Pope Leo IX was sitting up in bed reading a magazine and smoking a big black Cuban cigar. He enjoyed smoking a cigar. Of course he kept his habit concealed from his colleagues and staff. This is why he forbade anyone from entering his bed chamber after he retired. He took a long drag on the cigar and blew a series of smoke rings into the air. The air around him was dense with smoke. Looking through the clouds of smoke he was startled to see a form sitting at the foot of his bed. He thought it was one of his staff and was about to berate him for disobeying his standing order not to be disturbed when the smoke suddenly cleared and he saw a man he did not recognize, yet at first glance the man looked vaguely familiar. He was even more confused when on closer examination he saw that the man was the spitting image of himself right down to the big black Cuban cigar in his mouth.
Pope Leo was not a man that was easily rattled but the sight of someone who could be his twin suddenly appear sitting at the foot of his bed sent chills racing down his spine.
He choked up, the words he tried to speak emerged from his throat in an unrecognizable grabble. He cleared his throat again and again until he finally managed to blurt out, Who are you?
The MAN took a deep drag on his cigar and blew a couple of perfectly round interlocking smoke rings. You should know me. Im the one you have been praying to all your life.
The Pope fell back on his pillow in a dead faint. His cigar slipped from his fingers and dropped to the floor. When he came to he had a blank bewildered expression on his face yet he managed to say, You mean you are----? He couldnt bring himself to finish the sentence.
The MAN finished it for him. Yes I am GOD.
Pope Leo was paralyzed with fear. Finally he cried out without further thought. I dont believe it. He immediately regretted the statement
The MAN who was sitting cross-legged on the foot of the bed slowly started to float upwards until half his body disappeared into the ceiling. The lower part of his body started to descend until the upper part of his body reappeared. But now the upper part of his body was not attached to the lower part. The two parts of the body slowly rejoined until the body was now in one piece and continued downward. Half way between the ceiling and the floor he came to rest still sitting cross-legged in mid-air. He looked down on the pope; his voice boomed out and reverberated throughout the room. Who am I?
Cringing with fear the Pope replied, I believe you are my GOD.
The room was filled with deadly silence was for a full half hour. The MAN remained floating in the air, with the pope starring glassy eyed at the sight. Finally he got up the courage to say. At last you have come to earth to save your people.
The MAN replied in a rather harsh voice, No I didnt come to earth to save anyone and where do you get that bit about, my people?
The Pope had regained some of his composure. Didnt you create heaven and earth and make man into your own image?
The MAN replied, Yes I made earth and the surrounding universe. But I didnt make man into my own image. In fact I find the image of man somewhat repulsive. You obtained your present form by accident and from what I see of man it was a rather bad accident.
The Pope was very confused. He didnt know how to reply to the horrible statement he had just heard, so he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. Im the head of your church. We worship you.
The MAN laughed. Who asked you to form a church in my name? Better still who appointed you to run the church you profess to be mine? From what I can see from the past history of your church, those of you who profess to represent me have lived a rather easy life at the expense of the masses and you seem to have done more harm than good.
The Pope was frightened but he was also getting angry. If we are not made in your image and you created us and the universe, why did you do it and why are you here?
The MAN looked down at the cringing, cowering pope. Let me fill you in; its a rather long story. For millions of years I floated in the black void of space perfectly content with my situation. Several hundred million years ago I made the mistake of creating children of my own with the idea in mind that they would keep me company and provide me with intellectual stimulation. What a dummy I was. It didnt work that way. After a few million years they became bored and started to irritate me and pester me to create some kind of entertainment. So out of desperation I caused an explosion. The debris from that explosion created stars to light up the black void. Now the children had entertainment, they could look out and see the black void twinkling with millions of lights.
The Pope had been listening intently; when the MAN paused he was eager to hear more. What about man? Why did you create us?
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