THE SWORD AND SICKLE

CHAPTER-NINE: TEMPLE OF THE VOICE

THE SWORD AND THE SICKLE

PART TWO

CHAPTER NINE

TEMPLE OF THE VOICE

Greta asked of the twelve, "I hear only one voice, yet there are twelve of you. Who speaks for The Twelve?"

"We think as individuals and as one. I am Joseph, the interpreter of dreams. I speak for the whole. With me are Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, Isaiah, and Elijah. We are half of the Twenty-four elders of the Lord. What you see before you is much like who you really are. You are spirit, and resemble us. You are appalled at our appearance, yet you are as we are, symbiotic beings attached to a human body. Without us, the body cannot function. With us, it becomes a living soul, a person."

Greta said, "I know we are a symbiont in nature, but I didn't know we would look like this. I thought we would be human-shaped. When I was with Levi, I had a body. I could touch things and feel things with my hands and my feet."

"Yes, your spirit is closely intertwined with every molecule of your body. When you are out of your body, it remembers its form, and you perceive things as you are, even if your body is asleep or in deep meditation. We still feel our bodies and can, with effort, assume our previous form."

Alicia asked, "Why don't you?"

"If we assume human form, we will not be connected to the whole. It is only for meetings with the deacons and the membership. It is unnecessary to appear this way with you. As I said, we are here for you."

"Reuben broke his silence and asked, "Why would you need simple humans like us? You seem very powerful with no wants or needs."

"You are very powerful humans, your wife Greta has reached greatness, and her power is beyond mere human comprehension. We are no longer of the earth, but rather of the spirit. We are not gods, and for us to influence humans is very limited in scope. Though we are long-lived, to exert such influence would drain us for a very long duration. If we take human form, we would give up most of our influence. Our power does not extend beyond this sphere."

Greta asked, "My powers are dampened inside this temple, why?"

"This is true, you are too powerful. You would overwhelm the followers. In here you are like the rest of us only able to sense emotions, such as elation, sadness, love and hate. Levi gives your great abilities and you will need all of them. With these abilities you will lead our revolution and thus, change the world forever."

Reuben asked, "How can we, just three people, go against the United States, let alone the world?"

"As Greta has revealed to you, we have many people in powerful positions who are with us. We will not win this battle, but as a result, we will change the political landscape forever. Many things have not been fulfilled that must be. If you do not start this rebellion, then the Lord will not return for the harvest. This is not the first world the Lord has experimented with the human species. In this solar system alone, you exist on two other planets, one of which is what you now refer to as the asteroid belt. On that planet, the humanoid species became extremely violent and, as a result, destroyed their world. The Lord saved some whom he had resettled on the planet Mars. There, they squandered the planet's resources and cut down all the oxygen-giving trees, and the plants could no longer replenish the atmosphere, allowing it to escape into space. Then he began again on this planet. Once he selected the species that would best garden the world, he allowed them to dominate all others. This occurred about 150,000 years ago. From Chad, he dispersed them to all parts of the earth. They became very progressive and strong, and twice he started over. First, over twenty thousand years ago, by raising the sea levels rose, flooding their great cities. The second time, he confounded their speech and again scattered them."

Alicia said, "I thought the Lord knew everything. How is it that he would have to experiment? Does he make mistakes, like we scientists?"

The Twelve answered, "The purpose of this experiment is a process of purification of the essence of God. The reasoning involved is to remove the corrupt within the collective god-head, and it is through the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. The Lord is infinite in patience. This process has come to a head, for this cleansing, and it is time for the feast of the harvest." This garden is ripe, and soon the harvest will begin. Your role is to begin the process that will result in the end of all human life so the Lord may sup and reclaim the pure."

Reuben said, "You make it sound like we will be eaten and our bones cast to the floor."

"The body is of no use to you, look at us. Your flesh will rot and return to the earth. God will reclaim what is his. You will become Yahweh. You will know all he knows. Don't the Christians of this world practice cannibalism when they eat the flesh of Christ and drink his blood?

They all nodded, and Reuben said, "When you put it that way..."

Changing the subject for cannibalism and blood sucking Greta said, "Ruth hinted that she knows things only the Great Unknown could know. How is this possible?"

"She has not misspoken, my child. Here reference to God is really a reference to the Lord, who is the creative force. We don't know much about the Prime Mover, only that, as a result, we have creation. The Prime Mover might be nothing more than an explosion, and out of that came the Voice, but we do know that force is it is all about procreation, or keeping the creative force rolling. When Yahweh is done with this harvest, he will go and do it all over again.

Alicia said, "We are ready. We should begin our planning of the revolution."

"Most definitely, my children, we will enter the Most Holy Place. In order for you to enter, you must shed your bodies and be one with us. Your bodies will remain behind as unanimated shells. I ask you to place your heads on the table so that no harm will come to you as you suddenly leave your bodies."

They did as told and instantly discovered they were floating above and looking down at their sleeping bodies. They felt normal, yet when they looked at each other, they were like The Twelve. They joined them as they entered the Holy of Holies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ // ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~