GRACIE MANSION
In their apartments, shepherded by FBI agents, Kathy and Jobynski wrote their solutions to the three questions posed by the TV studio audience. They met in his apartment, exchanged their explanations, revised and clarified them.
"Let's take the first question," Kathy said. "What is the point of life?"
Jobynski said, "You wrote, for mankind to serve God."
"And you wrote, "To bring heaven down to earth,"
"Our answers compliment each other," Jobynski said. "Your answer is what man must do. Mine is how man should do it."
"And how is that?" Kathy asked.
"With joy. Not to sequester himself in study halls, monasteries or isolated communes. Do you remember Jacob's Biblical dream about angels ascending and descending the ladder to heaven?"
"When he fled from his brother Esau," Kathy said.
"The angels ascending the ladder represent people fleeing earth to heaven. They spend their time on earth preparing for heaven. Those descending the ladder are bringing heaven to earth. The latter has been mankind's task. Now we must not only bring heaven to earth but take heaven into outer space."
"Then heaven is not that serene, cloudy space in the sky?"
"It never was. Nor can you improve your soul in Heaven. It can only be done on earth."
"Why?"
"If everything in heaven is perfect, you must do what is right. On earth, and soon on the planets we have freedom of choice. We can fight temptation and the ability to sin. We can help or hurt each other, improve or impair our souls."
"How do you know what's in heaven?" Kathy asked.
"I don't, but the Old Testament tells us what to do on earth."
"We've overdone the fruitful and multiply commandment."
"And haven't cared for the earth," Jobynski said. "Our task is to influence people to care for the earth as God commanded Adam and Eve to tend the Garden. Those who wish, to leave earth and settle other planets will bring the word of God to others teaching their children God's commandments."
"When?"
"I don't know."
"Have you questioned the voice in your head?" Kathy asked.
"Yes, but no answer."
"What about the different Bibles and the Koran?"
"Some Biblical teachings are misunderstood. The interpretations stress the after-life more than life on earth. They promise if you don't cause trouble on earth, you will receive eternal reward in heaven."
"If there is something after death," Kathy asked, "and if it's for eternity, why not devote yourself to a wonderful eternity rather than a limited presence on earth?"
"That's the power of the priesthood," Jobynski said. Religion claims to know who, how and why one will be guaranteed eternal salvation. They dangle the heavenly keys promising salvation if people follow religion’s dictates. I don't know what happens after death?"
"Neither do I," Kathy said.
""You will receive your reward in Heaven." Jobynski said."Religions promote this phrase.”
“Especially when they want donations," Kathy said.
"Atheists are right in one respect," Jobynski said. "Religions profit from ignorance, superstition and fear. They use peoples' faith to take their money in return for false promises of ascending Jacob's ladder to heaven."
"Could Jacob's ladder be an analogy for space travel?"
"I never thought of it."
“The Old and New Testament and Koran," Kathy asked, "have they no validity?"
"Very much so. But they l must be interpreted in line with the Torah," Jobynski said. As implemented today, these religious teachings separate people who worship the same God."
“You mean Catholics against Protestants, Sunni Muslims against Shiites, Reform Jews against Orthodox and Conservative Jews?”
“Exactly,” Jobynski said.
"Since all three religions are based on the Torah shouldn't we start with the Five Books of Moses?"
“We must first place God at the center of the religious universe and not man."
"How do we begin?" Kathy asked.
"By teaching people to hear and internalize God’s message. Two billion Christians are looking to see God. They made Jesus into a visible deity to comprehend, influence, and control God. Islam accepts the inability to know God but have based their teachings on paganism for personal, political and monetary gains. Jews are confused. They attempt to ameliorate Biblical law by adapting it to modernity."
“Aren’t there three groups of Jews?” Kathy asked, “Orthodox, Conservative and Reform.”
The Vatican identified a fourth unofficial faction,” Jobynski said.”It is the largest group im Judaism because it includes all three communities”
“How are they defined?” Kathy asked.
“Traditionalists, Masoratiym in Hebrew.” Jobynski said. “They circumcise the male child eight days after birth, marry with a Rabbi and are buried with traditional prayers.”
“What about Bar or Bat Mitzvah?” Kathy asked.
“They were instituted as a means to get the younger generation to learn something about Torah. Today it’s an excuse for a party. The majority of Jews have a cartoon image of the Bible learned in a weekly hour of Sunday school. Their knowledge of Jewish history is less than that.”
“How can they possibly be a light unto the nations?”
“You and I must turn the electricity on again.”
“What about the two billion atheists?” Kathy asked.
“We paraphrase Bertrand Russell,” Jobynski said, “Science has not given men more self-control, more kindliness, or more power of discounting people’s passions. What science has given mankind is the power to indulge their passions. Man’s collective obsessions are mainly evil. The strongest zeal is seen in hatred and rivalry between religious groups. Science not religion has given man the ability to destroy himself.” Jobynski tapped the table and said. “Religion has failed to give man a purpose for living an ethical and moral life, other than fairy tales and promises of rewards in a mythical heaven or being surrounded by 72 hot to go virgins.”
“What can you say to the atheists?” Kathy asked.
“God,” Jobynski said.
“They don’t accept His existence.”
“We must show them.”
“How?” Kathy asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Are you depending on God?”
“Yes,” Jobynski said. “The voice answers most of my questions.”
“Are you saying the voices you and I hear are from God?”
“It’s not God’s voice but is influenced by Him.”
Kathy thought a question to herself. The answer was on her lips before she finished. "There are exemplary teachings from both the Koran and New Testament," the male voice told her. "They too must be incorporated in new interpretations of the Torah. Torah means not only the Five Books of Moses but Prophets and Writings, past, present and future and the Oral Law. Midrashyim and Kabbala must be restricted."
"Why do you look so shocked?" Jobynski asked.
"Because I repeated what the voice told me and don't know the meaning of those last two words?"
"Midrashyim are Jewish commentaries and stories. Usually given in sermons, meant to stress a Biblical passage in laymen's terms. For instance: A saintly Rabbi when told a flood was coming and he must flee, responded, "I'm righteous and God won't abandon me." After much arguing, his friends left. They informed local authorities who sent a boat. The Rabbi declined trusting in God to help. When he climbed to the roof of his house the authorities sent a helicopter. Again he put his trust in God. The waters swept away his house and the Rabbi died. When he came before God he cried out, "Why did you do this to me? I trusted in you!"
"I sent your friends," God replied." I sent a boat and helicopter to save you."
"That story makes the point," Kathy said. "Why abandon these Midrashyim?"
"You said, not to study them," Jobynski said. "We aren't to use stories and legends to interpret Torah. We can benefit from their insight but not use them as a rule and guide for our faith and practice in life."
"And the other word, Kabbala?" Kath asked.
"Jewish Mysticism. It's an esoteric explanation of Torah."
"By Torah you mean the Five Books of Moses?"
"That Prophets and Talmudic interpretations included. Until recently Kabbala was considered impenetrable to the unenlightened and dangerous to the untutored. It has given many insights into possible explanations of Torah. Some modern practitioners of Kabbala use cryptic, arcane interpretations. They enter the realm of magic, wizardry and protective charms. I studied it but dropped out. It became a form of mental gymnastics using geometry. My knowledge of higher math helped and is why I chose Quantum Mechanics when I left the priesthood."
"How can we possibly tell the religious, their Holy Books are wrong?" Kathy asked.
"Much of the Jewish writings are to be read as poetry. Christian writings are often contradictory. The Gospels were written sixty years after the death of Jesus. Islam appeared six hundred years after Christ. Mohammed used Pagan fables, myths and traditions combined with legitimate portions of the Old and New Testaments to form the Koran."
"Western morals and jurisprudence are based on the Bible. Mid-eastern societies follow the Islam’s Sharia law. How can we hope to convince half the world they are wrong?"
“The Church cannot continue to refer to Christ as God nor Mary as a virgin,” Jobynski said. “She had children after Christ.”
“How many?” Kathy asked.
According to Matthew 1:18-25, Mary became pregnant with Jesus while she was engaged but still unmarried. Joseph wanted to break off the engagement. An angel came in a dream, and persuaded him to go through with the wedding.
“I still have trouble believing Mary remained a virgin after giving birth to Jesus,” Kathy said.
“Mary bore Joseph four more sons and at least two daughters after Christ.”
“Can you prove that?”
“If you accept the Gospels of Matthew 13:55-56 and Mark 6:3, as evidence. The names of Jesus’ brothers are James, Joses, Simon, and Jude. We don't know the names of the sisters.”
“It must shake up a lot of Christians. What about the Muslims?” Kathy asked.
“The Qur'an is based mostly on pre-Islamic pagan beliefs adapted to the One God principle. The Koran requires Muslims to wage war against non-Muslims .(Surah 5:33; 9:5, 29). Mohammad incorporated rituals, traditions and laws from the pagan religions to make it easier for people to accept the concept of one God.
“Didn’t the pagans resist?”
“Yes. There were many great battles. For Mohammad there was the Dar al-Islam or Dar al-Ha Rab. The world of Islam and the world of war. Either you converted to Islam or died. To this day any Muslim who dies in a Holy War is guaranteed a place in paradise.”
“How could people believe that?” Kathy asked.
“You heard Dotty Moxon about the Catholic Church selling dispensations for sins committed and sins to be committed. Educated western elite still accept it.”
“If we take away everything they believe in, what’s left?”
“God Almighty,” Jobynski said. “It’s up to us to prove it.”
“The Christians have so many sects who don’t talk with each other,” Kathy said.
“The Muslims too,” Jobynski said. “Sunni Islam - Shia Islam - Sufism - Ahmadiyya – Alawites to name a few. The Jews are always arguing.”
“If they won’t speak with their co-religionists how are they going to talk to each other and the athiests? Why should they listen to us?”
“Cooperation is the only way to preserve humanity,” Jobynski said. “By having Science and religion combine forces. Both purport to seek the truth," Jobynski said. "They must interact. Physics and Metaphysics must cooperate. Only then will honesty, reliability and morality prevail."
"Do you remember me saying I wasn't interested in the truth?" Kathy asked.
"Yes."
"Since meeting God, that's all I'm interested in."
"Can you phrase our answer to the first question," Jobynski asked. "What is the point of life?"?" Kathy's thoughts triggered expressions of emotion over her beautiful face. Her blue eyes looked beyond Jobynski and the room. He knew she was listening to the inner voice. She said, "God has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. ..."
"That's from the Prophet Micah 6:8," Jobynski said.
"I never heard it before the voice spoke."
"Write it. What is the second question."
"Is there life after death and what is it like?" Kathy read,
"They asked two questions for the price of one," Jobynski said.
"They'll get only one answer from me, "Kathy said. ""I don't know what happens after death."
"Me neither," Jobynski said. "But they are asking if there is something after you die?"
""I think so," Kathy said.
"Why did you collapse when you understood Paul Smith was God?"
"Fear!" Kathy said. "Just thinking of it frightens me."
"What is it we were afraid of?" Jobynski asked.
"God?" Kathy asked.
"Everything we were taught and knew about God had to do with His all forgiving, compassionate, loving nature. Why were we so afraid?"
"I panicked," Kathy said.
"I feared seeing Him," Jobynski said. "I still fear the possibility. I knew in my heart with perfect certainty, that had I seen God I would have died."
"Exactly!" Kathy said. "But it wasn't a regular death I feared. Had I seen God", Kathy shuddered, "It would have been different than a natural death. It would have been forever"
"Yes," Jobynski said, "My soul would have been obliterated. I think there's something after death. What it is, I don't know."
"We need to say something more definitive," Kathy said.
"Let me try and philosophize a bit," Jobynski smiled. “I'll ask you some questions,"
" Ask away professor."
"Is there such a thing as cold?"
"Of course," Kathy said.
"Actually not," Jobynski answered. : Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. What we measure is the loss of thermal energy. Absolute zero in quantum mechanics is at minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit. That describes no heat. Heat has energy.. cold does not. Cold is not the opposite of heat it is the lack of it. Second question: Is there such a thing as Darkness?”
“Of course," Kathy said, "A dark room, the night, when I close my eyes its dark?
"Darkness is another descriptive word used to express the
absence of light. If you
have No Light, you have nothing and its called darkness. In reality
darkness is a descriptive word?
"What's the point? Kathy asked.
"I hope to make the point with this last question. Is there anything such as death?"
"If you're going to tell me that death is the absence of life then you're kicking a dead horse," Kathy said. "That's an obvious fact."
"Where does life go when the body dies?" Jobynski asked.
Kathy spread her hands, "I've no idea?"
"Will you agree that life is energy?"
"I suppose so."
"According to the laws of physics neither matter nor energy can be destroyed. It can only change form."
"Are you saying that life leaves the body in the form of spirit or soul?"
"To be reunited with the infinite God."
"Can you prove that?" Kathy asked.
"No, but as a scientist I can't explain Electricity, Gravity, Magnetism or what the Mind of man is, or where it is. Death is a word that only describes the absence of life's energy in the body."
"You are saying that death is a descriptive word for the condition of the body not the soul."
"Correct." Jobynski said.
"Where does the soul go when the body dies?"
"I assume it ascends the Jacob's Ladder to heaven?"
"We still don't know."
"Right," Jobynski said.
"And I still fear God," Kathy said.
"There’s an old religious saying, "Love of God begins with the fear of God."
"I'm also in absolute terror that I might fail in representing God."
"There's a prayer I repeat," Jobynski said. "Dear God, may I approach you in truth that I may serve you in truth."
"I'll try it." Kathy said. "Do you think we should pray now?" she asked.
"If it will make you feel better," Jobynski said. "I'm going to work on this reply for Krauthammer. That's my way of serving God."
"How should we put the answer? Is there life after death?" Kathy asked.
"We believe there's something after death. What it is we don't know and are suspicious of those who say they do."
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