God and the devil walked into a bar...
This is an absolutely true story, if you want it to be.
God and the devil
God and the devil were people watching as they sat in a corner of the bar. They didn’t say much at first, just observed.
As God gazed upon the patrons, he said, “These are all good people. They are not perfect, but they all want to do right by each other and to get closer to me, to the love and compassion which I promote, and which they all seek.”
“More like love and passion,” the devil responded. “Look, right there. That guy is trying to pick up that woman. Compassion, my ass.”
God looked at the couple. “Yes, humans have urges, desires. But what they desire more than anything is love. It is up to those two individuals to determine their future, whether it be together, or not. They are each likely to be married in the future, and to raise a family. They don’t know, and you and I don’t know, whether they will do that together, or with other individuals that they will meet later. But they will do it. The greater likelihood is that they will marry and raise a family. That’s how love works, and that’s what they really want.”
The devil laughed. “They will marry, perhaps. And they will cheat. And they will resent each other. They will want the freedom that I offer. The freedom to think of themselves first, and everyone else second, if at all. I will have the last laugh. I always do.”
God turned his eyes from the couple and looked directly at the devil. “And why do you want that? What’s in it for you?”
The devil was flummoxed for a moment, but the devil is never at a loss for words. “Why do you question? You are the one who promotes free will. What is that good for, if a person cannot see to their own interests, their own desires, first.”
This was not the first time God and the devil had had this conversation. God was getting tired of it, but the devil relished these encounters. “Yes,” God said, “A person can see to his own selfish interests. But in doing that, they isolate themselves. Loving, giving people avoid them. Such people have little choice but to associate only with others like themselves, those who are equally selfish. What do they end up with? Not a community of giving, loving people, but a community of selfishness and one-sidedness. But you know all that. We’ve had this conversation a million times.”
“Yes, we’ve had this conversation at least that many times. And I wonder why. I have tried to overpower you, outwit you and take control. The fact is, you are more powerful than me. You could force me, and everyone, to comply with your dictates. Why don’t you?”
“Why would I? I don’t want people to follow my way because they have to, but because they choose to. What satisfaction is there in forcing people to do as I say? It is better for them, and for me, for them to choose my way of their own free will”
The devil once again observed the couple. They were like so many other couples, contemplating possibilities, making moves, making compromises. The devil knew that God was right, but he had never been able to acknowledge it, and still couldn’t. After all, the devil had quite a following, and a multitude of successes. It’s never difficult to get people to think of themselves first. It’s never difficult to plant the seed in their mind that their selfishness is really a desire to do what is best for man. So many people easily presume that what they want is what everyone should want. It’s not rational, and it sure isn’t love or tolerance, but it satisfies the ego, justifies their single-minded selfishness.
Yes, God left it to them, and to the devil himself, to make their own choices. And the devil knew he could count on them to make the choices he wanted them to make, if he could turn them away from God. Had not the devil himself easily convinced Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? It was nearly effortless, and quite fun, to get Eve to ignore God’s warning and to eat of the fruit. And with that, the devil had hoped to end innocence and rule the world. God didn’t even try to stop him. ‘Free will,” God keeps saying. “I will not force compliance. They must choose.”
Both God and the devil knew that a person cannot be virtuous if they don’t even have the chance to do wrong. It is only in having that choice that a person can become good and virtuous.
Granite makes no choices. It cannot. It exists as a whim of nature. But man chooses. Wisely sometimes, foolishly at others, selfishly quite often. But lovingly still more.
God and the devil looked over at the couple. The devil grinned. “I think I’ve got some great opportunities, here.”
The couple looked over to where God and the devil were. They could not see them, but they could hear them.
Comments?
I like it! The last written line is quite quixotic. It brought the entire scene into a metaphysical focus. It threw a sense of deja vu all over me!
Really enjoyed this.