A short story
Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash
A great attitude is like a promise to God. If we keep it, we’ll receive all we desire and some.-Henery X
I Am (The Conclusion)
2023, Henery X ©
“So, that’s how his wife and children will remember him, as someone who caused them hurt and disappointment?”
“That, as well as other things, most of which won’t be pleasant. Jason was a selfish man. Sure, he appeared to be as if he wanted what was best for others, but this was done for personal gain. Let’s go back to how he truly became who he would become.”
An image of young Jason in a Juvenile Detention Facility appeared in the light. His age was fifteen. He had been involved in an unarmed robbery with five of his supposed friends. The court convicted him and sentenced him to two years. Shortly after his arrival at the facility, another young man named Butch sent four young men to intimidate him. But Jason wouldn’t back down. And though he had lost his fight against the other youth, he had won the respect of their leader. Butch would place Jason under his wing and school him on the arts of intimidation and manipulation. He gave him many books to read, such as The Art of Seduction, The Prince, The Art of War, and The 48 Laws of Power, just to name a few.
“Wow! He was helping to transform him into a despicable human being.”
“That’s one way some would see him. Others would see him as a role model, someone worthy of emulating. For example. Butch will remember him as being his most accomplished pupil.”
“Understandable where Butch is concerned, but why would anyone else want to emulate someone out to do others unjustly?”
“There are many reasons, but the primary one is because they don’t know any better. So many humans are quick to follow what seems like the right thing. It could be because of their upbringing or the environment they were brought up in. This could have been all they knew. When options are available, better choices have a chance to be made.”
“Why don’t you just force humans to do your will? They are your creations after all.”
“Because I want their choices to be theirs. If they’re allowed to make their own choices, they can’t justifiably blame Me for the results. Besides, I want them to experience firsthand what doing it their way over Mine eventually brings about. Firsthand experience is the best teacher.”
“I see.”
“Now, let’s get back to Jason’s life. Let’s fast forward ten years after Jason was released from the Juvenile Detention Center, reunited with his unarmed robbery crew, and they became drug dealers.”
An image of Jason and several supposed friends appeared in the light. They were all sitting at a table talking. The image quickly switched to Jason having a discussion with a man in the living room of a lavish home. Eventually, both men stood up from their seats and shook hands. In the next image, Jason and his crew were fixated on ten kilograms of cocaine. In the next image, Jason and his supplier are seen talking with the supplier’s connection. The next scene showed Jason giving two of his supposed friends orders to murder his supplier. The next scene showed Jason shaking hands with the cocaine connection.
“So, this is how his friends will remember him?”
“This is how those men will remember him. They were not his friends. They all feared him, as well as regarded him as a means to maintain their livelihood. So, both these truths are the sole reasons those men remained connected to him.”
“So, is it better to be loved or feared?”
“Why loved, of course. There is no power greater than love. Love is — ”
“Not even you?”
“Not even Me what?”
“You’re not greater than love?”
The illuminating light laughed, “I Am Love.”
“Of course you are.”
“Now, getting back to what I was saying. Love is the mother of all emotions. Fear is a surefire way to turn love into hate. And when a human hates, their loyalty can easily lie in the bed of a determined enemy.”
“Is this what happened to Jason?”
“Yes. Those men, who he thought feared him enough to never betray him, betrayed him because of their fear. They thought, with him out of the way, they would be free to do as they please, and without repercussions.”
An image appeared within the light of the group of men, all sharing why they loved to hate Jason Diggs. Another image appeared of one of the men talking to another group of men and shortly after the fact, him shaking hands with each one of the men. Another image showed the man back with the original group of men and discussing what had been set in motion. It had been determined that Jason would be betrayed by men he foolishly thought he could trust, and because he thought they feared him.
“Wow! So Jason’s murder was premeditated?”
“It was. Those men hated him enough to where they helped his enemies ensure he’d cease to exist. Physically, that is to say. He overestimated the power of fear, as he underestimated the power of love.”
“And I played a part in all of this?”
“Yes…. and no. Your part was that you gave Jason’s opportunities a means to be taken advantage of. His mind and the body ensured the opportunities were actually acted on.”
“So, I couldn’t stop an opportunity from being acted on?”
“Not as long as you were a part of the process. You can only stop an opportunity from being carried out when you are taken out of the equation, because without you, living life can’t be done. As long as you are a part of the process, you enable life to be lived, but you didn’t control how Jason lived his life. How he lived resulted from his choices. Just as he used the wisdom gained from those books to take advantage of others, he could have easily chosen to use it to help others.”
“I see. Once I’m reunited with you so I can be recycled for reuse, will I remember any of all of this?”
“None of what you have heard or seen will be remembered in its totality but, your new host will have mental flashes of fragments of certain aspects of Jason Diggs’s life. These moments are what humans refer to as…. déjà vu. Memories that have occurred, but weren’t because of anything the current host has done. These fragmented memories linger because the recycling process involves intricate steps, so certain things aren’t always thoroughly done, and totally removing old memories is one of them.”
“This has been very enlightening.”
“Well, I Am the Enlightened One after all. No pun intended,” the illuminating light chuckled.
“So, God has a sense of humor, huh?”
“Indeed. Well, it’s time for you to be reunited with me. Henery has documented enough.”
“Henery!”
“Yes. Remember I said we’d get to this part later? Well, later is now. Henery is one of many who has chosen to do My will, willingly. He has dedicated his life to analyzing life through the living he, as well as others, has done, as well as are doing. He studies choices to determine why they were made. And this is done so that others will have options other than what they already have.”
“So, this wasn’t a private conversation?”
“It was not, nor has it ever been. There is always someone who will willingly put the needs of others alongside their own. These people are My true children. I want everyone who claims to love Me to love each other the same. If you don’t love one another, there is no way you can genuinely love Me.”
“It makes sense, God.”
“Indeed, it does. Well, it’s time, little one.”
And with that, the little speck of light was reunited with its source.
The End
How he lived resulted from his choices. Just as he used the wisdom gained from those books to take advantage of others, he could have easily chosen to use it to help others.-God
I pray I did this story justice. As always, the goal is to offer you something else to consider. Perception is in the eyes of the perceiver. As I see, doesn’t mean it’s the way things are meant to be seen but, what if it is? What if everything you just read is how it was designed to be? As writers, we can create what we want, even our own version of how God operates. Every conclusion I’ve made since 1995 has been based on logic and reason. I analyze everything, even the conclusions themselves. My personal mission is to obtain utter clarity, and I’m obsessed with this mission. This is one reason I love interacting with other people, because their perspectives help me find what I’m looking for, which again is utter clarity.
Thank you for taking the time to acknowledge my offering. May all you deserve and desire flow abundantly into your life, as a river does into a sea.
Remember. I’m not here to convince you to believe. I’m here to offer you something else to consider.
May we never lose our desire to outdo what we’ve already done.
Continue to be a lighthouse for all those who feel lost in the sea of life.
Peace, Love, and the utmost Respect.