A Conversation With The Devil
Author Unknown
I recently underwent a period of enforced inactivity.
Since my body was immobile, I let my mind range over
the world. I gradually became aware of threads of
darkness. They joined together into streams, and all
seemed to lead in the same direction. I followed them,
out of curiosity, and finally discovered their center.
It was an indescribably terrible and disgusting sight.
I knew that I found The Source of All Evil. I was just
about to withdraw when I realized that something was
watching me.
"Hello", it said, "Nice of you to drop by.
I don't get many visitors."
"Well, I don't wonder," I answered.
"Just look at all this."
"Oh, that's just the back yard", it said. "Come on in."
I was suddenly in a clean, light, pleasant space. I was
facing something I couldn't quite see.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Well, many of you call me 'Satan'." Suddenly I could see
him perfectly. He looked exacly as I had imagined he might.
"Are you the Source of All Evil?"
He laughed. "Well, isn't that what you created me to be?"
"And you go around spreading misfortune
throughout the world?"
"Oh, my, no", he said. "I'm just the reflector. I just
take all the energies of hate, envy, fear and the like
and send them back the way they came."
"But don't you steal souls and hurt people and...?"
"I wouldn't spend my energy that way, even if I could,"
he said. "All I do is make your 'less lovable' emotions
more visible to you."
"Well, ok", I said, "but I have had some bad things
happen, and *I* don't send out any evil energies." He
looked at me, and raised his eyebrows, ever so slightly.
I blushed. "Well, not very many." He just looked at me.
"Well, not as many as other people I know."
"You mean, 'Thank God that I am not as other men'?" He
still had that same amused expression.
"Ok, you win. But it still doesn't seem quite
to balance out."
"Well, think of it this way", he said. "Imagine that
you are standing in a long line of men, all pissing
into the wind. Even if you don't piss as much, you
still get wet."
"Isn't there some way out?"
"Sure. If you stop, maybe those on either side of you
will notice, and stop too. Eventually, you may dry out."
He laughed. "Or you could get out of the line."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, as long as you let others define your reality,
and set your values for you, you are standing right
there in that line."
I suddenly thought of something. "You're the Source of
All Evil, right?"
"Well, *one* of them."
"Huh?"
"Remember, I'm really just a symbol that you created.
Any religion, any political movement, any group can
be The Source of All Evil for *somebody*. I was mostly
for Western Christianity, although I don't seem to be
as popular as I once was."
"Yeah, well, ok. But is there a Source of All Good?"
"Several."
"Well, I mean..." I was suddenly embarrassed.
How do you ask the Devil about God?
He saw my difficulty. "Yes, I know the family you are
thinking about. The Father was created as a stern,
unyielding figure, strong enough to make *other people*
behave. Of course, if you use Him for that, He will
also make *you* behave. He isn't very popular anymore,
except among a few groups who still want *others* to
act properly. The Holy Ghost was created to fix up a
fine point in a theological argument. He never attracted
much interest otherwise. The Mother still has
a considerable following. She represents love to
people, much more so than the Father ever did."
"And they are trying to undo the evil in the world?"
"They are reflectors, just as I am."
"But the miracles that she performs, aren't they real?"
"Of course", he said. "When you have a lot of pure
love-energy moving, good things happen."
"And the Son?" I wondered.
"People use his name a lot, but they don't really pay
much attention to what he stood for. It seems you want
to settle all of your old scores *first*, _then_ you'll
be ready to love each other." Satan appeared very amused
at this. "Except for the Mother, the whole family doesn't
seem to hold your interest anymore. And even she gets less
attention than she used to."
"Doesn't it bother them to be ignored this way? Put out
to pasture, as it were?"
"Of course not. Once you created us, we have our own
existence. We go on growing and learning, just as you
do. All of us are forever. Including you. There is no
end to our growing and becoming. We will act as symbols
for as long as you want us, and then we will go on to
whatever comes next."
My mind was filled with questions, but I suddenly felt
that I was being pulled away. "Wait!" I cried. "I have
so much more to ask!"
"I'm surprised you were able to stay as long as you did",
he said. "But come back anytime. If you can."
------
The stars were very bright outside my window.
I hate it when I can't sleep.
