text: And on the seventh day once I had finished the final details of my creation, I took up rest, leaving Adam and Eve made in my image to go forth, multiply and thrive in the Garden of Eden. The earthly paradise furnished with all that humankind could desire. Satisfied that my children would live content and never want for anything other than what I had already provided I lay worry free, exhausted from the toil of my work I drifted into a deep sleep. Leaving my creation in the hands of time, content that times slow consistent embrace would safely guide my creation through its murky passages. At last, I awoke, hazy from my deep and restful slumber. My body ached from strain I had put myself under whilst creating the universe and the earth. Mindful that I had left the jewel of my creation, earth in the hands of time I immediately went to inspect its state, assured that the earthly paradise would still be intact. I was eager to reestablish my relationship with my people, so I took on my human form and descended from the heavens into the realm of man. The year was 2021, I was taken aback by how long I had indeed slept for. But what had happened to my earthly paradise. There was nothing left in the world that resembled the creation that I had toiled so hard to fashion, not one grain of the earth held the same beauty that it once held, not a single grain. I could not believe what I saw, my mind was overwhelmed with both immense sadness and anger that my people had squandered all the beautiful things that I had provided. Humanity was made perfect, yet I could see nothing, but a corrupt and fickle people corrupted with greed and a blinding drive for success and power. I observed the world for a time watching its ways and customs. I felt like a total stranger in my own house everything felt so incredibly foreign, from the settlements to the institutional structures of power. The world was no longer one garden but fractured into a multiple of groups and countries. After watching for some time, I decided to go and interact with this new humanity. I first decided to visit the institutions of religion, it seemed to me that there seemed that there were several which were established in my name. I first set foot in the chambers of the pope in St Peters, the man who was supposedly the representative of my voice on earth. As we had never spoken, I thought it pertinent to discuss the destitute state of my paradise. When I appeared in his chambers it was night, and the Pope was asleep. His room was adorned with gold leaf, jewels and finery adorned his room. His room was fit for a God indeed yet all I saw looking man in the bed was a frail, wrinkled, weak old man. I gently touched his shoulder so to wake him up. He woke in a fright letting out a shrill scream. “who are you, what are you doing in room, guards guards guards, there is an intruder” the popes screams were manic, and his voice was filled with sheer terror, he tried to flee from the bed although before his naked body cloud flee from the confines of his sheets, I firmly placed my hand on his shoulder stopping him from his flight. “it is me, the one you call your God, I have awoken from my slumber and I am here now to help you in your mission to spread my word around the world” My words seemed to calm the pope down slightly. He stopped struggling to break from my grasp. “you cannot be my God” he barked with the same stubbornness of a young child. “You came to us long ago and gave us all we have but this is no longer your earth, you have been replaced, you have been killed off, you are extinct, you have been replaced, the absolute power that you once held over the universe has been tasted by man, and that taste lingers long we are all down driven by that insatiable hunger to hold that power which you claim is just yours, people don’t want to be subservient to you, they want to be you, they want to surpass you ” “Why do you speak so” I replied restraining the anger that had risen in my chest after hearing his words, “I have not been killed I am here now, it is said that it is your role to be my messenger on earth, why do you cast me aside and reject my presence when I stand before you now, in the flesh, whilst you and all humanity taint and corrupt the paradise that I constructed for you all.” “I am not your messenger, I never have been, I am the head of the church, even if I was to believe that you were the one true God, which you cannot be, I will not speak your new messages, you are not the center of the universe, it is man, your creation has surpassed you, I am merely a Shepard helping to guide a portion of the flock, It is through me that the foundations of morality are based, you have been asleep too long, I am held accountable by man not by you. Be gone you have already disturbed me from my sleep, it is late, consider yourself fortunate that my guards failed to hear my calls”. “You heathen” I shouted at the old man, “how dare you deny me, the maker of all that is good, when I stand here before you now, your insolence is putrid, your arrogance is absolute. I have seen the churches dedicated to my name, I have heard the prayers said to me, I have seen those who worship me, I will take the flock back from you, you imposter, you are a mere man and I hold ultimate power” The Pope started to chuckle, infuriating me even further. With a sly smile on his face, he replied. “You have clearly been asleep for a long time, your powers of perception fail you, people don’t go to churches to worship you, they don’t care if you are there or not, they go to feel safe they go to reflect on themselves, they go to feel a part of a community of people bigger than themselves, some even go to listen to hymns and bask in the beauty of the man-made creations” The anger I had so far suppressed overcame me, I lunged at the pope and grabbed him by the neck slowly chocking him out, however before I could send the old man’s soul to the depths of hell, the door in the corner of the room swung open and a group of armed men stormed in guns pointed at me. Before I had a chance to react, they were on me. They grabbed me and threw me to the ground. Handcuffing and dragging me away. It was dawn when the door of my cell first slammed shut, condemning me to the mercy of man. I was tired and I was draped in sorrow. Dejected I sat against the wall on the floor of the cell, wandering about what I ought to do next, tired and lost in my thoughts I soon fell asleep. I was awoken by a policeman who informed me that the Venerable Father had decided not to press charges, despite my intrusion. The officer scolded me “the laws of man may have spared you, but the sin of intruding on the world’s most holy man will weigh your heavy on your soul when your day to be judged comes”. I left the police station, the phrase from the officer cut deep and angered me, I decided to tour the world to find what It was that I had allegedly been replaced with. Wealth, money, material success. The kingdom of heaven, an eternal paradise for the souls of man has been replaced. Replaced with a mortal realm adorned with things, humility had been replaced with pride, virtue is no longer measured by the purity of your soul and an accumulation of one’s life’s actions, but it is measured by wealth stacked hoarded and wasted on more things which benefit no one but feed the monstrous beast of vanity which appears to have overcome the souls of all those on my once pure earth. All starving for power, power over the world, power over themselves and power over others. I have no place here, the history of humanity had only sung my praises yet today I was dismissed tossed aside as a mere accessory, a mere facilitator for people to have power over themselves. Is that all that my name has come to, having created all that there is all that there ever will be, a facilitator. People complain that I am unable to bring them joy in the same way that a paycheck does, they say I can’t put food on the table, they say I can’t pay rent. Has my creation become so blind that what they seek from me is material wealth, have they become so fickle in their nature that they think all that I am good for is a means to claim more power. Have they forgotten that I am power, I am the good, I am all the wealth and happiness that could ever be accumulated, I am the alpha and omega, the light in the dark, yet I am seen as a gimmick, someone who only acts as a symbol to an ever decreasing few, a few who if they fully believe in me, they are ostracized, called weak, not worthy of the power of man, subservient to those who place man at the center of the universe. I ought to leave earth and never come back, I should have stayed asleep, these people are not lost, they think they have found the meaning to the universe, they think it exists within themselves, they think that it is all about them. The fools, I will let them fester in their ignorance, I’ve learnt from my mistake, I shall go and create a new world, one incorruptible, one that will remain pure, and I will create a new man, a man steadfast in his nature, man whose entire existence through time will be confined by the limits to his nature, one who cannot surpass me, one who will call me for the rest of time, their one true God.