The Harvest

by John David Krygelski

  “As I mentioned, because you held this position in this city, you had an even greater responsibility than your colleagues. The leaders of this country have been forced by events to make truly difficult and monumental decisions that affect the lives of millions. There have been innumerable times when those who came to you for guidance could have been reminded of the teachings of my Son, could have been steered away from the hysteria of the moment and reminded of the wisdom of the faith. Instead of teaching them, instead of guiding them, instead of inculcating them with the wisdom and mercy of your faith, you pandered to them. You made your choice…and you chose to be a sycophant rather than a moral leader. You could have changed history for the better. You could have helped so many stay on the righteous path or perhaps even find it for the first time. You could have given many of the leaders of the world the strength to do that which is right. Those opportunities are lost forever, as are the nearly countless souls that you, personally, have deprived of a place in Heaven.”

  Coughlin finally found his voice to protest, “It cannot all be my doing. Surely each and every man or woman is responsible for his or her own choices.”

  “You are correct, Kerry. Each and every man or woman who lives chooses a personal path, just as every captain chooses his own route across the sea. Yet, in troubled times, when there is a storm and the seas are tossed, even the best of captains need a lighthouse so they may avoid the rocks and shoals that are hidden from them by the tumult. My beloved Son came to Earth to create your Church so that it could be a beacon for the lost to follow. He believed that at times some of mankind would need a haven…a place where they could feel His love and be nurtured, while also being reminded of what it is to be a good man or woman, reminded of that which would lead them to Heaven. That has been your only task, Kerry, and you have failed. You have failed your flock…you have failed me…and you have failed my Son.”

  The Archbishop slowly crumbled in his chair, his eyes downcast, his shoulders slumped. The truth of Elohim’s words struck deeply into his heart. Soon he began to weep, the sobs racking his frame. Elohim watched and said nothing. After a time, the sobbing ceased. Coughlin, still looking down, asked in a shaky voice, “What is to be for me?”

  To answer, Elohim slowly reached across the table and firmly gripped the broken man’s hands. There was no joy in this touch. Coughlin was instantly filled with fear, pain, and self-loathing. Oceans of each emotion crashed over him, devastating him and continuing until Elohim lifted his hands, stopping the flow. The moment Coughlin was released, he collapsed forward onto the table, his breathing ragged. Leaning forward, until his lips were inches from Coughlin’s ear, Elohim whispered, “That is what is to be for you.”

  Reese and the others watched the entire silent drama unfold, unsure of what to do. After Elohim removed his touch and Coughlin collapsed, the hissing suddenly stopped. Elohim looked at the window and, clearly addressing the two priests, said, “Come and get your friend. He needs you.”

  As Father James and Father McGonigle hurried into the room, Elohim said to them, “Remove this man from my sight.”

  Father James asked, “Is he hurt? Did he have a heart attack?”

  Elohim replied, “Yes, he is hurt. And he shall continue to feel the pain of his betrayal for the rest of his years.”

  As Coughlin was slowly walked out of the room, McWilliams asked him, “Your Excellency, are you okay?”

  Coughlin slowly raised his eyes to look at the agent and said nothing. McWilliams could see an overwhelming pain and sadness in his eyes before they were cast downward once again. Reese edged around the group and entered the room with Elohim.

  More questioning than accusatory, Reese asked, “What did you do?”

  Elohim replied, “I held up a mirror revealing an image which could not be ignored or denied. Kerry Coughlin saw himself as he was for the first time.”

  Reese, seating himself across from Elohim, asked, “Am I to assume that Kerry Coughlin received his judgment prematurely?”

  “Let me just say that in Kerry Coughlin’s mind, his final judgment is a foregone conclusion.” Leaning back in his chair and visibly relaxing, Elohim asked, “Reese, are you here this morning to resume our discussion?”

  “I am.”

  “Then, please, let us continue.”

  “I am sure that you disabled the speaker to provide yourself and the Archbishop….”

  “Please do not refer to that man as an archbishop. He does not deserve that privilege.”

  “All right, you obviously wanted privacy for your time with him. Without violating that privacy, may I ask if his offense was a failing of the Church, for which you held him responsible, or was it a personal failure?”

  “You may ask and I will answer. Kerry Coughlin’s failure was personal. It was a weakness of character that prevented him from fulfilling his duties within the Church. I believe there is more to your question than simply curiosity about Mr. Coughlin. You are curious about my view of the role of the Church. Am I right?”

  “Yes. I know many people, some of them quite good people, in my opinion, who believe in a higher being, who may believe in the teachings of the Church, but who do not believe that it is necessary to participate in the institution to be a good person. I am, of course, also curious as to your preference for one religion over another.”

  “Have you ever had a friend who became an alcoholic?”

  “Yes, some years ago. To stop you for a moment, though…yesterday you mentioned Sarah, Melissa’s friend, whom Claire and I helped when her father developed ALS. You knew that fact from my life. Do you not know this fact, as well?”

  “It is indeed a pleasure to have this conversation with someone who is attentive and who thinks. Thinking, by the way, is a trait I will address shortly to answer your other question. Yes, I do know the fact…a college roommate of yours named Jimmy Lesch was the friend to whom you refer. It is best, if we are to have a fruitful conversation, to allow me the tactics that I employ. They are intended to bring the memories to your mind so that you may better understand.”

  “I see. I am sorry to interrupt. Please continue.”

  “Did Jimmy ever escape his problem with drinking?”

  “He did. He has been sober for fifteen years.”

  “Did he escape this problem alone?”

  “No. He eventually joined Alcoholics Anonymous and has been a member ever since.”

  “Would anyone have thought less of him if he had changed his path without that help?”

  “Of course not…and I see your point. The Church is there to help us if we need it.”

  “Indeed. My goal for all of my children is for them to reach a certain point, to become, within their lifetimes, worthy of joining me in Heaven. If they can reach that goal on their own, they will become members of the Chosen. If, for example, because of the accident of an unfortunate birth to evil parents, they lose their way and are in need of the help that we discussed yesterday, the Church is there. That was the dream of my Son.”

  “Is the Catholic Church the church that you…?”

  “Endorse?”

  “I suppose that would be the word.”

  “I endorse the Catholic Church because it sprang from my Son’s teachings. Nearly all of the Protestant churches sprang from the Catholic, and each has merit, as well. It is a part of man’s nature to avoid limitations. There are times when that particular trait is positive and times when it is not. It is the basic desire to actualize oneself which has caused many of your people to reach great heights. To do so, they had to cast off the limiting ties their society had imposed. Many of the Protestant faiths arose as an alternative to the strict rules of the Catholic Church, rules that many felt were not my will. These offshoots allowed their clergy to marry, allowed divorce; today some go even further to demonstrate their tolerance.”

  “Do you have a problem with the direction they are going?”

  “It troubles me to see a movement within a church change beliefs t
hat have been held for a thousand years. Perhaps some, I believe very few, of the rules needed to be changed. And that change should only accommodate a society which is no longer structured as it once was. It was not my intent to exclude women from taking an equal role as parishioners, nor was it the intent of my Son. However, when rules are changed as a result of fear – fear of public criticism, fear of losing the members of your flock – those changes are ill-advised because they tend to pander to the baser instincts and urges of the population.

  “All of this is not to say that the Catholic Church or all of the Protestant faiths no longer perform their original function, to provide help, guidance, and support for those who wish to find their way to Heaven.”

  “And Judaism?”

  “As I explained, Catholicism, and Christianity in general, sprang from my Son and His life and teachings. Judaism predates Christianity by many years. I am the Creator described by the Christians. I am also the Creator described by the Jews. That, they have in common. In recent centuries Judaism has transformed from being simply a religion to encompassing a philosophy for living on Earth. Regardless of this change, it still serves to deliver many of the flock to me.”

  “Does it bother you that they did not accept Jesus as your Son?”

  “Bother me? No. I am afraid, Reese, that you do not understand me yet. I placed mankind upon this Earth to multiply and, hopefully, to produce some among you who are fit to become members of the Chosen. Much like the farmer who casts his seeds, I reap that which grows and ripens. The farmer does not despise the seeds that never germinate, nor does he despise the fruit that never ripens; he is merely saddened. I love all who come into existence because each has the potential to join me. I do not care which path you may choose to arrive in Heaven. I do not condemn those who are not chosen.”

  “Elohim, you have described to me the fate of the irredeemable. That fate sounds like condemnation to me.”

  “Our misunderstanding is a result of semantics. I simply choose who has earned the privilege to spend eternity in Heaven and who has not. Nearly all of those who are not fit are allowed to continue to have a chance at redemption. Among the non-chosen, there are a few for whom continuation is pointless. An example of such a person would be a cold-blooded murderer. An infinite succession of lifetimes can never remove that stain upon the soul. They do not continue.”

  “Elohim, what of Islam? They have nearly a billion followers.”

  “There was a time when the Muslims believed that I was Allah. To many I still am. When the Chosen are known, several of the Islamic belief shall be among them. Over the centuries, their institutional beliefs have changed. Their clerics no longer shepherd their flock to the gates of Heaven, but to a different place. The Heaven they seek is not my Heaven.”

  Reese pondered all that he had learned. In some ways Elohim seemed much harsher than the God of Reese’s beliefs, yet in other ways more benign. Reese could not help but acknowledge that his reasoning was sound and, as Claire pointed out, he was not Santa Claus. Suddenly, Reese was embarrassed by his thoughts. It seemed arrogant to judge Elohim’s wisdom.

  “You are not an arrogant man, Reese Johnson.” Startled, Reese looked up to see Elohim smiling. “It is your duty and your right to question, to understand.”

  “It feels…sacrilegious to question you.”

  “It has never bothered you before. Why should it now that you are sitting with me? There is a difference between faith and blind faith. You are not the type of man to take anything on blind faith. Once your reasoning has led you to the conclusion that faith is the answer, you will abide by that faith; until that point you will continue to question.”

  Sheepishly, Reese muttered, “I hope that’s a good thing.”

  Elohim replied, “It is the best thing. Now, do you have more to ask?”

  “Yes,” answered Reese, once again composing his thoughts. “Why now? Why have you chosen this particular time to come?”

  “I believe I touched on the answer yesterday. After my last visit, the people were plunged into a very dark time. It was a time for all to experience the consequences of their actions. Slowly, there emerged a few who rose above the rest and began to lead. The leaders to whom I refer were not heads of state; instead, they each led a small group: a congregation of faithful, the members of a private society, a tribe, a neighborhood, or an enclave. And it was an enlightened leadership born from the lessons learned from the past. Since goodness and righteousness will always spread, just as does evil, these small groups each produced more leaders, who then attracted more followers. As the depth of their convictions grew, and as the goodness was spreading through the world, evil was also spreading and growing, finding its own adherents. I am saddened to tell you that, at times like these, evil has the advantage.

  “As I watched all of this, I recalled the long and wretched journey mankind took between my first visit and the second. There were times, then, that I did not believe I would ever see another man or woman on Earth who would be fit to be chosen. It appeared that it was all going to happen again, perhaps worse. It was at that moment my Son asked if He could come here and tip the scales, ever so slightly, toward the good.

  “His influence far exceeded His own expectations and has lasted for two thousand years. Before He came, there were those who were intrinsically good, yet had no map to follow. He showed them the way. His effort brought humanity toward the light, the path.

  “It is the natural cycle of mankind to struggle toward a higher state of being. As you have written and taught, after society reaches the highest plateau it can reach on its own, a disintegration begins to occur, leading to an eventual collapse. If I wait too long, the collapse will destroy many who were worthy. If I arrive too early, then all who might have attained the goal would not have had the time to do so.”

  Elohim paused. Heavily resting his elbows on the table, he leaned forward. “That optimum moment is now.”

  Reese’s mind was filled with a vague yet powerful image of humanity teetering on the brink, struggling to maintain an equilibrium. His voice subdued, he said, “As you mentioned, Elohim, I have come to the conclusion that as mankind reaches the highest tier, it will lose its way, almost turn on itself. I have ascribed that tendency to the abandonment of religion or at least to the abandonment of the belief in something higher than the self. But I’ve never been sure why it happens.”

  “Reese, have you ever witnessed the raising of children taught that if they work hard, do everything that is expected and do it well, and always follow the rules, the reward for this effort is inevitable?”

  “Yes. As a matter of fact, I have.”

  “What happens to those young adults the first time they encounter reality, the first time the job they seek is awarded based upon politics or pettiness rather than merit?”

  “They tend to be more devastated than the normal person in the same situation.”

  “And if their first several attempts to apply this philosophy to life all end badly?”

  “They become bitter and disillusioned.”

  “As a psychologist, haven’t you discovered that nearly all sociopaths began their lives in that way?”

  “Actually, yes.”

  “And your definition of a sociopath?”

  “Someone who is totally self-absorbed and completely lacks empathy for others – in fact, appears to lack the ability to empathize.”

  “Are all sociopaths high-profile?”

  “No. Most of the notable killers in our culture are sociopaths, but practicing therapists all have a significant number of their patients pegged as such. There are many sociopaths walking among us.”

  “You mentioned killers…does a woman who kills her unfaithful husband tend to be a sociopath? Is the robber who kills the store clerk?”

  “Typically the wife is.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because infidelity occurs in many marriages. In the vast majority of those cases, the injured party simply leaves. For
the spouse to kill because she has been betrayed, she must deem an offense against herself as higher in value than the life of the other person. With the robber, it depends. If the robber is wearing a mask, arrives on foot, has no reason to believe that the clerk can identify him, yet kills the clerk anyway, then he probably is a sociopath.”

  “What is the distinction?”

  “This type of sociopath kills for no apparent reason other than minor inconvenience or insignificant slights. I once studied a killer who murdered his waiter because he served his cheeseburger without cheese.”

  “So, Reese, enlarge your micro observations to the macro. As mankind moves up the tiers, man is taught that if he finds a cave and kills the tiger that lives within, he may have a place to live. The cave is found, the tiger is killed, and the man immediately has a home, as well as a few meals. At the next tier, man is told to till the land, plant the seed, provide water, and food will grow. The distance between the investment of time and the receipt of reward is substantially extended; yet, man believes, and soon a steady supply of food arrives. At the following tier, he is told that if he bands together with others, all will share the work, share the food, take turns guarding the camp, and life will be better. This time the reward is slightly amorphous, and not quite as dependable, as he discovers that some of the other men fall asleep during guard duty. He also discovers that no matter how conscientiously they guard, a stronger group occasionally breaks through. The guard is increased until a relatively comfortable stage of security is reached.