The truth of things

[CovenantJr]

This is the truth of things: God does not exist.

This is not to say God has never existed; there was, at one time, a supreme being, or rather a legion of homogenised entities that, between them, managed to become supreme. This being/ collection of beings, however, was destroyed long ago.

This is the truth of things: The origin of life was an accident.

Life, as you know it, grew like mould in an unattended corner of the universe. The worlds, the moons, the majestic asteroid belts and countless semi-apocalyptic suns were designed as nothing more than eye candy. They are desk ornaments; they are executive toys, like those rows of ball bearings bored middle managers knock together to pass away the dreary hours until retirement, but on scale inconceivable by human beings. Think of the universe as an executive desk toy the size of a stately home.

As you might expect, maintaining a toy that large is too demanding a task for one person, and so a staff was hired – or, to detach from the analogy for a moment, created. The celestial host was brought into existence to tend the playground so he that created it could concentrate on his enjoyment without the concern or responsibility of looking after it. The ‘angels’ had little or no choice but to carry out this order, since it was the very reason for their being. In time, however, decay set in, and the result was life.

This is the truth of things: Life is Lucifer’s doing.

The Bearer of Light, Lucifer, was among the higher ranks of the angels. To continue the earlier analogy, he was a butler, or perhaps a valet; still a servant, body and soul, but of a certain seniority. When Lucifer grew weary of the unending celestial grind, his eminence drew others in his wake.

It is true that the very nature of angels compels them to tend God’s plaything, and that attempting to break from this servitude would be akin to forcing lungs not to draw breath; but it is possible, with a severe effort of will, to withhold air from the body, and it is similarly possible for an angel to refuse his allotted role. Lucifer was, to his credit, possessed of a formidable will, and when he finally, after innumerable years of groundskeeping, set his mind to opposition, he succeeded. It was a task of near-impossible difficulty – but only near-impossible. Impossibility must, by necessity, consist of infinite difficulty, and therefore anything that is near-impossible is, in fact, infinitely far from impossibility.

Lucifer’s status, resolve and magnetism drew flocks of other angels who had tired of their chores as much as he, but lacked, perhaps, the imagination or the strength of will to actively rebel against the dictates of their making. Rather than performing their allotted maintenance work, these rogue angels began, instead, metaphorically sneaking out to the pub. In a playground of such size and manned by such multitudes of staff, their absence went unnoticed for a time. God would have known of their rebellion, had he asked himself the question; but since he had no reason to wonder, he failed to discover anything was amiss.

Gradually, some parts of the universe began to fall into disrepair; Lucifer and his associates initially shirked their chores only occasionally, but when their initial absences went unremarked, they became increasingly bold. Ultimately, they absented themselves completely, and decay began to seize unattended corners. This decay – this mould or fungus that blemished the sheen of God’s immense game – became life.

This is the truth of things: God wants you dead.

…or rather, his remaining agents do. God, as mentioned above, is long gone, but there are still those who are, and always have been, so loyal to their creator that they continue to enact his will to this day.

When God did eventually stumble across a part of the universe that had become noticeably tainted by life, he queried his divine awareness and discovered Lucifer’s rebellion. Like any employer, God found mutiny in the ranks entirely unacceptable and took action. He sent angels to retrieve Lucifer and his wayward companions from the far reaches where they habitually located themselves. All the rebels bar one were successfully captured and brought back to God, most utterly unresisting; in the absence of their leader, they had no idea what they should do, and no will to fight even had the thought occurred to them. Yes: Lucifer was the only rogue angel who could not be located. Complacency had not taken hold of him as swiftly as it had the others, and he had concealed himself more carefully; the loyal angels could not find him. God however, knew Lucifer’s location. Initially he sent two of his loyal servants to accost the Bringer of Light and bring him before God, but Lucifer proved more willful and tenacious than his followers; the rebellion was, at its heart, his, and he would not surrender it easily. Gabriel and Michael were repelled by their former colleague’s spirited defence, and it fell to the creator himself to bring the final rebel out of hiding. In a fury, he cried to Lucifer of the punishment he would inflict upon the other rebels unless he, the ringleader, came forward to accept responsibility.
Lucifer, in horror at the potential suffering caused by his actions, returned to God and surrendered himself in order to preserve his fellows. God, however, decreed to the downcast renegades that all who had defied him would be punished. Never had an angel died, for they had no lifespan and no enemies, but now their creator announced that they would be unmade.
At this, Lucifer raged, tearing at those angels assigned to guard him and even at himself in a desperate attempt to escape his fate. His very fabric was torn and stretched to the verge of breaking by the process of being unmade, and his comrades wailed their anguish as they suffered the same fate. His desperation gave him might, however, and abruptly Lucifer broke free of his captors and plunged forth to prevent the unmaking of the other rebellious angels. He struck at God, and God struck back, directing his concentration away from punishing the rebels. This lull allowed several of Lucifer’s allies to free themselves, and in turn assist others in gaining liberty. Passive when leaderless, the renegades were ferocious when guided by Lucifer’s example, and they engaged the angels with reckless lack of fear. Several dashed to Lucifer’s aid and, all at once, God fell.

In this way, the battle ended, both factions stunned at the demise of their creator. Lucifer and his fellows regained their composure quickly, and fled headlong to the pocket of sanctuary in which Lucifer had remained concealed. Wracked with the agony of being partially unmade, they were forced to adapt this place to provide more comfort; the very nature of this segment of the universe changed dramatically, and they decided it must bear a suitable name. Hell, they dubbed it.

The remaining loyal angels, when they came to terms with the loss of their creator, decided rapidly that they would continue his will. They had no inclination to pursue his main desire, enjoyment in the playground of the universe, but they determined that they would exterminate the rebels of Hell and cleanse God’s precious universe, restoring it to it former glory. The angels pledged themselves to eradication of the stain that is life.

This is the truth of things.

[Tulizar]

It's well written. You cast a new light on an old story and manage to make it an enjoyable read. Nice analogies!

Life, as you know it, grew like mould in an unattended corner of the universe.

Nice!

[Avatar]

Nice to see something by you again Cj. I like the story too.

And that little bit of repitition: This is the truth of things.

Good one.

--A

[CovenantJr]

It seems “The Truth of Things” went down quite well in certain quarters. Some have even asked for more; the genuine seekers of truth, rather than the maudlin hordes who immerse themselves in artificial clap-trap.

Very well.

This is also the truth of things:

The Seven Deadly Sins are not what you think, in more than one sense.

In a general sense, sin itself is different than you think; in a more narrow sense, the Seven Deadly Sins themselves are not the sins you’ve been led to believe, in fact there are ten sins, not seven – Samael invented decimalisation long before the human race caught on. More on that later.

Sin is nothing less than your salvation; avoid sin and all will be well. This much you know, and have probably known since childhood. What you won’t know, unless you’re superhumanly well-informed is: sins are the things the Devil wants you to avoid.
Regular readers may recall that the angels who are attempting to do God’s work in his absence are driven by one purpose greater than all others: to eradicate life from the universe. They want you dead, and the activities you term ‘sin’ are those that give the angels greatest access to you.
Angels are, you see, fundamentally inhuman; their nature is so far removed from your own that they simply cannot grasp you, motivate you or significantly overcome you while you are at your most human. You are, however, products of your environment. You exist in the same universe the angels do, and as such you do have some vaguely angelic qualities. To return to an earlier analogy, humans and fungi have some small elements in common, and so it is with angels and humans. At times, the hints of the celestial show through a little more strongly, and at those times the angels can get a better grasp on you, and thereby come a little closer to exterminating you. Sins are the actions, thoughts and values that are closest to those of the angelic host.
Hence the existence of the Seven (Ten) Deadly Sins; Lucifer, with some input from his fellow outcasts, analysed human behaviour over a period of time, constructed a short list of the actions you take that render you most angelic, and proceeded to publish this list under the simple but effective title The Seven (Ten) Deadly Sins.

This is also the truth of things:

Lucifer is your God.

In fact, you have the two muddled. You attribute creation of the universe, quite correctly, to God, along with the creation of angels, the banishment of Lucifer and an assortment of other bits and pieces. You also, however, attribute other things to God that are actually Lucifer’s doing: the Seven Deadly Sins, as I’ve mentioned; the Ten Commandments; Jesus Christ. Which brings things neatly to:

This is also the truth of things:

Jesus Christ was an agent of the Devil.

If you accept that God’s remaining angels are doing their best to eliminate all life in the universe, and that lists of laws like the Seven (Ten) Deadly Sins and the Ten Commandments are the Devil’s way of protecting you, it follows that Jesus, working, as he manifestly was, for the same being who wrote the Commandments, must have been Lucifer’s man. In fact, Jesus Christ was none other than Samael, the very draughtsman of the Sins himself; Lucifer, you understand, was the mastermind, but there are always the assistants who refine, research, and generally pare things down to the most efficient level, and this was Samael.

More on that later. As is the case with anything, truth in too great a quantity is a recipe for ill health.

I leave you with the following morsel for thought:

Why pray? God does not hear your prayers because he is dead. God would not hear your prayers were he alive, because your voices are insignificant. When did you last bend your knee to listen to the dreams of mildew?
The angels do occasionally heed your prayers, though only when they have run out of ideas. “Dear Lord, please spare this loved one”, if heard by an angel, is a guarantee of death for the poor person. “God help us!”, if heard by an angel, is certain to bring down every conceivable tribulation upon your head.
Prayer is an error. Please desist.

This is the truth of things.

[danlo]

Yes sir!