world do you think I requested an “exit interview?”

Oh, so many times that it would be tedious to enumerate them all. But I can if you would like.

Really? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Please, give me an example.

Okay, how about back in your college days, when you were all brimming with ideas from your religion and philosophy classes, and you told me that organized religion made no sense. And you said that the mysteries of existence were too much for any being, or organization, to ever truly figure it out—so you were no longer going to even try. And you told me that you would appreciate some sort explanation, some time, some day—perhaps when it was all over… 

Or, how about ten years ago when you watched that child die. And you cried yourself to sleep — night after night. And you kept saying to me that I owed you an explanation for the suffering of innocents, or for that matter, if I am remembering your words correctly, “for the suffering of anyone.”

Or, 8 years ago, when your sister died, and—

Okay, okay, I get it. You’re talking about my prayers—or whatever they were. You’re telling me you heard them. 

Indeed…

Really? How could that be? And how could you possibly remember them? All of them…

Well, it wasn’t all that hard with you, you didn’t talk that much to me. We could easily go a year or two between our conversations.

Conversations? I don’t recall much in the way of conversations. Those “conversations” seemed pretty one-sided, if you ask me. 

Few ever hear me, or believe what they’re hearing is me, but I do respond.

Well, you could have fooled me. I never heard a word…

As I said, few ever seem to hear me, nonetheless, many are comforted. 

Is that so? I don’t recall ever being overwhelmed by waves of celestial solace.

Oh, you were, do you want some examples…

I think I’ll pass for now… Anyway, I think you were somehow listening in on my unconstructed thoughts, I don’t think I ever truly spoke to you, out loud I mean.

Oh you did. Remember that night in D.C. when war was looming and you prayed over and over again for peace. You walked through the neighborhood carrying your youngest, kissing his head, and you begged me not to take you away from him? You certainly addressed me loud and clear that night.

Yeah, I forgot about that—that was a stressful time. But I would have to say that was unusual—most of the time, it was more me just kind of hashing-out my concerns and anxieties in my head. I never said a word, never believed anyone was listening or could be listening. I’m not sure I would consider it praying.

Well I did. And by the way, you didn’t always just mull over concerns, you did request things, with some frequency. 

Really? I don’t remember that.

How about for the health and happiness of your family and friends during one crisis or another?

Well…of course…

And you would always tag on “and the health and happiness of everyone, really—everyone everywhere—all of us miserable creatures down here on earth…”

I guess you did hear me. That’s embarrassing.

Why so?

I guess I was hedging my bets. I mean, even though I didn’t really believe in any of it, I said such things just in case you were out there, somewhere. And it would have been selfish to just make requests for myself wouldn’t it?

You tell me.

Well, I would have to think so. And jeez, my cynicism sure showed didn’t it? Sorry!

No worries, I’m used to it.

Please tell me that I didn’t ask for really silly or selfish things too much — like material goods or success or fame or something. I don’t think I did, but I suppose I could have blocked that sort of thing out of my memory.

No, you were generally pretty unselfish—although you did occasionally beg me for a win for one sports team or another—but I don’t think you were overly serious. But you did chide me with some frequency for things you didn’t get.

Chide you? We already established that most of these “prayers” were just me thinking through things.

Chide me, in a manner of speaking. When you were younger, you could get mad at me about a girlfriend here and there. When you matured, it was almost always over bad things in life,  bad things befalling people you cared about.

Sheesh, you heard all that? I mean, that was just be venting…

As I said, I listen to all your prayers. It doesn’t matter how or where you offer them up.

If that’s the case, what’s the purpose of churches? Aren’t they where we’re supposed to connect with you? Don’t they serve as your hotline?

Man created churches, not me.

Are you saying they serve no purpose then?

No, not at all. They certainly can create an environment where people feel more comfortable communicating with me. And they can bring comfort and solace, and a sense of community and communion. And it seems many feel my presence more definitively there, for one reason or another.

But you hear us anywhere and anytime we “communicate” with you—even if it is just in our heads?

Exactly.

Wait—does that mean you heard all my thoughts?

I could have, but I only listened when you wanted me to. I don’t think you would want me in there all the time.

You can say that again. Not all my thoughts are exactly pure or charitable. 

Indubitably.

Hey—how about watching us? Do you see everything we do? There are many things I’m not particularly proud of.

Yes, I know. But the good you did, or tried to do, certainly outweighed the embarrassing stuff. Nobody’s perfect.

Except you…

Nope, not me.

What do you mean, I thought you were infallible. 

Certainly not.

Hmm, that’s going to be a tough one to wrap my head around. One way or the other, though,  I think we’re all far more aware of our imperfections than our qualities. There’s definitely a lot I’m ashamed of, but, I don’t think I was ever a mean-spirited person. I tried to be kind. In the end, I think I was an okay guy.

You were and are an okay guy. In fact, you are a pretty good guy. Not perfect, but pretty good. Perhaps like many, more prone to sins of omission than commission—but a pretty good guy nonetheless. And, as Bing Crosby said in the movie White Christmas: “We all have a little larceny in us…”

You seem awfully forgiving.

That’s my job, isn’t it? 

I’m not sure I know what your job is. But this whole seeing everything thing—how is that in any way possible? It’s inconceivable. Isn’t it?

This is why we introduce you to things slowly. Your world is just a snapshot of existence. It is purposefully limited and simplified—as is your ability to take it in and process it. Through experience, you will come to perceive more and understand better all that is. But be aware so many of the physical restraints with which you are currently familiar, and that may even anchor your perceptions, simply don’t apply…

Come again… Physical restraints don’t apply? Like what?

Like time. Time is so very linear, unidirectional, and relentless to you. But what you think is eons— against the true span of existence— is nothing, just the blink of an eye.

Ok, ok, you’re freaking me out a little with this.  I’m going to want to come back to that whole concept, but first, I want to return to our “conversations.” I…we…plead with you all the time for help, and apparently, you hear everything and see everything. And yet you never give us what we ask for do you? 

It depends what you ask for. No, I have never given anyone riches, or possessions, or a win for the Dallas Cowboys, or the heart of a would-be girlfriend. I’m not a Genie in a bottle—I don’t run about granting wishes. Nor do I grant a victory in war, a miraculous medical turn-around, the reversal of some tragedy, or any change in someone’s circumstances—even if the circumstances aren’t very nice.

So what’s the point of praying? No wonder why I did it so infrequently. I had things to do, people to care for, crises to settle; and apparently, with no help from you… 

Oh, I gave you more help than you think, even without you asking. 

Like what?

Like love, concern, compassion, admiration, best wishes… 

Great, a cosmic cheerleader. You think that has any worth down there—when we are requesting tangible, critical, real-world things?

I do, but before we talk about such things, let’s think about the consequences of granting too much of what people ask for. Have you ever read C.S. Lewis’ book “The Great Divorce?”

I’ve never had the pleasure.

Well, he offers up an interesting concept to digest. He imagines a place after life where people are essentially given everything and anything they want—by just imagining it. How do you think things turn out?

Got me. I suspect a lot better than what we have there now, and have had for all of human history.

Well, not exactly. In this paradise of perpetual wish fulfillment, people were quick to become annoyed with one another, and jealous, and covetous, and dismissive, and disaffected—as they so often can on earth. But unlike on earth, when they grew to dislike their neighbors they simply wished for new surroundings, far away from those who annoyed them, and were granted it, immediately. So what do you think happened?

I suppose everyone lived in their own little paradises…

Kind of, but the place became this vast wasteland, a barren cityscape of vacant buildings and homes, street after street. There was no community, no interpersonal contact, no shared experiences. Everyone lived in their own little compound, alone, void of human connection. What do you think Lewis was implying?

I don’t know. Sounds like Houston. But probably that this was some sort of hell I guess.

Exactly—a hell created by man’s antipathy for, and acrimony with, his fellow man. Many of you had a small taste of this during the pandemic and it wasn’t very pleasant was it?

No, that certainly was not. So you’re saying something similar to the book would happen if you went ahead and granted everyone’s wishes and requests?

I don’t know if it would happen, it was a writer’s conceptualization of hell. But it wouldn’t surprise me. Would it you?

Hmm, possibly… Seems like a weak argument though. I mean, couldn’t you be selective in what you grant. Take care at least of the good people and the innocent?

Who decides who fits those categories?

You do!

Ha, Ha. When two countries fight each other in a war, and millions of people from both sides plead for victory, who would you grant it to? Is every citizen on one side evil, and everyone on the other side virtuous?

How about Nazi Germany?

Ha! Everyone uses that example. Granted there are extremes, but even there, the argument falls apart. Did every person who died in Dresden deserve to be incinerated in its firebombing? How about the children?

Again, you know better than me.

Well then, I would say no. Besides, there are many other reasons not to simply grant everyone’s every wish, or even to do so selectively.

I’m listening.

You were a loving father. I seem to recall you pushing your boys to try their hardest in all their endeavors— scholastics, sports, music, fitness, and the rest. You probably even pushed them too hard at times, according to what you told me…

Okay…

Why? Why did you push them? Why didn’t you help them with everything—do their assignments for them, practice the piano for them, do those basketball drills for them?

What good would that do? They wouldn’t grow and develop the skills they wanted or needed; or derive any sense of accomplishment from their achievements; or develop a sense of reality of how the world works and how to get by in it…

Precisely. 

Well, I’m still not convinced.

I’m not surprised. But, there’s also the whole free-will thing.

Meaning what?

Well, the more I intervene, the less you would be choosing your own course. I wanted you to make the choices, all the choices. In order to set up such a situation, I had to essentially step away from any direct intervention—or perhaps I should call it interference.

So are you saying that you set the whole thing up and then stepped away, turned your back on us?

I already told you that I watched everything you did.

Yeah, like turning on the TV and watching dispassionately as all sorts of horrible things happen to people in some movie. But we are real people, not actors…

It isn’t easy. Like it wasn’t easy for you to watch your children stumble as they found their ways in life. But often you did stand back and watch didn’t you?

I suppose…

It is a fine balance. But I’ll give you a little hint here—I set things up such that if everyone were to cooperate and look after each other, there would be far, far, less suffering, and far more happiness—for everyone. The Garden of Eden is clearly a metaphor—but a pretty apropos one. Mankind was given a paradise to inhabit—that it’s not realized is not because I gave a deaf to everyone’s requests. 

Wait…wait…are you telling me that our entire existence came to being according to some master plan? That the billions of random atomic and sub-atomic interactions that occurred over billions of years to eventually result in the earth, and then the billions of molecular interactions that occurred over several more hundreds of millions of years to result in us, was all pre-planned—blueprinted out? That seems ridiculous. It would be so unimaginably complex.

Remember how constrained you are by time and space and your single universe. As I said, there is far more to existence. The billions of years you refer to becomes irrelevant. The point is, to become a genuine sentient being with independent agency, there has to be free will, the ability to choose one’s own path, or else you are just marionettes. You can’t have us intervening every other minute pulling various strings—talk about the hyper complex…

So are you saying we have essentially been on our own right from the very start? That no matter what happened, you chose not to intervene? You essentially became the ultimate cosmic voyeur?

Well, that was kind of the plan. As I said, the earth is self-sustaining. Or should be. And, as I said, it could be a paradise. You are all free to do what you wish with it, and with your lives. But unfortunately, free will also means you all have the option to choose poorly or unethically, very much to the detriment of others, and yourselves. 

Well that’s on you, you’re the one who keeps depositing us there.

No, actually, I do no such thing. You create new beings, not me. Every being that is brought into existence is done so by you. It’s a marvelous thing, really.

Great, another concept to wrap my head around—if I still have one. But back up a minute. You still just sit there as we wreak all sorts of havoc on the earth and on one another. Even if it is our fault, it isn’t everyone’s fault. And so many good and innocent people suffer.

It’s very painful to watch. You cannot comprehend how sad it makes me. And sure, I could make it such that no one would ever act out of greed or jealousy or hatred—but what would happen to your free-will? You simply would be another beast of the field. When it is said that you were made in my image, the reference is not to a physical being but a mental one. You are given the same choice of how to relate and interact with existence as are all of us here. Bad behavior is a choice, and apparently a choice that is made all too often.

But that’s on you. I mean, we all could have been made unable to sin couldn’t we? It would have prevented a lot of death and pain throughout time.

And how in any way does that give you free-will if we set such constraints on you? How do you choose between good and evil?

But you made evil.

On the contrary, you guys did. As I said, everything was set in motion on earth for it to be a lovely and loving place. But everyone exercises their right to choose their own path, and many chose some pretty twisted ones.

But what about Devil and his minions—aren’t you are responsible for those guys?

There is no Devil, there are no minions. “The Devil” exists in your collective choice of darkness over light. It is kind of like that “cloud” thing you all created with your computers—not a being per se, but active and powerful nonetheless.

Ha! I’m not sure I entirely believe you. But forget that for now— what about the children?  Why do children have to suffer? Why must they die so young—before they had any opportunity to make those ever-so-important choices, to develop and exercise your oh-so-precious free-will.

That one is a little complicated, and you’re not really ready to understand it all. But here are some points to consider. First, realize that earth is not your only chance to experience, develop, and grow, it is simply the site of your origin. Babies and children come into existence on earth, they do not cease to exist with death—just as you have not. They will be given ample opportunity to develop free will. Second, again, realize time is not in any way how you perceive it, their suffering is infinitesimally short compared with the entirety of their existence. Third, please remember, their suffering is generally at your hands, you could have saved them from it. 

Wait, we didn’t give a baby leukemia, or some awful degenerative genetic disease. 

Granted, but all of you are subjected to a physical world, and it does not, cannot, function perfectly. 

Why the heck not?

Consider this: an imperfect physical world establishes the need for cooperation, mutual trust, collaboration, trust, friendship, bonding, and so much more, between you all. It teaches you how to get along. When it goes awry, innocent people, even children are indeed hurt, but I cannot directly intervene on every occasion of a random physical or man-made tragedy, or it would be a totally contrived existence. Besides, there is great value in learning how to accept and work through loss, and the concept that you cannot have everything you desire. 

Yeah, but there’s a difference between desiring material things and wanting to shelter people from pain and suffering, isn’t there?

I understand your point but, believe it or not, suffering is not always a horrible thing for a developing being. It is perhaps, for all of us, the circumstance where we are most keenly aware of our existence. It brings us to whole new levels of understanding, it broadens our emotional state, it creates resilience and helps develop and deepen our empathy—a critical trait. 

That’s easy for you to say. We’re the ones down there doing all the suffering. When do you ever suffer?

I suffer every time one of you suffers.

I just don’t see it. If it is so painful for you, how can you just sit back and watch all the horrible stuff happen, particularly the stuff we do to each other.

I don’t. It does get so ugly that at times I do try to persuade you to head in a better direction. I will, on occasion, expose you to some… some “emissaries,” if you will.

Emissaries? You told me there is no Devil, wasn’t he supposed to be one of your “emissaries.”

There is no Devil, but there are prophets and there are angels; for lack of better terms. They exist among you periodically, not to grant petitions or to directly intervene, but to remind you that there are better ways.

Oh? Well, frankly, I never believed in either, or knew what the difference was between the two. Please explain.

Well, a prophet is in essence a direct messenger from us. He or she will bring pretty specific advice. Advice on how to make your world wonderful again. He or she is also bestowed with the ability to give you a direct look into another dimension of existence, to demonstrate that so many of your assumptions may need to be reassessed. You would call such demonstrations “miracles.”

I would think, then, that you would send armies of prophets—don’t we need so much more of that kind of intervention?

Perhaps, but prophets are generally poorly tolerated. For many people, encountering a prophet is like looking into a brilliant light, too brilliant, they flinch and turn away. There’s almost too much purity to be tolerated. And many people don’t want exposure to another level of existence—they feel comfortable in their limited sphere and don’t want it challenged in any way. Many have supreme difficulty abandoning their own assumptions about how everything works. 

You mean the not so bright people, the unsophisticated, the uneducated. But aren’t they the ones who tend to hyper-religiosity?

Hmm, you scientists are capable of such hubris aren’t you? It’s certainly not just the uneducated who cling to their beliefs, it is just as easily the super-educated — like you — who think they have it all figured out. And, in their own science-based mental map of existence, there’s no room for other existences, other beings…

Well, I have to give that one to you, no one was more surprised about all this than me.

Oh, far from it, there are many, many, minds more closed than yours. You accepted all the science but left a little room for doubt, for “scientific skepticism,” if you will.

One way or another, surely some respond as you would want to a prophet. And, with a miracle here and there, I would suspect they could have real impact.

Well, there are other complicating factors. Some people are completely enamored with what they have on earth—particularly the kings, the politicians, the powerful, the very rich — they see the prophets as direct threats to all that they have accrued — for the message of the prophets is always to love one’s fellow man, to seek equity and equality, to share, to give freely — not a great message if you are rich and powerful. Those in power therefore do everything they can to undermine the prophets. It’s been my experience that in the end, the grand majority of people simply cannot handle a prophet, and his or her message. Most prophets end up murdered or committed to asylums. 

It may be a small price to pay to get the message out, don’t you think? Why not just keep sending more until people finally wise up?

Well, there’s an even bigger problem. Several have had a massive impact on the course of mankind — much greater than I ever intended…

Than you ever intended? Shouldn’t you know the outcomes of your interventions in advance?

I can’t see the future. I have a pretty good idea where things will head. But with human beings nothing is absolutely predictable. That’s the magic of free-will. It’s never pre-determined. You control your destiny — and the destiny of my emissaries.

So what happened — with the ones that had “massive impact” I mean?

Well, the right one at the right time may actually ignite whole masses of people. A religion is born. This is one of the dangers of exposing people to the truth. They lose focus on the message and are swept up by spiritual fervor — often fanned by ignorant or unscrupulous people who sense that there is something earthly to be gained by a heavenly intercession. Religion is a great method of control for a few to wield over the many. And it can take off, with millions of unintended consequences. Some pretty wretched. As your father used to say, “Throughout the course of history, more people have been killed over religion than any other issue.”

My Father? Well of course, you heard all he said through his years as well, you probably are well aware of his opinion on… Wait, you just essentially said that sending prophets can be a mistake, was a mistake, your mistake. What happened to being infallible?

There you go assuming I am infallible again. Who ever said I’m infallible? With respect to human beings, I have proven to be remarkably fallible. You are always surprising and perplexing me. Compared with you all, the physics of your universe is a piece of cake. But that’s precisely what makes you all so interesting and loveable…

Sheesh, this is less than inspiring.

I’m sorry. But remember, it all revolves around the principle of free-will. Free- will in any being makes definitive predictability impossible. 

But you said time means nothing in your existence, how then can you not simply look into the future and know the outcomes of your interventions.

I think here I will invoke the principle of you not being ready yet to fully understand it all. But I will say this: I know that you are familiar with the concept of the “observer effect” in physics — often mistakenly ascribed to “Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principal” — that the simple act of observing a process will alter its outcome. Something similar can be said in an existence where time exists in a whole other state. The point is, that we cannot ever know for certain the future of anything in existence. So the more I tried to influence you all through my prophets, the more I regretted it. I am very reticent to expose you to more, particularly in your world of telecommunications and supreme interconnectivity — it all could get out of hand so very quickly. So I prefer angels.

Angels… for real?

Not in the form you are probably currently picturing. No wings, no harps, no halos. But they are far more common than you would think.

What do they do?

They are capable of giving you a flash — a momentary taste — of the bigger picture. They come in so many forms, but their effects can be transforming—at least temporarily. 

I’m sorry, I’m not getting this at all. What do you mean?

Well, for example, you were working out last week and listening to music. A young African American woman was singing a rather bawdy blues song, and something in her raspy voice and emphatic phrasing sent chills down your spine didn’t it?

I’m not going to argue, you were watching me…

That wasn’t all, was it? You teared up, didn’t you?

Guilty.

Why?

I don’t know, I felt something. Sad but also uplifted… filled with life I guess.

Or, the glory of existence?

Ok. It was beautiful…in its own silly way.

And what about when that Soprano sang “I know that my Redeemer Liveth” in the Messiah last Christmas, you teared up there too didn’t you? You had to surreptitiously wipe some tears away, you didn’t want those around you to know you were so affected, correct?

You were there…

Examples of angels. They don’t always have to make you cry. Some will fill you with mirth, some with zeal, some with great affection. Some make you want to move, to dance. You love the Rolling Stones right?

You know I do.

What happens when Keith Richards plays the first few notes of Gimme Shelter?

Oh please, please don’t tell me Keith’s an angel?

How do you think he has lasted so long?

Funny, I didn’t know you knew how to joke…But Keith is such a degenerate.

Angels have free will too. Some are more swayed by earthly temptations than others. But think about it, how many people look at Keith and feel tickled inside. And as we established, his riffs moved millions, literally millions. John Lennon once said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus Christ, he was probably correct, at least at the time.

Oh, so John Lennon too—at least that makes some sense…

No actually, but another Beatle…

Paul McCartney then… 

No, not Paul…or George…

Ringo? You can’t be serious.

Think of how many people he touched with his crooked smile. He generated warmth in everyone. Besides, it was his drumming that held the Beatles together. And think of all the good the group did as an ensemble.

Sheesh…So angels are always sent as rock stars?

No, no, I was just using examples that you could relate to. And indeed it was a great avenue to reach you specifically for a period. Think of how many times your sagging spirits were lifted by a song, or even just a line, or a riff. But many are inspired by other things: a painting, a work of architecture, a passage of poetry, a novel, a speech, a helping hand, even just a smile. But I must admit, music has always seemed to have a particular impact—way back to man’s earliest days.

So every time we are moved by something, there is likely an angel behind it?

No… the wonderful thing is that you are all fantastic at mimicking them. Even better, you are very, very, creative on your own—it’s the magic of free-will. You are fully capable of creating experiential doorways yourself — stairways to heaven if you will. It happens all the time — to wonderful effect. Shakespeare, for example was a man, not an angel. And think about it, the creators and those they touch — all are in on the experience. Angels just remind you of this on occasion. And it turns out that angels are so much safer to send than prophets, they are out there by the thousands. 

But doesn’t it ever go to their heads, I mean, being who they are amongst all us cretins?

Oh, I must apologize, I didn’t make that part clear. Angels and prophets are completely human, not “super beings,” per se. They are flesh and blood just like you. The difference between the two is that Prophets are fully aware of their connection with us, angels have little or no idea. 

What? How is that possible?

Well, everyone is born an angel—much more connected and wired-in to the expanse of existence, and to us. They retain this connection through early childhood. Think of 3 or 4 year-olds—they learn languages almost instantly, they are artists and singers and dancers and builders and doctors and magicians. They are so utterly pluripotent. And they chat, unabashedly, with me all the time. But most lose the connection. They have to, the purpose of time on earth would be lost otherwise. A small percentage keep some vestige, a window to all existence that is left open by the tiniest crack. And they derive inspiration from it and share it with all around them who will accept it. A few guess or deduct their special connection, but most assume it is just some sort of a gift—perhaps of their raising or their genetics.

And no one else guesses it, they just assume these guys are some sort of geniuses or prodigies?

Oh, most mothers seem to sense it, but then convince themselves otherwise when their “little angels” become teenagers.

Funny again. You really are more of a comedian that I ever expected. 

Laughter is the best medicine…

Ha! I didn’t say a good comedian. So, what about prophets—you say they are aware of their connection?

Yes, prophets are angels who remain in direct contact with us throughout their lives. We speak openly, and strategize together.

You mean you used too, but don’t employ prophets anymore because of the mess they can make.

Correct. Remember, time is a different phenomenon for me, so I may use the wrong tense now and then.

Your fallibility is freaking me out.

Ha! You and me both. 

Sheesh, you really should go on The Tonight Show with your jokes. But tell me more about a prophet’s connection—you say you guys are in constant communication, how does that allow them to perform miracles if they are just human beings?

Remember, you are all angels at birth—and prophets. If you kept your direct line with the big picture, you too could perform “miracles.” Miracles are simply acts that defy the laws of the physical world as you know it, not existence over all.

Ok, ok, my head is swimming a bit right now. I guess this is why you ease us into this new state of being.

Exactly.

But answer me this, if prophets were all in constant contact with you, and they were responsible for the world religions, why are the religions so divergent? Why do they point us in so many different directions? Why do they end up going after each other so violently?

Well, first realize that there have always been plenty of false prophets out there. So some beliefs and assumptions are fallacious, right out of the blocks. More importantly though, think, are the world religions really all that different?

They seem to believe they are.

But think about their cardinal underpinnings. Don’t most prescribe peace, and love, and modesty, and forgiveness, and kindness, and charity, and respect for your fellow man;  and caring for each other and for your earth?

I suppose, but—

But then legions of people with all sorts of ulterior motivations get ahold of the message and distort it don’t they?

You know better than I do…

Well they do. So the religions diverge as men twist and bend them.

Gotcha. And sometimes, all hell breaks loose.

So to speak.

So to speak. Well, yucch. The story behind prophets is kind of depressing isn’t it?

I’m afraid so. My bad…

Eew, you really shouldn’t adopt all our lingo — it just doesn’t sound right coming from you.

Gotcha. Oops, sorry. I understand.

Okay, okay, Let’s get back to the angels. The subject seems less depressing. So we all start out as angels, and then most of us completely lose our connection with you?

Roger that.

There you go again. 

Sorry! Yes, you are correct.

But a small percentage of us keep some glimpse of the expanded state of being that is existence, and periodically demonstrate it to the rest of us?

Yes, you are correct.

Much better.

Thank you.

So what’s the point? I mean with these glimpses into the expanded universe?

The point is that periodic exposure to a higher level of being seems the safest way to start nudging you in a better direction—gentle persuasion rather than a lightning bolt. You have to admit, experiences like that, even the ones that are uncomfortable or that make you cry, can be  transcendent…

I would agree. But usually only momentarily…

Indeed, but it often doesn’t take much to completely redirect. And remember—we are pulling no strings directly. You may never run into an angel. But since the advent of mass communication and digital era, millions, billions will likely experience the work and insights of perhaps hundreds of angels throughout their lives. And are better for it. And it adds up. Some will totally change the directions of their lives. Some will become like ripples in a pond and affect many for the better—simply after being moved by the beauty of a cathedral, or a piece of poetry, or an aria, or even a guitar riff… 

I get it, I suppose…

That’s very satisfying to hear…

Keith Richards, huh? 

Yep…

I should have known…