Crucifixion Reloaded by PVT - HTML preview

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practical laws. Rules that can be easily understood and followed.

No one will join us with this feeble commandment of love.‖

Peter nodded and said, ―First point of order. Divorce‖

―We could connect it with adultery. Listen,‖ suggested Matthew

picking his writing up into his hands. ―I say to you that everyone

who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, makes

her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman

commits adultery.‖

―Good, Matthew, this seems something Jesus would say,‖ said

Peter.

―Wait there is more,‖ said Matthew raising his hand. ―I say to

you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already

committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes

you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose

one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into

hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw

it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that

your whole body go into hell.‖

―I don‘t know, this seems a little too harsh…but sounds pretty

cool. Next point of order. Homosexuality…‖

―Jesus never spoke about them directly, shouldn‘t we leave

them alone?‖ asked Andrew, his eyes filled with doubt.

―That doesn‘t count,‖ answered Philipp. ―He didn‘t speak of

many things. This is his first visit, he can‘t see everything, we

must help him and translate his words into our language. What if

we spread the word that we were chosen by the Saint Spirit as

vessels to convey the message of God. What do you say?‖

Everyone nodded and sat up a little bit straighter as they tasted

the manna that made them chosen.

―So listen,‖ said Peter opening his mouth. ―God gave them over

to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural

function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the

men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in

their desire toward one another, men with men committing

indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty

of their error. So?‖

―Perfect, Peter,‖ said Philipp. ―Saying to love each other is easy.

What homosexuals do is unnatural. Jesus clearly didn‘t want to

speak against the laws of traditions of a million year old society.

He cannot expect that everything changes with a snap.‖

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―But these people don‘t harm anyone…‖ said Andrew a little

aggravated by this meeting.

―Maybe they don‘t, but if we turn against the traditions of

society, no one will listen to us. We must reach out to them, make

them believe that we don‘t want to change the world. Once they

do believe this, we can start by making small amendments, taking

out passages here and there until only one law remains: Love

each other as I love thee.‖

Everyone nodded.

―Listen to this, people, this will blow your mind,‖ said Matthew

smiling. ―A rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of

heaven.‖

―Good, good, the rich, blame everything on the rich,‖ said

Peter.

―And what about his words about hate without reason? Shall I

take it out? It will do no harm, only a few words less,‖ said James.

―Yes,‖ said Peter, ―and that part about the victims too, we

cannot permit anyone to believe that we are selfish. We are prone

to sacrifice, and through sacrifice, we will win the heart of the

people. Everyone feels sorry for a victim.‖

Everyone agreed.

―I actually like writing,‖ said Peter. ―It‘s fun. A perfect exercise

for the imagination and the mind.‖

Everyone agreed once again.

Philip felt the heat becoming unbearable. The sun was beaming

down on the world punishing it with its melting rays. Philipp felt

the world deform around him as if he were drunk. The sky

became wavy, and the three dimensional world began to

compress itself into a two dimensional one as the millions of

colors of the world began dripping down from the canvas. He was

the only three dimensional object in the picture. Wherever he

turned, the paint was dripping down, and Philipp saw a perfectly

white canvas behind it that shone so brightly he had to close his

eyes. When he reopened them, he was lying in bed in his room.

He stood up and knew what he had done was a mistake. The

cognizance spread through his veins and turned into pleasure, a

pleasure that seemed to have no specific cause, just a tint of

recognition. He had to touch himself. His checked pajama pants

slid to the floor, and his firm instrument rose toward the sky. The

morning sun caressed his tanned muscles, shining and bulging.

The wind brought the scent of lavender as his joy was

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culminating. The rapture was building up, and Philipp realized

that beyond the recognition, this was a celebration, a celebration

of the gift of life that should be cherished over all, all times. He

reached the summit, and the seed of life fell to the ground as a

revitalizing drizzle.

He stepped into the shower and slowly returned into reality

from the elevated state he was in. For a second he was over the

clouds, so close to the sun that gave light but did not burn, gave

hope and did not ask for anything else just to accept the gift itself.

He obeyed it and now knew what had to be done.

He jumped into his dark blue suit and tied the red tie around

his neck. He combed his blond hair backwards elevating the front

part, creating a wave like the ones of a turbulent sea. He hurried

down the stairs and said farewell to his parents sitting in the

kitchen. Through the rectangular window over the door the rays

of the sun fell onto the pine parquet, the specks of dust flying by

carelessly. Philipp rushed out the door and made haste to the

reverend.

He hurried down the lane lined with lavenders, leaving his

home the color of a pale banana behind. He was strolling down

the main road protected from the sun by the great oak trees when

he saw the bus approaching the stop. He jumped onto it, knowing

that any second of delay is a sin that will never be forgiven. The

bus doors closed, and his home sped by.

The bus floated through the suburbs, and Philipp could not tell

where he was exactly. The homes and roads were all the same,

little boxes on the hillside, it seemed like a set in the world‘s

greatest studio, and perhaps it was. Everything seemed fake. It

felt to him as if in the night the roads sometimes rearranged

themselves. It was just a feeling and nothing more because he

could not tell whether anything changed at all. The church finally

appeared, and Philipp gripped to this familiar point, pulling

himself out of the transient perdition.

He jumped off the bus and hurried to the small building by the

church, its white wooden board gleaming in the sun in

revitalizing contrast to the neon green of the yard and the red

bricks of the church itself. The roses were glittering with drops of

dew, tiny diamonds on the red petals of lust. He jumped up the

stone stairs leading to the entrance and burst inside his office. He

did not look around and focused on the golden door handle, the

mean of defeating the door, the last obstacle barring the way to

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his goal, the reverend. He pushed the golden handle down, and

the door opened obeying to the energy he invested into the

movement.

He was conscious of his body as the two-winged door burst

open. He saw his shadow distend on the Persian rug in the

reverend‘s office, a blackness surrounded by light. The reverend

looked up, and in his eyes, Philipp saw wonder and awe. He knew

that something was manifesting itself through him to the

reverend.

―What is it, Philipp? I wasn‘t expecting you on a Monday?‖

―I know, I must hurry over to the fish shop, but I met someone

you must meet.‖

―You are radiating, Philipp, who is this man?‖

―I don‘t know exactly, but he bears a tangible divine presence,

something I never felt before. He might be suited to work by your

side. With him we will be able to reach out to the younger

generation.‖

―Great, Philipp, bring him to me, and we‘ll see.‖

―I promise, you will be satisfied.‖

Philipp smiled at the man who was on a separate journey,

proceeding on a different road from the mainstream religious

values, at the man who was so close to God yet missing

something, making him not much better than the church he

himself despised. As Philipp hurried out of the building and

headed through the park leading to the fish shop on the other

side, he examined these newly born thoughts of betrayal inside

him. His hero was not perfectly clean.

James‘ Gospel

James stopped before the red bricks of the church still smelling

of liquor from the night before in a black T-shirt, cut-offs, and

leather boots. He took his great shades off and examined the

roses smiling at him, seducing and charming him, inebriating

him. This was caused not by the scent itself but by what it awoke

in him, something that was there but could not be named,

something lingering in the darkness, still afraid to step into the

light, fighting against the sweet voices of the roses.

The stream of clouds flowing into the building was made up of

white heads of the elder creating an endless cumulous. James

looked at the red brick tower of the church where the great brass

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bell was reflecting the rays of the sun beaming on him and

worsening his hangover. He was one of the few young ones here,

and the old faces were smiling at him, happy to see life in a place

where there is so few of it.

Is it the young generation‘s fault that so few attend church, not

just this specific sect‘s church, but any other? He tried to examine

why he did not attend and knew that it was because the things he

could learn in there were old and pagan, just a mystique set of

rules, hazy and not pure good. It was not his fault, but the fault of

the religions written into stone, unable to change, primitive and

cold. Blaming the young was the simplest thing to do as self-

examination was something painful and always over-looked by

the religious leaders. Finding the flaws and fixing them was

something no one had the courage to do.

The cloud of elders diminished, and James hurried to take his

place inside. He walked past the many cameras standing by the

entrance and facing the stage, ready to channel the show to the

many TV sets connected to them. The white wooden seats were

filled with sick people. The blind, the deaf, the disabled all

gathered here in hope of change. The narrow windows let the

sunshine in, lighting a very simple and puritan room waiting to be

filled by the presence of the reverend.

He found an empty seat and sat down. He nodded to the old

woman next to him who just patted his back as James sank into

his thoughts. ‗I will not perform any wonders, I will not commit

the same mistake twice,‘ he heard Neil‘s voice. As he waited for

the mass to begin, he wondered whether he was truly the son of

God, if he could perform any magic at all. He shook these

troubling thoughts away but could not deny that they were

growing in him. This was Neil‘s first appearance, and James

hoped he could see the proof of his divinity.

A door swung open, and the reverend stepped onto the stage,

his great belly protruding from under his black robe, and his face

resembling that of a well-fed infant. He was wearing a golden ring

with a diamond that was in contrast with his humble mannerism.

He approached the front of the church bowing to the ones

gathered here. ‗I will perform no wonders,‘ he heard the voice of

Neil again, and preoccupation started growing in him. He was

scared that they would blow their only chance.

―Welcome, everybody. I greet you in the name of God. Today is

a special day, the first day of a never-ending crusade to conquer

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the heart of the youth who have turned away from God toward

the foul material goods of the devil.‖

The crowd murmured and nodded. The old woman looked at

James and gave him a wink. James tried to smile but still felt

uncomfortable and felt as if the reverend were pointing at him.

This first sentence would have been enough to close the ears of

many, but James was determined to listen, at least once.

―They have turned away from God because they have been

lured and tricked from us. Instead of choosing the way of God,

they choose the easier way. They seize what they need and fall

into the arms of evil. They are lost, and they must turn back to

God. This is our job, we must try to regain their trust.

―I am growing old, and I found my successor. God led to me his

lamb, the lamb through which he will manifest himself after I am

gone. God is between us all the time but shows himself only

occasionally. I have found my successor, and you shall see his

power, the power of the healing of the Holy Christ. I present you

Neil, please give him a round of applause.‖

Neil stopped in the door with doubt in his eyes. He smiled and

stepped onto the stage, and James was enchanted by his radiance.

It was as if he were emanating a gentle light that didn‘t lose

strength as it spread like strands of hair. He felt a wire slide up

his back and connect itself to an invisible socket at the back of his

head. He was connected, yet through the wire nothing was

coming, only a pleasant feeling of the promise of a message.

Neil stopped by the reverend who patted his back. James saw

Philipp too was enchanted by Neil‘s presence. James looked

around to see that apart from them, the others were facing the

reverend who gave them what they needed. He knew that if he

could somehow solve the riddle of what it was, they could finally

find a way to deliver the infinitely complex message that Neil was

here to deliver, whatever that was.

―Now, do we have any volunteers?‖

This was the signal, the first crack in the dam. Those who

could, stood up and began waving madly with their arms like

algae at the bottom of the river. They whirled in the current

created by the words of the reverend. James saw an insatiable

craving across the hypnotized face of the old lady sitting beside

him.

―Who will be the first one to be cured by this lamb of God?‖

asked the reverend.

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The arms moved wildly, arms trying to reach the sky, arms

ready to leave the ground to rise higher than the rest, wanting to

be chosen. The reverend moved through the corridor, past the

rows, pacing on the red carpet, his hands clutching one another

behind his back, enjoying the arms reaching out to him. He

smiled and stopped, grabbing an arm and pulling an old man out

like a fish from the river. The arms slowly calmed down, and

everybody took a seat.

The old man limped to his right leg, and slowly, led by the

reverend, he approached the front. The man was moving very

cautiously as the rhythm of his movements was disrupted by the

way he put down his injured leg trying not to encumber it with

the weight of his body for too long and quickly putting the weight

back onto the healthy one. The man stopped before Neil and knelt

down.

‗I will perform no wonder, I will not commit the same mistake

of my predecessor.‘ James hoped that he would see another proof

of his ancestry as he felt the happenings of the past fade into the

world of illusion, making him think that everything he saw before

was the manifestation of a need. The same need he shared with

these men and women facing the reverend here, the need that was

slowly taking form and was waiting to be named so that it could

step onto the dark stage.

―Now, I ask everybody to bow their heads and pray…‖ said the

reverend raising both his hands into the air.

Everyone obeyed, including James, and murmur filled the

room.

―Neil, now it‘s your turn, prove to the world that God decided to

manifest himself through you, show them God, let his power

shine,‖ screamed the reverend, his voice growing louder and

louder and turning into a shriek. James‘ heart started beating

faster.

Neil stepped to the old man kneeling before him. For a moment

he hesitated then knelt down as well and put his hand softly onto

the limp leg of the volunteer. James was afraid, afraid that

nothing would happen, afraid to witness that Neil was not the son

of God, that Neil was only human, and perhaps that God didn‘t

even exist.

The murmur in the church rose over the wooden beams. It was

this monotone chanting that originated from the need that caused

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the letters slowly to unite inside James‘ head naming the one

hiding in the back of his skull.

Neil stood up and stepped back. The murmurs ceased, and all

heads were facing the front now. James‘ heart sank, Neil did not

perform the magic expected from him. The man kneeling before

Neil slowly stood up. He placed his weight onto the wounded leg,

giving out a hiss. They blew it.

The man did not give up. He gradually put more and more

weight onto it until he was balancing all of his body on the

limping extremity. The healthy foot rose into the air, and the man

was standing solely on his once unusable leg. The man looked up

smiling and spoke to the crowd.

―I am healed.‖

The crowd began to applaud and everyone stood up

unanimously. Cheers rose into the air, whistles pierced through

space.

―He is healed,‖ squealed the old woman beside James, raising

her hands and facing the sky. The crowd roared, screamed,

applauded, and all of their faces gleamed. James felt something

that was so much more than joy, so much more than the greatest

orgasm ever. It was the recognition that we aren‘t alone, that

miracles truly exist, that the world is so much more than what it

is, that after death life begins, a life with God, that nothing ends

when we definitively close our eyes, but everything begins from

there. James could not contain his joy and cheered so loudly not

caring what the others thought, not caring that maybe he was

making a fool out of himself because he was celebrating,

celebrating eternal life.

The reverend raised his hands into the air as if he were trying

to embrace the sun itself and yelled to the sky, ―We praise the

power of our Lord Jesus Christ who has died for our sins yet saves

us over and over again for his love is infinite, and everyone living

in his name shall live in the grace of God for eternity. Thy Lord is

great, thy Lord is mighty, thy Love is eternal.‖

The wounded man performed a cartwheel then finished it with

a summersault landing right next to his seat. He sat down, and

the sermon continued. James was in an elevated state throughout

the ceremony.

The unknown figure embodying the need finally stepped onto

the stage and raised his hand bearing a white glove into the

spotlight, the rest of the body still hiding in darkness. A soft

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music began playing, and the hand began snapping to the rhythm

of the drums. He stopped and started shaking his hand as jazz

defeated the drums. He clapped once, two hands in the light.

Then, as if the figure were swimming, he spread his arms through

the air, and his body became visible, the tap shoes glistening in

the light. The music was growing louder and louder, and his feat

started moving. He was wearing a cylinder hat, and his face was

hidden by the rim‘s shadow.

He felt camaraderie with this group of unknown people here,

they were all sharing the need. The body was dancing on the

stage, ruling it with his moves as the trumpets, drums, and pianos

battled.

The ceremony ended, and the people embraced Neil, caressed

his face, shook his hands, their eyes fixated to a point somewhere

over Neil‘s head. They were not seeing Neil but were seeing the

figure dancing in the spotlight on the stage inside their heads.

When finally the last man left the building, James rose from his

feet, hurried to Neil, and hugged him.

―I knew it, I knew that you could do it. For a moment you really

had me there, for a moment I really thought you were a hoax.‖

The man on the stage raised his left hand and grabbed his hat,

tossing it into the air, and James recognized him. James rose in

the deserted auditorium to clap and felt joy. The greatest need of

all, the need to be stupefied. This is what everyone is after, to be

stupefied, to see that life can be magical, that there is more than

matter, that there is a possibility that something mystical

happens.

―I didn‘t do anything,‖ said Neil making the figure on the stage

burst into thin air.

―Don‘t be so modest, Neil, you saved that man, you saved

him…‖ said James desperately trying to bring the dancer back.

―James, wake up, listen to me, this was just a show and nothing

more…‖

―What do you mean, Neil?‖

―That man was just an actor, a friend of the reverend…‖

James felt his heart break. He felt ashamed, tricked, and

ignorant. He looked at Neil and wanted to punch him right in the

face, he wanted to grab his beard and pull him to the ground.

―How could you, Neil? How could you deceive these people?‖

―James, you knew this would be a hoax.‖

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The hangover was still tugging his head. Neil was right, James

knew this would be an act yet, for some reason, forgot it.

―It is for a good cause, James. I must deliver the message, and

at the moment there is no better way…‖

―But still it doesn‘t seem right…‖

―You saw the cameras, thousands of people saw me through

them. First I make them believe me, and when they do, I will

deliver the words. Do you have a better idea?‖

―I guess not…‖

―Great, let‘s go, I‘m getting hungry.‖

Matthew‘s Gospel

Peter, John, James, and Philipp left, the