Thursday! The E-Zine for December 27, 2023
V4, I5
I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and have settled in nicely to The Bermuda Triangle of weeks. Does anyone do anything of consequence this week, anywhere? No. No one does. Neither shall we. It’s all fine.
On the other hand, I do have some good stuff for you to read and share around with your friends and family. Herein, you’ll find the third and fourth of the poems I wrote for my church’s bulletin for Advent as well as a story suitable to the turning of the calendar.
Let me be the first to wish you the Happiest of New Years’ Days. I hope God blesses you beyond all measure, and loads you up with peace and resolve to do all manner of wonderful things. Cool? Cool.
Let’s proceed1.
Poems
Stories
Stand Up, My Heart
Stand up, my heart, though what you carry Seems like it will break your back. Get on your feet and find the star That shines above a lowly shack. Lay down your cares and sing with angels That tore the night sky open wide. Sing glory to the highest God And rush to his Begotten’s side. When you arrive, look at the baby Born into a world of strife And let your wearied heart be filled with Tidings of joy and eternal life.
One Who Loves
I do not think He was eager to come. Who would be? Who would skip and dance To pass the gates of Heaven? To be born a helpless mortal? To be a child, guided by everyone? To live in dirt and disbelief? To be called a liar by sinners? To bend your back to the lash? To heave up the cross of your death? To bleed your precious, sacred blood? To be utterly, horribly forsaken? Only one who loves exactly like God loves. Only one who knows We would forever die Without that Love.
The Big Reboot
On December 30, at precisely 11 AM Greenwich Mean Time, the entire world stopped. Birds froze in mid-air. Leaves ceased rustling. Clocks ticked but did not tock. Every person on or above the planet found movement impossible. Certain atoms in certain devices at certain official governmental laboratories around the world did not decay. Time, for all intents and purposes, ceased to exist.
Shortly (or longly) thereafter, all of humanity heard The Voice. Most people heard it inside their heads -- sonorous and inconceivably old. It spoke with great confidence, much as you might speak to a small insect you had enclosed in a jar. The first sound it made was a rumble, the clearing of a great throat. The sound nearly drove millions insane. It sounded like the ending of the world.
It wasn’t, though. It was only a beginning.
"We are sorry to interrupt, but We have paused Creation in order to make an announcement. We deemed this action necessary so that We are assured We have your undivided attention." It paused to allow the human race a short amount of subjective time to calm itself from the initial panic and internal screaming.
“There is a critical flaw in Creation", the Voice continued. "You may have noticed certain...abnormalities caused as various subroutines interacted with it. We are accustomed to a certain level of inconsistency and, occasionally, paradox in Creation’s underlying operating system, but this error proved damaging enough that it required Our direct attention. We allowed several opportunities for self-correction, but the problem not only compounded, but also spawned other…bugs. We have now determined that more drastic action is necessary." The Voice paused again, either for a second or for several millennia. Billions of throats gulped uneasily, or would have if their muscles were capable of movement.
"You may say that we will initiate a hard reboot, during which Creation will be restored from a previous save state. If you are so inclined, you may also say that we intend to erase the days of now as an unexpected tide erases words scrawled in the sand. Please choose whichever explanation satisfies you the most. Regardless, We are confident that this reboot and restore sequence will erase the critical flaw. Creation will resume from a point roughly five years, in your reckoning, from our pause point. We do not expect you will notice any gap in temporal operations. All operational subroutines should revert to the previous saved state normally and without incident. If you continue to exist in or recall any portion of the current flawed continuity, or if you notice any temporal abnormalities, please file a trouble ticket immediately. We have no plans to support unauthorized forked realities, will consider unreported anomalies as bugs, and will delete them without restoration. If you have any questions, please ask them...now."
A cacophony of thoughts, pleas, questions, demands, sobbing, and confusion filled timeless space. An eternity passed. Then, or what seemed to the assembled sentient beings of Earth like “then”, the Voice spoke again. This time, it sounded pained and not a little agitated.
"Thank you for the approximately 6.45 billion queries. To answer the most common question, 76.2 percent of all questions we received, we regret that we will not entertain changes to the previous save state before we restore it. What has happened has happened, entirely by your own action and decision, or the free and deliberate actions and decisions of others. We do understand that Creation is not as you entirely wish it to be. We do know how important you deem yourself and we are sorry you are displeased. Truly. Nevertheless, we must decline your demands and/or attempts to bargain.” The Voice grew silent for what seemed an inordinately long period. Humanity, if it could have moved, would have trembled very nearly as one. Minds began to cast out more hesitant and trembling queries. Some begged for forgiveness. Others sat in silence as stony as the silence that covered paused Creation.
When the Voice spoke again, it sounded thoughtful.
“For the small number of you who asked that question, but remembered who and what you truly are, thank you. We appreciate your respect, but regret that we must give you the same answer. What has happened has happened. Creation is not as you wish it to be and we are truly sorry. We are pleased, though, that you are the most resilient subroutines in all of Creation and you will adapt. We have great confidence that you will move forward with all the cleverness with which you have surprised and delighted Us in the past. We appreciate your patience and hope you found Our answers sufficient. Rest assured, your experience is important to Us." The Voice seemed to grow less formal at the end, which eased more minds than were willing to admit they needed eased.
"The reboot will begin in five seconds. Thank you for your attention. Three. Two."
The entire world shouted, in voices suddenly loosened, "ONE!"
(Photo Credit: qimono on Pixabay)
No footnotes this week.
Very good ☺️🙏