GOD AND THE DEVIL – A CONVERSATION
And finally God said “I give up!”
“You can’t do that!” said the devil with a
start.
“It’s just not possible. I can’t run
heaven anymore” continued God, “there are not enough number of people coming
over here. How do you expect me to carry on with this big establishment? A pleasure
house full of all the comforts conceivable, call it a treasure trove of all
that you can ask for. You think it is easy maintaining this? Where do you think
I can muster up the resources for such an enterprise when there are no takers?
No it is just not possible. I can’t carry on”.
“You can’t do that”, repeated the devil in
exasperation. “How do you think I can carry on without you? My very existence depends
on you being here. See if you close down heaven then I will have to contend
with the hordes that will overrun my kingdom, and you know what trouble I have
taken to build it up. I will not be able to keep the fires burning. There will
be long queues and traffic jams and I do not have the forces to control them. Don’t
desert me now”.
The devil continued “Can’t you see it’s all
your fault? You have specified the cut off marks for entry into heaven at a
very high level. How then can you expect more people to come over there? You cannot
get more people over there unless you dilute your standards. As it is your
expectations are very high. You call yourself the creator and still churn out
all those imperfect ones. Of course I accept that I owe my existence to your own
imperfections and that has kept me occupied. But I did not bargain for what is
happening now. I can’t handle it alone. You have to accept responsibility for
this situation.”
God looked at the devil with scorn and
said “You blame me? Look at what you have done, throwing all those freebies
around. I can see from here all those people scrambling over there for a piece
of the cake you have left in their midst. They have forgotten that it is I who grants
them their wishes. They do not see me for you have pulled a veil over their
faces with your antics. So why blame me? I have never resorted to such gimmicks
to lure them. It is not what I am”.
“Ha ha, that’s
a laugh! Why do you yourself
resort to lies? You know fully well that the greatest enticement you offer is ‘Hope’.
You fool people and have been doing so through the ages. Once in a while you
threaten them saying that they shall carry the results of their deeds in this
life to the next. Thereby obliquely telling them that if they do not fall
within the scheme of things you have ordained for them, you will punish them
when they are born again. When they look up to you and things don’t happen the
way you promised will happen, they turn away. How long can they carry on
waiting for things to happen? You see, you offer them something intangible and
call it salvation. No one is sure what it is or when it will happen or whether
it will happen at all. Why lead them on? You cannot blame them if they turn to
me. I do not tell them anything of the life hereafter. I give them the
pleasures they seek in their present life itself and so their disillusionment
with you drives them towards me. Many are prepared to face the fires of hell rather
than burn in them in their life. You see they have come to a stage where they
are no longer sure whether there is a heaven or a hell, so why not live life as
if there is nothing beyond it. But I did not bargain for this influx in to my
domain in such large numbers.”
God was silent for a long time. For the
first time he wondered whether he had played into the devil’s hands. He knew
that as a part of his grand design he had created the devil also and now it was
also his responsibility to ensure that the devil did not grow out of his
bounds. In a sense he was relieved that the devil had expressed that he could
no longer manage the situation. It was a question of giving the finger and
losing the hand. Was it really true that the people had started choosing damnation
to salvation? He thought of Dr. Faustus who had sold his soul to the devil in
exchange for knowledge and power and signed a pact for eternal damnation. What he
had started as a Divine Comedy was slowly turning into a Divine Tragedy.
But God had ‘faith’ in his own abilities
to check the rot. Yes that’s what he had been telling to his creations ‘Have
Faith’. His own inner voice said “Have faith in yourself and you can do it. After
all haven’t you gone down there from time to time to bring back things to
normalcy? It’s time now to go back there. But it is going to be tougher job.”
The devil continued “even if you go down
there now to set things right as per what you think, it is going to be a tough
job. You see there are many Gods down there who promise salvation and
deliverance from the miseries the people suffer. They have grown powerful and
rich but I know they will ultimately have to come to me. But they are not bothered
as long as they are having a free reign over there now. If and when you decide
to go down there, you will have to compete with them to prove you are the
genuine one. If you can do that, then at least you will have lessened my burden
of having to tackle this influx. I shall pray for you but I am not sure to whom.
Is there a greater God?”
And so God said “I have ‘Hope’ and the
faith that the people have ‘Hope’ in me.”
