Clerk 2 (eBook)

Slava Dalvin (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024
45 Seiten
Publishdrive (Verlag)
979-8-231-97299-9 (ISBN)

Infos

People commit crimes for material gain or personal ambition, but the price is often very high and disproportionate. Such are the crimes of the Judge, the Prosecutor, and the Doctor. Unfortunate Katie spent her whole life busy with everyday routines and pursuing earthly goals, forgetting about the salvation of her own soul. Preacher Theo is essentially a false preacher who deceives his parishioners and has no true faith. They all come to the Judgement with their own 'baggage'. The book makes you think about eternal values and the inevitable end of every person's earthly life.

Textauszug

Chapter 2

Poor Katie

 

 

Quid umbram sectaris?

(Latin - Why chase shadows?)

 

Roulette: I'll bet on red! But how can I see the colour in the dark? I'd better cast lots. It works. I have a special sense for people: some inspire affection and admiration with their wickedness, while others cause irritation and anger. But there is a special type that I call "waste paper." The feelings correspond to the name. At the same time, it is difficult to guess what is inside. Let's start with that.

I'll take this little thing off the shelf, for example: a heavy folder containing a certain Katie, a rather unremarkable lady from the not-so-distant past. Let's make your past the present for a little while, my dear. I break the seal, open the folder and peer at the image...

"Finish your breakfast, Robert, I need to talk to you."

"If it's important, let's talk."

- Important. Here's what I think: we should regularly put some of our money in the bank to ensure its growth and income, and continue to play on the stock market online, but now much better, listening to the advice of others. Finally, get involved in cryptocurrency. That's what all smart people who care about their families do. You're not stupid, Robert. All our relatives and friends have been doing this for a long time. Your brother recently bought another flat, which now brings him income. Their house is full of wealth, their children are studying at a prestigious college. They have a new car, which they are going to take on a month-long trip, Robert! Why are we any worse?

"But, Katie, I'm doing everything I can and know how to do. Not everyone can earn big money. I don't gamble at the casino, I don't drink alcohol, I give you everything I earn. I work and live like many people here.

"If you haven't noticed, I work too, Robert, and I often work nights! But the staff at the children's home don't get paid much. It's one thing to go to work, but it's another to earn money. Which one of us is the man? If you can't or don't want to earn money, then you shouldn't start a family! You should change jobs, Robert, or find a second one. I'll talk to a friend of mine: her husband has a large factory where you could try to get a job. Everyone else has achieved something and become respected, while we are standing still. We have few friends, we owe everyone. Your son plays on the neighbour's computer because he doesn't have his own. Our daughter is already 16, and she wears old shoes and has only one coat and an old smartphone. She is lonely and unhappy. I've forgotten when I last bought myself cosmetics or updated my wardrobe. Who's the man here, Robert?! I want to feel like a woman who is safe behind your back. We've lived more than half our lives, we're not young anymore. Come to your senses, Robert, before it's too late!

- Why are you saying that, Katie? I'm not a little boy. I work and play music. We have everything we need in our house. We're not starving or poor.

But that's not enough, Robert. We need to invest in the future, especially our children's future. But we haven't even started saving for their college education. And we have the oldest car on the street. You've been working at the same place for years because you're comfortable there, and in the evenings you're only busy with yourself. That's selfish.

- In the evenings, I play music, not myself. And you know that very well. Are you trying to hurt me? Why do you keep doing this?

- Hurt you? How sweet of you! I don't know exactly what you do there. But who needs that now, Robert? It's just your passion, your hobby, as you tell people, but there are more important things for an adult, especially for a man. And first and foremost among them is family.

- It's not just a hobby, Katie, I've already told you that. It's my calling, believe me. I write music, I don't just play the organ, I write for God and for people. I believe that my music will be played and listened to, it will definitely happen.

- When, Robert? And what do we get out of it? You play it in church on Sundays. No one there knows whether it's your music or not. They can live without it, but what about us? Your lessons are useless. I'm disappointed, Robert! Very disappointed! And I'm very tired of all this...

Bravo, Katie! That's what I like. Don't let your husband relax: he must know and remember why he was born and for whom he lives! He took you as his wife in a fit of passion, and now his whole life, fate and health belong to you. He is your willing slave. His soul is not worth thinking about, or even remembering. He believes in God, but hides it from you. Let it be so. Invisible chains — are they there or not? It doesn't matter, fear is much stronger! You deliberately instil a sense of guilt in him because you want to control him. That is why I particularly like your religiosity. It acts as a sedative on you and others, and in other cases it works as a deterrent and a guarantee of inevitable punishment — it can be used to scare people! You love listening to sermons by a wide variety of preachers and theologians, sometimes contradictory, you love history and new versions of it, buying books by authors whose names are on everyone's lips today. But, like the Holy Scriptures, you almost never read them as they deserve to be read. There is a lot mixed up inside you, but there is no order there. You especially love to pray aloud in front of your friends and acquaintances at church gatherings, as if proving to yourself and others that you are one of them. At such moments, I sit nearby and cry with emotion! Don't forget to remind the old man to take a pen and paper so that he doesn't forget everything you are about to dictate to him by tomorrow...

- Lord! We pray to you, hear us! Make John's father recover quickly and return home from the hospital. Preserve his life and health. He is a good man. Help Jessica reconcile with her husband and make them be together again, and may their children not suffer. Give my Robert the new job he wants. Help us find a large space for teaching children, where we can study Scripture with them and strengthen them in faith and love. Bring as many children as possible from non-believing families to us so that we can convert them to the faith, and be with us in our youth ministry, which we are starting on Saturday. Bring my son Andrew home from the army and don't send him to war again, to a foreign land. He is no better than others, but please ensure that he no longer fights there and that his mother and father do not suffer because of it. Help Alice get home safely and see her parents as soon as possible. Keep her safe on her journey. Hear each of our prayers! Amen.

I remember that evening in the church room. Taking turns, you prayed for a long time, each for your own needs, trying to ask God for as much as possible and as quickly as possible, so as not to forget anything! It was very amusing to watch how, in prayer, you all grimaced in tension, and it seemed that the greater your need, the more terrible the grimace on your face. It was like straining in the toilet at a difficult moment of relief, when you needed to get rid of something urgently. Did a normal facial expression and clarity of thought, expressed in simple, understandable words, really interfere with someone's conversation with a friend? Maybe God is deaf and ignorant? Or were you just sick and disgusted with yourselves?! I have several versions of this. First, you believe that joint prayer has much more power than your personal prayer, so you pray with particular zeal in a group. Second, in order to avoid everything negative for yourself, which according to your scale of values is incompatible with the idea of "love," you speak and list the most suitable and acceptable solutions to problems and questions, speculating on God's goodness. Third, and most sadly, some of you check whether God hears you or to what extent you are accepted by Him, but if your prayers are not answered soon, you begin to doubt the salvation of your soul as a whole; Others wonder whether God really exists, or whether it is simply a desire for people to get together from time to time to share life experiences, discuss news and dispel everyday fears. But, most importantly, none of you have completely rejected the idea that it is possible to live peacefully without all this and not suffer over trifles, as hundreds of millions of people around the world have done and continue to do, feeling completely comfortable. If at least one of my versions is correct, then I dare say that old God does not know you. And the first among you who harms the process is your preacher and pastor, who sits busily at the head of the congregation. For this I love him very much!

In your prayer, you have left God neither free will nor freedom of choice in understanding and fulfilling what is good and what is evil for you. You have determined everything yourselves. Does God really know nothing about you? And is his role reduced to fulfilling your desires, covered up by "care for your neighbour": since you are God, then do it! What did you bring him as a gift or offer him in return? What sacrifice? Honestly, it is very painful and offensive for the old man! Not one of your prayers contained holy desires, not one contained true worship of God from the soul. Is this how the Saviour taught us to pray to the Father? And if inspired prayer and faith in the existence of God and His desire to save every sinner who turns to Him are enough for salvation, was it necessary to sacrifice His beloved Son on the cross ? Why did he have to suffer and be humiliated and insulted, when after his sermons and miracles he could have been carried back to the Kingdom from whence...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.9.2024
• Reihe/Serie: Clerk
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: cunning and insidious spirit • Lost Soul • Preacher
• ISBN-13: 979-8-231-97299-9 / 9798231972999