Jack and Me.

“What’s wrong , Val? You look worried.”

“I am, Jack. Very worried.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Yeah. You know, things haven’t been the same since you died.”

“ I know, but my life was planned out by someone bigger than me. Bigger than all of us.”

“Ha! He’s so big that He is sending the world into self-destruction! How can a so-called merciful God do that? I mean, how can He let it happen?”

“Val, even God can only do so much. He tried to set us on the right path. He watched us evolve. He saw our mistakes. He even sent us a Savior to help us. But, we were afraid of this Savior because He was a part of something we couldn’t understand.”

“I know that! I use to read the Bible and go to Sunday School. I heard all the parables and the sermons. And man crucified Jesus. We killed you, Abe Lincoln, Martin Luther King and anyone else we thought would bring the world to what it was meant to be; without Sin. A utopia where all mankind would, as John Lennon so easily sang about, Live as One!”

“Is that why you stopped believing in God?

“No, I stopped believing on a more personal level.”

“Really, Val? Are you sure it wasn’t yourself that you stopped believing in?”

“Damn it, Jack! Why does it always come back to being my fault? I knew things weren’t right and, every night, every heart wrenching night, I prayed to God to help me. I prayed to Him to give me something, anything, to set things to right.

But, He abandoned me just like he abandoned Jesus. The same way He abandoned you. The way He has abandoned the whole damn world!”

“Aw,Val. Don’t cry. I know life has been tough. It’s tough on everyone…”

“That’s an understatement if I have ever heard one.”

“Look, I know it seems like the world is going to hell in a hand basket, but, if you quit, then why shouldn’t everyone else quit as well?”

“It would certainly end all the misery a lot sooner.”

“That’s not my point. My point is, and I am going to paraphrase one of my own quotes, we can’t ask God to do for us, we have to ask God what we can do for ourselves. So long as we keep on trying to make the world as we wish it, then there is more of a chance we can succeed. We lose that chance when we quit.”

“Jack, I think I said I prayed to God for guidance.”

“Yes, you did. But, did you hear Him?”

“I don’t think He heard me.”

“Things are going to be all right, Val.”

“Oh? How do you know that?”

“He told me, Val. He told me.”

Word Count:469