The New Assignment

It all happened in a flash - suddenly Laura’s life changed. One minute she was walking along the river path mulling what her purpose in life was. The next minute, her questioning was answered.

Many would consider Laura to be a success. Her work at the university was well received. In a few years she would be considered for an associate professorship. Still, her work lecturing undergraduates in courses on ethics and logic left her feeling unfulfilled. Quarter after quarter, students filing in and out of her classes – what impact were her efforts having on them and their potential to contribute to society? Wasn’t there more she could do? As she wandered along the river path, she felt a longing to find a more meaningful way to make an impact with her life - to make a better world.

All at once, her vision grew dim. The world turned blurry. Laura felt like she was going to faint. The next thing she knew, her vision cleared and a person was sitting on a comfortable chair before her. She was facing him while also comfortably seated. Perhaps middle-aged, he was dressed in a burgundy sweater, gray slacks and running shoes. A kindly looking man with short, cropped hair, he smiled benevolently at her. Laura looked around but all she could see was the visitor and a shimmering, pink-colored wall surrounding them. The path, the river, and the rest of the world had disappeared.

“Who are you and what has happened to me?” she said. “Am I dreaming or hallucinating?”

“No Laura,” he said “you are not dreaming. I am your creator and I am here to talk with you.”

            “You are God??? Have I died and gone to heaven? What happened to the world?”

“Call me God if you wish,” he said. “Mankind has called me many things – God, Jehovah, Allah and more. You are very much alive. I have just put the world’s distractions on hold so we can talk without interruption.”

            “You don’t look like God,” she said. “I mean - where is the long white hair, the beard?”

            “How did you expect me to look? Like this?” and God changed appearance to a high- ranking military officer. “Or this?” and he changed to look like a female executive. “Or this?” and he changed to a young bearded man in sandals. He changed back. “Laura, I am appearing as someone you will feel comfortable talking with.”

            “Why are you here God? Are you here to discuss my sins? For the record, I regret any sins I may have committed. I promise to live a more perfect, less sinful life,” she said. “I am not particularly religious but I have tried my best to live a righteous life.”

He shook his head and chuckled quietly saying “No, no, Laura. Mankind is so preoccupied with sin. I am not here to talk about sin. I don’t care much about sin.”

            “You don’t care much about sin? You have to be kidding!” she said. “What about the Ten Commandments? What about the lessons in The Bible? Don’t they matter? How can you say that? Are you sure you are really God and this isn’t just a crazy dream?”

            “Well, I guess it’s understandable that you’re skeptical and confused,” he said. “Let’s bring back the world as it was before I appeared.” The path along the river reappeared. “Now let me place you back into the lecture hall you recently left. Do you see your students there? Ok, now back to our discussion,” and the lecture hall receded back to where they were, surrounded by the pink wall of cloud. “Does that help?”

            “OK - I think I am convinced. However, you have not explained about not caring about sin. Please explain – what about the Ten Commandments?” she asked. “What about the lessons in the Bible? Don’t they matter?”

            “Let me explain further, Laura,” God said. “I created the earth and its life forms here some time ago – a long time to you and the rest of humanity but just a moment of my time. My creation here was one of my first attempts - one of my first experiments to see how life on earth would develop. I admit it was a rather rushed job – my mind was filled with ideas for many other creations. I designed your universe and your world and gave a start to life here evolving. After some time, I checked back here to see the results of my creation. I found I was pleased to see the myriad types of creatures that had come to life. However, I was troubled by human development – warfare, poverty, and all its many other ills.”

He continued, “I sent a few messengers to the world to try to make things better. You might be familiar with some of them – Jesus, Mohammed, and others. I started the world developing again and went on to my other projects.”

“Wait a minute!” Laura said. “What do you mean when you talk about my universe? And what other projects do you have?”

“Oh, right! I have overlooked that you wouldn’t know about my having other creations that I enjoy making,” he said. “Your world and your universe are just one of my many projects. But let’s not get hung up on that right now. My time is short and we need to get back to our business at hand.”

“And just what is that business, God?” asked Laura.

“As I was saying earlier, I have just checked back in here to the world that I created for you. I find that sending my earlier messengers here to straighten things out did not go as well as I planned. I intended that my messengers, your holy men, would guide the world toward peace and mutually supportive human interactions,” he continued. “The Bible and the Koran were created to give human society guidelines for human behavior. I created those books to give people, in those less enlightened times, lessons in simple words and examples that they would understand. The Ten Commandments is just one example. Just ten short sentences. They were created as commandments, as was fitting for a world that was used to order and supreme authority. I find in this more enlightened era, Laura, mankind can benefit from a more subtle yet complex message.”

“Are you saying The Commandments are no longer applicable? Surely not! Oops,” she said. “Sorry God. That wasn’t very respectful. What about the first Commandment – Thou shall not put any other god before me? Or the second – Thou shall not take your name in vain? Don’t they matter?” asked Laura.

“No Laura, they don’t matter much to me,” God replied. “They were guidelines for earlier times. Think about it. Do you think that I, who created your universe and your world, would be so egotistical as to be upset or even interested if people took my name in vain? Why would I? And putting other gods before me? Again, what do I care? It is time to let all those teachings for the earlier, less enlightened world go. It’s time they were replaced with a complete reset. But more about that in a minute.”

“But wait, God. What about heaven and hell?” said Laura.

“There is no heaven,” he replied. “There is no hell. There never has been. Those were concepts I provided to an earlier era to encourage people to behave civilly.”

“Instead of striving for an afterlife in heaven, humans must be taught that their actions during their lives are their legacy,” he said. “Memories of the good works they do will live on with their family, those who know them and society at large. Think about your parents, your grandparents and the rest of your family. Think also about Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King and Gandhi.”

“Everlasting life comes from the genes that you carry and pass on to your offspring. Even the childless share genes with their family which are passed onto following generations. Those genes and the good works you do in your life will be your lasting legacy.”

“Now, back to our business at hand. My inattention to your world has resulted in a bit of a mess – a big mess, really,” he continued. “I find I have misjudged the path of human development. Mankind is degrading the natural world at a rapid pace. Wars continue to occur somewhere in the world at all times. Nuclear war and destruction are real threats. Religious leaders prioritize building power, creating shame, and controlling their flock. Instead, they should be prioritizing peace and unity in the world. The world is filled with racial and ethnic hatred. Gender inequality remains a drain on human development. Hunger and poverty are widespread – even in wealthier nations. This all must change.”

“What are you going to do to address these problems, God?” Laura asked.

“That’s why I am meeting today with you, Laura,” he said. “I am going to address those problems through you, Laura.”

            “Me!” said Laura. “What can I do? I am just one person.  I am just Laura. I’m not a head of state. I am not a world leader.”

            “Yes, YOU, Laura,” he smiled. “That is why I chose you and a select legion of like-minded Just Lauras that have longing to make an impact and build a better world. Right now, while I am speaking with you, I am also speaking to those others. I have plans for you and for them as well.”

            “What… what, have you in mind?” Laura said.

            “OK - bear with me now,” he stressed. “I am going to make a clean slate of all religious thought and philosophy. A complete reset, Laura. You and your like-minded colleagues will spread my message throughout the world. Trust me, Laura. You and your team will be given the skills, and the audience, to be very persuasive. You will have access to those who can assist you in making those changes. Your message will engender improved personal and social behavior through education.”

            “That is all well and good, Lord,” she said. “But what about resistance to change? And how are the existing religious leaders and educators going to agree with any of this?”

            “That is where I come in with my complete reset – the clean slate,” he said. “Remember I am your creator. I can do anything I want to do. As you leave our meeting today, you will find that all religious buildings and property will be stripped of any religious symbols or signs. All religious works and books - all of them - will vanish. Religious leaders and zealots, the whole human race really, will forget all religious thought. Those who held those beliefs most strongly will be particularly open to your new message of proper social discourse and action. Religious buildings and property will be repurposed for community-building activity, charitable organizations, social work, and forums for spreading our message.”

            “The message will be simple. It will not be made complex by a bunch of scriptures,” God continued. “The emphasis will be on Thou Shalts, and not on, Thou Shalt Nots. The simple motto to Do to Others as You Would Have Them Do to You will suffice. That motto will be reinforced by the actions of you and your followers. By your living that motto and through your teaching. Teaching of the dignity of every individual, living ethically and morally, emphasizing compassion and empathy as well as accepting and respecting racial and gender differences. Charitable giving will be a mark of the highest virtue. Good stewardship of the environment will be a given. Adequate resources will be made available to eliminate hunger, pollution and to controlman’s impact on the changing climate.”

“Universal education will include study of ethics and science,” he said. “Science will be valued as a foundation that explains your physical world. History will focus on mankind’s achievements as well as the cost of human suffering from needless warfare. Racial bigotry and strife will be eliminated through your message of acceptance and compassion. Mankind will lose its urge to engage in war and conflict and will instead focus on fostering good will and development with other nations. Military equipment, especially ships and airplanes, will be repurposed to support international aid and development. Resources previously devoted to military hardware and development will be instead used to find ways for mankind to exist and to develop without degrading the natural world, the environment.”

“Wow, Lord!” Laura exclaimed “You are going to give me and my colleagues the power to move mountains. Just call me Super Laura!”

“Don’t let your ego get ahead of you, Laura,” he warned. “I have already thought of the influence you and your colleagues will have while you spread my message. Yes, you will be admired for your efforts. But there will be no saints, no masters nor heroes in this new era. You and your colleagues will be seen as just good people who in turn will inspire and mentor others to be just good people. People that will adopt behavior consistent with the new paradigm of social discourse. No one is going to end up using this new era as a platform for personal power or enrichment. There will be no super-leaders. I will see to that.”

            “Look, Laura. I think you get the outline of your mission. As you reflect on our meeting, more details will become clear to you,” said God. “I must leave you now. As I said earlier, I have more projects to undertake in other universes. I have no further time for details. I am going to leave you and your team responsible to implement my plan. Good Luck, Laura.”

            “But wait, God,” Laura said. “How many universes are there? I thought there was only our one universe.”

            “That is not an answer for me to give to you today, Laura. Science my dear. Science. In time, science will provide mankind the answer.”

            “Got to go!” he said. And God faded away leaving Laura alone in her chair. The fuzzy pink curtain surrounding her slowly dissolved leaving her again standing alone on the river path. Laura shook her head and thought Wow, that was some dream! She reviewed her conversation with God in her dream as she slowly walked home. It was a lovely dream. Such a mission would really be an answer to my yearning for a greater purpose in life. Approaching town, she shrugged her shoulders and thought Well I don’t feel changed. I don’t feel empowered to carry out God’s mission. I guess I am still just plain old Laura.

Then she passed the corner where the neighborhood church stood. The building was still there. But she saw that the steeple was missing as was the cross affixed to the front. She also noticed a sign on the lawn announcing the property was AVAILABE for LEASE or PURCHASE.

            Picking up her pace, Laura walked briskly into the town center. She observed that the Bible Bookshop next to the hardware store was vacant with an AVAILABLE sign in the window. Can this really be happening? she thought and began jogging up the street to the local synagogue. Its Star of David was missing and it too had a FOR LEASE or PURCHASE sign out front.

She next ran to the site of the town’s LDS church. Again, no exterior indication of its religious function and again an AVAILABLE for LEASE or PUCHASE sign was posted on the lawn out front.

Shaken, Laura slowly walked home to consider her future.