Celestial Kingdom

by Stan Mason

  After they had read all the letters and siphoned off the money for payment into their bank account, the four of them set about scheduling the next meeting. There would be one more television appearance shortly but Warrior considered that he had to continue meeting local people to prove that he was not simply a showman wallowing in celebrity status. It was essential that they saw him as a sincere, tense, man of integrity. They had booked a hall two weeks earlier but marketing was the role of his two henchmen who spent most of their time promoting it. They distributed leaflets to people in the High Street pasted posters advertising it on windows of disused shops and hung them on lamp-posts. On this occasion, the leaflets contained information relating to the messenger and the television programme as well as declaring that he was a healer just like Christ.

  The venue for the next gathering was once again the Town Hall. At the previous meeting only a handful of people had turned up. Warrior had been most disappointed but he also recalled it was the first time he had come face to face with Xantha Vesta. This time, before the meeting began, he heard the rumble of voices outside the building and, when he looked through the window, he could see a long queue of people waiting to enter. They were queuing up all the way down the street and into the next road waiting for the doors to open. Warrior and his henchmen could hardly believe their eyes. In their wildest dreams they could never have expected to achieve such popularity. It gave them hope and the excitement of success.

  ‘My goodness!’ exclaimed Rebecca. ‘There must be about two hundred people out there. I hope they don’t burn down the building as they did with the Community Centre.’

  ‘I’ve a feeling that the tide’s turned,’ speculated Guildenstern enthusiastically. ‘I think they’re on our side willing to listen to reason.’

  Maidley, however, was extremely concerned with regard to the room they had hired. It was far too small to accommodate such a large number of people. When he related the problem to Guildenstern, his colleague calmed his fears.

  ‘We can move the adjoining partition to allow a further sixty people in here if necessary,’ he explained, pointing to a room divider which had been used to diminish the seating in the hall.

  They moved towards it and released the holding joints before pushing back the partition. In an instant, the size of the room was increased much to Maidley’s relief. He had envisaged that someone might brandish a weapon causing panic to break out where people would be crushed as they stampeded from the hall. Shortly, the main door was opened and the room became filled to capacity with visitors even standing in the space available. This time, the audience was enthralled to hear Warrior speak, his reputation having be spread far and wide mainly through the television programme. The messenger stepped out on to the stage wearing a flowing white robe, looking like a prophet in every sense, to face the audience who waited to hear every word of wisdom which came from his lips. Madiley and Guildenstern, dressed in similar fashion, stood slightly behind him on either side.

  ‘Tell us about the visions you see,’ shouted one man in the centre of the hall. ‘How come you see them and we don’t?’

  ‘That’s a privilege I have with the celestial kingdom,’ explained Warrior calmly. ‘Let me tell you a story of King Alfred the Great. He was faced with ignominious defeat of the Vikings and all he had left was a small part of Britain with the Saxons. Food was very short but one day he met a pilgrim and shared the little food he had with him. Later that day, he landed a whole shoal of fish to feed everyone with him. That night a vision of the pilgrim came to him. It was St. Cuthbert who said: “Do not give up, you will become the King of All England as will your daughter and your grandsons.” So King Alfred decided not to give up under overwhelming odds against him and he died ruling most of England. Furthermore, his family continued his legacy as the vision told him. Does that answer your question?’

  ‘How can one see the Gods and Goddesses?’ asked a woman on one side of the hall.

  ‘When you pray to them you will see them in your mind. That’s what you can’t do with your single God. At least one of them will become known to you and become your protector. Then you can forget the danger of hurricanes, floods, drought and sickness. But this evening I want to talk to you about the distortion which you all suffer in your lives. Has anyone ever thought about the coincidences which occur in daily life? I doubt it. The most unusual events that happen. We all experience them. Some of them seem so incredible. But why do they happen? Take the story of the man who had a violent argument with his wife and stormed out of the house, dived into his car and drove five miles away in a temper. He stopped at random at the far edge of town and was sitting in his car when he heard a phone ringing in a telephone box on the pavement outside his car. He answered it to discover his wife on the other end of the line. She had misdialled the number of her mother. They talked and made it up and he went home and, hopefully they lived happily ever after. But what are the odds of misdialling and connecting to a remote telephone box where her husband had stopped his car at random? Ten billion to one... twenty billion to one... even higher! Scientists will tell you that everything revolved around physics and science. Well they bound to, aren’t they? But coincidences such as the one I’ve just mentioned goes beyond the realms of science, logic or reason. To us they seem paranormal but they’re actually activated by the Gods and Goddesses in the celestial kingdom. However, let me tell you that not all coincidences in life have a happy ending. Therefore if you want protection against unwarranted coincidences of an unhappy nature, I can only suggest that you pray to them. Try it and you’ll find they will come into your mind but you have to be sincere and not think about a single God.’

  ‘And what if they don’t?’ shouted a woman standing at the back. ‘What if I’m sincere and they don’t come to me?’

  ‘They will,’ replied Warrior assuredly. ‘They’re waiting for you to pray to them. That’s why we’re here this evening. You see, if you continue to believe in a singular nonexistent God, you’re wasting your time and losing that protection. He does not exist so what point is there praying to him. It achieves nothing and is a figment in your own mind. Think about it! You will go through life without any protection whatsoever. Anything can and will happen to you.’

  ‘If what you say is true, how can we be sure we will be protected by the Gods?’ called out a man near the front.

  ‘You will find your lives changing for the better. You will be allocated one of the Gods or Goddesses to protect you and he or she will take care of you. We’re all on Earth for a borrowed period of time. We’ll all die... hopefully of old age. It’s the incidents which happen to us while we’re here that affect us so greatly. If you pray to the Gods, those incidents which occur during out lives will be more controlled and directed towards happiness and satisfaction.’

  ‘If only you can give us a guarantee on that,’ cut in a woman on the far side.

  ‘The proof of the pudding is in the eating, madam,’ returned the messenger smiling. ‘You will never know unless you switch your allegiance and take that leap of faith. And I agree with you, it is a leap of faith. All I can ask you is how well do you know your single God?’

  The room fell silent for a moment until a man thrust his hand into the air in the middle section.

  ‘How do we know that what you’re telling us is true? We only have your word for it. You say you have visions in your dreams but how real is that?’

  ‘As I’ve just said, faith is blind. No one really knows what goes on in Heaven or the celestial kingdom. At least I know that my Gods and Goddesses will stabilise my world. If you examine the awful things that are going on in the world today under your single God, you’ll realise that it’s only common sense to believe in something different. I’m offering you that option. Examine the evidence yourselves and make up your own minds.’

  Warrior was in his element going on the attack. He had learned a great deal over
the past few weeks and was now using it to his advantage. He continued to rant on for a while, answering questions as they were put to him and then asked the audience to close their eyes so that they could pray together. Within a few seconds afterwards, the vision of Xantha Vesta appeared on the stage beside him. She had arrived at last!

  ‘How do you recognise the Gods and Goddesses?’ she asked in a low melodic voice which caused everyone to open their eyes and stare at her. Some people screamed, some gasped, and two women actually fainted. Warrior realised that this was the first time she had allowed anyone else to see her. ‘In what form do you expect to see us... in shadow or in spirit... the same as yourselves... or what? Do what the messenger asks and you will be rewarded.’ Her vision began to fade away swiftly leaving the audience in disarray. This was the proof that they had wanted, although some people believed that the messenger had carried out a magician’s trick and somehow had produced a vision by one means or another.

  ‘Those are good questions,’ related Warrior as the audience began to settle down and the two women who had collapse returned to normality. ‘You’ll see them in human form in your minds because that’s the way you want to see them. In fact the early writers of the Holy Bible knew this secret. In Genesis One Twenty-Six, they actually wrote: “And God went on to say let them make man in our image according to our likeness.” Now why would writers say that if they were referring to a single God. Wouldn’t they have written ‘Let God make man?’ No they said ‘Let them make man!’ Who are them? They are the Gods and Goddesses of course otherwise they wouldn’t have written it that way. So much for the Holy Bible! Now I suggest we all close our eyes again and think of them in our minds. Thin of them as hard as you can. Think of them in your own image... as though they’re human-beings!’

  As they were about to obey, a man in the centre of the room hurled an egg at the messenger. It stuck him on the shoulder, the yellow yoke running regularly down his pure white gown. In the past, this act would have been followed by others throwing all kinds of fruit and materials at him. However it was different this time. The others in attendance swooped swiftly on the man, taking him by the arms and legs, carrying him outside and throwing him violently on to the pavement. Fortunately he had been alone in his attempt to express his indignation at the messenger’s alleged sedition. Warrior breathed a sigh of relief to know that the man ended up alive and well outside the building nursing a few bruises but nothing more. He had seen the effect of Xantha Vesta’s rage and prayed she wouldn’t use it again here. She had destroyed the life of Gabby Saunders in an instant merely by pointing her finger at him, burning him to a cinder. He didn’t want the same thing to happen again in front of a large audience. He would never be able to explain it away to the police!

  Within the next few minutes, everyone in the room appeared to be praying... over two hundred of them! Warrior considered the proposal by Trevor-Edwards for him to appear on the ‘Hot Shot‘ programme again in a few months’ time. He hadn’t told Rebecca or his henchmen about it because it was still in the air. First of all he didn’t think the television network would want him on there again. Secondly, he would probably need police protection against any violence from the studio audience. Thirdly, if they did allow him to appear, he would be likely to hold a service with most of the nation praying with him on television. It was a welcome thought to harbour.

  At the end of the meeting, he stayed behind to answer the questions of a number of people but, to his disappointment, Xantha Vesta was nowhere to be seen. She had made her point in showing herself in human form to the audience and then had promptly vanished again. He wanted to hold her in his arms and make love to her once more but he was denied the opportunity to be with her alone. It saddened him greatly to be denied.

  ***

  Richard Toomey read the front page of The Bulletin with a degree of distaste. It heralded the success of his adversary with regard to his healing and reiterated the man’s views about praying to the Gods and Goddesses in the celestial kingdom. It was a bitter pill for the electrician to swallow. Not only had the Christian Action Group collapsed because of his refusal to follow the role of passive resistance but Gabby Saunders’s body had been found burned to death on the altar of St. Michael’s church. Toomey knew that it was the bully’s body. He had met the man in the local public house on a few days earlier. Saunders was renowned for not being able to hold his tongue and he had told the electrician of his plans to eliminate the messenger. He had expressed his concern because Warrior was never alone and it was almost impossible to carry out the deed. He claimed that either the woman he lived with or his henchmen were always with him but he intended to follow his target and kill him when an opportunity arose. Saunders had been aware that Toomey was a member of the Christian Action Group so he had no qualms about telling him of his intentions. Two days later a body was found on the altar of St. Michael’s church and Saunders was nowhere to be found. He was a regular customer at the local inn, going there for a few pints of ale every evening, but suddenly he had disappeared. So how had the man got into the church and how did his body become burned to a cinder when there was no fire or charred pews to be found? The only items which could be considered flammable in the church were the candles but they were too small in number to create a conflagration of that magnitude. It was a total mystery and the police were equally baffled. Did his adversary have anything to do with it? There was no proof that Warrior had been involved but it was very suspicious that Saunders had gone to kill him and yet he had ended up the one to die. The only conclusion that he could come to was that Saunders had been cornered by Warrior or his henchmen who had killed him, burned his body somewhere else, and carried him into St. Michael’s church. But why would they do such a thing unless it was some kind of ritual... or a sacrifice!

  Despite his speculation as to what might have happened, Toomey was faced with the same problem. As a result of Saunders’s failure, he had been left to pick up the pieces. He had outline his suggestion to the committee of the aggression that ought to be shown to the adversary. In his opinion, had they tackled the problem correctly, Warrior would be in no position to violate the Christian religion. The man would have been either badly injured or dead. Either way he would have been stopped in his tracks but the committee had pussy-footed around, ignoring his advice, and look what had happened! Newspaper support, television support, nonviolent people attending his meetings... it was all too much to bear!

  However Toomey’s troubles were only just beginning. In the first place he discovered that Saunders had been right. Warrior was hardly ever alone... certainly not in public places. Yet if he was to assassinate the man it would have to be somewhere out in the open. He would almost certainly be caught, arrested and punished for the crime. Such an event was too harsh to contemplate. In the second place, if he murdered his adversary, he might make him a martyr. It happened to Jesus Christ two thousand years ago and it could happen again. If that happened, he would never forgive himself for the words of the messenger would be carried on by his disciples in the same way that Christianity spread through the ages. It would be highly likely that many people would turn to the Gods and Goddesses in the celestial kingdom. So what was he supposed to do? He wasn’t the kind of person willing to sit on the fence or stand around doing nothing. If he had a purpose in mind he always acted upon it. After torturing himself on the subject for two days, weighing up the advantages and disadvantages, he decided to adopt a violent view. It was in his nature to destroy and his mind demanded that he actively ended the life of his adversary. Rather than assassinate the man in a public place, which would be exceedingly detrimental to his own future, Toomey decided to stalk him in the same was as Gabby Saunders, waiting for his opportunity to strike. For this purpose, he removed a high-powered rifle from a metal cabinet in his home and loaded it with cartridges ready for firing. His intention was to act as a sniper, shooting the man as he left his house or when he alighted form his v
ehicle. Toomey would kill him from a respectable distance and make his escape unnoticed. The telescopic sight on the weapon gave him a high degree of accuracy from a fair distance and he was practically a marksman, therefore his chances of success were very high.

  In order to carry out the deed, Toomey neglected his business to spend his time stalking his adversary every single day. He needed only seven seconds to raise his rifle, view his quarry in the telescopic sight, and pull the trigger. Then, as far as he was concerned, the messenger’s life would be ended and his duty as a Christian would be completed. Over the next few days he became obsessed with the role he had assumed. He would show those toothless fools on the committee the proper way to deal with such a problem closing down the messenger for good as well as his sedition. He had made it his task to end the life of an idiotic man who tried to subvert the Christian faith and malign his God. Nothing else seemed to matter. The electrician ate little, drank little, staring all the time at the front of Warrior’s house from the security of his car. Seven seconds... it was all that was needed! And so he waited patiently. However he was unaware of Xantha Vesta, Warrior’s protector. He had not the faintest idea of her existence or that she would take great care to make sure that the messenger would remain unharmed. She knew of the electrician’s thoughts and his intention to slaughter her protégé but it was well within her power to prevent him from doing so. Subsequently, when Warrior emerged from his home one morning and stood outside his front door with outstretched arms as he yawned loudly, Toomey raised his rifle, looked at the man in his sight, and pressed the trigger. A shot rang out but Xantha Vesta had erected a shield to protect the messenger. At his failure to shoot the man, Toomey stared at him in disbelief. He couldn’t conceive that he had missed his adversary at such close range. He stared directly at Warrior and then pressed the trigger on the rifle once more. The messenger stood quite still in amazement hearing the gunshot. On this occasion, Xantha Vesta appeared to Toomey in human form and looked at him through the open window of the car.