

# The Silent Minority

S. Poulos

#

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2014 S. Poulos

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# Table of Contents

The Hearing

The Press

The Recommentdation

The Chairman

The Vice-president

Patmos I

The Rookie

The Hearts Desire

Aphrodite

#

The word Man is used in this book

Unless is stated.

In a generic term as

Homo-Anthrop-Human-being: MAN

# THE HEARING

The anticipation in the hall of WCFET that day was overwhelming. Never before in the history of the World Council of Freedom of Expression and Tolerance was the climate so intense, so electrifying. There was an imminent expectation of something, an expectation of relief, a sort of revenge to be settled, once and for all. For how dared a man with no education, no recognition whatsoever, challenge the rest of the world in so many diverse fields?

His teachings were controversial, unorthodox, and full of absurd interpretations, but... the single, the most important reason that made the hall of WCFET full to its brim, was that the teachings of this man were not based on historical events. They were not based on quotations used by great scholars or religious books, but by a source unknown to them.

They sensed danger, for all their learning, all the accumulations of human knowledge was in question, and by whom? Not by a great scholar, by a great academic, but by nobody, by a simple layman! He had the audacity to question their diplomas, their doctorates, and their master's degrees, that which have been acquired by such hard work, and by sweat and tears, in the most careless way, without impunity.

He undermined their knowledge; he tried to dim their shine and glory, the glitter of their profession, their authority and their prestige, in an unheard of manner, without any qualified authority. He was ignored, rebuff and snubbed, but more and more ears were listening. More and more sympathetic listeners took notice of his teachings, and as these teachings of this man started to take a hold, they started also to take notice.

His motto was that of freedom of the spirit, that the spirit of man is free, and that it cannot be molded into dogmas. He demanded no following, for history is full of examples of teachings that went wrong, hijacked by their followers to be twisted into dogmas, and into organization with the main aim of profit and power.

How many movements, political parties, and religious organizations have not survived, but because of followers of the mob mentality? No church, no mosque, no temple, political or religious organizations or whatever movement could survive without them.

In order to check this wave of sympathy, ever to become a tsunami of dissatisfaction and rebellion, they decided to settle it once and for all.

The word spread that the WCFET would hold a hearing, an inquiry about this man and his teachings; that he would appear personally, and that the representatives of each group, political parties, or movements, would have the opportunity to examine him, and to ask at least a question concerning their fields, or group.

The opportunity was there once and for all, to put this man back into his hole, once and for all to deal with this impostor.

There were representatives of unheard movements, representatives of the most diverse groups of people in the world.

It happened that day that an international television network from the Middle East was making a documentary. This questioned the importance of WCFET playing for human rights, and the role it played in the international scene. Those who were in the game knew the WCFET was a beautiful camouflage, a front for the state department to mingle in affairs they not supposed to; giving them an air of legitimacy. Due to lack of news of the day, the network decided to air some segments of the hearing live.

The atmosphere was apoplectic and tense; soon, surely they would be rewarded for their patience.

At last, the chairman of the committee began to address the council.

"Citizens of the world; we gather here today to offer an opportunity to one of our fellow men to clear his name of all the allegations which hang over his head. As we advocate freedom of speech and tolerance, as we are the pillars of democracy, the guardians of freedom of expression, we invited this man to appear before us. Every one of you will have the opportunity to ask a question relating to your field, and please feel free to participate when you feel it concerns your group.

"We won't spend valuable time on formalities...so let the meeting begin, and may our guest please enter the hall."

The grand door leading to the hall opened, and the clerk guided in the guest.

All eyes turned on him, and the disappointment was felt throughout the hall. How could such a man cause so much disquiet? He was the epitome of ordinariness; he was the man next door, and would never get a second glance. He was rather elderly, of middle height, and even his clothes suggested a middle class mediocre man.

The clerk told him to sit only when the chairman had given leave. After a small gap of total silence, the chairman turned to the man and said, "Your sympathizers call you teacher. As a matter of fact, a number of letters that have reached me from your followers protesting about this hearing refer to you as the Teacher, with a capital "T". Let us see if you can measure up to this honorable title."

"I don't have followers; I forbid anyone to follow me, I demand my students be skeptical, and scrutinize everything I say in the most diligent way, and then... to follow their road," said the man. He turned towards the assembly. "I wish I could say the same thing for your followers," he added, and pointed the audience at the assembly.

There was some uneasiness and some cries from the assembly. The chairman signed them to quiet down, and waved the Teacher to a seat.

"Are you here at your own free will?" he asked. "If so, are you willing to take part in this conversation, this inquiry?"

"Although I have been forcibly persuaded to participate in this inquiry, I can say that I am here at my own free will, and will answer any questions that I feel would help earthman."

"So tell me please; where do you derive your knowledge?"

"From the same source that gave you the ability to ask me this question," said the Teacher.

"Do you imply God?"

"You said so."

"So you are a creationist?" The chairman persisted.

"There is not negation between creation and evolution."

"Do you not contradict yourself now?"

"No."

"Can you elaborate on this please?"

"There are no gaps between the worlds. The worlds evolve incessantly. The seed of it is inherent in the law of creation; as Earth is part of it, a material part, but nevertheless a part of creation; it reflects the laws of the world."

"What do you have to say to religious leaders when they insist that the Earth is several years old when interpreting strictly the bible?" an astrophysicist asked.

"I would tell them that the religious books are spiritual books, and should be read accordingly. It is written; a day is as a thousand years. If you add this, probably, you will come close to your calculations. The time has come for religion and science to join hands. Anyhow, in the near future, they won't be able to stand by themselves; they talk differently, but they aim and mean the same thing."

"How about the black holes?" the astrophysicist persisted. "Do they exist? And if so, what is the purpose of them?"

"The scientists are right about it. The black holes are the tools of recycling the worlds so they can be rejuvenated. It has happened incessantly since the beginning of creation. As the Earth belongs to the material worlds, so Earth will have to go through the vortex of the black hole in order to be rejuvenated, and that will be much sooner than many believe."

"Can you elaborate about the big bang theory? Do you deny it or what?" continued the astrophysicist.

"The big bang theory is nothing other than what the scriptures say about the beginning of creation. LET THERE BE LIGHT, is the religious version of the scientific concept; THE BIG BANG. I already have stated that they mean the same thing, but express it differently."

At this point, a priest asked the panel's permission to ask a question. The chairman quickly granted this.

"What is your opinion of the Hadrons Collider Project?" asked the priest. "What do you have to say about science striving to discover the so-called particle of God?"

"This project is nothing other than the pinnacle of man's ego, the zenith of intellectual megalomania. It is beautifully illustrated in the bible by the story of the tower of Babel. Both have the same results; both collapsing into pieces. Besides, man cannot use material tools in order to discover the spiritual. The material world is a precipitation of the spiritual. It is absurd for man to insist on trying to understand spiritual matters using material means. The results will be the same as when someone is trying to drill a hole in the water."

"Don't you recognize the importance, the significant role of science?" asked a scientist from the audience. "Without science, man would still live in holes."

"I do recognize the importance science plays is the development of man on this Earth," said the Teacher, "but the majority of scientific activities are wrong, and in many cases downright criminal. Only a few great scientists have not succumbed to their intellect."

There were whispers, movements and some lamentations at this point. Some of the scientists of various fields withdrew and for a moment there was total silence. A representative of the USA UFO Hunters Union grabbed the opportunity to intervene; and said, "I noticed that you use the term 'earthman'. Do you imply that there are other men somewhere which are not earthmen, men that live in other planets? If so, can we reach them, or can they reach us?"

"There are planets that are occupied by man," said the Teacher. "You will find the clue in John's apocalypses of the seven churches. As to whether we or they can reach us, the way you perceive it, no. They are of different content. Those less developed than us don't have the ability even if they wanted to. Technologically it would be impossible. Those ones who are evolved higher than us don't need technological means, because they can move ethereally. Man wouldn't be able to see them anyway, apart from some special cases."

A female representative of a sociology group requested permission from the panel and asked, "What do you think about this world strife phenomenon; this uneasiness, this revolt in man and nature? Why do you think its happening?"

"There is a pressure on Earth, never felt since the beginning. This pressure forces everything to come into fruition. Everything, whether it's ugly or beautiful, sick or healthy, bad or good, individual or state, mountain or river, everything must show their true face, everything must be exposed. This includes economies, the states, the religious organizations, the multinational companies, everything. It is happening now."

"This pressure that forces everything to react, surely you are talking about action and reaction, aren't you?"

"No, I am talking of a pressure that is implemented for the first time. When there is action, there is reaction, but now the reactions will happen much sooner. In some cases they will come instantly.

"In the past, reaction from an action would take years, even after earthly death, in many cases even when man reincarnated back to this Earth. In the near future, due to this pressure, the reaction will take months, days, or even occur instantly, and that will panic many."

"And what kind of form are these reactions going to take?"

"The bad will become worse, and the good will become better. Nothing will escape untouched! This pressure will force men to separate in to two ideological fields that will take the form of a political-ideological battlefield. On the one side will be the chronically dissatisfied, the bitter, and hateful ones, and on the other, the ones that will try to improve conditions here on Earth, unceasingly and silently persevering their noble goals. It will be one battleground with two armies, facing each other with unforeseen consequences, with a dreadful sign that will bring many to despair."

"And what will that be?"

"Mistrust!" said the Teacher. "Mistrust will reign everywhere. It will force the believers to lift their eyes and hands to the sky for mercy, and the others to swear and curse, and to be tenfold assured that there is no God after all."

"You said when man reincarnates back on Earth. Where do you derive this from?"

A bishop from the world orthodox council hollowed "Jesus never mentions anything about reincarnation."

"In his short time on Earth, Jesus spoke about the absolutely essential things man needed for that time. If he'd happened to live longer, no doubt he would have spoken about it to those who were ready for it. Most would not understand him anyway, as most of the earthmen don't accept it nowadays."

The bishop showed his annoyance with a gesture, but immediately a mathematician rose up and said loudly, "It doesn't stand. If we take as a base the scriptures, and the historical facts, subtract, and calculate how many men passed from this Earth in the past, we will came to the conclusion, that in the last hundred years billions were born, or reincarnated as you put it, where all this souls came from?.

"Most of the souls that incarnate on Earth do not belong here, but in different ethereal spheres, much heavier than ours. I can tell you only this. The time won't be long before the separation between the rightful occupiers of this Earth, and the invaders."

A representative of the Society of Paranormal Phenomena spoke up. "You said of the souls who incarnated on Earth. What is a soul? Is a soul that of what we call in our field, 'ghosts'?"

"The souls you call ghosts are souls that are for one reason or another bound here on Earth. When I use this term, I use it in a generic way. A soul is a spirit, which is covered in the ethereal, with ethereal garments, whereas man has the earthly garment, i.e. the physical garment. The paradox is that most of the experts are either dogmatic, i.e. religious organizations that turn away many skeptical men, or psychiatrists, psychologists, psychoanalysts, etc. that do not acknowledge the existing of psyche. Any profession that starts with the word psyche has a peculiarity. Although the majority of them do not accept the existence of psyche, which means SOUL, they make their living out of it. It is preposterous, and touches the boundary of impostors. They could name themselves anything but that.

How can they deal with something they don't believe exists?"

"What about the spirit?" interrupted a psychiatrist? "Should we leave this to the priests or the mediums perhaps? And what is spirit anyway?"

"The only non-material on this world is spirit. Even the soul's garments in the beyond are material. Spirit comes from the highest created spheres and returns there, either as a full conscious being, or as a primeval seed as it started, because it failed in its mission. Spirit is the core of the man. It's different from all else.

"Do the animals have spirits?"

"The animals have soul but not spirit. As to whether we should leave it to the priests or mediums, I would say what I say to those who deal with the psyche. Spirit is free. How can a man teach another about free spirit, when one is bound to dogma, and the other one to intellect, which is material, but definitely not spiritual?"

"What is spiritual then?" The psychiatrist persisted "If we take as a face value your argument that all men are spiritual, how can we discriminate between a spiritual and a non-spiritual person, when both inner cores are spiritual?"

"I will describe a spiritual and a non-spiritual person as plain as can be," responded the Teacher. "Whoever has ears may listen. The inner core of all man is spirit. A spiritual person is one that uses spirit as should be used, and that is, to cooperate fully the brain with his spirit in order to form a base for the two, to form a harmonious co-existence. In that case, we don't have to call him a spiritual person anymore; the more appropriate name would be a balanced one. A non-spiritual person is an intellectual who will willingly disharmonize the cooperation between the brain and the spirit. Since he uses mainly his brain, and ignores the spirit, he becomes a one sided person, hence, an imbalanced one."

"So... you described the difference between a spiritual and an intellectual person," continued the psychiatrist. "I suppose you can even tell us now how they 'feel', the difference of how they see things around them. In short how they react daily with problems when they arise."

"I will tell you first how a spiritual person, a balanced one, reacts, or rather acts, and then explain how an intellectual, i.e. an imbalanced one reacts for comparison.

'A spiritual person has a deep inner feeling, a deep inner sense, he 'feels' things in the most natural way. He doesn't need to read, to learn, to study hard in order to understand something. He 'sees' the big picture. He sees the forest. He observes and automatically, he understands. If he meets a stranger, he 'feels' the intensions of the man opposite him, if he is in a board meeting, he strives for what is good for the whole, and not just for the company, if he is in a meeting concerning the defense of his country, his concern will be how to defend it, and not how to annihilate his opponents. When he reads a book or a newspaper, he 'reads' behind the lines, he 'feels' the essence of the story, and if he watches television or a movie, he is very selective, for if it is something that do not harmonize with his inner core, it doesn't satisfy him, and it may even become unbearable."

"Does it mean then that he is a saint?"

"No, that does not mean that he is a 'saint', for he may easily fall into intellectual temptations, and do the complete opposite of what his inner voice tells him to do. This is merely the state of his inner being."

"How about the intellectuals then?"

"The intellectual, or the imbalanced one, is an analyst. In order to understand things, he needs hard, demanding studies. He needs to read and learn. He needs hard facts. He does not see the painting, but the strokes that make it. He sees the tree, but not the forest. He is so much engrossed with his intellect that whenever spiritual matters appear on his path, he brushed them off quickly as useless humbug, or nonsense. He feels that the rest of the world should listen to him for he knows better. They have to, for he didn't spend his best years in a college, studying for nothing. In a sense, he is right, for he understands that he is at the zenith of his capabilities concerning intellectual matters. He is on a crest of a wave so high that the rest beneath him look insignificant. Absolutely nobody can challenge him. That is what he knows best, but he fails to realize he is a one-sided personality, and he looks at the world from the wrong side of his binoculars."

"Are we supposed to consider the intellectuals at 'lost' cases?" someone asked ironically.

"This does not mean an intellectual is a 'hopeless' case. As easily as he fell for the intellect by forcibly suppressing his spirit, so he can amend things, by slowly letting the spirit play its part in his life. It is not hard. The hard part is that they are unwilling to do it."

"Well," intervened once again the psychiatrist, but was cut off immediately by the chairman telling him firmly that there were more people in this room who also had questions.

"What is matter?" asked the representative of the International Geological Society. "In our field, we witness daily the deterioration of the Earth. What does the future hold for this Earth?"

"Earth, as everything that can be perceived by earthly means, belongs to the world of matter," said the Teacher. "This is the natural precipitation of the ethereal world, which in turn is the precipitation of higher spheres, which in turn, are the precipitation of the highest: God.

Anything that cannot withstand the pressure and the heat of the highest heat source must be ejected. The length of the ejection depends on the ability of the particles to withstand heat-pressure. Those with more inherent ability to withstand heat-pressure are closer to the source. The less able to withstand the heat-pressure are the furthest away. The closer to the source of light are the most fluid and transparent. The furthest from the source of light are the most cumbersome, and heaviest."

"And how far does it go?"

"So far they reach the outside barriers of creation, which we call the world of matter. Hence, matter is the furthest precipitation of substance from God, i.e. the heaviest, the more cumbersome. The material world, nevertheless must succumb to the laws of the creation, which has a beginning and an end. So the time will come that the Earth will have to go through the vortex of the black hole, in order to be rejuvenated, and to start the mega cycle of re-evolution again as I have already stated."

"I would like to take you back a bit, about this injustice that takes place in this world. Judging by what you say, all this corruption and injustices can be eradicated by starting all from new. Are we wrong to believe that everything must start from scratch?" the representative from a nihilist group asked.

"In the great law of evolution, there can be no gaps. You see this everywhere in nature; an apple when it is cut green cannot reproduce another tree. In everything the cycle of evolution must run its course uninterrupted. Interruptions are retrogression. There is no doubt necessary revolutions took place in the history of mankind, but that happened in special cases, and should not be the norm."

"By what you say," screamed someone deep from the hall, "there should not be revolutions in this world. Can you imagine in what state the Earth would be?"

"I am only stating the law. Besides, it took many revolutions for Earth to reach this state. Why you think one more would make the difference? It is easier to destroy something than to build; man should improve his environment through evolution and not through revolution. If you want to change the world, start from yourself."

"Do you repudiate the fact that communists round the world tried to better things by bringing equality, and by stopping man using his fellow man for personal gains?"

"Man incarnates and reincarnates on Earth in order to mature spiritually. By imposing restrictions to the free spirit of his fellowman, the only thing he accomplishes is stifling of the individual's unique expression, the ability to think and to evaluate for oneself. Besides, the idea of communism may appear feasible, even noble, but the fact is that communism could not stand the test of time. Sooner or later it would collapse, for the whole structure is mounded in fickle foundations."

"It seems the only way for a man to go is the populist way," a representative of the EU Philosophers Union said in a cynical tone. "And that is through democracy I presume. But don't these problems you just described derive from that freedom of choice; supply and demand?"

"I would say democracy is the best device of governing thought out by man, for it is more right, and gives freedom of expression to the individual, but his freedom presupposes responsibilities, for here the law of action end reaction applies. As you sow, shall you reap.

This law does not apply only to individuals, but also to masses. If people elected officials of questionable character, just because they happened to be good talkers, sooner or later they will have to face the consequences of their decisions. Generally people have the leaders they deserve, for the leaders merely reflect the state of the people of the given time."

"Can you describe an ideal party in a hypothetical democracy that you would feel comfortable with?" asked the philosopher. "Could you give us some hints of what the beliefs of a party should be?"

"As the word suggests, it is a part-y. A part of the whole. It cannot represent the whole, but part of it. Parties are ideas devised by man, and should be treated accordingly. Some of their followers have acted as though they have the ultimate truth in their hands, falling into the trap of an idea thought and devised by someone somewhere, with catastrophic endings. Like hungry fish they charged into the lines of the scripts someone thought out, and made it as the ultimate goal of their lives. Parties with the encouragement and the blessings of blindfolded followers brought so much misery despair and death. With more thought and alertness I am sure this would be avoided."

"Can you describe us an ideal party then? That is the question."

"How could I? Is there a party devised by man to uphold all the positive points held separately by each other party? Is there a party that advocates peace, taking into the consideration the wishes and the rights of the others? Is there one that espouses the beautiful of what other cultures hold, while also safeguarding their own? Is there a party that encourages the individual to bring to fruition the talent God trusted on him? To defend his rights and at the same time, to educate him that it also brings responsibilities for the individual? Is there a party that encourages a sustainable economy, rather than giving handouts in order to sustain its popularity, regardless of the consequences for the country? Is there a party that maintains with tooth and nails the good traditions of the country; their language, culture, and music, while at the same time respects and endorses the cultures of others? To take care of the incapable ones, and to encourage the rest to, serve according to each individual's capabilities? The list goes on, but then we would not have a party, but a wholeness; a unity. Show me a unity "party" and I would be the first one to endorse it."

At this point the chairman took over to converse with the Teacher.

"If we take as a base your assumptions that earthman do not mature uniformly spiritually, and that the many left behind, are hindering or slowing the development of the rest, would you oppose the idea of a counsel of spiritually matured elders to lead and govern wisely?"

The Teacher shook his head. "You cannot force a bud to bloom. Every individual matures in his own time. Some don't mature at all. Besides, who would select the wise ones, and what will happen to the ones that oppose the idea? Man should not impose his will on others, no matter how noble their ideas. They can influence, but not impose."

"What is your idea about capitalism?" asked the chairman. "Capitalism more or less coincides with what you preach about the importance of free movement. Is this the right way to go?"

"No. Capitalism, as the word suggests, is materially oriented. It is wrong for a man to spend his short time in this Earth aiming to accumulate more and more material. Material should be the tool to facilitate man in this Earth, but not become his sole purpose."

"Does it mean that you denounce the rich also?"

"I do not denounce someone that happens to be rich. On the contrary, I would feel easy with a rich man that provides employment in a just way to his fellow man, rather than with someone who waits under the shade of a tree for someone else to form the position, or with someone who would give away his riches overnight. Here the saying is applied; it is more important to teach a man to catch a fish, than to provide him a plate of ready-to-eat fish for a day. The problem is not wealth, but this mania of man to accumulate and to evaluate his fellow man according of how much material he has accumulated."

"Don't you see the importance of motivation for the movement on Earth? Without motivation everything would collapse, the financial institutions, the markets, everything."

"By now man should be able to distinguish between right and wrong motivation. Let me give you an example. Let's say two men are motivated for two different reasons and work hard to accomplish their goals. One is a boxer, and the other is a scientist. By brute force, the boxer managed to knock the brains out of his opponent, and becomes a champion. In the meantime, the scientist spends thousands of man-hours in a basement in his laboratory, in his attempt to develop a serum for a particular disease. I ask you...who do you think would get the recognition from his fellow man, the boxer or the scientist?"

"The boxer, I presume," said the chairman.

"You presumed right and what do people get out of it, what does this man gain but an inflated ego? All this energy... what is going on behind all this? Promotions, representatives, reporters, newspapers, cleaners; the list is endless. Office workers, trainers, medical teams, thousands if not millions of people are watching. Watching what? Watching two human beings trying to knock each other's brains out. What a difference with the response to the man who is trying to improve things, to help his fellow men? I would say that man's superficiality has climbed the highest peak of the narcissism mound. What a difference, what a disgraceful behavior, in men's response towards someone with a noble cause!

"What I stated here, is a speck of an example of the happenings on Earth, of the wrong motivations, and wrong values. There are countless examples, if man was only willing to see."

"What are you suggesting then? We should leave our jobs and do what?"

"The time has come for man to revaluate his values. Each individual has to re-examine how he earns his living; ask himself whether his work benefits mankind, and to act accordingly. If a man works in a factory producing cigarettes, his responsibility is not less than that of the chairman of the board, or of a major shareholder. In the laws of life, what matters is the personal responsibility. Anybody with common sense should realise the majority of man's activities on Earth are wrong."

"What is the right way to go about then?" The chairman persisted. "Is the right way to measure the progress of a country according to GDP; when according to you, the majority of man's activities on Earth are wrong?"

"That would be okay if man was a material being; but man is spiritual, although in his short time on Earth he is covered by material. His core is spiritual, and his destiny is spiritual, for he is destined to return to the sphere of origin as a conscious human being, or unconscious seed, as the way he started. Either way, he has to return to the sphere of origin which is spiritual.

"As for the economic situation on Earth, the whole structure is going to collapse like a pack of cards, for the whole economy in the world is mounted on legs of glass, and will collapse accordingly."

"You painted a gloomy picture about the economical world situation," said the chairman, "but you never mentioned the right way to go."

The Teacher responded in his steady way. "The right way to measure the progress of a country, and its people, is not the dry method of measuring the GDP. The right way is to de-consummate; man has become a consuming machine with frightful consequences. The right way is to decrease GDP, and at the same time to decrease consumption."

"And play more?"

"Yes."

"I like that," said the chairman.

"The gauge to measure the progress of a country is not by its GDP growth, but by measuring the happiness of its people. By that, I mean how fulfilled they are. That doesn't come by accumulating more material; in fact, the reason for dissatisfaction is the cause that drives man to this."

"So we should stop work, and start playing?"

"We should begin creating. When man creates, he is lost in a wonderland. Have you ever watched how absorbed a man is when he creates? I don't mean only artists at work but ordinary people at work when they doing it whole-heartedly. A gardener when he is absorbed in his garden, the satisfaction a shop keeper gets by providing good services, a wood worker when he creates something with his hands, and is so proud of it; these are all examples.

"If recognition comes and brings along material gains, so much the better, but that would be of secondary importance, for it came along as a result of doing something they liked."

"What should a man do?"

"Men should become little creators; that would check this craving of consummation which in result, will bring down the GDP figures. People would be happier. Man should also learn to appreciate small things, for this uncontrolled thirst for goods doesn't come without consequences. Every time a man consumes something, it is being drawn from somewhere, and that source is Earth. Every time we consume, we leave a scar on Earth, so much so, that with man's inconsiderate actions, Earth became a big sore, and it will take biblical proportions unless it is checked."

"So we can solve the economic problems by merely being creative?" asked the vice-chairman ironically, with lots of giggles from the crowd.

"No, but that would be a major step towards sustainability. So far, half of the world has lived beyond its means and the rest is undernourished. Sustainability. From now on this word will pop up more and more, for the inability of man to uphold nature, and the natural laws, will drive man to a dead end. From now on, the world man calls 'the developed one', will have to minimize, to cut down, and as I said to be more creative. Man has to go back to the basics in order to survive.

"A girl for instance, should be able to sew her own dress. That way she will be unique, and her clothing will bring up her personality and allow individuality to blossom, instead of following the fashion, with which obeys the marketing strategies of a conglomerate. She will no longer be the pawn of someone somewhere who thought up something, with the sole purpose of increasing his bank account."

"You are taking us years back, to the dark ages," objected the vice chairman. "Nevertheless, can you give us a glimpse of the rest of the family you envisage? How should they behave? How anachronistic are you?"

'Not everyone can be professors or scientists, so her brother, if he is good with his hands, should learn a trade or find something he would love to do, so he can earn his livelihood to the rest of his life. The mother would be at home to bake the bread, and generally to keep a warm happy home for the rest of the family. The father might grow perhaps the vegetables, or make a new family table in his workshop. In the bigger scale, the so-called developed countries should help the so-called undeveloped ones."

"You stated many times the importance of the individual and mass responsibility. By helping an individual or a state, aren't you encouraging them to become slack?"

"When I say to help them, I don't mean to give them stuff. I mean to give them the opportunity to help themselves. Everyone sometimes needs a helping hand from his fellow man, whether it is an encouraging word, a helping gesture, or whatever. In our case this is to teach them how to fish. To teach them, the know-how, so they can help themselves."

"What is your opinion about globalization? This movement of so-called internationalists?" was the next question. "They do not believe in borders, but say people should be able to travel and to stay wherever they wish, with no boundaries."

"This idea of a world with no borders sounds nice, even noble, but it is a seductive feeling, a delusion such as a drug," said the Teacher. "As time goes by, the addict feels lower and lower, and so will a country who has adopted such 'brilliant' ideas. This downfall won't come overnight, but it is certain. When it happens, those leaders who persuaded their countrymen with such ideas won't be there to witness it."

"The idea of someone abandoning his country is not new. Do you deny that it happened before in all man's history?"

"The idea of a man abandoning his country to live in another because he and his countrymen were not as advanced, resembles animals that forcefully occupy the lair of others because they were too lazy to build one for themselves. It is of the utmost importance for a man to attempt to improve the conditions prevailing in his own country. In order to do that, he may travel aboard, to see and learn new things, to educate himself in a foreign country, or just to quench his thirst for travelling. The sacred goal in the end would be going home to improve conditions in his country."

"Why is so important for man to spend the majority of his time in the place he was born?" asked someone. "Is there a specific reason for it? Can you elaborate?"

"It is not by accident where and when a man is born," explained the Teacher. "The whole surroundings cooperate harmoniously to enhance the abilities of each man born in a particularly place, in order for him to flourish as a human being. Here, the so-called internationalists that promote the idea of an Earth without borders should know the importance of the variations of the species, whether in plants, animals, or man. This difference, this variation, makes the world interesting, colorful, and vibrant. Without it stagnation would follow much sooner. The spice of life is variations. Without variations the world would be like a giant bowl of soup; everything would dissolve into a big pot of pulp. Man should guard this difference as the core of his eyes."

"How should we go about it then?"

"We must encourage it by assisting countries to overcome their problems with macro development solutions, and not handouts as is the trend of our times. Above all, we must respect and encourage variations. Respect the people, respect the different costumes, and in general respect the difference, the variety.

"Here I want to mention the contradiction, the peculiarity of thinking, of the so-called internationalists. On the one hand they push for a world with no borders and on the other, oppose the new world order, and world government."

At this point, a clerk informed the chairman that the word was out about the hearing taking place in the hall. Some followers of the Teacher had started to gather outside. The chairman did not seem concerned, and signaled the clerk to go, but he thought it might be useful to ask the Teacher a question about law and order.

"What is your opinion about law and order? Should a citizen of a country obey the country's laws even if he feels they are unjust?"

"If this question is concerned with a dictatorial regime," said the Teacher, "sooner or later, people will find the way to change things. The spirit of man cannot accept oppression. It is unnatural for a man to impose his will upon others, even if they mean well, for they transgress the law of spiritual movement. But I would like to elaborate about the so-called democratic states. Democracy means freedom, and freedom stipulates responsibilities, which many of their citizens seem to forget.

"In a democratic state, the citizens must uphold the laws by all means. As these laws have been invented by man, obviously there will be pitfalls. Inner pressure brings changes through constant vigilance and demand in a democratic way from their citizens."

"And how should the citizens react then?" asked the chairman.

"Through a constant involvement of the citizens for the better, an uplifting evolution takes place. In turn; the state's laws will change eventually. Until then, the law must be kept to the letter. Otherwise erosion will creep in a deceitful way, and eventually anarchy will follow, with all the consequences we witness in many countries today.

"The importance of a citizen of a country obeying the laws has been indicated by Jesus when he said, 'render to Cesar whatever belongs to him'. He also emphasized it by sacrificing his own life. He could easily have run away to save his life. So could Socrates, whose students were begging him to run away with them after the court find him guilty of a crime that he never committed. But then, they would be outlaws, fugitives, hypocrites, contrary of what they were preaching of the importance of man respecting the law.

"So Socrates calmly and majestically, drank the poison presented to him. There are numerous cases of great man who obeyed the laws to the limit."

"But these are exactly the charges that are made against you," said a lady from the panel, "that you are inciting young people in to defiance, disobedience, and rebelliousness. Will you accept then the findings, the recommendation which will be issued by the WCFET?"

"You forget to mention violence, lady," said the Teacher, "for I am accused even of that. Anyhow, it is true that I advocate young people to break any bonds, any fetters that bound their spirits. If that is going to bring uneasiness in some communities, I will accept the finds against me, but I will never advocate violence."

"You, reactionary one!" shouted someone, "with your 'brilliant' ideas! People like you encourage fascist governments to survive and oppress all the people round the world. Why don't you stay out of politics?"

"Are we supposed to obey the rules of a democratic state? Or are we supposed to have a democracy a la carte? Is the democratic elected government, or a coalition for that matter, elected to govern the country? Or do we question the wisdom of the majority of the people, and try to impose our will to others? If so, who is the fascist one?"

One other heckler from the back of the room shouted that the Teacher should stick to the spirituals and to leave the rest to the experts.

The chairman, obviously irritated, said to the Teacher, "Look, my friend. If I am sick, I will go to a doctor, if I want to build a house I will go to a licensed builder. When I travel on an airplane, there is a licensed pilot that... that pilots the damn thing. All these people spend years of their time mastering their professions. Why should you roaming freely about intervening in the affairs of others? You don't have the barest of qualifications for it."

"Mr. President," calmly answered the Teacher, "If I am sick I will go to the doctor although I may ask the opinion of more than one. If I want to build a house I will follow the procedures of the law. As for piloting an airplane you don't have to worry, because I am reluctant to use airplane."

There were some whispers, but a strong voice from the back rows cut the casual scene immediately. "But you do enter into the affairs of others; into others' professions without a second thought, and without qualifications."

"That may be," said the Teacher. "What is your qualification? What is your profession?"

"I am a theologian, and you do jump into our affairs daily. You cannot deny that. You are an agitator. You do all that with no hesitation. I heard you condemning my profession in a public place. There are hundreds of witnesses. There are even comprehensive reports in the local newspapers, about you, Mr. Nobody, inciting young people into defiance."

"I second that!" A bishop stood up, addressing the panel. Turning to the Teacher he continued, "Over all, you are accused, of slandering theologians, religious leaders, and religious organizations. Why should we tolerate such behavior? Don't you think we have reason to be annoyed with you?"

"So you people are upset because I intervene into your fields? But I tell you, no man on this Earth can claim that he is a specialist, successor, heir, or qualified in God's matters. On the contrary, in the eyes of the lord, a peasant may stand better than a professor of theology, an elderly lady may stand better than a priest, a mullah, or the pope of Rome. Concerning God's matters, man's laws do not apply; nor even for someone who happens to know the bible or any other religious book by heart.

"If that was the case, Jesus would have chosen scribes and Pharisees to teach the word to the world. On the contrary, he chose simple people of every walk of life to spread his message."

A lady rose, and asked the Teacher in a polite but firm manner, "Are you aware of a charge pending on you, concerning a defamation case against you from the National Society of Hypnotherapists? I am a qualified hypnotherapist." She turned towards the panel. "I say to the council that nobody, absolutely nobody, has ever engaged in such a wild and slanderous manner against a qualified and legitimate profession as this man. I accuse this man of being a slanderer, an impostor of the worst kind. I will not stay here to listen to his ridiculous outbursts. These allegations and the rest will follow in the criminal courts." She turned furiously and left the crowd.

There was a prolonged silence. The Teacher looked sad and frail.

"Well?" The voice of the chairman sounded like a bell.

"I do not deny the accusations and the charges of defamation against me. I don't even worry about it anymore. It is already too late; for thousands there is no return. I can only shed some light for those who are willing to listen, and are still flirting with the idea of hypnotism.

I will state it loud and clear with all my heart. Those who practice hypnotism are either totally ignorant or outright criminals of the lowest and darkest kind. It is either this, or that. You either know this or willingly suck thousands into abyss of perdition, or you are completely ignored. Regardless of the case, the law will prevail.

"I tell you when a hypnotist hypnotizes someone, he binds his spirit. In short, he transgresses the law of the spirit."

"But how can this happen?" asked the chairman. "If the participant participated willingly what is the problem? And what do you mean by transgressing the spirit anyway?"

"The transgression that takes place is of the gravest kind. For many hypnotists, there will be no return. In order for redemption to take place in this case, all the hypnotized ones that have been sucked in to this abyss by these 'experts', willingly or not, will have to be released. Each one, one by one, will have to break the chains that hold them bound with the hypnotist. For this to happen, if it happens, decades or even centuries will pass. For many, it will be too late. As for the hypnotized one, if in the meantime he realizes into what a horrible situation he has fallen, he may ask for help and with a fervent prayer, he may succeed in breaking the bond that holds him with the hypnotist, and gradually break the chain that holds him down. This does not happen overnight. In many cases, it takes years but with persistent and unceasingly prayer, help will surely come."

"What is so important about this so-called free will?"

"The unique charisma that a man has inherited from God is free will. With this, man shapes his environment towards beauty or towards ugliness. With this free will he also shapes the environment in the beyond when he passes over, and also shapes the conditions here on Earth if he is going to be reincarnated, or to ascend even to higher spheres, up to the sphere of the paradise. When the hypnotist hypnotizes someone, he binds his free will. In short, he plays God. Man cannot be forgiven for this. He may do the most appalling things and be forgiven if he changes his mind for the better, but not for this, for he has sinned against the spirit."

An Anglican bishop asked the Teacher, "As far as I know, there is equality between man and woman in God's eyes. Can you elaborate about why Jesus chose only man to teach the word and excluded woman from it? This led to women being excluded from their rights in becoming priestesses."

"When Jesus incarnated on Earth, he did not came here to uproot traditions, or to revolt, as a rebel would do today, sweeping away traditions and cultures. He came to up-build on whatever existed at that time. But this is not the main reason that he chose men only. I will try to explain, and whoever has ears may be receptive to it.

"There is no doubt about the equality of man and woman in God's eyes. The difference is the distortion of the roles man managed to introduce, and consequently, the confusion, and the appalling state we witness on Earth today.

"I tell you, one of the main reasons for the bad state that Earth is in today, is the distortion of the roles between man and woman, which man managed to introduce. It is amazing how easily man fell into this trap.

"Because of the equality, he assumed there should be no difference of the roles played between a man and a woman. That is going to be his downfall. As time went by and with the new generations growing in this environment, it became the norm; a free-for-all so to speak, twisting the roles ad lib, with not a second thought, disregarding the consequences."

"But you emphasized how important this free will is," protested the bishop. "Should man not use it freely? If not, why call it free will?"

"Man takes the happenings on this Earth as a norm, for each reincarnation of the time he came here. But I tell you nothing is as it should be. You must try to understand, that because he lives in it, and he travels along with it, it appears normal and he goes along in a whirlpool of distraction, without even knowing it, without even noticing it. So, everything is accepted by the society as a normal happening. Who will object? Who is going to listen anyway?"

"What is the point you want to make? Come to the point please; enough with this rhetoric."

"So we came to the point that man is not able to differentiate the roles between man and woman. Think of it this way. Man is the doer; the extrovert who goes out to tackle the world in order to facilitate things at home; he is the minister of external affairs. Woman is the sublime power, she is the queen of the castle; she can influence things without even knowing it, by merely being there. She can direct from behind. She can direct silently, and build things amazingly by just supporting her husband's daily struggles, by encouraging him and the kids when things are difficult, and providing a warm nest-home for them after a hard day's work.

In short, she is the minister of internal affairs.

"Did you expect Jesus to ignore all this and encourage man to twist the roles between man and woman in order to satisfy the fools?

"Or, what would happen with our governments, if the ministries of internal affairs intervened in to the affairs of the ministry of external, or vice-versa, would it not cause confusion? And who in his right mind, even those 'progressive' ones, would accept this transgression?

"I will give you one other example. Think about the electricity. In order for it to work, it needs two polls, the negative, or sublime which represents the female part with the __ symbol, and the positive or masculine part with the real symbol I

Together, the __ and the I join forces, and produce the power that makes things move. In fact, this is the sign of the holy cross + with isometric legs which many ancient civilizations knew about it."

"Is this the sign, the symbol, Christians use for their religion? Someone asked from the audience.

"No, this sign has nothing to do with the sign churches use now and which they display as a holy sign. I cannot understand the naivety of so many religious people, adoring a sign of the cross, which Jesus died on.

"The cross the churches use today is the cross the Romans used as a weapon to execute their opponents.

"If the Romans happened to execute their opponents with a guillotine, or by hanging them on a noose for that matter, would they use the guillotine, or the noose as their religious symbol?"

"You are accusing man and woman of distorting their roles as you put it, but isn't it the freedom of choice the individuals and masses earned by fighting for their rights? Isn't this what democracy is all about? Why do you find it so offensive when man and woman have to adopt different roles in order to survive economically?" asked the chairman.

"The distortion of the roles between man and woman took such a grotesque shape, that even a few years back would be unthinkable," said the Teacher. "As man lives it daily, he becomes accustomed to it, so much so, that even when he sees the most appalling distortions, he assumes it is okay when the societies accept it so willingly. But I am asking you with your hand on your heart, when you see a woman truck driver full of tattoos in her arms and with a cigarette hanging from her lips driving furiously, a woman body builder with a grotesque deformation of her body, or a woman boxer brutally beating her opponent, does this behavior of a woman enhance her femininity? Do women become gentler? Do you find it beautiful?"

"Do you have something against woman?" An interjection aimed at the Teacher came from a woman. "You didn't mention anything about man."

"If that is going to make you feel better, lady, men do not fare better, in fact it is even worse. Yet it is more sad and inexcusable for woman to fall into this trap, because woman has something that man doesn't have; the sixth sense, this unique ability to perceive things that man cannot.

"Still, man's behavior in this matter is intolerable. So we see men designing women's clothes, doing women's hair. There are even men doing the baby-sitting, taking care of the kids, while the mother earns the living. Everything is twisted; everything distorted. Do these men's activities enhance his manhood?"

The chairman called for a lunch break. Most of the participants withdrew in an orderly fashion, immersed in their thoughts, and very skeptical. Others were vociferous, trying to have a good look at the Teacher, throwing mean glances and murmuring insults at him.

The clerk guided the Teacher to a room, and the hall in no time was empty. As the hearing was broadcast live from radios and the television network, more and more people gathered outside. The crowd grew so much that the gatherers started to spill out on the streets.

As the crowd was peaceful, although there was not permission given, the mayor decided to close the streets round the area to facilitate the meeting. Some of the people outside had means to listen what was going on in the hall through portable electronic devices, but the majority were frustrated because they could not hear. They formed a committee to do something about it. A man on this committee was willing to provide a public announcement system, which he luckily had already mounded on a truck, ready for another job.

If only they could get the okay from the WCFET, they could go ahead. They managed to speak to the committee just as they were dispensing for lunch. The vice-chairman was unwilling as that would create a precedent for other cases in the future, but the chairman was more sympathetic and his decision prevailed.

In the meantime inside the hall, the television network that broadcast live was contemplating pulling the plug. This underdog was not so much of a newsmaker after all. He was not a revolutionary type, but rather a subdued character. However as one other international television network started to broadcast also live, they decided to continue. There was rivalry between these two networks, in business and philosophy, so they were not prepared to let their rivals to have a free run."

As some of the crowd outside were sympathizers of the Teacher's message, still waited patiently for the hearing, so they could listen to the public announcement system. They were anxious to see where all this was going to end, as there were no formal charges laid against the Teacher. Nevertheless, the recommendation of the WCFET would bear heavily on whether or not he could spread his message freely.

The reactions from those listening to the message for the first time were different. Some of the listeners embraced anything this stranger said with an open heart, for it felt fresh and gave answers to many questions. There was not proof for most things he said, but they seemed to be logical, and made sense. Others felt agitated and some were repulsed. Certainly some felt threatened for their livelihood, as the Teacher was tarnishing their professions with what he said. Most, though, felt agitated by him, with no apparent reason.

There was not indifference for whatever the Teacher said. They were with him or against him. People around the world started to communicate through the social media, and in no time the debate started and erupted into a huge battlefield.

The hearing was scheduled to start after the lunch break, and the participants settled in their seats. Because of the live broadcast, there was a new interest about the meeting. The seats left vacant after the departure of those who had walked out were occupied by new arrivals.

Finally when everyone settled in their seats, the chairman asked for quiet.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Due to unprecedented interest of the case, we will allow special time for the press towards the end of the day. For the moment we will continue with the same format." Turning to the Teacher, he said, "I noticed you ordered fruit for lunch; does it mean you are vegetarian? What do you think about vegetarianism anyway?"

"On the contrary, I urge my listeners to avoid radicalization even in this matter. I have already stated that man is an evolved being and not a revolutionary one. It is true that in future highly evolved humans won't need meat in their diet. It is also true that eschewing meat for short time invigorates the body and the spirit of man, but this is only for a short time. Any change away from routine brings invigoration, but man must go back to the diet he has used for thousands of years. He cannot do this dietarian jump overnight, without harm to himself."

"But all vegetarians look okay to me," interjected the chairman. "In fact, even conventional doctors jump on the bandwagon of vegetarianism, advocating the importance of the vegetarian diet."

"Perhaps you are a dietician now, or a doctor of some kind?" someone shouted with a sardonic smirk. "The International Medical Association, together with the dieticians' one, should charge and throw the book at you as an imposter, an international agitator, roaming around the world inciting people in to defiance. They should expose you in all the legitimate institutions, and put you in for life, throwing the keys away to finish with you once and for all."

The chairman silently nodded the Teacher to continue.

"I repeat, man is an evolved being. Even in this matter, he should gradually reduce meat's consumption, consuming smaller portions of meat, from smaller animals. Any gaps, whether it concerns individuals, races, or nations, are bound to bring harm. Whether a nation adopts suddenly a foreign language, foreign clothes, foreign music, and whatever is foreign, ignoring traditions, which took thousands of years to shape each culture and ethnic group according to its characteristics, are harmful in the end. The diet tradition of man that took thousands of years to evolve is not an exemption."

"This man is using our tolerance towards freedom of speech, and makes a mockery out of it," said the smirking man. He started walking out, but turned to address the panel in a loud voice. "It is your duty to expose this guy, this imposter, for he is detrimental to progress, to development, to the beginning of the new age, the new epoch we enter now. I don't know about you, but I will fight with all my strength to expose him, to put him back where he belongs." He walked away.

"Do you repudiate the new age movement? All the new teachings they advocate, vegetarianism for instance; is it not this new age that man is supposed to enter, to prepare for this new epoch? I thought that you would be for it," said a woman from the panel.

"Any conceivable or inconceivable group of people gathers under the umbrella of the new age groups. They are so sure of themselves; as sure as the Pharisees were in the time of Christ.

"If you want proof of it, try to confront their beliefs. You'd better be prepared to duck for cover, for the dirt they are going to throw at you will be sufficient to cover you to your neck."

'Don't you understand there are people trying to improve things concerning religion and in various other fields? They feel they have to intervene in order to straighten things up!"

"No doubt there are some among them going quietly and seriously on their way, trying to uplift things and spread some of the knowledge they possess steadily and wisely, but the majority live in a vanity world they have created. They consider the rest of the world backward. In their magazines and literature are the most naïve and ludicrous stories, and although they are supposed to bring people towards new spirituality, they send thinking people away."

"Can you give us some examples?"

"There are countless examples I could give you, but one shall suffice. The atheists refuse to acknowledge God. The skeptical and the agnostics refer it as a 'power', a vague form of power that makes everything go round. Some, because they don't know, stay aloof.

The new age advocates, although they talk about spirituality, will not acknowledge God either. They will talk about 'energy', a vague abstract form of energy somewhere there, but not God, for they are far too clever to concede. I want to ask them one thing. Say they are in a critical situation and need help, how are they going to call for it? 'Oh, please energy help me'?"

"But isn't this what you advocate? Surely all this new era, whether it is dealing with astrological matters, spiritualism, mediums, astral travelling and your teachings, belongs under the umbrella of the new age group?" the chairman said in a bewildered manner.

"The 'new age' group has nothing new about it. The reason I repudiate them is the same reason I repudiate the religious organizations, scientific groups who went over top, and the so-called 'progressives'. I expose their shortcomings in that they portray partial knowledge as the ultimate truth. Thus, we have the scientific groups together with the intellectual elite, accepting as truth anything they can perceive with physical means. They ignore the ethereal and spiritual happenings around them. The 'progressives' believe in nothing, in a free-for-all attitude, because they are incapable to perceive the consequences of it."

"Do you include religious people in these groups?"

"Some religious organizations try to conserve with teeth and nails all illogical things, to the point that some of them believe Earth is several thousand years old. The new age group brand partial knowledge as the ultimate truth. This medley of groups, although distanced from each other, join hands to fight the common enemy, for the saying; the enemy of my enemy, is my friend, applies here. So why do you think there is so much interest in what an old man is saying? Why is this hall filled to the brim? Why do the international media, and turning to the cameras and the reporters bother with an insignificant old man?"

"You tell us. This is why I asked this question," replied the chairman.

"Because they are feeling threatened."

"Threatened by whom?"

"Let me come to your question, Chairman, about this new age group. Astrology for instance; although I don't deny its importance, nevertheless man cannot rely on the calculations of the astrologers."

"You don't know what you are saying," intervened someone. "Astrology is of the utmost importance."

"Quiet please," said the chairman.

"By saying that alone," went on the Teacher, "think how many astrologers are threatened now because, besides the known factors astrologers use, there are others factors of which they are unaware. For example, there are stars that have not been discovered yet, but which still affect the particular individual. The different magnetic fields of the area in which each individual is born, and the one he occupies now have an effect. So does the food he eats, his karma, and many more. All this can bring different results from the astrologers' calculations in fact, the complete opposite. How then can anybody be a zealot about astrology?"

"Does this justify the strength of your feeling about the new age group?"

"Partly, but there is another factor still. Man incarnates on this Earth, and grows spiritually by decisions he takes daily, by weighing and examining different situations, and by being physically, and spiritually alert. This growth is being taken away by reliance on the advice given by new age people. That alone is enough reason, even if astrologers were perfect on their calculations, to avoid them."

"We have heard all this before. We want to listen to something fresh. Have you got something new to tell us?"

"What I say has reappeared many times in different manners, but with the same substance, over the history of mankind. The source of the message is the same, so the meaning of the message is bound to be the same. It may differ in the manner of presentation according to each different era, but the substance is the same. This is one of the weapons the opponents use to oppose what I say; that all this has been stated before. They do not realize that truth is unchangeable, whether it has been told thousands of years ago or now. The only things that change are the manner and form of each epoch."

"How shall we prove to the rest of the world that there is life after death?" a priest asked. "Is there a way to do it?"

"It is futile to force someone to believe in anything, and certainly man cannot gain much from spirits that hang around the vicinity of Earth. I have stated that the spirit of man, through his free will, creates the environment into what awaits him when he passes over, according to his inner life. It is not hard to imagine that spirits that happen to occupy such low spheres are not of the highest kind. Nevertheless, as far as they can tell, they are alive, and there is real life over there. As far as they know, they live in a real environment, unaware that they created this environment which is really an imaginary place, far away of the real life which is man's destination."

"Do you imply that this is the norm also on this Earth, and that it should not be so?"

"It is the same with those here on Earth who believe that the real life is here on Earth, ignoring that this is only a minuscule part and a transient one. They are incapable of seeing the whole picture."

Someone from the Rainbow Movement stood up and said categorically, "You must be ashamed of yourself. You agitate people in the most careless way. I heard you say in one other country the most absurd things about homosexuality, things that agitated the gay community so they drove you out of that country. In fact you are considered persona non grata in that country."

There was total silence, interrupted by the ringing bell of the chairman's voice asking an answer from the Teacher. "Well?"

"Well? What?" answered the Teacher.

"Are you not going to answer these accusations?"

"I always answer the questions. If I was to answer all the accusations made, I would need the rest of my life for it."

"What is homosexuality anyway?" the chairman asked. "Is that a choice? Is that sickness? Is someone born with it or what? And how should the state approach it?"

"Homosexuality is definitely not sickness. I can say that someone is born with it, or flirting with the idea of becoming one. I can also say it is a choice, a wrong choice, but nevertheless a choice."

"What is a homosexual then?"

"A homosexual is someone with a distorted soul. It is not as tragic as it sounds, for as the individual allowed the distortion to take place, so he can also rectify it. The power for it is within him. The problem is that man is not aware of it, or he doesn't want to change it. In order to understand what I mean by a distorted soul, let me shed some light for those who are open for it."

"Please be brief, as we are running late," said the chairman.

"At the beginning of the journey of each spirit, descending as far as into the ethereal and then into the gross matter, each spirit has the sense of belonging, or rather inclining towards, certain activities. These activities determine in what body he is going to be incarnated here on Earth. If these activities incline towards heavy, gross actions he will be incarnated into a male body, and if the activities incline towards fine actions, then the spirit will be incarnated into a female body."

"What are you trying to say?"

"The inclination towards certain activities determines in what body each individual is going to be incarnated the first time. We have the male bodies for gross and heavy actions, and female bodies for light refined actions. This is the way the spirit of each individual starts his journey here on Earth. I repeat, this is true of the first time. The law determines that each spirit be equipped with the analogous body."

"Is this not the way to be then?"

"Yes, this is the way to be, and many souls do that. However, many souls during the journeys on Earth, and after many reincarnations, start to play with thoughts of the opposite sex. This gradually becomes a wish, to the point that in their next incarnation here on Earth their wish is fulfilled, and they are born in a body of the opposite sex. So a male body can be occupied by a female spirit, and a female body be occupied by a male spirit."

"Isn't this all about free will?"

"You must understand that man has a free will and the choice is his, but freedom brings along personal responsibilities. Here are two examples to make it easier for you; one for each case.

"Say a man here on Earth starts to play with thoughts of the opposite sex. Let's say he plays with the thought of wearing women's clothes, which is a common wish for some men nowadays. If this man is not alert enough to eradicate these thoughts from his mind, eventually it will become a wish. The moment this happens, you can be assured that this man, in the next incarnation, or the one after, depending on the strength of his wish, will be born in a woman's body."

"I don't suppose you play with these kinds of thoughts, do you?" someone joked with lots of giggles in the assembly that forced the chairman to intervene.

"The vice-versa will happen if a woman starts to play with thoughts that belong to the opposite sex," continued the Teacher when the giggles had died down. "Let's say a woman starts to play with the thought of becoming a boxer, or joining the army, which is common these days. If she does not eradicate this idea which belongs to the sphere of masculinity, and pursues this, she probably will become a boxer, or join the army, but then her wish of becoming as strong as a man, or even as brutal as a man will be occupy her thinking to the point that she is going to be reincarnated in the body of man. So in this case we will have the opposite; namely a man occupied with a female spirit."

"Yes, but aren't they still children of God, using the freedom of the free will they are granted with?"

"As I stated many times, freedom of choice stipulates responsibilities. In neither case does the person feel genuine; not the man that is occupied by a female spirit, or the woman equipped by a male spirit. All this happens according to the law, for man has always the freedom of choice. But the souls that happen to shake off this wrong inclination towards the other sex, the moment they achieve it, it is as good as if it never happened. On the contrary, they will become stronger knowing that they overcame the obstacle, which they have managed to defeat their weakness. When the individual homosexual is aware of it and tries to rectify it, you can say that he has already found the road to the solution. He will find the courage, and in the end he will be victorious."

"Can states assist in any way in this?"

"Unfortunately, the states, because of their ignorance, or because of politicians using this as a potential electioneering purpose, use their citizens in the most careless way, doing a great disservice to them."

"What is your opinion about marriage? What do you think about marriage of the same sex? Do you accept it?" someone asked from the front row.

"Marriage between two individuals of the opposite sex is a natural process of two souls, attracted to each other, trying to be recognized in the eyes of their fellow man as having a joint adventure. If this marriage happens to be confirmed by their religious organization, if that makes them to feel more secure about their marriage, so much better for them. However, it is irrelevant when it comes to spiritual matters. What counts is the genuine attraction of these two souls. It is as if these two souls are born for each other and nobody in the world has the right to separate them."

"How about marriages of the same sex?"

"Well...when I was a kid, I would be watching the ants preparing themselves for the winter, working constantly and methodically carrying the food and whatever they needed for the hard days ahead. Some of them ignored this mundane daily routine. Rather than helping the rest with the work, they decided to grow wings, and to fly away from their responsibilities. When the winter arrived, they perished, frozen to death, where the rest of them appeared in the spring to continue with their lives."

"Do you put man on the same par with an ant?"

"We live in the epoch where many of the Earth inhabitants grow wings in order to disappear, in order to perish forever just because they don't want to face their responsibilities, or because they want to test the sweet life of delusion, regardless of the consequences. But we have seen nothing yet. This is only the beginning of the end."

"And who is to be blamed for that?"

"We live in the times of intellectual justification. Any conceivable or inconceivable idea, wish, or propensity, will flourish with the blessing of the states for the intellect will justify that. We live in times where the intellect has reached the zenith of its ability, and this ability, although man could and should use it for his advances, is being used it for his destruction. This ability of the intellect is used to suppress his spirit, and it does it in a most dubious way."

"Can you elaborate on this?"

"I will use your question as a paradigm. When this idea about same sex marriage came along, how did the intellectuals tackle this issue? They gathered round a table and said to themselves. 'These two individuals like to be together. Who are we to deny their rights? They love each other, so we don't have the right to intervene with their lives. It is about time this relationship is recognized also by the state. So...if the state doesn't officially recognize this couple, these two individuals will not be able to live together. Where in the world are two individuals prohibited to live together? Not even in the most brutal totalitarian regimes does this happen. Or...if the state doesn't recognize them, their love will be diminished so they will not love each other anymore'."

"Soon you will be a solitary figure in no man's land, with all these medieval ideas," said someone surely.

The Teacher continued, "I will take it further than that. I will challenge their 'progressiveness' and I will say... you know, we are three individuals and love each other, we live together and we are a happy trio, so we demand the recognition by the state, or...you know, we are four of us, we love each other, we are a beautiful quartet and we demand the state to recognize us. My sister and I or, my mother and I, or my dog and I are in love so we demand the recognition of the state. It may sound ridiculous today, but mark my words, whatever sounds ridiculous today, will be the norm tomorrow. Even today there is a pedophilia society, fighting legally for their 'rights'.

"As things are progressing, marriages will be irrelevant anyway, so what difference will it make? Some one heckled.

"For thousands of years marriage has served its purpose for the better or for the worse in man's history, but from now onwards, it is going to be just for the worst, for the intellectuals have managed to make a mockery out of it, even sending away thinking people. The only ones to embrace this 'brilliant' idea will be the 'progressive' ones, without realizing one can progress upwards, but also downwards."

"Are you suggesting that man is retrogressing, and not progressing?"

"Definitely retrogressing, but how has mankind managed to fall so low? How can educated people in these troubled days have managed to lose the sense of right and wrong, whereas a peasant, or an elderly lady a hundred years or a thousand years ago, would recognize it in the most natural way?"

"How has mankind managed to fall as low as animals with the blessings of the states?" A young man obviously influenced by the sayings of the Teacher said, but was cut off immediately by the vice-chairman, telling the Teacher to be more precise.

"I could give you innumerable examples for it, but I should not have to. Everyone should be diligent enough to see these appalling changes taking place right in front of his eyes."

"You seem to blame many of man's troubles on the intellect," said the chairman, "so can you elaborate?"

"Man's intellect should be his best friend. Intellect is the tool God provides to man in order to facilitate his wanderings on Earth, but instead, it became his curse. In order for a human being to be balanced, the intellect and the spirit should cooperate on equal terms. It is for the spirit to inspire, to guide, and to aim for the real goal of his life, and for the intellect to execute, to tackle the daily problems arising for survival through the subtle guides he gets from the spirit, and to be diligent enough to hear the warnings from the imminent dangers that surround him."

"What is the difference when the two cooperate?"

"Man becomes a full human being. If a man relies on his intellect only, he is like a ship without radar; without maps, without destination, and although he has the steering wheel in his hands, the intellect, he is going around in cycles, because there is no one to guide it. The spirit that is supposed to guide, to inspire, and to warn, is suppressed by the intellect, so the ship is ungovernable. If a man relies on his intellect only, he misses the point for the purpose of his incarnation on this Earth." When man ignores his spirit, he is like an airplane with one wing only he will never take off.

"Can a man be only spiritual then? What would happen if a man disregards his intellect? That surely would not be the answer."

"If a man lives a spiritual life only, he lives in the clouds in a world of fantasy, with his feet not standing firm on the ground. Like a balloon the wind would blow him away aimlessly to nowhere. The intellect is material, so he is the master of material. That is why he is good with technology, because technology belongs also to the material. But man is not only material, he is also spiritual. This is his origin; he is only covered by material and that only in a very small part of his existence.'

"Do you blame technology too now? Aren't you going to leave someone out of your list of accusations unblemished? Don't you realize the significant role technology plays of facilitating man on this Earth?"

"As the Earth is governed by the intellectuals, no wander life became so much technologically oriented; thus, cold and uninspired. That is because technology is the product of the intellect, which is ephemeral. The products of the spirit, such as art, are full of life, inspiring, forever new, and permeating through the ages. That is why the majority of activities on this Earth are wrong and unsustainable; that is why the collapse and the destruction of anything perceived and thought by the intellectuals, is unavoidable."

A woman from the Pro-life Movement raised her hand and spoke to the Teacher. "The pro-abortion advocates like to call themselves pro-choice, for it sounds milder and more sophisticated. Nevertheless to me they are cold blooded pro-abortionists. Their slogan and excuse is that it is their body; therefore it is their right of how to use it as they feel fit. I must admit it is hard to repudiate this stance, although we tried hard all these years. I wander what you think about that and what you have to say about abortion."

"I have already stated that all abnormalities that happen in this world will be justified by the intellectuals, and this will not be an exception. In finding it hard to repudiate the charges and the slogans used by the intellectuals, you are not alone. In every issue, in every confrontation that is taking place on this Earth right now, the intellectuals have the upper hand. That is because it is their time; they have reached the zenith of their capabilities. The battle is taken on their turf, the material world, and they are masters in it."

"How should the rest of the people act? If we assume that this Earth is run by intellectuals."

"Simple people must not despair. I purposely use the word simple, as the opposite of it characterizes the intellectuals, for the intellectuals dislike this word immensely. They are incapable to understanding simple things. They consider it too 'simplistic'. The more complex, the more complicated, the more probing they get out of it, the more satisfied they are. Isn't it always the case that simple things are for kids, and complicated ones for the adults? Here I want to make a small detour, and hint, that man cannot even use the word simple any more without being pelted by the intellectuals, as being a simpleton, a layman a simple person, uncomplicated, and mundane. They have managed to twist this simple word, into a degrading one. Thus they characterize themselves as being too complicated, complex, and difficult and that they are unable to enjoy simple things in this life."

"There are simple people that are desperate about things going on this Earth. How can they facilitate things? What can they do about abortion for instance?"

"As I said simple people must not despair, for the answer will come from within. Everything that has been devised by the intellectuals will collapse in front of their eyes. The first signs are already visible now. The intellectuals already are losing their glitter, their prestige and soon, very soon they will run for cover."

"Can you come to the question of abortion please?"

"To go into the spiritual happenings of the act itself would be too much for many of you, and besides we don't have sufficient time. But I would like to mention something on some cases that, if used in courts, could put the intellectuals into the defense. I won't go into details here; I will only mention the moment a pregnant woman gets the first kicks of the fetus in her womb."

"Can you specify the moment man actually reincarnates on Earth?"

"That is the moment the soul from the beyond is reincarnated on Earth. From that moment onwards, the body in the woman's womb is autonomous, that is, its body functions by itself, and its heart is pumping by itself. The baby in the womb is an individual in his own right therefore the intellectual slogan 'it is my body and I do what I like with it' it does not apply here. In these cases, every time an abortion takes place, a murder has been committed, and the pro-life advocates should not have a problem to convince the courts that a first degree murder has been committed. The individual in the womb has the same rights as everybody else."

There were some skirmishes in the panel, and the chairman called for five minutes' break. They convened in a room quickly, and the chairman asked, "What is the problem?"

The vice-chairman took the stand and said, "We, the majority of this panel, do not approve the way this hearing is turning out. We feel that the accused is using this meeting for his own advancement, that we are giving him far too long to respond to the questions, and that it is time to be stricter and more formal with him."

The chairman replied, "Gentlemen, don't forget that we brought him here to find out what does this man represents. We are not a court. We can give only recommendations. If we don't hear his part of the story, we won't be doing our job. Besides, who prevented you from querying something?"

They let it go at that, and hurried back to the panel.

The chairman said that they were sorry for this small delay, and signed the hearing to start again.

"What is sin?" called someone. "It is a question that keeps me many nights awoke. Are there people in this Earth that do not sin? You for instance, are you a sinner?"

"Apart from a handful people who walk on this Earth with a specific mission, everyone more or less has sinned. The question is not whether we have sinned or not, but whether we understand what sin is. The moment we understand this we have already made an enormous step towards redeeming it. I'll tell you: Sin, is the repetitive action of wrongdoing.

During the time man wanders on this Earth, he comes face to face with opportunities to indulge on propensities that slumber in him, to betray a trust his fellow man placed in him, or to commit a criminal act towards his fellow man, or his environment."

"Are there differences of 'quality' of sins?"

"The sins that are calculated by the intellect are premeditated, and more serious, because they have been calculated in cold blood, in a sinister way by the intellect. Sins committed spontaneously, or in hot blood, are not so. Even the intellectuals who formed these laws committed by the intellect without knowing are more lenient with crimes committed spontaneously, than those that were committed premeditated.

"If a man materializes an idea by committing it physically, let's say a criminal act, the moment he honestly repents, this regret, brings its redemption."

"Does a sin apply, without being committed physically on Earth?"

"I must stress that a sin is not committed only when it has been materialized visibly on Earth. In the laws of creation, the mere thought playing, or indulging on a sinful idea, is as sinful as those committed and materialized on Earth. Naturally the idea that has been materialized is more complicated, because binds the perpetrator with his victims.

As for me... if I am a sinner or not, I already stated that except a handful of great spirits that incarnated on this Earth for special missions, the rest of us are all sinners, and I am not exempt."

At this point someone shouted, "Is this not hypocrisy of the worst kind, when you admit that you are a sinner yourself, to preach us here about sin and redemption? That is outrageous."

There was a short pause, and then the Teacher spoke. "I would be a hypocrite if I did not admit that I also am a sinner. But it is more than that. Man believes that in order for a man to preach as you put it, to one other man, he first has to master himself. That is, whatever I know, and whatever I believe, I have no right to spread to others, as that would be hypocritical. So I should take it with me to my grave. I had lots of sleepless nights over it, and then the proverb of Jesus struck me about the man with the talent, that he buried it in order to save it, and not tried to multiply it for the benefit of the others. So with my departure, I will bury with me the talent, so to speak, entrusted on me."

"That would save us lots of hassle, which would be something to celebrate about," heckled someone.

The chairman noted the Teacher to continue.

"If that idea prevailed in every field, and everyone would take with him whatever knowledge he had to his grave, you can imagine what kind of world we would live in today. There would be no beautiful paintings to admire, or musical creations for the simple reason that the masters would take the know-how, their knowledge, to their graves."

"Should not a man master himself then, before he teaches others?"

"I had similar ideas in the past, but we learn from our mistakes. This is also a reason which should make things easier for those who worry too much about sin. We incarnate on this Earth and we became stronger, and learn though the mistakes and sins we committee daily. After all, this is the purpose of our incarnations on this Earth. If we were perfect humans from the beginning, we would not need to incarnate and go through all this."

"Is that all? Or perhaps there is one other reason you took this course, like filling up your bank account perhaps?" someone asked sardonically.

"There is one other reason that forces many including myself to take this stand. First, there is no time for warning anymore. Secondly this pressure, this inconceivable power, forces everything in to open, as I have already stated, as it forces you to intervene right now for instance."

"Do you imply that you do not get any personal gain? I won't swallow this for anything," the same heckler charged.

"This is the reason now in this important time on Earth. As everything starts to collapse around us, now that man's trust to his fellow man will start to wither, and with nature becoming more and more wild and unpredictable, many voices will appear to spread whatever was in their hearts for years, to warn to guide and to predict for those few who are still willing to listen. They are basically saying the same things that have been said before for thousands of years, for the word comes from the same source, therefore is unchangeable. Here I want to state, or rather to beg with all my heart, to heed the word and not the messenger. The messenger is just a tool that is used for a specific purpose, something like the postman who brought to you a letter. Would you blame the postman, or would you applaud him for whatever is written in that letter?"

"You said a crime is as good as null, the moment the committer repents of it; does this mean the courts are sending to jail many innocent people although they have committed various crimes?" asked the vice-chairman with a rather sarcastic tone. "In that case, we should let every prisoner free to roam our streets, and everybody would be happy."

"It is futile to keep a man in prison, from the moment he genuinely repents for the crime," answered the Teacher. "It is also pointless to let a dangerous criminal out, just because he concluded his sentence. The problem is who is able to judge? Who is going to rule who is genuinely sorry for what he has done, and who is too dangerous to be let out, protecting him from entangling himself more, by committing new crimes, and protecting also the public of course?"

"It is absurd; a man should serve his sentence according to the letter of the law."

"Nothing is as it should be. If things were as they should be, then by now man would be mature enough not to commit crimes against his fellow man, and if someone happened to lag behind, the judge would be able to 'read' the man opposite him like an open book, and pass the sentence accordingly. He would see how this man stands, his intensions against his fellow man, and his inclinations. Unfortunately, the time that has been allotted to man, he has squandered frivolously, with the horrifying results that we witness today."

"What about all the insane ones? All the crazy people?" cried someone. "I mean those who committed various crimes and are now in the psychiatric hospitals? Shall we let them go to? They are innocent, I presume, as they didn't know they were committing a crime."

"The majority of those people you mention that committed crimes, or others that act in an unsociable manner which we consider insane, are not crazy at all. In a sense, they are innocent, but not for the reason you think. These people are not insane they are possessed. I said it loud and clear, for I know the reaction of many psychiatrists that will jump on it, accusing me with all the names under the sun. I do not expect more from someone that proudly calls himself psychiatrist, without believing in psyche as such. Therefore, as this is a psychic and not a material matter as they believe i.e. the brain, let me elaborate a bit about it, and may the receptive ones listen."

"But the decision for the crime that is committed is not taken by the brain?"

"It is true that the decision that directs someone to commit a crime comes from the brain, and that the brain has first to give directions for the type of actions that will take place, but the brain that gives the order and the directions in our case, is not the rightful owner of the body, but an invader. So the perpetrator that committed the crime is not the apparent doer of the act, but the one that gave the directions, and that one is the invader. He used the body of someone, and by possessing his brain, he gave the directions to commit the crime, without the nominal owner of the body being aware of it, or able to react."

"Where is the paradox then? Where is the query? The psychiatrists themselves admit that."

"So we have the paradox. In some cases psychiatrists defend persons with acute schizophrenia that committed horrible crimes, with the idea that they were incapable of rational behavior. In short, they committed the crime, without knowing what they were doing.

That they are innocent, because they didn't know what they were doing, and that is correct, but what the psychiatrists don't tell us is why this is happening. The brains that committed such horrible acts are totally healthy. The proof of it is that they are totally functional human beings. If something was wrong with their brains, they would not be functional at all, and if we performed an encephalography on them, the only time the brain would show some abnormalities would be the time the intruder occupied the man's brain."

"So the doer is not to be blamed for anything?"

"The only blame that we can place on the rightful owners of the body is that they became to 'slack' so to speak, and so allowed the other spirit to take hold of their brain, in order to give directions for the crime to be committed. If they were vigilant, that would not happen."

"Here we go again, said the vice-chairman from the panel. "You invade the fields of the psychiatric profession unlawfully, and it is as unlawful as the body invaders of the cases you just described. For that alone you should be put in prison, and we should throw the key away."

Many applauded in support of the vice-chairman's burst, but the Teacher kept calm without answering.

"I know you ignore statements," said the chairman, "but I am going to ask you a question. Are you not invading the fields of the psychiatric profession, when you fiddle around with their matters?"

"I will repeat loud and clear, this is not a material matter, this is not a brain matter, in most cases if not all cases, if you open the skulls of these poor individuals, you will find that their brains are healthy, and so will any unbiased psychiatrist admit. I say this is purely a psychic matter; by understand the happening; man may come to the solution of the problem. For the moment, the only thing psychiatrist can do is to issue drugs to subdue the brain, in order to prevent the occupier from invading the poor man's brain, but they will not admit it."

"So the churches are right after all, trying to exorcise the possessed ones, while they are ridiculed by the medical community," said a priest with a triumphant voice.

"No. The churches are doing merely a lip service literally. The spirit that occupies someone's brain is well aware of the happening, and won't leave the body he possessed, just because a priest orders it to do so. On the contrary the spirits are irritated and are showing their anger by swearing, cursing, or other contemptuous acts, after all, they are evil spirits, and otherwise they would not do all this mischief."

"Why are they doing all this mischief? What do they get out of it?"

"Pleasure. There are also some spirits that find all this attention they get quite amusing, and are looking forward for the next 'entertainment' session. The only achievement an exorcism brings is the collapsing body of the possessed one, after the enormous effort and energy used by the invader in order to manifest all these evil acts."

"I would like you to touch one other phenomenon with similar characteristics," said a member of the Council of Paranormal Phenomena. "Could you elaborate a bit about the so-called phenomenon of speaking in tongues? This phenomenon is very similar to the one you just mentioned."

"With similar characteristics, but with two major differences," answered the Teacher. "First, although the invasion takes place by one other spirit, the difference is that this time the receiver is a willing participator. His body is receptive to the invasion to take place; it opens up and lets the other spirit enter, as a flower opens up and lets the bee collect its pollen.

And second, the spirit that enters the brain in this time is not evil as the previous cases, but certainly not as holy one as the followers of a certain church like to think."

"You are off the line mister, and the lord will repay you for that," someone screamed. "You sin against the Holy Spirit."

The chairman made a motion to the Teacher to continue.

"The spirits in this case are spirits that departed this Earth preoccupied with similar ideas and beliefs as the ones that are practicing in the" art" of speaking in tongues now, and which grab the opportunities to materialize their beliefs, by occupying the brains of the receptive individuals."

"You are doomed for that. You are going to burn for ever in hell," the heckler continued, turning towards the Teacher just before he reached the door.

"Go on," said the chairman.

"Now as the spirits in their Earth life happen to be of different Earthly backgrounds, they use the language that they happened to learn here on Earth. So, through the brain they invaded, they can recite various religious pieces, which to the unknown ones sound incomprehensible, and pious. They are certainly nothing to do with the Holy Spirit; in fact, spirits that are occupying themselves in the beyond with such things, we can say are ignorant ones, and certainly not holy."

"Damn you!" screamed the same guy as he reached the door.

"So far you talked about sinners. Is there something you can tell us about the opposite ones? The saints? Can you say something about that?" a Catholic clergyman asked.

"Saints as the churches portray them to us do not necessarily coincide with the spiritual laws of sainthood. It may be so, but not necessarily so, for the spiritual evaluation of a soul differs from that of man. In the eyes of man, someone may be estimated highly spiritual, and even pious, but not necessarily be so judged in the spiritual realm.

"In general, I would say this should be the aim of each spirit incarnated on this Earth. But usually the churches canonize as saints only those who were devotees of that particulate denomination. They seldom recognize a saint from a different faith or even denomination, and that alone should put man in to skepticism."

"Do you deny the ability of the church to elect the right person to be canonized? Do you imply that the church is biased to certain people? Either way it is preposterous!" the clergyman said. He stood up, and walked out.

The chairman nodded to the Teacher to continue.

"Why are we listening to this imposter?" heckled one other priest, as he followed the first.

"Come to the point," said the vice-chairman.

"So you are doubtful about the saints canonized by the church. I could tell you few whose sainthood you could not possibly deny. Millions if not billions around the world venerate them. Nevertheless, I don't want to enlarge on that here, I just want to ask you about Mary the mother of Jesus. Is she a saint or not? Should we venerate her or not?" another catholic clergyman asked.

"Mary was a spiritual being who did not have to evolve here on Earth through various reincarnations in order to mature spiritually. Mary came on this Earth with a special mission, and that was to bear the body of Jesus, the Son of God. She accomplished her mission in the utmost honorable way, and we should respect her for that, but not venerate and worship her as is the case today. Veneration and worship should be directed only to God."

"How about all this apparitions with the Madonna?" persisted the priest. "Are we supposed to ignore it to? Do you have contempt for the behavior of these people who worship Mary when they are confronted with this phenomenon?"

"There is an explanation for this behavior. In the history of man, in very rare occasions, the Queen of Heaven appeared not personally, but an image of her came to various individuals, and mainly kids, to admonish or even to give directions in dire situations to mankind. She appeared by herself or holding on her left side the son of man. Unable to explain this phenomenon, Earthmen assumed that this was Mary the Mother of Jesus. I say, they are two different personalities. The mother of Jesus incarnated on Earth once with a special mission, and that was to bear the child of Jesus. The Queen of Heaven occupies the highest possible spheres of the creation adjusted with that of the sphere of God, but never incarnated on Earth."

"Can you tell us something about the gods of various cultures, like the Greek gods, the Roman gods, the gods of various tribes etc.? Were they real? Were they in their imagination or what?" an anthropologist asked, representing that society.

"The gods of various cultures were real as they are still real today. The difference today is that man cannot see them anymore, except for a few individuals, and some tribesmen in remote areas, for man have lost the charisma of innocence. The more intellectual man becomes, the harder it gets for him to understand, see, and 'feel' natural things; so much so, that as the time passed by, all this knowledge became myths, fables, stories that grandmothers tell to their grandchildren in order to put them to bed."

"So they were gods after all?" the anthropologists continued.

"Although they were not gods that does not mean that they didn't exist. In the cases of the Greek, Roman and Scandinavian gods, they were elemental beings, who work unceasingly and unseeingly as they do today. In the case of bushman or the tribesman, these gods are beings without life of their own. The tribesman has created them themselves, through fear and anxiety. They appear as phantoms, specters, apparitions, and others. I have already stated that man cannot help but create his environment. I have also stated the importance of avoiding gaps in man's evolution and that was a part of it. However in the zeal of some well-to-do missionaries, in order to introduce monotheism, they managed to abolish the idea of the existing of the phantoms, elementals, etc., with immense consequences."

"So what is the difference between what the ancient cultures perceived as gods, with today's bushman?"

"The difference here is that in the first case the elemental beings are workers that sustain nature, and in the second case, beings that have been created by humans, without life of their own.

"As for the gods in our case, the right way would be to acknowledge the existence of these beings, and to educate people about them. We should explain that although they were not gods, nevertheless they do exist.

"In the old days before man succumbed to intellect, it was very common for individuals to see the elementals; so much so, that some of them even had rapport with the lords of the elements of Olympus, and Valhalla etc. Amazed with their enormous size, and their capabilities, the only thing they could think was that they were gods. If only man was willing, he would find many cases in human history to substantiate what I am stating here."

"I would like to take you back. You mentioned some spirits that incarnated on this Earth with special missions. Can you name some of them and some of their missions please?" a historian asked politely.

"Apart from Jesus who incarnated on this Earth, there are many more that came here with a special mission to help mankind in times of strife. Some of them are known to man although they managed to twist their teaching into dry, lifeless dogmas, as in the case of Christian churches that turn themselves into big organizations, whose main aim is to gather more and more 'customers,' in order to bring along more power and money.

"We have the case of Moses who incarnated on Earth in order to help the Jews to find their way of freedom from the oppressive regime of the Egyptians. He also brought some canons of how they should behave in the future. Out of disgust he broke the tablet of the Ten Commandments, after his people's disgraceful behavior."

"That is straight forward Zionistic propaganda," screamed someone from the back seats.

The chairman asked the Teacher to continue.

"The incarnation of Prophet Mohammed came with the mission to pacify the animosities that were taken place between the Christians and the Jews. Man managed to turn it into another fanatic religion. The reincarnation of Buddha was an evolved spiritual being. His followers took the wrong way, and instead of following his paradigm, they managed to turn it in to endless army of beggars that are a burden to other honest working people.

"The story goes on and on, always with man twisting the intensions of the original purpose, into dry dogmas, or fanatical religions."

A medical doctor from the Doctors without Borders association arose and addressed the Teacher. "You said man has free will in order to determine his future. But how can you say that? For my work, I have travelled around the world trying to serve the most unfortunate ones. I have seen misery and despair of the gloomiest kind that no man could justify. I have seen babies born in such circumstances, that they could not possibly escape from their bad environment, regardless of the strength of their will power. I'll give you only one example to point out the impossible situations into which some people are born. It is virtually impossible to escape the trap that they find themselves in.

"Let's say a baby is born in a jungle somewhere in the middle of nowhere. This tribe never came into contact with the rest of the world, so there is no external factor to trigger one for better or different things. They live in a world of their own. Now if we take the better scenario we assume that this child is a strong fearless individual. We could also take the worst scenario, and say that could be a little girl with an incurable disease. For argument's sake, we'll say the former. The most this individual could achieve would be to become the leader of the tribe and that could be as few as twenty persons. Therefore he could die without the opportunity to know better. If we take cases like this into consideration, how can you say man has free will, and that is up to him to determine his future?"

"Man only sees the symptoms and not the causes for it. I tell you, there is absolutely no injustice in the happenings of the world. There is no intervention from the highest in order to direct where, when, and in what circumstances a man is going to be born. No... if that was the case, God would have nothing else to do but to direct daily where and when each of us would have to be born. No, God did something much simpler. God defined his laws, and gave man his free will in order to choose his life. Man determines his life by the choices he makes daily, hourly, and minute by minute; hence the proverb, as you sow, so shall you reap."

"You are telling me there is no injustice in some cases of where and when someone may be born?"

"There is nothing arbitrary to the circumstances of where and when we will be born. In order for someone to judge whether or not it is justified when and where someone is born, he'll have to travel back in time thousands of years, and follow that particular spirit from the time of his first wanderings, of his first incarnation on Earth. He'll have to follow the time he spends in the beyond, and to follow him on each incarnation consecutively. He will also need to be familiar with the natural laws that govern the world in order to give judgment. So name me a man who is in a position to do that."

"So you justify all this happening?"

"But can't you see? Man questions whether free will really exists. Nevertheless, man holds the future in his hands. He can turn things around, the same way as he did to bring him in to this point.

"Unfortunately, there is no time to waste anymore, for the time that has been allotted for man to wander upon this Earth is already here. There is not time for admonishing any more. Man now stands on a raft going with fantastic speed towards the deadly falls. He doesn't even have time to maneuver the raft to the side of the river. The only thing left for him is to jump, and swim against the currents to reach the banks of the river."

"I follow what you said about justice; everyone deserves what he gets, according to you. But how can some people get away with murder, while good people find themselves in dire situations without fault of their own?" an official of the Justice for Young Victims Association asked.

"I will state it again; there is nothing arbitrary in this world. As for the first case, when a crime is committed, the reaction of that particulate action is impossible to predict, but you can be sure it will come. It may happen here on Earth, it may happen in the beyond when the murderer passes over, or may even happen again here on Earth on his next reincarnations, but much sooner than usual with this pressure that force everything in to fructification know.

For the second case, he may be rewarded here on Earth, or in the beyond as in the first case, but he also could annul some karma that he was burdened with from his previous incarnations on Earth or from the beyond. The wheels of justice may turn in their own pace, but they surely do turn.

"Unable to see all the happenings, he assumes his fellow man gets away with impunity, or that he is treated by God unjustly."

"What is conscience? Some people seemed to lack of conscience, where others cannot sleep at night because of it," put in a psychoanalyst representing the Carl Jung School of Psychiatrists. "And what is your opinion of Carl Jung?"

"I would like to start with lack of conscience as you put it. There is no matter of lack of it, or some people have more than the others or some people born with it, or not etc. When it comes to spiritual matters, everyone inherits the same abilities, or the same strength of abilities. As time passes by, some people bury them, or are unable to use them, but they are always there. It is up to the individual to dig them out and how and when to use them. Conscience is none other than the voice, or the warnings that we feel deep inside us, given to us by our spiritual helpers. The spiritual alive ones can still hear them, and pending of how they reacted to this, they are either in peace, or they have restless nights."

"And who are these spiritual helpers?"

"As I have already stated these spiritual guides are spirits that have been here on Earth before. They have reincarnated perhaps several times, they have done their schooling here on Earth so to speak, and are a half step higher than us spiritually. In order for them to be able to guide us, there cannot be a big gap between us and them. If that was the case, they could not do it, for the connection would be missing. It would be like a broken telephone between us and them."

"Do we all have spiritual helpers?"

"Yes, everyone on this Earth has a spiritual guide. These guides have the same characteristics as us. This affinity derives from the fact that we both incline to the same propensities. The difference between them and us is that they have overcome this particular propensity; they overcome this obstacle, and are trying from the beyond to influence us to do the same.

"Let me give you an example. We take a gambler for instance. This spiritual guide when he was here on Earth, had a propensity for gambling, but with perseverance, and by occasionally a prayer for help, he managed to overcome his weakness. Now he tries to persuade the other gambler to do the same. He does this with the pure intension of helping the other one, and becomes happy when his warnings are heard and the gambler stops gambling, or is very sad when his admonitions are ignored."

"And what do these spiritual helpers gain with that?"

"By doing that the spiritual guide becomes stronger, and also clears some old debts that otherwise he would need another incarnation here on Earth to redeem. He doesn't know this; his intension is not for this, but only to serve."

"What about the case of someone without conscience?"

"In the case of a man without conscience, this individual does have a spiritual guide to help him. His spiritual guide is there always trying hard to be heard, and because he is unable to influence his charge, he is very sad. The reason is because the guided one became too sluggish, or too selfish, building a wall around him so nothing would be able to penetrate it; not even the admonishing of the spiritual guide. He became so selfish that the motto in his life is, as long as I am okay, or as long as I and my family are okay, I don't give a damn for the rest. As long as I have a good time in this life, doing what I like to do most, I don't give a damn for anybody else."

"What about Carl Jung?"

"He was a great psychiatrist with the true sense of the word, and with an open mind. He approached psychiatry in a holistic way taking into consideration not only the body, the brain, but also the soul, and the spirit of man. I wish I could say the same for the rest."

A numerologist stood up and said to the Teacher, "My question may sound very peculiar for many people in this hall, but to me is a question always in the back of my mind. I know the importance of the date we are born, but I also know the importance of the names we have been given. Yet the majority people in the world celebrate only the day they have been born, disregarding the importance of their names. Only in a few countries do people do this, and that is also disappearing rapidly. Can you please elaborate on this?"

"You are absolutely right emphasizing the importance of the day we born, and in celebrating also our names. The problem is if we are content with the life we live, in order to celebrate, and patting ourselves for how good students we have been. We must keep reminding ourselves that here on Earth, we are in a big important school. We should try to make the most of the opportunity given to us to incarnate on this Earth, to participate in this great school of life in order to mature. Would you celebrate yourself in the end of the year, knowing that you have done a lousy job? Would you celebrate if you failed to pass the exams, or overall, would you celebrate knowing that you didn't give the best of your ability? If you would not do it for the mundane intellectual education here on Earth, how would you do it for something that is so important to your whole existence?"

"I think I understand that in order for someone to go to heaven, first he has to be a good man, to do good things for his fellow man, and his environment, and secondly, to believe in God. What I don't understand is what happens in the case that the man is a good man, and does good for his fellow man, and his environment, but does not believe in life after death, or in God?" a nun from the order of Jesuits asked. "Can you tell us something about this case please? What does the future hold for a man like that?"

"Nobody can predict what the future holds for a man like that, or for any man for that matter, for a man through his will can change either for the better, or for the worse. So no one really can assume that he made it, for at the last moment, he may became slack, and eventually retrograde so much, with the possibility of not returning. In the other case a soul that looked as though as it was lost, can at the last moment turn around, with the possibility opening for him of better pastures."

"That is absolutely a question that I always also wanted answered. Is God not satisfied with someone to be a good man? He wants more than that?" someone intervened.

"We will take the case as it stands, that this man does not believe in life after death. We will assume that this man takes with him his beliefs to the beyond when he passes over. I have already stated that a man cannot help but create his environment minute by minute, whether he likes it or not, whether he is aware of it or not, here or when he passes over. Even if he decides not to make a decision, if he lies in bed all day and says, well...today I am not going to make a decision; by doing that, he already made a decision."

"What will be the first thing a man notices when he passes away then? Will he be relieved? Will he be amazed? How will he feel?"

"The first shock the man in question is going to get is that he will realize he is not dead after all. He will feel aghast, and very confused, realizing after all this years he was so sure that there was not life after death, that he was wrong."

"But this is not so bad after all; he could easily change his mind."

"But this is only his lesser worry, for he created without knowing it, this environment that he finds himself in now. As he did not want to hear anything to do about life after death, he created a bare environment, an environment with no landscapes, totally dark with absolutely nothing to give him a little encouragement. The only thing he will be sure about is that he is still alive. He will barely feel that he is alive, but that's all. He won't be able to hear anything because he did not want to hear anything about life after death. He will not be able to see anything, because he did not want to believe that there is life after death. There are no landscapes, trees or animals; in short he created without knowing it, this horrible environment that he finds himself in now."

"Can this individual get out of this situation?"

"It will take enormous effort for this individual to get away from it. First of all, he will have to admit, that after all he was wrong. He will also have to admit the existence of God in order to pray for help, feverishly asking for deliverance, asking for help to get out of the mess he finds himself in. In order to do that, he will need lots of strength, lots of courage to overcome the beliefs he carried with him from Earth. The moment he decides that, he can be sure help will be on its way."

"This is a special case you have just described. But can you speak about death in a more general term? What happens the moment someone dies? Do these reports about after-death experiences coincide with the truth?" someone of the EU Writers Association asked.

"The reports of people's after-death experiences more or less coincide with what happens immediately after someone dies, for the procedure is similar. The difference is what follows a few days after someone's death. In general terms though, immediately after death, the happenings are more or less the same."

"How can we sit here and listen to this garbage?" screamed someone. "Enough with this bullshit."

"Order... continue please."

"The first thing after someone's death is that he notices that he is not dead. He may watch his own body from the ceiling. He may stand beside his body. He may even sit on his body. The common thing for each case is that the dead feel they are bound with their bodies. This is true, for they are still connected with a silver cord, similar to the umbilical cord of a newborn baby. In fact, a man does not die when he leaves this Earth, but he born in the beyond."

"You provocateur, who pays you to distract people from their real problems?" screamed the same heckler.

"I warn you, one more interruption and you are out," said the chairman and nodded for the Teacher to continue.

"This connection with his body will last a few days, always depending on the state of the soul. The more earthly-oriented a soul is, the longer this silver cord will take to dissolve in order to let the soul free. The more the soul is prepared for it, the quicker the silver cord will dissolve in order to let the soul begin his journey in the beyond. Here I must say the soul cannot see the cord that holds him bound with his body, as we cannot see the ethereal happenings around us here on Earth. He only feels that he is bound with his body."

"What a waste of time!" the heckler intervened again, prompting the chairman to ask Security to take him out of the hall.

Turning to the Teacher, the chairman asked him to continue.

"During this time, he will see what happens around him. He will also hear and feel many things, but no one will be able to see him, or hear him, and that will make him sad, and lonely.

"He will see his wife kneeling next to his body crying. He will see his friends coming to pay their respects to him. He will witness the whole funeral procedure to his grave, but he will be all alone."

"And what happens then?" someone interjected. "What happens when the silver cord dissolves and the soul starts his journey in to the beyond?"

"Up to now the happening is predictable, for the procedure is more or less the same, but the moment the soul is released from the earthly body, things differ because every soul is different. Now the law of attraction of the homogenous species takes over; something that did not occur on Earth. This is why Earth is such an important school for man, because on Earth, everyone is rubbing against each other. On Earth the good rubs with the bad, the quick with the slow, and the clever with the stupid. In short, you will find all the different characteristics of man gathered under the same roof."

"I don't understand. What is so important for man to be reincarnated on this Earth after all?"

"Through this rubbing along with his fellow man, man gets stronger, and matures quicker. Variety is the spice of life. Without it stagnation is imminent, and life becomes dull to the point that life ceases to be interesting. So much for those who encourage the melting pot, the integration idea."

"Come to the point please."

"Let us go back to the soul that started his journey after his silver cord cut off. He will finish up in the place where all the souls with similar characteristics gather. Let's say this particular soul is mistrustful. The souls that gather here have the same characteristics as this soul, so mistrust will reign everywhere, to the point that life there is unbearable. In short, life will be there a hell."

"What about a good man? Where is he going to finish?"

"I want you first, to visualize the happenings there, of all the different characteristics groups. The happenings there, with murderers, thieves, sex perverts, then you will be able to imagine, or rather you will be unable to imagine, the horrible, atrocious, hideous conditions that apply there."

"What about the 'good' man?"

"As the bad homogenous gather together, so do the souls with noble characteristics. There, they will find souls with whom they will feel complete affinity. Their life will be a joyous adventure, and with the help and encouragement of his soul mates, his journey onwards to higher spheres will be a blissful experience."

An anthropologist said, "You said that there are no gaps in the evolution, at least there should not be any, but in the history of anthropology, we came to a gap that we cannot fill.

There is a missing link in the chain of the evolution of man that baffles many anthropologists. There are some theories about it but they remain theories. I wonder if you can shed some light on it."

"Earthman incarnated on Earth, at the middle stage of the Earth evolution. They incarnated in animals, whose bodies had reached the uppermost possibilities of evolvement. It is in the law that when a species reaches the zenith of its evolution, then slowly but surely stagnation will follow, for it is virtually impossible to keep the pace of alertness for ever, so these species slowly disappeared from the face of the Earth. This is the point; this is the missing link you refer to. But I would like to expand here, I would like to explain how this amalgamation took place, how this fusion of man and animal happened."

"This is ridiculous," someone shouted. "Are you telling us now, that man came from animals?"

"Quiet please, go on."

"The possibilities for it arose when both of the subjects in question i.e. the body of the animal, and the spirit of man, reached the most perfect conditions in order for an amalgamation to take place. So the highest evolved animal, and the lowest un-evolved spirit of man, provided the ground for this fusion. The condition was the similarity of depth of maturity of both species. Only under these conditions could this fusion take place; it is not as hard as it sounds."

"Can you elaborate a bit about it?"

"Imagine for example the crafting of various trees; imagine the amalgamation of two different metals, in order these merges to happen, the conditions have to be ripe for it. In the case of the trees, the similarity of the species applies. In the case of amalgamation of metals, the exact heat temperature applies. In our case, the similar depth of maturity applies. After the first incarnations of the spirit into this animal, because of lack of affinity with their 'parents', the newcomers created their new groups associating between themselves and ignoring their adopted parents."

"So is this the missing link that baffled so many scientists up to now?"

"This is the point of the history of evolution that baffled many anthropologists. This is the point where the adopted parents of the humans started to fade out of the face of the Earth. This is the beginning point, the starting point of the great journey of spiritual maturity of Earthman on Earth."

"Is there such a thing as prenatal education? There is this movement about it, claiming that we can educate in the womb before a baby is born," a pediatrician asked the Teacher. "What is your opinion about it?"

"You can influence the soul that is going to enter the woman's womb, but you cannot educate a fetus more than you could educate a day old baby. In fact, the day old baby is older, plus he has fully operational senses working. To start education as early as that is of secondary importance if not futile. What is of uppermost importance is what kind of soul is going to enter in the woman's womb. That can certainly be influenced by the woman's behavior."

"And how is that?" Some one asked."

"So the behavior of the mother-to-be, determines the kind of the soul that is going to be reincarnated? Is that what you trying to say?" Some one else interjected.

"Exactly. Apart from other reasons that we don't have time for me to expand, the main thing that influences which soul is going to be reincarnated in the woman's womb is that of the law of attraction of the homogenous species. That is, that the souls waiting in the beyond to be reincarnated here on Earth are attracted by the spiritual similarities with that of the mother-to- be."

"Is this the norm on each pregnancy?"

"That is the normal case, as things should be. However, many times because of inconsiderate behavior of the pregnant woman, while associating with questionable characters, a soul from the beyond may be attracted through her associates. It does not compare spiritually with that of the mother. When the incarnation occurs, and that is when the first movements start in the mother's womb, when the first 'kicks' happens, instead of feeling happiness, an affinity with the newcomer; a feeling of warning and discontent will occur. That will grow into despair, as the mother is unable to understand what happened. She will be bewildered at how a soul with such bad characteristics, how such a black sheep, completely uncharacteristic of the whole family, entered her life."

"What do you suggest then?" asked the pediatrician. "Shall we put women in solitary confinement, in order to protect them from attracting bad souls? That is absurd."

"Nobody has to do anything. The mother-to-be just has to be alert with whom she associates during the time of the pregnancy. That is not such a big price to pay, if we take into consideration the problems, and the unhappiness she is going to avoid."

"I don't understand. The soul to be incarnated can be influenced by barely a casual acquaintance by the mother with a stranger?" continued the pediatrician.

"No, the soul can be influenced by a frequent acquaintance of the mother with someone who 'hangs on' in the house of the mother, or rather more correctly, in the vicinity of the mother-to-be.

And what is the answer for it then, the pediatrician persisted? What is the better way for someone to bring up children?"

"There is not a standard way for someone to raise children. In fact, there are as many ways to bring up children, as there are kids. One thing is certain; that the parent, the grandparent, the educator, or whoever is involved in bringing up children engages wholeheartedly, regardless of the daily small misjudgments he probably will make. If he does it with love, for the benefit of the children, without knowing it, they will get tremendous benefits for themselves."

"But do you blame parents for being anxious for trying to educate their children early?"

"I have already stated that nature cannot withstand gaps. The time allotted for a child to live as a child cannot be compromised. Unfortunately, with the zeal and anxiety many parents and educators are showing, for the children to learn and learn more, disregarding the importance of childhood, they are doing a tremendous disservice to the child, and are guilty towards nature without even knowing it."

"Should we not encourage kids to learn?"

"A child, in order to grow up as a balanced adult, needs to live the years allotted to him as a child, free of all worries that the adults throw at him daily. Having said that, the educator must slowly introduce to him the law of balance; that is that in order to take something, you have to give something in return. The educator also must be alert in order to pinpoint the talent the child carries and to encourage it and let it blossom to its full potential. There are also unruly and spoiled children, so the educator should not be afraid to smack a child's wrist, as they are today when a child is unruly, confusing the educators and the child, just because some intellectuals somewhere in an office justified that, throwing with it logic and common sense out of the window. The educator, providing of course that he is a genuine one, and aims for the good of the child, has responsibilities and must act according to his sense of how to solve a problem each time it arises. That is not black or white as these 'experts' decided in their offices."

"These 'experts', as you put it, spend their lives about this subject. They spend years and years on it. What do you know anything about children anyway?"

"Let me try a few examples here. A parent, grandparent or an educator brings a glass of milk to an unruly kid. The child throws the glass of milk onto the ground. The educator scolds the child, and brings another one, which the child throws again. I am asking the experts this; should they keep bringing milk to the unruly one? Should they let the kid go hungry? Or should someone smack him on the wrist to let him know that the game is over? If an unruly child is bullying the other kids to the point that they are afraid to go to school, should someone get him by his ear as they used to do in the old days, or should they let him terrorize the other kids daily? If an unruly one keeps playing with the electrical power points, although he has been warned not to, should they let the kid play until he is electrocuted, or should someone smack him on the buttocks?"

"So, the educator should face each case with its merits?"

"This is what I am saying. There are thousands examples like that that arise daily, that come face to face with people raising or educating kids, unable to execute their duties according of each situation that arises, because the warning bells are ringing over their heads that they may be charged for excess of physical behavior, just because few 'experts' somewhere in an office decided that they are better qualified to raise kids, just because they have read some books that have been written of some people with similar comprehension of life.

Here I must say that I am talking about parents, grandparents, and legitimate educators that love what they are doing, but the 'experts' have bound their hands, so they are unable to do the job they love to do."

"Do you deny the charges made to some people of excessive physical behavior?"

"Of course there are cases when someone should face criminal charges stick for excessive physical behavior, but here I am talking of parents, grandparents, and educators, that choose their work because they love doing it."

"So you are proposing what?" someone yelled. "Are you suggesting going back to the times where kids had no rights? Do you want us to go back to the old ages, where kids were molested and mistreated daily, without them having a say about it?"

"I don't want that, but I don't want to go overboard either with all these sophistries devised by 'experts', thinking that they have the right to impose their intellectual assumptions on others. I tell you, this is another example of intellectual justification. These people think they have the right to intervene and impose their will upon the others, just because they think they know better. Their audacity has reached such proportions that they can indicate to mothers how to raise their children, ignoring even the mothers' instinct and the art of raising children that took thousands of years to be perfected, just because they read some books, which some of their kind thought and wrote."

At this point, the representative of the Federal Association of the USA Mediums asked permission from the chairman, which he gave, and also informed the audience that they had to be more brief and concise, in order for everyone to be able to ask a question.

"Let's assume that by contacting the deceased ones through mediums we achieve two goals. First that the relatives get valuable advice that concerns them from the deceased. Secondly, more people that don't believe in life after death get better acquaintance with the idea that there is. Hence the possibility arises for them to re-examine their thoughts about this matter. Despite this, I heard you denouncing this practice. Can you explain why?"

"Because you assume wrong. There are many reasons why these practices of contacting the deceased through mediums, table turning gatherings and others should be avoided. I will mention a few here.

"One reason is that the one passed over is not wiser concerning earthly matters just because he departed this Earth."

"Those at the beyond, aren't they wiser than us? Don't they know more things than us?"

"On the contrary, those that are here have one more tool that they don't have in the beyond, and that is their intellect. The only thing those beyond know more than the earthman, is that they know for sure that life continues after death. The dark ones also have the upper hand in those lower parts regions, as they do here on Earth, and sometimes, during this 'channeling', they intervene and give an answer contrary to the one the deceased relative would give. I also stated before that when a man relies for earthly issues, on the advice of the deceased, then he misses the purpose of being here on Earth, that through the daily decisions we make, through weighing and examining, and through the mistakes we make, we mature and become stronger. By spending our valuable time on Earth with such activities, we are missing the bus."

"Are there other reasons that man should avoid such activities?"

"The other reason is that we should leave the departed ones alone to perform their duties in the beyond. By contacting them and asking their advice, they feel obliged to take care of the problems of the loved ones, and they ignore their duties. If we really love them, we should let them go on with their lives in the beyond. And the last thing I'd like to mention here is that no matter how much you try to prove it, those who don't believe in life after death will dismiss your claims of being in touch with passed-over loved ones as 'garbage'."

It looked as though something was going on in the panel as skirmishes again forced the chairman to ask for five minutes' break. They met again in the back room.

"What is the matter?" the chairman asked. "What is this all about?"

"I will tell you," the vice-chairman replied, looking distraught. "We the rest of the committee, think that we give this guy far too much time to expand his garble. He is using us to advance his purpose. Besides, there is no time left for the press to do their part. We cannot go on like that anymore; the respectability of the WCFET is on the line. We all have been bombarded with messages of distraught people questioning the purpose of this hearing. They think we are pushing it; that we are part of a game. I know you are not carrying a mobile phone, but take a look at ours. We have been inundated with calls full of complaints, even threats."

For a moment the chairman was caught off guard. He could not understand what this fuss all about was. He tried to pinpoint where he went wrong; what was he missing? For the first time in his presidency, he felt so alone, so isolated. He managed to compose himself and asked, "Anybody want to say anything else?"

This time the chairman seemed to talk to strangers. It felt like now it was him and them. Gone was the comradeship, the affinity that had prevailed all these years, as though an invisible hand cut it from its roots in a flash. Most of his colleagues looked worried; some of them hung their heads. One pointed out that the way things were going; they may have to allot special time for the media tomorrow.

They called the director of the hall, asking him if it is feasible to use the hall tomorrow.

He noted that it was possible. The chairmen thought for a moment, and then he said with a soft voice, that the rest hardly heard, "Well in that case, we will have one other meeting tomorrow, this time only for the media. In the meantime, we will have to accelerate our proceedings tonight. Do we all agree about it?"

The vice-chairman said, "Well...in order to defuse the situation, I think it would be advisable that during the media briefing tomorrow morning, we should convene, to issue a preliminary recommendation that may calm the waters down."

The chairman read behind the lines and, asked him with a firm voice, "Do you mean to issue a recommendation even before the hearing is over? That is absurd. It never happened before, and certainly won't happen under my presidency. I think we have to issue a recommendation when this hearing is completed."

They hurried back to the hall without exchanging words or glances.

The chairman stopped for a minute, as though as he was trying still to assess the situation, then he stood up and went to the Teacher to ask him if he could answer questions to the press tomorrow morning, instead of tonight.

The Teacher told the chairman jokingly, that he had to consult his secretary-travel-companion-organizer-wallet, which in turn, had to consult this marvelous device called a mobile phone. "I think you people here call it gel phone; is that so?"

The chairman was not in the mood for jokes, but he could not help cracking a smile.

"So you don't have a 'gel' phone either?" the chairman asked surprisingly. 'I thought I am the only man in the world."

"Well..." answered the Teacher, "I am pleased to now that I am not the only one either. "You know, with today's standards technologically, we both are literally, illiterate, yet you are presiding over one of the biggest respected organizations in the world, and I am teaching the world. You, the illiterate one, want to reprimand me for what I am thinking, and I the illiterate one, want to change the way of your thinking."

There was a spontaneous burst of laughter from both men, not realizing that they had just added oil in the fire that had already taking enormous proportions. Both of the television cameras broadcasting live around the world, although they were doing their commercials during this intermission, managed to snap some shots that become immortalized. It appeared as these photos of two elderly men laughing merrily, in an intimate kind of moment, with no cares or worries, unaware that this warm, friendly moment, would make headlines around the world.

The Teacher got the okay from his organizer, and informed the chairman about it. The chairman went back to the panel, turned to the audience and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we want to apologize for the inconvenience, but due to insufficient time, we ask all of you to be brief in your questions, and to be as direct as possible in order to accommodate everyone that has not asked a question so far.

"I also would like to ask our guest to be as direct and precise as possible to his answers, and not to expand. If we do that, I think we will manage to go through unscathed. Now... my deepest apologies to the media people, for not being able to interview our guest tonight as we promised, but we will make it up for you tomorrow, providing this hall in the morning, especially for this purpose. Everyone in the audience can come, but the questions will be strictly for the press."

They settled for that, and the chairman nodded to start the hearing again.

"What is gravity?" an astrophysicist asked, coming directly to the point.

"Before the big bang, as the scientists prefer to call it, or, let there be light, as the churches call it, there was no such thing as gravity. There was absolutely nothing; just void. When the inconceivable for man happened, and God allowed his radiations to burst out of his sphere, these travelled in the void bringing life, and the world as we see it, i.e. the material, and the world we don't see i.e. non material. These emerged in an initial order; the spiritual, the animistic, the ethereal, and the material. As these radiations were pushed out in to the void, at the same time, in parallel, they are pulled back; in order to keep the worlds arranged in an orderly way. Otherwise chaos would prevail. Now this pushing and parallel pulling of the radiations, according to each cooling-off stage, takes an elliptic form, which more or less, coincides with the term scientists use, gravity."

"What is God then? As far as I..." asked the same astrophysicist, but before he finished his sentence, he was cut by the chairman reminding the audience that they must stick to one question only.

"I'll second that," an astronomer quickly intervened. "What is God?"

"This question will remain an enigma for man for ever. It cannot be conceived by his spirit, let alone by his brain. The only thing that man should be satisfied with is to know that God is."

"So you are unable to answer this question."

"God is life; what we call life is not life. Life is autonomous, and what we call life, is dependence, depending on God. If God decides to retract his radiations back to the previous state, before let there be life-big bang, everything will wither and die, here, and in the beyond, for the only one that is autonomous is God, there for life."

Suddenly there was some commotion in the front door. A security guard, with an official of the mayor's office, ran to the panel's desk, and asked the chairman if he could stop the meeting, for they expected trouble, as some well-known troublemakers had infiltrated into the crowd. It would be advisable for the crowd to disperse, before trouble started.

The chairman glanced at the panel and made a decision. This hearing had come to the end. He addressed the audience with a rather disappointed voice saying, "Ladies and gentleman, due to unforeseen reasons, unfortunately we have to stop this meeting right now. We sincerely apologize for this. Tomorrow morning, we will continue with the press conference. Everyone is welcome, but I must remind you, that there will be no questions from the audience, only from the media."

Obviously disappointed the delegates started to the exit doors, surprised to see outside this sea of people as far as their eyes could reach.

Immediately the chairman, concerned of possible provocative action towards the peaceful crowd, asked the Teacher if he could ask his sympathizers to disperse peacefully, not to be provoked and intimidated, or challenged by any troublemaker. The Teacher assessed the situation, and went outside to address the crowd. When he stepped outside, he was amazed at how big the crowd was. Certainly he had addressed big crowds before but this was something else, something beyond his imagination.

The organizers handed him a microphone, and the Teacher started. "Seekers of the truth, there is a law in nature called: The law of attraction of homogenous species. This law attracts species of similar kind, to gather together, for they feel a kind of affinity between them. So this moment I am speaking now, in this city, the bars are full of fellow drinkers, the gambling houses are full of gamblers, the drug addicts are seeking to find their mates, and the list goes on, and on. But while this happens, you also gathered here, for you are not satisfied with the mundane, you are not content with how things are going on this Earth. You gathered here because you are seeking something that the bars cannot provide for you. Neither can football, reality shows, or drugs. You are here because you are trying to quench your thirst for the truth. You are seekers of the truth, and whoever seeks, will find.

"But do not despair; this quest will carry you a long way. Now that things will start to crumble, now that the distrust, the corruption, and the injustice, will hit ceiling high, now that mistrust will reach epidemic proportions, and the economies around the world will explode in to pieces. You will stand in the middle of the ruins, amongst the desperate ones, as a lighthouse stands among the rough seas, with many of the lost and desperate ones turning to you for consolation, for comfort, to soothe their wounds inflicted by their fellow-man after they placed their trust in them.

"But I warn you, before that, in order for you to quench this thirst for the truth, during this noble endeavor, you will come in contact with various questionable individuals, and organizations that will be attractive and very soothing in your ears. There will be gifts wrapped in beautiful glittering parcels that will be irresistible to refuse. I ask you to examine the contents, and not the glittering covers. I ask you to be diligent and alert, and examine the word, the gist, the substance, of what they offer to you, as I demand repeatedly from my listeners.

Only then you will become strong, and mature immensely, only then this belief will become conviction, only then you will be assured of the path that will lie open for your, without the danger of being mistaken as the wide road that lead you to perdition.

"Then many will turn to you for comfort, to ease their pains, but also will turn to those in whom they placed their hopes, to those whose promises were empty husks. But this time it will be not to honor them, or to give tribute and praise, but to dishonor them, to demand answers, and explanations for their inadequateness and their miserable failures. They will be incapable of that. They will not be able to give, for they will be confused themselves.

"But until then, I want you to keep your heads high, and to stay strong, for you will witness many things that will sadden you. You will be dismayed by the behavior of your fellow man. The pain will be relentless and unbearable, but through that, you will mature, and then will be your time. Until then, stay as you are, a part of the silent minority, for the other part is preoccupied with the mundane, with the superficial, and as long as this tsunami of havoc, of chaos, and desperation won't reach them, they will remain only witness of the happenings.

"I want you now to disperse peacefully, and I thank you for this spontaneous acquaintance we had."

Although they expected trouble and most of the crowd never heard or knew anything about the Teacher, apart from some hecklings, generally the speech finished in a rather orderly fashion.

While the Teacher was addressing the crowd, inside the hall was empty, apart from some workers of the television crew who were gathering gear, the chairman, two security guards, and some cleaners.

The chairman went into his office to make a call to his wife and told her soon he would be home, but the moment he put down the phone receiver, he turned to see the vice chairman with two of his buddy-councilors standing in the middle of the room.

After a few seconds of total silence, the vice chairman asked the chairman, "Aren't you invite us to sit down Adam?"

"Obviously your gesture is not the social kind Harold; gentlemen...come to the point please."

"Very well then," answered the vice-chairman, "I will come straight to the point. This is the third time I am coming straight to the point but you either ignore it, or you are not realizing the seriousness of the situation. This time you have to act; you cannot ignore it anymore."

"What are you suggesting then?" asked the chairman, knowing already what the answer would be.

'We demand right now that we issue a recommendation, before the whole thing blows in our faces. We still can save some respect for the council. This time I have the whole council behind me in this."

"Gentlemen, you are of line. Just because we can summon someone, to appear in front of us for a hearing, this is not a court subpoena, and that does not entitles us to issue a recommendation for someone without the utmost care and precautions. Shall I remind you that we have a statute, a charter, and it stipulates some things? One is that in order for the council to issue a recommendation, the hearing first has to be adjourned. Do you want me to bend the rules, or rather break the rules? Sorry, but you are knocking on the wrong door."

"You are not really breaking any rules, for technically, the hearing is over."

"And how is that? I have not declared the meeting over; I adjourned the meeting for tomorrow."

"But...I repeat, technically the hearing is over. Tomorrow is going to be a press conference that is media's concern. Our job is finished, don't you understand that?"

"It may be a press conference, but under our jurisdiction. We, the panel, will start the procedure, and we will close it. Besides, are you not interested to hear what he is going to say? Don't you want the whole picture before you make your judgment?"

"We have already done that."

"I suppose you have a verdict too?"

"Yes, and with this verdict, we try to accommodate you too."

"And what is that?"

"We'll recommend the Secretary of State to issue a persona non grata for this guy; other countries have done it already, so why not us?"

"Only one country and that is a rough one."

"Mark my words, many will follow. We should take the lead in this."

"I don't understand what is that irritates you so much about this guy. What is this agony about this case? In the past, we had cases far worse than this. I have never seen you taking such a zealous stand before."

"I am concerned for the country."

"It is honorable for someone to be concerned for his country, but tell me, what is more honorable? The country, the truth, or the freedom of speech?" The chairman said that in a low voice, as though he was asking this question to himself. A few seconds passed, then he turned again to the vice-chairman and asked him, "So you are concerned an old man may do what?"

The vice chairman, obviously annoyed, answered in an irritated way. "Look mister, this country has enough problems as it is. I don't want a loony old man to form a cult movement, or who knows what... we have enough problems as it is."

"Okay then, name me specific one point to justify your fears, after what you have heard so far."

"I already told you what I have to say."

"What about you?" the chairman asked one of the others. "What specifically don't you like about what this man says?"

"I don't like his overall attitude. I think he is a risk to the world as we know it, and that is sufficient ground for me to take this stand."

"When you say the world as we know it, I presume you mean the status quo, the establishment; is that so?"

"I mean, our way of life."

"And what about you?" The chairman turned to the other one. "What is that you don't like of what this man says?"

"He enters into the fields of every profession. He talks as though as he has to answer to nobody, and that is a dangerous proposition. If we let him to get away with this, that will be a bad precedent, and I don't want to be a part of it."

"But is this not what we try to guard here? Is this not our purpose? Why are we here? What is the purpose of this council? Is it not to safeguard freedom of speech, to tolerate the difference? Are we supposed to guard only what is agreeable to us? And why are we driving flashy cars, living in nice houses, in good suburbs, and having dinners in trendy restaurants, for what? Don't we get pay to safeguard all this? Have they put the wolves to guard the sheep?"

Absolute silence reigned for few seconds, and then the chairman turned to the vice- chairman again. "You said to issue a recommendation, to accommodate me; what do you mean by that? And what would be the verdict? Without taking me in to consideration, can you tell me?"

When the chairman realized, he would not get any more answers, he said in a voice so low that barely anybody from the others heard it, "Well...let's sleep on it, and may God help us in this tomorrow."

Meanwhile, another two international television networks, one from Europe, and one from the same country where the hearing was taking place, were joint broadcasting live some segments of the speech that the Teacher was delivering to the crowd.

By this time, there was hardly any country in the world that did not broadcast, either live segments of the hearing or the speech, or in video form in the news section. But what intrigued most of the viewers was the photos of these two elderly man laughing merrily, which were condemned by the commentators of media around the world as something unethical, even sinister, suggesting that this intimate moment was equivalent, of seeing a judge and the accused laughing together at the time of the court hearing, inside the court house.

Titles on television panels and newspapers headings next day included: THE ACCUSER AND THE ACCUSED, THE ODD COUPLE, THE MERRY COUPLE, and more.

This shot instantly was immortalized round the world. The media had a field day. Commentators and guests in television and radio stations were analyzing and commenting about this strange behavior of this odd duo. Panels with 'experts'; quickly jumped in the wagon providing their expertise to hungry audiences. Psychiatrists and psychoanalysts were in demand, offering their opinions to clarify the situation in a psychoanalytic way. The social media were bombarded with all kind of activities, with inconceivable accusations, and paranoid obsessions; bloggers for and against the Teacher were in full swing. With unthinkable characterizations and innuendoes of the opponents, and illogical claims of the sympathizers, defending the Teacher, portraying him as a saint, a prophet, a man of God and more, making the skeptics and logical people stay aloof from this mass hysteria.

Every issue, the Teacher touched, was ripped to pieces by the opponents, by the 'experts', and by the overzealous sympathizers, so much so, that hardly anything of the original intension of the author was standing. Only a few sensible voices far and between tried in vain to be heard in this cacophony of this verbal and written diarrhea. Never before in such a short time, had an elderly man, with no laurels, doctorates, or any kind of distinctions, caused so much havoc, so much frenzy around the world.

The pro-life and the pro-choice movements were antagonizing each other in panels in radio talk shows, and in the social network, with the pro-choice advocates using all the absurd excuses in order to defend themselves, and the pro-life ones, accusing them as cold-blooded murderers.

Scientists and religious leaders debated let there be light, and the big bang theory, with capitalists against communists. Homosexuals demonstrated for their rights. The hypnotist association issued an injunction seeking a court order to ban this slanderer from living in the country. Anthropologists disputed the claims made by the Teacher, regarding the missing link case. Astrologists stood versus numerologists. People from the prenatal movement challenged the Teacher to prove that their theory was wrong. Vegetarians stood versus meat eaters, and theologians versus atheists. Agnostics were versus zealots, and even the young king of Bhutan, tweeting in the Internet, claimed that the proposed standard of happiness by the Teacher, was already used in his country, instead the GDP, and he could not understand what the fuss was about.

It was later than usual when Mr. Clarke, the chairman of the WCFET reached his car to go home. It was a shock to him, when he put the radio on his favorite station to listen to his beloved classical music, to hear the presenter of the show, who had barely talked in the past, commenting in between to arias, about him and the Teacher, saying how things had deteriorated in the world, that it would be inconceivable even ten years ago, for the chairman of such an important organization, openly to defy the public, and to appear with the accused, in such an intimate moment, at the time of the hearing, inside the hearing hall. That is a step over the line, and...

The chairman felt cold sweat running down his forehead. He turned the radio off and reached his house, immersed in his thoughts.

For the first time, after forty years married, his wife Lillian was awaiting him down in the garage in an alert state. The relief was obvious when she heard the car entering the court, and then driving into the garage where she welcomed her husband. She quickly embraced him, and put the finger on to his leaps indicating not to speak, and that she knew everything. They went into the lounge, where she poured a drink for him, saying, "I turned the telephones and the television off. I could not take it anymore."

The chairman let his body drop in a chair, motionless, and expressionlessly sat there as an empty husk.

"Shall I serve dinner honey?" asked his wife, in a sweet voice, trying to take her husband's mind off all the troubling thoughts.

"Just pour me one other drink my dear," he replied with a tired voice and even more softly, talking to himself, he added, "for... looks like today is the day of reckoning, and tomorrow..." He took the drink and went up in their bedroom, and collapsed on the bed, with his clothes and shoes on.

Oh...how much his wife wanted to help him, to dissolve with a magic touch this conflict that was ripping him apart, to alleviate his pain, and to root out the cause that appeared of nowhere this day in a form of an old man. She wanted to find and challenge him, and tell him he had not the right to interfere with the happiness of other people, and if he wanted to preach to others, how about if he started with himself.

But she knew that whatever she thought was wishful thinking, and that would not help in this case. For life is not meant to be easy, and man has to take a stand sometimes, even in that which will go against his happiness.

Is not this the big question? Should a man ruin everything he built in his life, to defend the right of an old man's opinion?

Was all this worth it? Would that in any way help her husband? Deep inside her, she could not find the strength to do it. She wanted to scream and with a loud voice to say, 'Yes'. After all is not this the difference that makes a man from an animal?

She was so confused and bewildered, she made a small gesture as though as she wanted to shake it all from her mind, and went upstairs to the bedroom. Her husband was still lying there on the bed with his eyes closed. Not knowing whether he was sleeping or not, she reached and pulled the shoes silently off his feet.

She went downstairs to a small room, and kneeled on the floor. She had not done this gesture for years, and she felt kind of ashamed that now things looked bad, she thought about God. Nevertheless, she poured her heart out, and with the tears rolling on her cheeks, she begged God to help her husband to make the right decision.

Mr. Clarke opened his eyes and found himself on the bed with his clothes on. He was wondering how things could get so bad in a short time. What did he do wrong? Could he possibly be so erroneous, to do something that wrong, which the whole world knew of, except him?

He was trying hard for an excuse, to find something, a reason; to numb this voice that would not allowed him to be in peace. He tried to recall what the Teacher said, to find something to yell, yeah! I got him, but all in vain. He even thought of what the Teacher said about the occasional slapping on the wrist of an unruly child. Although he could not visualize someone doing that to his grandchildren, whom he loved so much, he felt that even in this instance he might be right after all. He remembered the occasional pulling of the ear of unruly kids in his childhood, but the kids still respected the adults.

He got up and had a shower; letting the water run on his body for a while and it soothed him peacefully. He felt much better, and went down and met his wife in the kitchen.

"Would you like to eat something Adam?" his wife asked.

"Yes," he said abruptly. "It is not use to worry about it now; it is not use at all."

"You are absolutely right, honey."

"I will just sleep on it."

After the meal, and while they had coffee, his wife sat next to him, holding his hand and looking in his eyes she told him softly, "Honey, I know tomorrow is a turning point in our life. Either way, things are not going to be the same, but whatever you decide; I will be behind you with all my heart... I just want to tell you not to regard the consequences of your decision as the key factor. This time to listen to your heart, and may God help you accordingly. We are an elderly couple now; we don't need this way of life any more, we can go by with the minimum now. We can go by, with just a plate of food, a bed, and something over our head. We don't need titles, flashy cars, and big houses. What we need now, is peace of mind, and that will came only if you make the decision by your heart. So honey whatever decision you make disregard the consequences, and I will be behind you with all my strength."

Next day, newspapers, television channels, and radios, had a field day. Television cameras and reporters were even stationed outside the WCFET chairman's house.

The chairman embraced his wife tenderly; they stood in this position for a while, then, holding her hands, the chairman said, "Don't worry, my love. As John Wayne used to say, a man's got to do, what a man's got to do."

They burst laughing, then he kissed his wife, and left.

He had to drive carefully when the gate opened, for the reporters blocked his way out, in a frenzied manner, as they tried to get a word out of him. He managed to squeeze through. On the way to the WCFET headquarters; he put on his favorite radio station, hoping this time for no surprises. Luckily, the music was good, and he reached the building easily. He drove the car behind the building, in order to escape the reporters, and he went into his office.

Inside the building, there were few workers rearranging the chairs for the press, and deep in the hall, the television crews, of four major networks, were setting up their gear.

Outside, there were many reporters, some of them with the clearance to participate in the press conference, and others, including local television cameras, waiting to report the general happenings outside of the hall.

But it seemed today there would be not much to report. There were many policemen, and reporters, but no people. They did not expect anybody either.

The mayor, concerned of possible violence, had disallowed any gathering in front of the building, and installed a significant number of policemen outside.

Many television stations and newspapers wanted to interview the Teacher, but in vain. They tried to get hold of him, but they did not know how to. He did not have a representative, an agent, an office, or somewhere they could come in contact with. The only thing they knew was that his travel companion was taking care of business, and that was all. They came in touch with the administration office of the WCFET, to give them more information, but the only thing they could tell them was he was staying with friends, and as he was not formally charged with anything, they were not entitled to know more.

Meanwhile, it was such the fuss of the whole thing about the Teacher, his teachings, and the photo issue, that the office of the Secretary of State felt that they had to issue a statement appealing for calm, saying that the WCFET would take in to consideration all the angles before they issued a recommendation.

# THE PRESS

Inside the hall everything was just about ready for the press conference to start. The councilors, with their leader, the vice-chairman, accepted the idea for not pushing it any more than just a recommendation of proclaiming the Teacher a persona non grata for this country. By doing that, they would kill two birds with one stone. First, they would ban this man from re-entering the country, and this mild version of recommendation, for it was a mild one, compared with one the vice-chairman and his buddies wanted, could not possibly be refuted by the chairman, because he would have to go against the whole council, and secondly, against the whole country, for the people of the country through the manipulation of the media, more or less had made up their minds, apart from his sympathizers and well-to-do people.

This time the seating was rearranged in a way so the Teacher would face the media instead of the panel. The chairman chaired the panel while only few councilors occupied their seats. The rest either did not want to take part any more, for they had already made up their decision, or else were busy in a room trying to draft the conclusive stages of the recommendation.

The hall was packed again. Even some of the delegates that walked away the previous day returned, unwillingly to miss this important moment, the moment that the WCFET would hand out the charges.

The chairman opened up the meeting apologized for the inconvenience again. He turned to the Teacher, and asked him if he was willing to answer all the questions the press would put on him.

The Teacher acknowledged that he was participating willingly and asked the chairman if he could say something to the press before the start of the conference.

The chairman gave him the go ahead signal, and the Teacher turned to the media and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, in order to save valuable time, for things that perhaps our viewers will find mundane, and detrimental to our goal, I have issued a resume, stating all my personal data. This will inform you with anything you want to know about my personal information.

This paper is available in the administration office of this building."

Everything was ready, the chairman gave the go ahead signal, and the press conference started.

"You claim many things that are debatable. Some may agree with you, some may not. My question to you is the validity of it, for according to your resume, you have made no special studies, hence, where did you derive the knowledge from?"

"For this, I can answer you only like this: Seek and you shall find."

"Where do you get all the money from? You are traveling around the world; you stay in hotels, and use taxis, telephones, restaurants, where do you get the money from?"

"From sympathizers... You see, there are some people out there that feel it easier to help this cause, rather than... say, donating to a political party, or a religious organization. Besides, our budget is minuscule."

"Your budget maybe relatively small, but nevertheless, it must be a hefty amount of money. Which is the major organization or donor if you prefer, that supports you?"

"Don't get me wrong my friend; we don't have a budget, with the strict sense of the word. We live with the barest. When I say, we don't think of an organization that backs us up, with rents, electricity, Internet, etc. When I say we, I mean me, and my travel companion-organizer. He takes care of things. For instance, the only bill we have is the mobile phone, which my friend uses for just about everything.

"We never stay in hotels, unless we really have to, and that would be a modest one. We sleep and eat in friends' houses. They take us from airports, train stations, and bus stations and we use strictly economy class airfares, for I demand that. Once or twice, my friends did not take me seriously in this. They still are waiting for us, as we abandoned the trip because of it.

You must understand; we look it as a necessary tool, that our friends provide for us so generously, and not for pleasure."

"Are you going to respect the recommendation of the WCFET whatever is going to be?"

"If you mean, am I going to respect the laws of this country? My answer is, yes, I am going to obey to the laws of this country."

"In some countries, they are accusing you as being an agitator, that you provoke youth into defiance. What do you have to say about that?"

"The only thing I provoke is the thought of man. I want man to think, analyze, and scrutinize anything concerning him, with spiritual matters. The only thing that I urge man to defy is slothfulness, sluggishness, and indolence of the spirit."

"In some countries, you may be arrested, if you return there, for various reasons concerning your teachings. Are you purposely avoiding these countries or not? If yes, aren't you game enough to face the courts, if you feel so strongly about your work?"

"It is not a matter of strength, or boldness to face the courts. It is a matter of priorities. I feel that I can serve man much better by informing him, rather than by being entangled in a juridical machinery of a country. If that happens, so be it, I will face the courts, and I will obey the law of that country."

"Is there anything you want to say about your antagonists, about your opponents? I have been following your story for some time now. Why do you think there is so much antipathy towards you?"

"I don't have antagonists, or, opponents; at least not worthy ones. I don't antagonize, or oppose anybody, I merely state. Instead of rebutting my statements, to refute, to disprove what they contain, they in plain rage and even hateful manner engage in a battle of slander and innuendoes against me. Those are only a few, but the rest, the majority, are persons with the attitude of mob mentality, puffed up by those ones I just mentioned, and the media, forming a blindfolded army in a battle, in a hateful raged battle, with no cause.

"Those are the army, which one day they lay on the streets palm leaves, and the next day scream, crucify him."

"You stated that earthman, in order to mature, incarnates here on Earth perhaps several times, or even more, if that is the case, why did God not create man, already mature, in order to avoid earthman going through this agonized procedure that includes birth, sickness, death, and more?"

"To start with, living on Earth is not an agonized procedure, unless we make like that. Life appears to be as an agonized state as you just said, or as a wonderful state, according to the eyes of the beholder.

"Now... as to why God, did not created earthman, perfect from the beginning, I will tell you this. God created perfect men, as many as he could; the rest, the 'leftovers', in order to mature; they have to go through the procedure you just mentioned. Despite what man thinks of himself, how great he is, and his capabilities, in spiritual matters, he is the 'leftover', the surplus, and the extra. He could not possibly be fully created as perfect beings, as is the case of our higher 'relatives', that have being perfectly created from the beginning when God decided to let his radiations burst out of his sphere, with the words, let it be light, or, the big bang, if you prefer."

"Do we have relatives?"

"'Relatives' derived from the similarity of the substance that we have, with those that have being immediately created. They are spiritual, somewhat different, but nevertheless spiritual. The reason that God did not make us perfect from the beginning is that even if he wanted to do it, he could not, because by doing that, he would have to overturn his laws, which from the beginning, were perfect."

"What are these laws? What kind of laws are they?"

"These laws stipulate that, that which can withstand more heat-pressure will be closer to the heat-power point. That which can stand less heat pressure, will be the furthest. You must understand that creation is finite, so there is beginning, and an end. The material world is the furthest, therefore, the most rigid, and cumbersome. Think of soup when it boils, in the middle closer to the heat, it is liquefied, whereas the edge where cooler conditions take place, is more rigid. Now in order for man to mature, he has to descend on this rigid environment, where with rubbing, kneading, and decision making, he matures. At least this is the purpose of it. Again, think of a seed. When a seed is on a table, nothing will happen to it no matter how many days, months, or years pass. When this seed falls on the fertile earth, then it will spring, grow, and blossom in to a flower, tree, or whatever."

"There is a genuine interest around the world concerning minorities' rights. Where do you stand in this issue?"

"I already stated that variation is the spice of life. Difference, through diversity, brings variety, which in its train brings invigoration, dynamism, and strength."

"It may be so, but the opposite is happening. We see minorities gobbled by their adopted counties, losing their identity through assimilation, or, on the other hand, the newcomers provoke with their behavior the well to do citizens of the country they have adopted, by not participating, by acting as though they still live in their old countries, completely disregarding the customs of their adopted ones. They create ghettos to the point that xenophobia is alarmingly getting the upper hand in many countries. Who shall we blame in this case?"

"To adopt a country for the rest of his life is something that no man should take lightly. I have already stated that man's duty is to improve conditions in the country he is born in. So I won't elaborate here anymore, but I want to say something; that anyone who lives in a foreign country or intends to do so, he must know he is shortening his life span, for it is not by accident, where each one of us is born. Only the country in which each individual is born can give him the full potential abilities, to blossom health-wise, and in general as a human being. Therefore it is of the utmost importance, if a man leaves his country, at least to visit the place he was born as often as he can."

"You have not answered me; whom shall we blame for this xenophobic phenomenon?"

"The people with mob mentality... look, the majority of the newcomers, and the majority of the occupants of that country, are happy for their symbiosis. The newcomers are happy for the new opportunities provided by their adopted countries, and for the others, the new colors that the newcomers bring in, with their new customs, food, music etc. to their lives. However, small minorities of each side start the problems, and the rest follow like sheep.

These minorities of each side are the most vociferous, and with their cunning intellect, manage to lure many vulnerable ones with them. So we have minorities of dissatisfied ones from the newcomers, who are always the dissatisfied and feel that the new country owes them, and from the other side, a small minority with racist inclinations, who instead to looking for the positive side of what the newcomers bring, look only for the negative ones.

"Unfortunately, as I already stated, many with the mob mentality follow them, with the inconceivable consequences it may bring. One has not to go far in history to verify what I am saying here."

"Can you tell us how a state should treat the indigenous people then, taking as a fact, that slowly but surely, they are disappearing."

"If a state or an individual really cares for the plight of its indigenous people, they should aim for what they pretend they are, and that is to preserve the authenticity of this people. But, that is not possible with half measures. I will try to clarify it with an example.

Let's say that we have two individuals, or two states for that matter, which care for the plight of these people. Now these two individuals-states have two different philosophies- methods of how to approach the issue. One would do the utmost to facilitate their lives, fighting for their rights, which with it brings along social security, benefits, alcohol, mixed marriages, etc. This way in general teaches them to depend on others, and consequently to lose this inner fire, this alertness, that took thousands of years to reach to this point, in short to stay indigenous.

"The other individuals-states approach is harsh and unconventional, to the point that in many fainthearted ones, it might look cruel or even racist. Their approach is of total segregation from the rest of the population. That means no handouts, no alcohol, no mixed marriages, and no drugs. As the time goes by, the indigenous people of the first case, due to handouts, alcohol, etc., introduced by the whites, lose their authenticity of race, through the mixed marriage acts. In a few generations they have managed to lose their indigenous identity, lose their pride, and integrity, and became so slack and dependant, that slowly the decay is imminent, and their authenticity as autonomous indigenous people has perished.

On the other case, although at a first glance, it looks harsh and cruel, due to the spiritual alertness, they will have to struggle, but they will continue to live the lives as their forefathers did for thousands of years, keeping their identity, customs, and language. In short, they remain a vibrant group of people, living their lives to full potential, just because the ones that know better, did not intervene."

"What do you imply then?"

"Now I am asking you, which of the two acted the right way? The ones that cared for them, fought for them, fought for their rights, and gave the handouts, with the consequences of this approach as the time goes by, for this people to lose their identity, perish for good from the face of the Earth, with no possible return, or the harsh treatment in the other case, that even appears racist, but which forced this indigenous people to sustain their way of life, to stay indigenous, as that was the purpose of the whole endeavor?"

"I noticed you are pretty hard with psychiatrists, psychologists, psychoanalysts, etc.; in fact, this is one of the reasons that this hearing took place. Is there a particulate reason for it? What is the specific point; why are you so hard against them?"

"I have already stated I am against nobody. I merely state the facts. Besides I am not generalizing here. I prize for example the school of Carl Jung psychiatrists, which take a much more holistic approach to their profession than merely the dry materialistic approach of the others.

"In severe schizophrenic cases for instance, many of the psychiatrists will only provide to the 'patient' with drugs, so they can no longer function properly. In short, they dope them, so that the invader will not be able to use the poor man's brain. The right way would be for the psychiatrist to encourage the 'patient, to be alert spiritually and psychically, so as not to give the opportunity to the invader to possess his brain. But how can this happen, when they neither believe in the existence of the spirit, neither in psyche, though they proudly display this word in their titles?"

"You have many admirers in this world, but you have created also many enemies. Are you ever afraid for your life?"

"For anything worthwhile man does in this life, there are risks involved. The only ones that don't have to take risks, are the ones in the cemeteries, and by that, I mean concerning their physical bodies. I am not afraid for my life, for they cannot take my spirit away, but I am afraid in case an inconsiderate hand cuts it short before I finish my work."

"This sounds as though your work is more important than your life! Is that so?"

"Don't take my word for it. Put this dilemma to a composer in the middle of a composition work, to a painter, in the middle of a work project, that he is supposed to exhibit. Put it to an inventor, in the middle of a major invention, or to a businessman of a major takeover bid, before it is finalized. Through this, I want to emphasize the importance of having goals in life. I will put it as plainly as that. Do you want to live longer? Then have a goal in your life."

"But I heard you speaking against it. Any goals will do? Or do you recommend specific goals? If I want to become a boxer, for example, will you approve it?"

"No! Goals like that, whether someone wants to became a boxer, runner, a basketball player, a football player or an Olympian, are useful only to inflate the ego and bank accounts. It serves absolutely nothing to his fellowman. Any goal of a human being should aim to the improvement possibilities of his fellow man. I will give you few examples here.

"Let's say someone's goal is to open a shop. If he opens a shop that sells food, clothes, or garden material for instance, he provides service to his fellowman if he opens a tobacconist shop he provides disservices to him. A bakery, a restaurant, a laundry, a toyshop; they all provide service. A casino, a tobacco farm, or a modeling school, teaching young girls how to walk unnaturally, and lose their dignity; these all provide disservice.

"Any goal that a man visualizes to achieve should be aimed for the benefit of his fellow man, to improve things on Earth. If he puts it in a form of question to himself, it should reverberate harmoniously with his inner being."

"You told us what goals we should aim at, but you never mentioned how we should achieve that. Can you elaborate about it? What is the best way for someone to go about it, to achieve his goal? I am sure many listeners, and viewers, would be interested to hear this."

"When an idea comes in to your mind that you would like to achieve, if this idea is, first as I already stated, for the good of your fellow man, and reverberate harmoniously with your conscience, then hold it fast, sleep on it. This way you have already implanted the seed for your dream to be materialized here on Earth. From now on, you only have to water it until it blossoms into a beautiful plant, and that is by constantly nourishing the thought with your wish. It is of the utmost important not to speak about it to any one, except your possible partner or partners for this project. You must go steadily and silently towards your goals, without any hullabaloo, until the goal has been materialized here on Earth. The reason for it is that when an idea is guarded and not publicized, it acts as a pressure cooker; it cooks the idea much faster for it has no leaks. By not talking about your project, you don't have leaks, and the pressure becomes enormous until it is fructified. Whereas when someone talks about it, it probably will finish like that too. Don't talk about it; let your works do the talking for you."

"Here we are, having a press conference with you, and you continue to lecture us and the world. Although I don't believe many things you say, nevertheless I find them fascinating. Yet one other voice inside me, tells me...hang on, not so fast, this guy is probably taking you for a ride; don't give in so easily.

"What is it? On one hand, I find it interesting what you say, even logical, and on the other hand, a voice inside me tells me not to take you seriously for all this is fantasies, and not based on facts. I am sure I am not the only one, judging by the type of the questions you get, for really, they are not strictly professional questions, nor the brief-investigative type, like mine."

"Here we have a clear example of the intervention of the intellect, against the spirit. As you pointed out, many things you hear from me, make sense until the voice of the intellect tells you, that all these are fantasies, and nothing is factually verified. The mistake many people here make is that they mistake this impression as that of their spirit, but it is not so. Here, the intellect intervenes demanding that everything must be based on facts, for the intellect is capable only of understanding facts. Anything else it discards, for the intellect is incapable of understanding anything ethereal, or spiritual. So we have this phenomenon of yours. Although you find it fascinating, as you put it, interesting, and even logical, when the intellect intervenes, it finds everything unworthy, and suggests putting them in the back-burner, until they have faded to a forgotten memory."

"Are you affiliated with any religious, political, philosophical organization?"

"No."

"There are many people in this world, that believe the world as we know it will come to an end, either through economic break down, natural upheavals, nuclear war etc., and they prepare for it in various ways, like collecting food in conserved forms, making underground bunkers, arming themselves, and more. Is this the right way to go about it? For I understand that you also say that the end of the world is imminent."

"I have already stated that Earth is a transitional point for the evolvement of the human spirit, however, Earth, as the whole material world, has a beginning and an end. Now, although nobody knows the exact time for it, except God, nevertheless, the signs are getting more and more obvious. The closer we go towards it, the more visible the signs will be. What these people are showing with their behavior now is the reaction; the first signs of mistrust that already start to appear over the horizon. This reaction will soon take mass proportions, so much so that it will take ethnical, state, religious, and race characteristics. Soon no country will bother for the wellness of their neighboring country. Soon no economy will bother to exchange goods with another country, because of the mistrust that will prevail that they may not get paid back after all. I can go on and on, but if a man wants to see, the signs are already here. This is the sense this people get, for they feel it has already started happening now, but they are going the wrong way about things. Instead of recognizing the cause, and trying to do something about it, they isolate themselves, ignoring the causes, and preparing themselves and their families for the unavoidable.

"What they are doing is the beginning of things yet to come, in an inconceivable, hectic and big scale. It is the time that the mother will mistrust the son, and son, the mother."

As the press conference was progressing, towards the end of the meeting, someone from the back rooms came and whispered something in the chairman's ear.

He listened carefully and when the other one finished, he signed that he understood, and gave an indication that he would comply.

While the press conference took place, the rest of the councilors that were not in the panel gathered with the vice-chairman as their leader to make a decision of how to tackle the problem. The ball game had changed dramatically. During the night, there was a bombardment of messages towards the WCFET office. These were mainly memos reminding the council of their duty to stop agitators like this man, and to safeguard the world from backward ideas. There were others, that reminded the council of their mission, which is to encourage man's free speech, but the messages were overwhelmingly against allowing this agitator to roam free.

The councilors re-examined their strategy, from scratch. They tried to find new ways to tackle this problem. They knew that they could not ask more than a persona non grata recommendation, for anything beyond that, the chairman would veto. They also knew charges made against such individuals, never stuck in courts. If at least they could prevent him from touring the country, as the home secretary requested in a most secretive request, that would be a start. After all, this was the wish of the majority of the people of this country, but how?

The original idea of marking him as a persona non grata did not fulfill its purposes any more, for it first had to be issued by the Secretary of State who did not take the case seriously, and the other side would probably challenge this in the courts. This would take time, giving this man the opportunity to roam the cities of each state, and propagandize his cause. How then could they do it?

Someone suggested the chair should be taken over by the vice-chairman, so they could throw the book after at him at will. This idea seemed agreeable by many, especially the vice-chairman, but as the treasurer pointed out, it was too late.

Perhaps the chairman might come by an accident while driving to work. Someone suggested locking him in the toilets until the press conference chaired by the vice-chairman was over, but what would happened if the chairman decided not to visit the toilet, or if while he was locked inside, someone else decided to use the toilet? Yet another suggested going by the right channels, as the chairman would lose the challenge this time, thus postponing the recommendation for later. But they all knew this was only a wishful thinking, for the time was not on their side.

There were more suggestions; some even radical ones, such as to abandoning the meeting for a fire, or a bomb scare or informing the chairman that something had happened to a member of his family. These were knocked back quickly from the more cool-headed ones.

Finally the legal adviser of the council, that happened to be a councilor participating in this meeting, suggested that everything discussed in this meeting today, except the legal challenge for the presidency, was illegal, and soon or later they would have to answer for it.

After that, they decided to go for the original idea of proclaiming the Teacher a persona not grata for the time being, until something popped up at the right time.

They finalized the recommendation note, and sent someone to inform the chairman that it was ready and that he could come and sign it. In order to make a better impression for the delegates, and the audience of the television coverage, they would walk back together with the chairman, and occupy their seats, to show the unity of the council.

The messenger came back and informed them the chairman agreed that soon before the press conference was over, he would come to sign it. There was a breath of relief when they heard that, knowing at least that they would finally accomplish something although it could not possibly be the final solution.

# THE RECOMMENTDATION

The chairman gave the chair to one of his confidants sitting next to him and got up. He looked pale, older, and frail. It seemed what he was going to do would be something very displeasing.

Hi walked towards the back room, where they were waiting for him. He knew that he could not possibly overcome this. He had thought about it the whole night. Oh...he tried so hard; he thought of all possible solutions, but in vain. But why should he worry about it? Why should he bother to protect an old man, which he met two days ago? Why should he put his job and his reputation on the line, for someone he didn't even know? He was even skeptical of most things this man said.

After all, the majority of the council could not be wrong; they were distinguished academics that fought hard for so many cases to be heard. There must be something they saw in this case, that he was unable to see.

This man around the world agitated millions of people; could they all be wrong? Certainly not! And who was he to go against this tsunami of indignation, which swept this country, and any country visited by this man? Especially after the photo spread through social networks and media... It was condemned by so many, that even if he wanted to do something about it, he could not possibly do so.

All these thoughts were abruptly stopped when he realized that he had reached the door of the meeting room, and his hand was ready to turn the handle. He stood motionless for a minute, turned around and with an unsteady manner, went towards the toilets. Inside he paced up and down nervously, thinking, thinking, and thinking...

He concluded there was no other choice. He must sign the recommendation. He walked to the door, put his hand on the door handle, but could not open it. He just could not open it. He froze, unable to function. He could not even think any more; he just stood there in a frozen state for a while. Then he walked back, turned, and looked in the mirror. He looked deeply, hard, persistently, and stubbornly. He was looking, looking, looking tenaciously, deep in the mirror, and finally he was rewarded for his determination. His persistence paid off. He saw this man with a sardonic smile, an ironic face, sarcastically mocking him for his weakness. Who was this man? Was that his face? Was that him? He stepped back, and closed in again.

"Who are you?" he said in a trembling voice. "Who are you? Why do you want to dishonor me why? Why? Then with an impulsive move, he hit his head on the mirror, smashing it in thousand pieces, spreading all over the room. He injured his head, and some of the dripping blood covered the sink and his shirt. He took some paper towels, wiped his head, which was not badly injured, and his shirt. Then with slow but sure movements, he buttoned up his coat to cover the blood of his shirt, and held the cut on his head with a paper towel.

Suddenly all this heaviness, frustration, and anxiety disappeared as with a magic hand. He felt so light, so peaceful; he had never felt like that for years, maybe even since he was a kid. His body seemed to be more erect, and his eyes were calm and clear. He took a big breath, washed his hands, watched himself in the mirror for a while, and then slowly, but with sure steps, he walked back to the panel desk.

He sat down in his chair, still holding his forehead with the paper towel to the surprised glances of his co-panel councilors, and when the Teacher finished answering one of the questions, he started to speak.

"Ladies and gentleman... I know one thing... that I know nothing. By the way this is not my original thought. A Greek philosopher said that, and they also sent him to death, by poison for his message. After all these deliberations of the last two days, I came to the conclusion that I am not able to issue a recommendation for this man. Therefore I declare this meeting closed."

He indicated to the clerk to guide the Teacher out by the back door, and then he got up, and left.

It took the audience a few seconds to realize what happened, and then pandemonium broke loose. The press reporters ran towards their relaying vans, the few councilors in the panel looked in disbelief at each other, and the audience in the hall began to shout, to swear and to curse, with a few clapping their hands with pleasure. The councilors from the back room ran into the hall to see what happened, but they were bombarded with abuse from most of the delegates, for they thought they were in the conspiracy to let this agitator go free.

Finally the vice chairman grabbed a clerk, and, shaking him violently from the shoulders, asked him what the hell had happened here?

"Mister Newman," answered the clerk, shaking, "I know that this is not your fault. I have worked here for so many years, and this is the first time I heard the chairman using the word I, instead of we, when he announced the recommendation. I know you do not have a part in it."

"What was the recommendation?" the vice-chairman asked, still shaking the clerk.

"He could not find anything wrong with him, so he let him go."

The four international networks again started to broadcast the happenings in the hall live, the cameras swinging here and there, trying to capture the feel of the moment, trying to pinpoint one of the 'stars' of the episode. But the chairman and the Teacher had already gone. It all happened so quickly that everyone was caught off guard. Outside the hall, the frenzy was even bigger, for some of the reporters were trying to find out what happened, while the other ones that had the inside information spread the news through their relay vans. Others, who thought the press conference would last longer, and were lazily preparing their gear for the recommendation act, now panicked and set their gear up in no time.

When things settled down, and the hall was empty, the committee was gathered again under the vice-chairman in the back room to see how they would handle the situation. Only one committee member, who was skeptical about the whole situation, and three others that were supporting the chairman, did not participate.

The vice-chairman took the chair, and started to speak. "Fellow members, it is not use to cry over spilled milk. Neither is it any use trying to blame others for what happened. The only thing we can do now is to salvage whatever we can, and use this as a lesson. We all know the outcry out there in this country and beyond about this agitator. We in this room... to us falls this responsibility to find a solution for the problem. I asked my secretary to collect data from the thousands of messages we have from all round the world, and to give us the gist of it although we know roughly what it is. Until then, we can explore all our possibilities, starting with the issue of the chair. Then we must issue a press statement, and then decide how to approach the home secretary's office, giving the fact that we are blunderers in their eyes after this big gaffe. So, I am all ears."

"According to our draft-constitution, in order to dissolve this committee, to elect new one, there must be lodged a no-confidence vote in the leadership. That has to be signed by at least three-quarters of the committee members, and there must be at least one month's notice, before it can take place," said one of the committee.

"Very well then," the vice-chairman quickly said, "I think we can fulfill these criteria right now. Has anybody any objection about that?"

"No!"

"Anybody going to second it?"

"Yes," was the almost unanimous answer.

"The motion for electing new committee members by the special elections that will be held on a given date is passed.

"We move to our next topic then, fellow members. It is urgent for us to issue a press statement. People up there are anxious to know what happened. They want explanations. Anybody have any suggestions?"

There was complete silence in the room.

"Well I don't blame you," continued the vice-chairman, "the way things turned out. The only thing we can do is to tell the truth. It is not so bad considering, and we will plainly state the facts. The recommendation does not reflect the wish of the majority of the committee, and that it was the result of a coup d'état, executed by the chairman. This is the reason after all that we call for fresh elections, in order to straighten things up that have gone of course. Does anyone disagree? And has anybody to add anything about this?"

There was silence.

"All right then. Now friends, there is the issue of how to deal with the home department. We all know how much the home secretary wanted us to deal with this matter once and for all. He wanted us to issue a harsh recommendation, in order to facilitate him to throw the book on this guy, and to wipe him out of the map of this Earth, once and for all. Unfortunately, in his eyes, we failed. I don't blame him, the way things turned out. I am sure we can amend things, but right now, the pressing issue is how to deal with this agitator. There is so much in stake for WCFET and we all know that. Any suggestions?"

"If we could assure him that we could amend things, he may fall for it."

"Yes, but how?"

"Something tells me," said the vice-chairman, that this is not so bad after all; for now it forces us, and the home department, to came up with the final solution. Imagine if things turned out the way we planned, with this half-baked compromised idea of issuing a recommendation of persona non grata, without even known how the state department would react! Even with the most favorable scenario, by the time the legalities ended in order to deport him, he would roam the country at lib, agitating the people.

"What we have to do I think for now is this: we will pacify the home secretary by assuring him we are going to rectify the problem without getting into details. I am sure he would not want to know either."

At that moment someone knocked at the door. It was the secretary of the vice-chairman. She left a pile of files on the table, and was ready to go, but the vice-chairman asked her to stay.

"Please inform us about the findings you gathered during the last two days about this character. If you learned anything new, especially of the reaction of the people, world-wide, tell us."

"Ladies and gentleman, this is the result of data we collected in the last two days," said the secretary. "Our team comprised four co-workers, and me. We divided our information-data into four sections. In the first section, the data deals with reactions of the social network, such as tweeting, blogging, Face book etc., the second deals with the reactions on television, such as news, panels, interviews, etc., the third, the reactions in the newspapers, how they approached the issue in general, editorials, letters to the editor etc., end the last, the incoming reaction to us here, telephones, e-mails etc.

"Now, as for any new information concerning the man, unfortunately, we could gather nothing more than what was already known. We know he was born in an agriculture village, that he never went to college and that he never left much of a track behind him all this years, until he started this preaching business in the later stages of his life. He is not affiliated with any group, sect, or religious denomination, and there is no organization is behind him. It seems that he is a loner.

"We also know there are few court injunctions against him, from mainly groups that he antagonized, but, that no charges have stuck so far."

"Can you give us the gist of your findings please, in numbers, and then a sample of each category perhaps?"

"Overall, 72 per cent of the feedback-data we have collected is against this man, with about 30 per cent of them, in an inconceivably severe fashion considering he is only a lone wolf. About 8 per cent are the skeptics, and the rest are the sympathizers, with the main argument that the only one that should be afraid from the Teacher, as they call him, is the world-wide status-quo. Unfortunately we don't have enough data from the sympathizers; side, for we were working all night non-stop. However, as it concerns a small minority, we could continue to collect data from the sympathizers, if the committee wishes. It should not take very long.

"I will start, with some of the social network samples. It would be too time-consuming to read bloggers' opinions on the matter, but I can tell you that the majority of them are against the sayings of this man, claiming that thoughts like that, if they prevailed, would take mankind hundreds of years back. According to many bloggers' opinions, therefore it is the duty of the authorities to deal with him accordingly. The sources that are most caustic against him, I would say, are progressive and liberal bloggers, although there are quite a few conservatives and right wing parties. It is the first time this phenomenon appears; with progressive-liberal and conservative- right wing groups having a common enemy, though for different reason of course.

"There is also considerable opposition from religious organizations and the so-called new age movement.

"Now I will give you some examples from Face book, and tweeting reactions, that represent the mood of the majority of the data we have collected. I quote:

The most anachronistic things, I ever heard.

It is time, to put this guy back in his hole.

Whoever thought a layman, a mister nobody, would managed to stir such upheaval in these modern times we live! What has the world come to!

Is there nobody to stop this agitator before is too late? This is how Hitler started after all, with rhetoric.

Mark my words; this guy's days are numbered.

Is this the preview of the new world order? Is this guy the forerunner of what is to come? If this is the case, surely we are entering a medieval age, but certainly not a new order.

How dare the WCFET allow this agitator to propagandize for two days live around the world, with no bounds whatsoever? You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Had the WCFET acted the right way with their recommendation, an international warrant would be issued, forcing this agitator to lie low, or he would be by now charged, and waiting the court's decision, somewhere in The Hague.

Here the vice-chairman intervened, obviously annoyed, and asked the secretary to move on to the next section of the data.

"So we move now into the television version. This segment constitutes two sections, the news segment, and the talk shows, mainly panel shows that analyzed the issue.

The bigger impact on the news section was the photo taken during the hearing of the two smiling at each other merrily in the WCFET hall. Here all the main networks that we have dealt with approached this matter with a caustic humor with indescribable comments; in other ways, they tried to stick to the news format.

"The panel shows are a different story. Here although the majority condemned this guy there were many arguments and disagreements as to why he should be condemned. So we have conservatives condemning him for saying that it is irrelevant in God's eyes whether a couple participated in a marriage religious ceremony or not. The homosexuals fumed against him for the explanations he gave about homosexuality. Doctors and professionals with professional names starting with the word psyche are angry. Right wing advocates call this guy every name under the sun; because he suggested it is futile to hold someone in prison if he genuinely repented for the crime he committed. Pro-abortion advocates charge that he is not even a woman so what right has he to intervene in this manner. Atheists claim that for whatever he says he has not proof. Religious leaders denounce him for calling them organizations with the main aim of power and money etc. and the list goes on and on.

"On the newspaper section we have here again the photo of the two men in their front pages ridiculed with various innuendoes. Some of the major newspapers around the world approached it with a news-format manner but most of them in their editorials criticized the way WCFET handled the whole thing.

"And now we came to our last section that comprises the incoming messages here on the WCFET headquarters. These messages come in the form of e-mails, telephone, letters and texts.

"The absolute majority of them criticize harshly the way WCFET handled the situation. I will start read some of them.

You should resign all of you. You are incapable for this job.

Is there anybody with balls there? Shame on you.

Two days of monologue without any one to challenge him?

As both sides of the political spectrum are against him it is hard for me to comprehend who is behind all this.

At my work everyone seems to be offended by this guy. Who is he anyway?

Why don't you quit your job and became his disciples? That would suit you much better.

"I can go on and on. This is the mood of all the rest."

"If this is the mood of the people before the recommendation issued by our 'great leader', I hate to see what is going to be next," said the vice-chairman.

"We also have some messages that seem to support the way WCFET handled the whole thing. If you want I can read you two or three."

The vice-chairman signed the secretary to go on.

"I am quoting:

I honestly did not expected from you lot to act in such honorable manner

It would take much courage to go against this populist tsunami of easy.

Although I hardly agree of whatever your 'guest' said I must say you really honored the title of your organization today.

At last we finally heard a fresh word against the worldwide status quo as it stands today. Bravo.

The vice-chairman signed for no more. He took the chair and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, it is obvious that the far majority of people around the world demand from us to do something about this guy. To us happened to fall the responsibility to deal with this situation. Let's hope we will be worthy for our cause.

"To start with do we all agree that we have to do something about this guy to stop him from agitating people around the world and stirring up things on an international scale?"

The answer was unanimous. "Yes!"

"Well then, first of all, as one of our committee members said to me' it is not as bad as it looks. If we carefully read the whole situation we will come to a conclusion that we can rectify it as easily as it appeared. In order to do that, I would like to hear from you first. Any suggestions? Any ideas you may have about it? Please don't hesitate to speak.

"Well...after we come to an agreement we will form a small group of committee members to implement the plan. Any suggestions?"

"If we only could charge him with something to stick, then we could ask Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant. Then two things could happen. He would either stay low in order to avoid arrest or else he would probably finish up in court in The Hague. Either way would serve our purpose."

"That is a good point but don't forget others tried before us and failed."

"There must be a way to make the charges stick."

"There are surely ways."

"Do you imply what I am thinking now?"

"We must include all the avenues left open for us."

"Even to frame someone?"

"Have you got another idea?"

"If we dig hard in his past life we may find something to assist us."

"There is no much to dig until his late middle age. He has nothing to hide. He spent all his life in this small village with nothing extraordinary about him until he started to preach."

"What shall we do then? In a short time he will start roaming the states with unpredictable results after all this publicity he got thanks to our chairman."

"There must be a way to stop him."

"How about if we deny him the means to accomplish his goal?"

"You mean restrain him against his will?"

"Gentlemen, do we all agree to form a committee with the smallest possible number—

Let's say of five members— in order to prevent any leaks. Then we will give them total authorization to act according to how they feel fit to solve this problem? The rest of us need not worry about this. Anyway, in these cases the less you know the better."

"Yeah, I'll second that."

"Then we all agree?"

"Yeah!"

"In this case then let's proceed with electing the committee. Is there any volunteer for it?"

"Yes, and I propose the vice-chairman to lead the group."

"I second that and I volunteer for it."

"Me too!"

"Count me in too."

"With honor, ladies and gentlemen, I accept your proposition. I and our committee members will do our best to bring this assignment to the most favorable solution for the benefit of WCFET and mankind."

# THE CHAIRMAN

The chairman went to his office, still holding his head with the paper towel. He put his personal belongings in his bag and looked the photos of his grandchildren.

They've grown quite a bit, he thought as he took the bronze plaque that he adored so much, reminiscing on the day his wife gave it to him for his birthday present the year he was elected as chairman of WCFET.

I DISEGREE WITH WHAT YOU SAY BUT I WILL FIGHT WITH ALL OF MY HEART TO GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO SAY IT.

These were words that he worshiped and that he had tried to defend wholeheartedly. There where moments though that he had yield in order to save his position. He had a last glance at his office and with a mixed feeling of sadness and relief that it is all over he walked out. Some of the committee members tried to get an explanation for his behaviour. There were cries of, how dare you; you must be ashamed of yourself, goodbye mister ex-chairman, and more. They tried to block his path but all in vain. The only thing they could do was open up the path for him as the peasants would open up the path for their king when he happened to pass from their village. Never before had the chairman looked so imposing or so majestic. His pace was firm, his eyes clear and focused straight, and his posture straight and tall. He looked grand and the only thing they could do eventually was to open up the road for him.

He went to his car and drove off from the back gate in order to avoid the media.

On the way home he thought it may be better to see an old friend, a retired medical doctor, to patch him up before his wife saw him in this mess. Then he went for a drink in a nearby bar. Never before in his term as chairman had he ever done this but today was different. He felt as though he got out of a long hibernation and needed a drink.

The place was packed. He went to a corner of the bar and ordered a whisky. He sensed that the barman recognized him and from the corner of his eye he saw him ringing someone. He was sure it was the press; maybe the television cameras, so he drank the whisky at once and left the bar.

He was driving for just a minute when he saw two familiar figures walking along. On a second glance he realized the duo were the Teacher and his friend. He asked them if they wanted a lift and they answered that they would rather walk. After all, it was such a beautiful day in every way, they said.

The chairman stopped the car and went out to join them. They talked for a while of various things such as where they were staying and their destination after they left this city and more. Then the chairman looked the Teacher straight in the eyes.

"I want to tell you, you are honoring the title of the Teacher."

Then the Teacher answered wholeheartedly, with a smile, "Thank you, and I want to say that you honor the important position of chairman of WCFET."

They embraced each other heartily for the last time. Unknown to them, a press photographer took a shot that would become an icon in a second consecutive day.

The meeting in the back room of the WCFET finished. All the committee members except the five of the sub-committee left. The vice-chairman took the chair and said, "Well gentlemen, today is the day. Either way we have to solve this problem now. The fainthearted ones are not with us anymore. We can talk freely now with no reservations. Our first aim is to stop this guy right away for I am sure he is going to pop up somewhere in another state and then we have to start all over again."

"But how can we do that?"

"We have to think of something. You know the last two nights I hardly slept at all. It bothers me so much. I don't understand how a lone wolf with no organization behind him can cause so much interest, so much attention, and so much curiosity? Regardless of whether you uphold it or not, it is a puzzle.

"There is something odd here. They keep saying he does not resonate to the people and that the majority is against him is true. What they don't tell us is why then they bother about him. What is this hullabaloo all about? Why do newspapers spend so much ink on this guy? Why are international televisions networks broadcasting his speeches live (with the help of our 'brilliant' chairman, of course) and use segments in the prime time news slot?"

"There is one other thing bothers me. Okay, I understand that by far the majority is against him but what about the rest? Ten or fifteen and with the skeptics twenty per cent adds up in to millions of possible supporters and this is only the beginning. I tell you there are clouds in the horizon. I suggest we convey the assignment to the SIU to fix the problem as they feel fit."

"Is it not too much of a radical idea?"

"My dear friend, in order to save the whole sometimes it is essential to sacrifice one. When a potato is rotten in a bag you have to eradicate that potato in order to save the whole bag."

"How do you think they are going to deal with the problem?"

"I don't know perhaps an acute laryngitis, or perhaps... an accident. Who knows?"

The chairman's wife Lillian again waited for him in the garage. They hugged passionately and she again put her finger to his lips indicating that she knew everything and that he should not talk. Holding his hand she guided him upstairs, set him gently on the sofa, went into the laundry and brought a plastic bucket with hot water. She kneeled in front of him, pulled his shoes and socks off and gently put his feet into the water. She poured a drink from his favorite bottle and sat opposite him, looking at him silently.

"You are looking like the Mona Lisa today my dear," he said affectionately. "I don't know if you want to smile or to cry?"

She burst into a big smile and said, "I want to smile honey. I want to laugh with all my heart. I am so proud of you; so proud." She held his hands and squeezed tightly while big drops of tears were rolling on her cheeks. Then while she was wiping the tears with her bare hands, she said, "Now tell me what happened to your head?"

"Oh nothing, dear I just knocked someone's nose with my head," he said, smiling, "There is nothing to worry about."

"Who was that?"

"My innermost enemy."

"Do I know him?"

"Yes you do my dear. You have reprehended him for his actions quite a few times."

"I wonder who he is."

The media for a second consecutive day sensationalized the news. First for the blatant acquittal recommendation issued by the WCFET and secondly for the sensational photos of the chairman of WCFET and the Teacher embracing each other again. It seemed that these two guys ignored the rest of the world and they did it purposely to irritate everyone. The television news at prime time around the world used the headlines of the acquittal recommendation of the WCFET and then straight after that few hours later the chairman of this organization embracing the acquitted one. This was not conspiracy scenario any more. This was cold fact and nobody could deny it any more. The whole issue took such big dimensions that even the President's press secretary felt obliged to intervene.

"We must remind the world that WCFET is an international organization under the umbrella of the UN. We have no affiliation with this organization whatsoever and that is an internal issue."

The talk shows and panels again at night had a field day not so much about the sayings of the Teacher this time, but of the acquittal followed by this scandalous photo for the second time in a row. Most of the experts said that this was a provocative act in defiance of the irritation and anger they incited around the world.

Some analysts suggested even that it was a psychopathic behavior, with a famous professor of psychiatry in one panel suggesting it was a PAI symptom: polymorphic antagonistic idiosyncrasy, two or more persons together trying to attract attention of the rest by antagonizing them through their irrational behavior. The same professor claimed it was a rather rare case and that he would be happy to consult with them free.

The next day the newspapers around the world appeared again with the photo of the two in their front pages with captions like, HERE WE GO AGAIN! Or HALLO I HAVE NOT SEEN YOU FOR LONG TIME! And THE INSEPARABLE ONES and more. The news sections stuck to informative formats and the editorials analyzed the outcome as a farce and as blatant defiance of the common judicial sense of the people. Although the previous day they spent their ink criticizing mainly the sayings of the Teacher, this time their arrows aimed directly to the WCFET and especially the chairman of it. There were cries of a special deal. They were unable to pinpoint yet the reason for it but were sure they would very soon find a conspiracy of some kind. There were even cries of asking for the removal of the WCFET to another country.

Here and there were some different voices and favorable editorials but they were few.

ROOKIE

The Teacher's travel companion would not dare switch on his mobile phone as he was bombarded by the media trying to contact him. Incoming calls were out of question and if he wanted to contact friends or associates he had to use public phones or the mobile phones of various friends. For a time he politely declined the offering of friends for a new telephone with a new telephone number, and when he gave in one case it took the media only a few hours to discover it so he switched it off and put it in his suitcase. Somehow it did not take long for the media to pinpoint where they lived and the Teacher was bombarded of invitations to appear in various talk shows. All this happened through the Teacher's travel companion for the Teacher would not appear at all.

The press parked outside the house and the first time he tried to exit the house he was swamped by the reporters like a pack of bees. Since then he had tried to reason with them once more but all in vain. Now the only way the reporters could come in contact with him was through his secretary. When the Teacher's organizer realized that they would not take no for an answer they decided to issue a writing notice and distributed to them explaining that the Teacher was not interesting to appear in any show and that they should respect his privacy.

The reporters were adamant. When they realized they could not possibly get an answer verbally some of the media managements sent their big guns with written offers to show they meant business.

When the Teachers secretary refused to accept the written offers as he had instructions to avoid encouraging them, they were frustrated. However there was an offer that the Teacher's secretary thought the Teacher may consider. This offer came from a major international television network. A young junior representative of this network approached the Teacher's secretary and told him the network was willing to make a one hour show dedicated to him and that they are open for negotiations concerning the remuneration.

Finally he said in ending, "Please inform the Teacher about it as I think the Teacher has to know about this offer."

So he did. The reason he made this exemption was that he thought the Teacher may be interested. He remembered that a few years back, although the Teacher hardly watched television, they had watched a documentary about Gandhi and he was quite impressed. He even remembered the Teacher asking him which of the networks made this fine production. When the Teacher heard of this offer he was surprised for he instructed his friend not to encourage them, but on learning which network it was, the Teacher said, "Oh I remember that. It was quite a good production."

Teacher this is a one hour weekly show around the world and they are willing to dedicate it to you. I think this is too good of an offer to refuse.'

"All right then, we'll sleep on it," the Teacher said.

The same day the young representative came back and asked the Teacher's secretary if he informed the Teacher about the network's offer.

He said he had.

"What did he say?"

"He said he'd sleep on it."

"That's all?"

"No actually he said, 'we'll sleep on it'."

The representative telephoned back to headquarters and informed them what the Teacher's answer was to their offer.

"What did he say?" asked the person on the other end.

He said he'll sleep on it."

"That's all?

"No actually he said...forget it, that's all."

It was not long before they called him back to the headquarters.

They tried to figure it out.

"What is the Teacher's game? What do you think is his weak point?" someone asked.

"I don't know. I am not acquainted with him. The closest contact I have with him is with his organizer."

The general manager intervened and said, "Look, we have this information that he is going to another state soon. If we don't pull this off now on our own turf in our headquarters it is as good as lost to another network." He thought for a moment and then said, "Go back and try to persuade him. Ask him what his demands are and ask him how much he wants."

So he went back. It was hard to get hold of the Teacher's helper with so many reporters surrounding the gate in front of the house. Finally he managed to do that and he asked the Teacher's companion for any news. He replied in the negative, so then he told him ask the Teacher his demands and how much he wanted.

The secretary went inside the house but the Teacher could not be disturbed. He had this sign on the door, and that meant the Teacher was praying or meditating.

He went outside and informed the young representative that he could not see the Teacher and when the network representative asked for how long, the secretary lifted his shoulders, saying, "It is hard to predict. Could be hours. Maybe tomorrow morning, I don't really know."

The young representative informed headquarters and they recalled him. This time most of the board was there waiting for him and he sensed they had started to panic.

"Well what did he say?" the director asked.

"Nothing," the young representative replied. "He cannot be disturbed."

The director looked distraught. Then he said, "Maybe we should send a senior negotiator before it is too late. I am sure that he is negotiating with another network."

"That would be too much of a risky move," an executive officer said. "The main thing in these cases is to break the ice and we have already done this. If we send someone new we my blow the whole thing apart."

"What are your suggestions then, gentlemen?" the director asked.

"This guy is the man of the moment. Every network and every newspaper would love to have him. I think we should go heavy on him to lure him out," said the executive officer. "I think we should send him a format of the show with a blank check to write his amount. We should also inform him that we will send a limousine to pick him up to meet the presenter of the show and the CEO to straighten any possible grievance. I am sure our CEO would be interested to meet him."

"Any more suggestions? Well then..." He turned to the young representative and said, what is your name son?

Michael Sir, Michael Armstrong.

"Well Michael we rely on you. If you pull this off a nice holiday is waiting for you; I suggest you take a sleeping bag with you."

The representative left and to his surprise when he reached the Teacher's house and the butler saw him he told him that the Teacher was available but he had not talked to him yet.

"That is good, for I am bringing a new offer for him. Tell the Teacher that..." and while he was talking he pulled a piece of paper out of his bag and handed it to him. "Tell him this is the format of the show, that we will send a limousine to pick him up to meet the anchorman of the show and possibly the CEO if need be. Ask him how much he wants. I will not go away until you give me an answer. I brought my sleeping bag with me."

The butler nodded and went into the house. He found the Teacher in good spirits and after the usual morning briefing he told the Teacher of the new offer made by the television network.

"Yes, and what is it?"

"This is the format of the show," he said, and he handed the paper to him. "They want to send a limousine to take you to the headquarters to meet the television presenter and to meet the CEO if need be and they want to know how much you want for it."

The Teacher did not seem to take much notice of the section of the last two offers but seemed to concentrate on the format. Then, deep in thought, he asked his friend; "Is the man from the network still here?"

He nodded. "That he is. He told me he won't go away without an answer and that he brought his sleeping bag with him."

The Teacher smiled and told his friend that he would like to meet him. Swiftly the butler went out and brought in the young representative to meet the Teacher.

"It is my honor to meet you, sir," he said, shaking hands heartily with the Teacher.

"It is nice to meet you too," said the Teacher smilingly. "Let's hope you won't have to use your sleeping bag tonight."

"I hope so sir."

"Now I want to ask you about the format of the show. Can you tell me the general procedure? Anything you can tell me will help."

"It is a one hour live weekly show broadcast live around the world. It deals with interviews, usually the show stars with the anchorman introducing it while the guest sits next to him. The introduction lasts about one minute then starts the interview with possibly some videos to bring out the story. The whole real show lasts about forty minutes with twenty minutes of commercials."

"And when is the next show taking place?"

"Next Wednesday."

The Teacher turned to his friend-organizer and asked if it is possible to squeeze in this interview knowing the tight schedule they had. His friend-organizer told him he had to consult his notes and that he would know in ten minutes. He left the two together.

"And how long are you in this line of work?" the Teacher asked in a friendly manner.

"Not very long sir and I hope for not much longer either."

"And why is that?"

"I am saving money to open a bakery shop. I hope it won't take that long."

"So you want to become a baker? Sure, it is an honorable profession. I am also sure that if you really want to do it, you will succeed. But nevertheless you do very well with your present work."

"That is because they promised me a vacation." He laughed. "No, this is not the reason, well... to be honest, that counts too, but I also like many things you said in the hearing, and the press conference. Although I don't agree with many of these, I think voices like that should be given a chance to be heard too."

"You must belong to the small minority that think like that. The vast majority think differently."

"You will be surprised. It appears so because they are vociferous. They talk loudly. They remind me of the bullies at school. A handful of them would impose their will upon the rest of the class."

"But here we have a different story. There are polls that suggest otherwise. Do you deny the polls as a scientific tool? They informed me that a poll on the spot, when the hearing was taking place, suggested the vast majority of the people thought otherwise."

"I deny the polls not for the reason you think, but for a different reason. You see, most of the polls are made by phone. I for one, and some friends I know, do not answer them, neither do we ring or tweet for something we don't like, or for something we feel strongly about it. It takes certain kinds of people to do that. Anyway, we may be the minority, but we make up for it by our tolerance, patience, and common sense."

The Teacher was pleasantly surprised to hear this young man talking in this rational fashion. He could talk with him for hours, but as the time was always his concern, he decided to press on.

"Tell me; when you say forty minutes of show, do you think we'll be able to divide it into two sections? In one, I can represent my view, and the other could be for the interview?"

"That I cannot answer, sir."

"And why is that?"

"Then I would give you inside information, and I have signed a declaration form against it."

"That is interesting. Tell me, if you happened not to sign it, would you tell me?"

"That I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"Then, I probably would have to ask my conscience sir. I don't think I would do it either even if I knew."

There was a knock on the door, and before the Teacher answered it, he said while shaking the young man's hand, "It was a pleasure to meet you. Keep up the good work." Then he turned to the door and said, "Come in please."

It was his friend the organizer. "It will be all right, Teacher, if you decide to do it. There was a minor problem, but I took care of it."

"Well then," the Teacher said, "let's find out if we are going to do it or not. Let's go."

"Let's go where?"

"To the television station of course."

At that moment, the network's rookie representative nearly choked on the glass of water the butler offered him earlier. "Please give me one minute, sir," he said, running towards the door; "I will be back in two minutes."

He went out in a corner behind the house and rang the headquarters knowing the havoc that would cause at the other end. "Is the director there? I must speak to the director please."

"Who is calling please?"

He gave his name.

"What is the purpose of your call?"

"I cannot explain it now but it is urgent."

"That is not good enough sir; you have to do better than that."

"Okay, is the CEO there?"

"You must be joking. At least go a little lower than that."

"Is the anchorman of Wednesday show there? Can you at least tell me that?"

"That I can tell you. I saw him entering the building about half an hour ago."

"Will you please tell him, if he happens to come out, to stay put, for I am bringing in the Teacher."

"Whom?"

"The Teacher." And he turned the phone off, saying loudly, "that's why I want to open up a bakery." He thought for a few seconds, and then he saw a little van behind the house.

"Who does that belong to?" he asked the organizer when he returned to the house.

"To a friend of the family," he said.

"Can he drive us to the television station?"

"I suppose so."

They asked the Teacher if he did not mind riding in the van, in order to avoid being detected by the press people stationed outside the house.

He said not at all, and off they went.

Just before they arrived in the television station, the rookie representative moved in front of the van in order to pass the security gates with no problems, as he was working there. After that, it was a breeze. The moment the doorman realized who this rookie representative was bringing in, the doors swung right open, and everyone's eyes turned to them.

The young representative felt ten feet tall, and guided his guests with an authoritative manner direct to the director's office.

When the director saw them, for a moment he thought he was seeing things.

When he was giving this rookie instruction, he was convinced that it was a futile case, and now the rookie had delivered the goods. Instead of greeting them, he collapsed on his chair, forcing the young representative to run towards him asking, "Are you all right sir?"

The director sprang to his feet saying, "Never better my boy, never better," and turning towards the Teacher he said, "It is my honor to meet you; please sit down. What can I offer you?"

"A glass of water, thank you."

The managing director sent the representative to call the show presenter, and turned to the Teacher and said, "We meant to send a limousine for you. How did you come here?"

"In the back of a small van."

"Oh yes? And who organized that?"

"The senior officer that persuaded me to come here."

"You mean..."

"Yes I do."

At that moment, the 'senior' officer walked in, accompanied by the anchorman.

"Teacher, I'd like to introduce you to the man who is going to do the interview."

The Teacher recognized the man from the show he had seen a few years back, although he was visibly older.

"I can say I am a fan of yours," he said smilingly.

"Is that so? I thought you don't watch television, according to my research."

"I seldom do, but one of these rare occasions was a work you did about Gandhi."

"That is some time ago. I am so glad you still remember it."

"Good things last for a long time."

Then suddenly the CEO appeared on the door, unable to resist his curiosity to meet this man who brought so much controversy wherever he went. Behind him came the executive officer. After the introductions, formalities and some small talk, the time for business arrived. The managing director nodded to the rookie representative to leave the room. He closed the door and said, "Gentlemen, it is time for business."

"Well Teacher," the managing director said. "We all know why we are all gathered here, so let's clear the basics first. We are happy to give you the opportunity to tell your side of the story to the most respected live international show in the world. Are you happy to participate in it?"

"It depends."

"It depends on what?"

"On what is in it for me."

"I already said we will give you the opportunity to say your bit after this flood of negative publicity against you; it is the opportunity to straighten things up. Is this not good enough for you?"

"No."

"How much do you want then?"

"You mean money?"

"Yes."

"No, I think you got me wrong. I didn't mean that."

"What then?"

"I want part of the show. Exactly, I want one third of it."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I studied the format. Correct me if I am wrong, but as I understand it the show lasts one hour with about twenty minutes of commercials. Is that correct?"

"That is correct."

"Well, it leaves us with about forty minutes of clear show."

"So?"

"I want this time to divide into twenty minutes each. So if we divide it in three I actually will get one third and you get two thirds which I think it is no bad deal."

"I don't understand. You want twenty minutes of the show but at the moment it is all your show."

"No, it appears so, but if we take the twenty minutes out of the show for the commercials, what are the viewers going to get out of it? I will tell you what; forty minutes of relentless cross-examination and quibbling. I will be thrown into the Coliseum to be torn to pieces by this tiger here..." he indicated the presenter. "And what are the people going to get out of it? Nothing."

"And what do you intend to do with this twenty minutes?" asked the managing director ironically. "Make a proclamation? Present your manifesto to the world? Or what?"

"Something like that."

"That is absurd."

"Just a minute," said the presenter. "In what way are you intending to use your twenty minutes?"

"This is up to you."

"Please clarify."

"Well I will give you the material. How you are going to present it is your choice."

"And what kind of materials are these?"

"Nothing particular. Just essays sayings from my past work. I'll even let you choose them."

"How about moneywise?" asked the managing director. "Are you willing to sign it in a paper that you are not entitled to any remuneration?"

"I am willing to shake the hand and give you my word!"

The managing director excused himself from the Teacher and took the rest to another office and said, "I do not like it I cannot trust this loony. With all this idiosyncratic behavior he may let us down. What about his demand? Who the hell is he to tell us how to run the show?"

"We have to use a little diplomacy here," said the executive officer. "Don't forget an hour ago our problem was how to bring him here. If we act in haste the bird may fly and there are other trees that he may go and sit on."

The CEO spoke for the first time. "What do you think about these twenty minutes of his? Do you think it is going to create too big of a gap for the show to survive? Because I am very confident it will pick up the moment you start interviewing him."

"I am not sure when and how he wants his piece to be done. I suppose if it is at the end of the show it maybe not be too bad. Let's find out."

They all come back at the room.

The presenter apologized for their absence and then said to the Teacher, "All my life as a television presenter I never come across anyone demanding such a difficult proposition. Nevertheless, we are still willing to explore it. Can you please explain to us how you visualize this to happen?"

"I don't know if you understand what my concern is here. The moment you do, I am sure we will find the way for it. My aim is not the same as yours. My aim is to use this valuable time for something constructive and then I will play your game. I want the viewers to gain something out of it."

"When and how do you intend to use this twenty minutes?"

"I believe your introduction lasts about one minute. That is from your twenty minutes," he said jokingly. "The moment you finish the introduction, my writings start to appear on the screen. You can embellish it. You can narrate it. You can put in background music. I leave it to you. I trust your test. The only thing I am going to do is to keep time, then I'll be all yours." "When are we going to see the writings we're supposed to broadcast?"

"You can see them now. I am sure my organizer has some with him; he always has some of them."

"Then we will do that," said the managing director. "We'll have a brake. We have a very good cafeteria here, and after you provide us with some of the material we are talking about, you and your organizer friend can have something to eat and we will analyze your writings, then we will meet in about one hour in my office again. Is that all right?"

"It is all right with me."

"Let's do it then."

The organizer gave them some material they could use and he and the Teacher went off to the cafeteria. The presenter went to his office to study the material and the rest went back to the office.

"I must say it is a hard case to crack," said the executive officer.

"I told you so," said the managing director. "He is not willing to sign papers to say he does not want to get paid. Who can assure me that he will appear that day for the interview? And this twenty minute thing he wants is unacceptable."

"I understand your concern," said the CEO, "but what is the alternative? This is our biggest coup we are trying to pull here. Do you want to send the bird to our opponents?"

"No, I want to start the action for plan B."

"And what is that?"

"Replacements in case things don't turn up."

"What do you mean? Are we not going to use trailers? And what is going to happen to the replacement if things turn out all right?"

"The trailers will go on as usual. As for the replacement, I will take care of it if need be. I will send him and his wife for a month's vacation in the Greek islands. I think he needs it, too."

"How can we use the same trailers for different issues?" the executive officer asked.

"The issue is going to be the same. The trailers are going to be for the same issue. Simply, we won't disclose the name of the guest. We will publicize only the story but we will have two guests, the A and the B."

"And who is going to be the B guy?" the CEO asked.

"The guy who is the B guy in the original story."

"You mean..."

"Yes I mean the chairman of the WCFET."

"That sounds all right. I understand you two have some kind of friendship together. Do you think you can persuade him to do it?"

"Yes I know him, but I don't think it will take much to persuade him. He has been pelted with so much mud lately I am sure he would like to say his bit."

"Are you going to tell him he is going to play second fiddle?"

"No, as I said already, we going to send him for a vacation if need be, but it may not be necessary. If things turn out well, we may have a sequel to this saga with him as number A this time."

"For some reason I feel better now," said the CEO, "but what about this twenty minute bit? How are we going to solve this problem?"

"I don't know either," said the presenter, hearing the question as he walked in. "This twenty minutes is too much of a slack to cover."

The Teacher and his friend went straight to the cafeteria and served themselves some food. They sat on a corner and not long after, the rookie representative arrived with a plate in his hand."

"May I join you?" he asked politely.

"Please do," answered the teacher.

"How is the food?"

"You have a very good cafeteria here; the managing director is right about that."

"How about for the other? Are the negotiations leading to anywhere?"

'I feel the twenty minute point I mentioned to you back at the house is the obstacle. I am not sure how things are going to end."

"I was afraid it is too much to be swallowed." Then suddenly he dropped the knife and fork on the table and said, "I got it."

"What?"

"Four five six."

"What do you mean?"

"Five minutes of your writings, six minutes debating them, then four minutes of commercials to add up to one hour."

"What do you mean by debating it?"

"That means the presenter will have to query your writings and you will be able to answer. Is not this what you want after all?"

The Teacher thought for a minute and said, "It sounds even better than what I thought. I am in for that."

The rookie sprang up and said, "The cookies are in the oven and they start to smell good. Excuse me. I will see you soon."

As the presenter was talking about the twenty minutes gap and how unsolvable it was, the rookie knocked at the door and without waiting he entered the room and said, "I got it. Four five and six!"

"What are you talking about? Who is this guy?"

"Different format, different approach, no interview."

"Go on."

"Five minutes of his writings, then six minutes of the presenter disputing them. Four minutes of commercials by four makes one hour."

"Who is this guy?" asked again the CEO.

"The baker who is going to bring you the dough," answered the Teacher, entering the room as the door was open.

"Well how about that! Sit down Teacher; how was the meal?"

"Very good thank you. You have a nice cafeteria here."

"I told you so."

"You can interrogate the Teacher relentlessly. You can grill and cross-examine until you squeeze all the juice out of him. Isn't this all right, Teacher?"

"By all means, provided the five minutes of writings proceeds of course."

"So gentleman, we have a new base to proceed with now thanks to our junior representative from here," said the managing director, pointing to the rookie. "And I better watch my chair from now on."

"Me too," said the CEO, amused. "And how long have you worked with us, Senior Representative?" asked the CEO.

"I am not a senior representative sir," said the rookie. "I am a ju—"

"Are you disputing my judgment?" the CEO said, smiling.

"You mean..."

"Yes, and as a senior representative you can participate in these further discussions. You certainly earned it."

"Thank you, sir, and I will make sure never to let you down."

"I am sure about that," said the Teacher, and congratulated him with a warm hand shake for his unexpected promotion. After that they all congratulated the young rookie and settled down to finalize the deal.

"Teacher," said the presenter, "I don't suppose you are afraid of me querying of what the writing's saying?"

"Certainly not!"

"In that case I will be able to intervene whenever I feel fit?"

"Of course you can. I want you to do that, as this is the purpose of the whole project to be a lively discussion which will help many viewers to understand things better. I'd love you to do that. I just don't want a beautiful opportunity like this to be lost in insignificant verbal attacks and quibbling."

As the two parties did not have any differences on how to solve the time-dividing problem, the final deal did not take long to come.

"We can sign a declaration form of what we have agreed in this room," said the managing director. "It won't take long. My secretary will have this ready in few minutes. It is just a formality."

"No need of that," said the Teacher and started to shake their hands. "My handshake is as good as my signature and you can rely on that. Can I rely on yours?"

"Yes," everyone answered as with one voice.

"It is nice to do business in the old fashioned way. It is my pleasure to meet all of you gentlemen and I will see you all at the day of the show."

The chairman of the WCFET Adam Clarke, was enjoying his wife's company in a way that reminded them of the days when they were young. They still had the phones and the television switched off. The chairman was enjoying a glass of wine with some cheese in the garden when a courier with a bike brought him a letter. It was from the managing director of the international television network based in that city, and asked him if he could switch the phone on as it was urgent.

The chairman was acquainted with that man but not to the extent that he would do this for a casual reason. He was wondering what this was all about, and so finally he decided to ring him back.

"I am so glad to hear from you," said the voice from the other end. "I will come straight to the point. "We have decided to make a show about the way WCFET handled the whole issue of the hearing the last two or three days. You will be the honored guest and you will have sufficient time to defend yourself from all this dirt they have thrown at you."

"I will think about it," said the chairman. "I will ring you back either way."

"Don't take too long, please, as there are not much time left for it, and please don't take it too lightly for it is a good opportunity to straighten things up."

"I will do that thank you, and I will ring you back either way."

His wife was in the shower and was not aware what happened but when she came back into the garden she noticed something had changed in the mood of her husband.

She asked, "Is there something wrong, honey?"

"Yes..." he said jokingly. "Someone wants to sanctify and the devil won't let him."

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"I had a telephone call from someone I know from the television network. They want me to appear on a television show."

His wife started to worry as he had behaved a little strangely the last few days since all this drama in the WCFET. Besides, how could they ring him when all the telephones were switched off? But she did not say anything. She was watching him. He was in deep thought when all in a sudden he turned to her and said, "What do you think, dear? Shall I take part in it?"

"Take part in what, honey?"

"I already told you, my dear. In the television show."

"Oh... and who is going to star in it, honey?"

"I will. I will have the biggest part."

"Then definitely you should, my honey."

"Well I suppose I'd better ring them to let them know that I will appear on the show."

He got up and went into the house to make the phone call. His wife picked up some empty plates, pretending she was going to take them in the kitchen so she could watch him.

He went to the phone, switched it on and dialed.

"Is this the office of the managing director?"

"Yes it is."

"Can I talk to him?"

"He is not here sir."

"Will you tell him that I accept his offer to participate in the show please?"

"Who shall I say called, sir?"

"He knows, thank you."

His wife, not knowing what to make of this call, left it at that.

A few hours later someone knocked at the door. It was a young man saying he was a courier and handed a letter to her.

Her husband asked, "What was that?"

"It is for you, honey, from the television station."

"Oh...open it up, dear, to see what it says."

She opened the letter and read it loud: "'I am pleased that you are going to participate in the show. We will send you an early reminder on the day, and two hours prior of the show we will send a limousine to pick you up. Sincerely. Managing Director.'

"So...that is all fixed then!" she added. "You actually are going to star in a show!"

"Of course I am dear. I told you so."

She burst into a hearty uncontrollable laugh, and with tears running down her cheeks she grabbed her husband and started to kiss him; his cheeks, his ears, his hair; saying how happy and proud of him she was. Her laugh was so catchy that he started to laugh too then, when they recovered, he asked, "Why are we laughing anyway?"

She burst again into laughter saying, "Nothing, honey, nothing! Oh, I am so happy, so happy to be with you."

# THE VICE-PRESIDENT

The vice-chairman called for an urgent meeting with the other four. They met in the back room of the WCFET and he told them, "Friends I called you because something unexpected happened. The SIU turned down our request. They assure us that he is under surveillance since he put his foot on this country, but they cannot do any more than that unless they have authorization from the WCFET committee signed by the chairman, or from the home secretary. I phoned the secretary and he said he has to have the recommendation of the WCFET, but they are looking at the matter.

"It is a catch twenty two situation. They all play by the book. It is so frustrating," he said, lighting a cigarette. "It looks like we have to take the matter into our own hands. Has anybody any suggestions?"

"We are doing what we can under the circumstances. Besides, he is under surveillance from the SIU and the home secretary. What else can we do?"

"So... you are out?"

Complete silence.

"Anybody else in?"

Complete silence again.

Then the vice chairman said, "I don't blame you. This game is for grownups," and as they left the room and just before they closed the door behind them he mumbled... "Bloody cowards."

He sat in his chair in the room who knows for how long thinking and smoking then he went up to his office, grabbed a bottle of whisky and came back to the same room where he sat in the chair and started thinking again.

For some reason he could think better in this room. It was an ideal place for someone to think; to make a decision down in the basement in the back of the WCFET building, far away from man with all their weakness and their frivolities. He stayed in that room for at least another hour smoking and drinking, wondering how to solve the problem. Then his mobile phone rang. It was a friend. He was not in the mood for small-talk and was ready to end the conversation when his friend said jokingly, "Do you know that your 'friends' are going to appear in the Wednesday show on the international network?"

"Which friends?"

"Your best friends," he continued ironically.

"What are you talking about?"

"That loony agitator— the so-called Teacher— and the chairman of the WCFET." "Are you sure about it?"

"Yes, the trailers have already started to advertise the show."

"And who is going to be on it? The Teacher? The chairman? Both?"

"I don't know about that. The trailers don't mention anything. They only advertise the show about the scandal of the WCFET hearing."

He thanked his friend and he thought it was a good opportunity to solve the problem ones and for all. He thought that perhaps it was even an omen for his friend to ring out of the blue to inform him.

He reached home when it was pretty dark. The house was cold and uninviting; it was like that since his wife left him long ago. He opened the fridge to eat something. It was only a piece of pizza left from last night. He took it in his hand and turned on the television to the station his friend told him. It wasn't long before the trailer came on about the WCFET hearing scandal. So it was the truth after all? They were going to appear on an international channel to say their piece. That's what they think; he thought... that's what they think.

He took his cigarettes and a bottle of whisky next to his bed and lay down with his clothes on; he stayed in that position until he fell asleep.

Suddenly he woke up in the middle of the night with the solution to the problem he had been pondering; how to pass a gun in the television station for he knew they were searching the guests, let alone the ones that were not invited. For the first time after many months, maybe even years, he burst into a loud laugh. It was a nervous mechanical laugh but nevertheless a laugh.

Finally the day for the show came. The show would be broadcast live in prime time. About four hours before the show the vice-chairman had a shower, shaved and put his best suit on. He put the gun in his holster and drove off with the limousine he hired the previous day. It took him about half an hour to reach the house of the chairman. About two hundred meters before, he stopped at a spot where he had a nice view of the chairman's house and parked the car to wait.

After about an hour, a limousine arrived at the house. He saw the chairman getting into the back seat of the car, and the car drove off. He made sure to keep some distance from the other car until they reached the television station gates. By the time the chairman's car stopped at the checking point the vice-chairman managed to bring his car bumper to bumper with the chairman's car. After they checked the chairman's car, the security guard at the gate asked, "What is the purpose of visiting this premises sir?"

"I am one of the guests that will appear in tonight's show."

"Have you got an invitation, sir?"

"Look that was the chairman of the WCFET. I am the vice-chairman and this is my card. We will appear tonight at the show together. I was supposed to ride in the same car with the chairman but I have been invited to another show late at night and I am going to use this car."

"Well...the security man said after checking his card. I suppose it should be all right," and lifted the boom.

Piece of cake, thought the vice-chairman. Piece of cake.

There was a relieved feeling when the management learned that the Teacher had arrived. As soon as he came in they whisked him away in a special suite for VIP guests and started to brief him about the procedure. The Teacher's organizer and the rookie, now

Mr. Michael Armstrong— senior representative— were there ready to assist. The make-up artist was doing the final brushes on the Teacher's face even though he did not hide the discomfort of it. Finally they guided him into the studio where the show was going to take place. There he met the presenter. They shook hands warmly and sat down for a chat before the show.

"How do you feel today Teacher?"

"I could not feel better."

"You could not look better either. You look twenty years younger. They did good job on you."

"Do you sweeten guests up before you grill them?"

"I merely want to make them comfortable."

The chairman felt very nervous when he realized that the time was near for him to appear in front of the television cameras. The closer it got to it the more nervous he became— so much so that he felt he would give anything at that moment to avoid it. He had done this before. As the chairman of the WCFET, he took part in many panels discussing for various issues; he was as confident then as a peacock among the chickens in a chicken pen. But things had changed so much! Although it was barely past a week since the happenings in the WCFET, it seemed as though years had passed, as if he had he just woken up from a long sleep... as though as he had been elevated by a magic stick and lo! He was a new man. And why should he go through this torture? He was not the same man after all; his priorities were not the same. Before he would have loved this entire hullabaloo with limousines, glittering lights and cameras on him. In the past he was attracted to the spotlights, as the moths are attracted to them, unaware that this was their death trap. He liked all that plus the power and the money that attached to it.

Now he was not concerned about this anymore. Now he was at peace with himself and with everyone in this world. He was not concerned about power and money anymore. His wife was right when she told him that now the only thing they needed was shelter and a plate of food a day.

He thought it was over-exaggeration when she told him that, but now he felt just like that. He wanted internal peace; he wanted to enjoy life like that to make it up for all those years that he felt lost. Oh ...no, he did not have to go through this! Of course it was a good opportunity to hit back for all the slander he received, for all the dirt they threw at him and for no other reason but because he performed his work according to his conscience. But he was not interested about it anymore. He did not want any revenge. He did not hold any grunge about anybody anymore. He felt he loved the whole world. He loved the birds, the trees and the flowers. He loved to watch the sea and its ripple of the waves on the rocks or on the sand, to watch the cloud formations and the mountains. He wanted to make up for all things he had missed during his hibernation time. He had no time to argue in front of television cameras for this and for that. He had done his bit and that was all.

But what would he say to his wife if he walked out of it? He told her they wanted him to make this show and she was proud of him and encouraged him.

How could he let her down?

These were the thoughts that were troubling him while he was waiting for the make-up artist.

Then an official come and said he was very sorry, but the plans had changed and he would not appear in the television tonight after all, and that the managing director would be here soon to explain.

When the chairman heard that he thought an angel had brought him the best message ever; it was a beautiful music in his ears. He wanted to get up and kiss this guy for this wonderful news but it took him such long time to absorb this unbelievable news, this wonderful happening, that when he looked around he was alone.

He got up and sped towards the managing director's office, remembering the way from a previous visit when he was participating in a panel show. He wanted to tell him he could keep the spotlights, the cameras and the limousines; he just wanted to go home. He would ask if he could organize a taxi for him.

He saw the office and he burst in. The managing director sprang up from his chair with the hands in the air saying, "All right, all right Adam, I am sorry. I will make it up to you. The network will compensate you."

"What do you mean? How?"

The managing director sank back into his chair when he realized that the problem would be solved much more easily than he thought. Then he said calmly, "How about a month's vacation with your wife on a Greek island?"

"Vacation for a month in the Greek islands with my wife!"

"That is right. Everything paid."

"Can I choose the island?"

"You certainly can."

Now it was the chairman's turn to collapse on his chair. This was wonderful news. They could go to Patmos to celebrate his new start; his new spiritual life. That would be a good symbolic gesture. Patmos of course is not a cosmopolitan island for vacations, but what he really needed right now was a place for reflection.

"Of course... there is a snag with it," said the managing director while he was pretending that he was cleaning his desk."

"Oh yes? And what is that?"

Then the managing director started to explain.

The vice-chairman when he reached the main area of the television station could not pinpoint where the Teacher was for they whisked him away immediately. He couldn't find the chairman either.

He was appalled by the thought that he may not appear in the show after all, and that he may even not be there. He went outside to have a smoke and to think what to do next. He could not freely mingle inside with the crowd for he did not want to be seen by the chairman. He thought that he should lay low until the crowd started to move into the studio for the interview as it was broadcast live with an audience. He lit another cigarette and waited for the time to pass. How many cigarettes had he had today? He lost count. He opened a new packet. It must be his third one, he thought, and wasn't even seven o'clock yet. He had been a chain smoker for quite some time now, and his doctor had warned him about it. But who cared? One of the pleasures that were worth living for was smoking. He would not part with it for anything, even if they promised the Earth for him.

Suddenly he realized that they put the audience in one hour before the show. He'd better hurry up to get a seat so that the Teacher or the chairman would not be able to see him.

He rushed in and accidentally hit someone. He said sorry, and continued until he reached the door that led to the studio. To his dismay the guests handed passes to the doorman. He had been caught off guard for it never occurred to him that something like that could happen. He rushed back outside again to have a smoke and to think. He nearly bumped into the same guy who was waiting there for some reason.

Outside, he lit a cigarette and sat on a chair, starting to consider the idea that he may have to wait for an opportunity after the show finished. This calmed him somewhat and he decided to wait.

When they took the Teacher for make-up, Michael now the senior representative was free, for his service of assisting the Teacher was not required any more.

He walked out of the room towards the main hall. His life had changed so dramatically since last week! His abilities had being recognized and appreciated in such a short time, whereas for other people it would take years and even the whole of their lives, and for that he thanked God. In this week he got a hefty pay rise, and an office of his own, but the most he got was freedom of action; freedom to improvise and make decisions that made him feel an important man. This work was not a drag any more. He loved doing it. He felt like an artist absorbed with his creations. That's right; this was the word he wanted to use to emphasize how he felt now for his work. He did not even think about the bakery anymore; that was something from the past. All these thoughts were turning and turning like a spinning wheel in his mind when a guy bumped into him, bringing him back to reality.

But who was this guy? He was sure he knew him from somewhere but from where? He went to his office to do something concerning his work and when he finished he phoned the Teacher's organizer asking him if he would like to eat something in the cafeteria. He agreed, so they decided to meet in the main hall to walk there together.

As he was waiting there the guy who bumped him before nearly did it again. This guy was nicely dressed but something looked odd about him. He looked so nervous, so Michael decided to follow him. He saw him going outside to light a cigarette.

Michael turned back as he saw the Teacher's organizer was coming so off they went to the cafeteria.

In the studio everything was just about ready for the show to start. The audiences were in their seats, the presenter was facing the Teacher, the lighting was on and the cameras were at standby notice. The order for silence and countdown was given and the show started.

"Ladies and gentlemen, without a doubt he is one of the most controversial figures of our time. There is seldom a time when and wherever he appears that it does not cause discord, division and disruptiveness, so much so that it even forced the secretary of the UNO to issue a statement and I quote: 'The world has enough trouble as it is, so to sit idle and watch apathetically individuals roaming around the Earth causing divisions, conflict and disruptiveness is a new phenomenon that we have to tackle in its infancy. Therefore, with the new tools we have through WCFET and the international court in The Hague, we hope that we will tackle the problem at its roots.'

"Now ladies and gentlemen I will unquote here and we will continue. What I want to say here is about the peculiarity of this case. You are either with him or against him; there is no room for indifference here. The opponents are agitated and overreact in an unexplainable fashion and his followers...

"I don't have followers and I feel I have to intervene here..."

"And now I have to intervene here, Teacher, and remind you this intervention will be deducted from your five," he said jokingly. Turning to the camera he said, "Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen; you haven't missed anything; it is something between me and the Teacher. Now what was the interruption all about?"

"I don't have followers. I despise this word. It reminds me of herds. I demand the utmost diligence and alertness from my listener-readers. I demand the thorough examination of whatever I say-write. Sheep are followers; they follow their master blindly whether he takes them to green pastures or to the slaughterhouse. Man is not a lamb or a sheep, although I adore them... I think they are cute," he said, smiling. "Man is spiritual and that constitutes freedom. Spirit is free and has free will. Whoever claims that he is my follower; you can be assured that he is not. He is no more or less the same follower of a football team, of a religion, organization or a political party which I warn against daily, and which is one of the main stipulations of my message."

"Anyway to finish my sentence, I will not use the word followers this time. I will use the word... I don't know with which one you'll be comfortable with; admirers perhaps?"

"Now you may use whichever word you like. I made my point."

"Fair enough and at last to end my sentence, his admirers call him the Teacher. In order to acquaint ourselves and became somewhat familiar with the message the Teacher brings, we selected various sayings and writings of his that we hope will represent the spirit of what the Teacher advocates. Ladies and gentlemen, when the time arrived for our team to select the material that we would put to you for this show, we were in a predicament as to what material we should select. We did not want to be biased in any way; on the other hand we did not want the Teacher to select his material either. We made the decision to take some segments at random so to be honest with you I don't have the slightest idea what is going to follow. We will start now with it and when I feel there needs to be more explanation or a query I will intervene."

Segments of the Teacher's writings and speeches appeared on the television screens with soft background music while the narrator read them aloud, and whenever the presenter felt the need to intervene, the writings would stop to start again when the narrator started to narrate.

The enormous speed towards distraction is such that literally whatever was unaccepted yesterday is welcome today and whatever is radical today is going to be the norm tomorrow.

"Here obviously you want to emphasize the speediness with which things are changing today; the pace of life of the modern man; is that so?"

"I could elaborate much more but I could say generally the speed towards distraction yes!"

Nothing can hide any more. Everything is forced to show its true face.

"What do you mean by that?"

"There is a pressure in this part of the world that was never felt before since the creation. This pressure forces everything into fruition. Everything has to show its true face; nothing can hide anymore. I could spend the whole time we have on this topic if you want me to."

"So you say that this hypothetical pressure is forcing man to bring out whatever he hides inside him?"

"Exactly! Only it is not hypothetical but real. It happens now that we are speaking."

Nothing is destroyed. Everything is recycled except man, which is the only created being in this world that can avoid this eternal incessant cycle.

"Here we sure need an explanation. What do you mean by nothing is destroyed; surely things are destroyed. We witness it daily."

"What I mean by nothing is destroyed is nothing 'disappears;' for everything is recycled and turns into a primeval substance in order to be rejuvenated and to start in a new mega cycle of evolution again."

God does not intervene randomly or arbitrarily in order to reward or punish man. He did something more simple and natural. He defined his laws so man is rewarded or punished according to his deeds. As the saying goes; whatever you sow, so shall you reap.

"That is a straight forward statement. I think we can continue uninterrupted."

There is a vertical incessant hierarchy where the lowest point of it is earthman.

"This surely needs an explanation, so please elaborate."

"From God to Earth there are immense distances. For earthman it is impossible to visualize even the minutest part of it. In between there are worlds occupied by myriads of beings, entities, animistic beings etc. standing hierarchically according to their spiritual stand or value. Whatever is below Earth we may consider it as lost. This is why I stated that Earth is the lowest point for Earth may still be saved. Whatever is below that in essence is gone."

What counts most is the individual where with his personality uniqueness and right evolvement makes a beautiful whole.

"Pretty straight forward, so we continue.

Truth is not subjective. It is simply the truth. We are using it as reference point although is liquid crystal and transparent. Truth was is and will be.

"Continue."

Happy are those who can go by easily with whatever nature provides.

"Continue."

How can a government be estimated as responsible and democratic when it is elected by irresponsible people?

"Are you repudiating democracy here, Teacher?"

"I am only stating here that democracy is as perfect or as fallible as are the people of that particular country."

The mechanism of forming a caste, tribe, race or nationality is based on the natural law of the attraction of similar species.

"I think you must say something about this one, Teacher. I don't quite understand."

"What I am stating here is none other than the natural law of attraction of the homogenous species. This law determines where each of us is going to be born. It is not by accident where a man is going to be reincarnated on Earth; in fact it plays a major role for the evolvement of each individual. By this law the natural separation takes place of people with same characteristics which eventually in its' train brings along the formation of castes, tribes nationalities and races."

"And what is the purpose of this law? Why is this happening?"

"For otherwise in a given time stagnation would follow. Through these law variations of the human races appeared ever since the first incarnation on Earth. This variety stimulates and invigorates the earthman and makes life more colorful and more interesting. Without it you can be assured that stagnation would be imminent."

"By what you say here, as I understand; it is of utmost importance to keep the variations intact. That means of the importance of keeping a race 'clean'. Do I understand right?"

"You do!"

"I can see another major confrontation brewing between you and the civil rights movements."

"It may be so, but nevertheless it must be told."

"They will brand you as a racist."

"The ignorant ones will. Nevertheless the truth must be heard. Whoever has ears may listen."

"How then would you visualize a perfect world dealing with this issue?"

"Respect is the key word here. Respect the differences of people. If we do that the rest will follow naturally. When I say that; i.e. respect, it brings along responsibility, for in order to respect something you cannot undermine it by undercutting and chipping away the foundations of a building you are supposed to protect. The so-called activists, although their intentions may be good, without knowing it are cutting off the branch they and the ones they are supposed to help are sitting on. For the ones they are supposed to protect through their 'protections' are bound to lose their individuality and eventually their identity, and for themselves the variations and the spice of life that makes the world interesting. It is like putting water in a glass of wine. Try and taste it. It is not water anymore, and neither is it wine. To make it more dramatic, it is like mixing water with gas in your car. Try and see how far is going to take you."

"And with this paradigm, ladies and gentleman, we are going to take our first break."

"You came out pretty good," the presenter said to the Teacher. "You are a natural."

"It is not me. My message is natural."

The management of the network was elated. According to the instant poll through the gadgetry used by the audience in the studio reactions were fantastic and that usually reflected the behavior of a bigger scale sample. They informed the presenter to keep in the same format and not to deviate from it. It seemed like the whole world wanted to participate in this show. There was those who wanted the presenter to ask this or that question to the teacher, or suggested he should say this or that for each paragraph they saw on the screen. The network was inundated by telephone calls, e-mails and texts. Never before in the history of the network had the response of the viewers been so 'alive'. Everyone wanted to jam into it. It felt as if they touched a kind of a live nerve that animated everyone but each one for different reasons.

Some of the callers were complaining that the interviewer should be more aggressive and more persisted with this or that question. Others thought that particular question should be clarified more.

There were a few that thought the interviewer made a terrific job, allowing the show to unfold smoothly, and there were a few that were so privileged and happy to watch such an interesting and fresh show that clarified many of their unanswered questions.

The production manager of the show encouraged the presenter to keep up the good job, and after the essential re-make-up the show started again. "We are back, ladies and gentlemen, to continue our discussion with the Teacher.

"I must say regardless if you agree or disagree, it looks like that this show is going to be one of the most interesting of my career. So let us continue with the sayings and writings of the Teacher to see if we can feel the spirit of it."

The competition and antagonism is dead. The only hope that is left now is cooperation, harmony and services.

"Don't you find importance in antagonism and competition? Without that everything would be at a standstill and would decay."

"Antagonism and competition have served their purpose up to now. But now man has reached the time of cooperation and services. The time that is allotted for antagonism and competition is finished long ago. Only through cooperation and services as we witness some spiritually alert people doing what we call volunteer work, can man make up the ground he has lost."

"So we should all became volunteers?"

"We should cooperate harmoniously with each other."

The decay has already started. Everyone has been warned at least once here, in one of his previous lives or in the beyond before, but man continues to chase the symptoms but not the causes. The only thing left now is the crumble and the dust. The time that has been allotted for us has already lapsed.

"Well, what can I say about that?"

An instrumentalist is not necessary a musician. A painter is not necessary an artist. A bishop is not necessary spiritual.

"Straight forward; we continue."

What is missing and is needed by the people most is paradigm.

"Continue."

Everything bears witness of the existence of God. Everything glorifies God except the most beneficial one of all beings; man.

"How can you say that, Teacher, when millions if not billions around the world in churches, mosques and temples daily praise and glorify God?"

"You are not praising or glorifying God by lip services once a week. Man's praise to the Lord should be minutely, hourly and daily with his deeds. Whatever man does should be directed wholeheartedly to the Lord. Whatever man does, whether it is his glance, his speech or deed, should be truly devoted to God. This is how man should glorify God."

The shy and blushing man differentiates from the rest simply because he does not pretend. He does not behave like the rest, which have promoted hypocrisy into an art.

"What do you mean here, Teacher?"

"When have you see last someone blushing?"

"I must say, not for long time. I would like some more explanation here, Teacher, but I think I will leave this one as the time is pressing on."

How many religious organizations make a holy man?

"This is a peculiar one; what do you mean in this one?"

"That even if millions gather somewhere in order to assist someone spiritually it will all be futile for the order and wish has to come from the innermost being of man."

Faith is not adequate anymore; faith has to be replaced by conviction.

"In this one, Teacher I must say although it seems straight forward, it is a riddle to me for how can someone be convinced of something he does not see? I can understand faith i.e. I believe that there is something somewhere there. But how can I be convinced of something I don't see?"

"The majority of religious people of this Earth follow their religion readymade for them from their parents because they happen to be born in that environment. So they were brought up with the belief 'that there is something somewhere there' as you put it. That is faith. In order for it to become his own, hence a living conviction, he must re-examine the readymade belief he had through his parents, schools or religious organizations. He must weigh and re-examine everything he learned so far and throw away whatever does not reverberate with his innermost being. What remains becomes conviction."

If you want to change the world, start from yourself. If you want to change yourself, start from your ego.

"This one definitely does not need any further ado."

Life is a wonderful journey as long as you know the destination.

"How about this one?"

"Deep insight in man has been implanted from the beginnings of his wanderings on the material worlds. This includes the seed of belonging i.e. where he comes from and where he owes to return, but as the time went by and as he succumbed to his intellect man ignored and forgot about it. Nevertheless, it is still there warning and reminding him in a subtle way. This warning, this uneasiness, this anxiety... man is trying to numb it with various activities such as accumulating earthly materials, sensuality etc.

"This is perhaps the most important one you have read so far for if man knew the destination of his journey the rest would follow. Unfortunately man spends his valuable time on Earth aimlessly for he does not know his destination. He is like a ship with no steering wheel in the middle of an ocean."

"And what is his destination then?"

"To go back home to the place he started his journey from."

"And where is that?"

"This place is called Paradise by earthman. He started from there, as an unconscious spirit seed, and may return back as such if he failed in his mission, or, he may return as a fully conscious human being."

"So the goal of man is to return back home, from where he has started as an unconscious seed, but this time as a conscious human being. Is this the destination of man's journey?"

"Exactly."

Man talks too much. The more he talks, the more he undoes himself in the eyes of his fellow man, to the point that he stands there naked. It would be better if restrained himself to AYE and NAY.

"Can you imagine a world without speaking? Man would get bored stiff to death!"

"I tell you, the majority of man's' talk is small-talk, and that is something he will be immensely ashamed in the future. Looking back, he will be appalled at how frivolously he spent his allotted time on Earth."

Man is able to know everything, or almost everything. But what he will never, ever be able to achieve is to answer the question; how God derived.

"I don't think man needs to go that far with his knowledge."

If we see the good part of our fellow humans, then the world will become more humane and caring.

"Pass."

All the phobias come from the notion of not acknowledging the existence of God.

"And this."

The worst mistake a man makes is to keep repeating the same mistake.

"Why is it so bad to make the same mistake?"

"Through mistakes we learn."

For man has no time left. The allotted time is finished and you cannot learn for ever. The examinations are approaching.

Everything, absolutely everything, in this visible and invisible creation is dependent, except God who is independent

"We cannot add anything in this one."

It is not only whatever is visible that counts. In most cases, whatever is undetectable with the human senses is as serious as the visible ones if not more serious.

"I think I understand what you mean here, but for the sake of our viewers can you give us an example?"

"Well, let's take the example of abortion, as it is such a big controversy nowadays. The abortion advocates make their judgment of whatever is perceptible by man's senses. Whatever is happening beyond that they are ignorant of, but that does not lighten their responsibility, especially for those who are promoting it. If for once their ethereal eye opened and saw the happenings in the beyond they would cover their faces with their hands out of fright and shame. Then they would wish it was a horrible dream and that they never would fritter away their time again with such ideas."

"What would they see? Can you give us a small glimpse?"

"They would see souls in the beyond waiting passionately and patiently in order to get the opportunity to be reincarnated here on Earth, for Earth is a school of utmost importance that could facilitate man enormously to mature quicker. They would see threads that bound the mother-to-be with the soul that is going to be reincarnated cut by an inconsiderate hand. They would see the cold murder that is committed if the soul is already incarnated in the mother's womb. They would see the deformity and eventually the decomposition of the fetus. They would see all the threads of guilt bound with them that will take years to disband and that only if they in the meantime change their minds with fervent prayers."

"I think certainly you gave us a glimpse here."

Travel as much as you can for in the near future the Earth is going to be so dull like a big barrel of soup. Everyone will speak the same, everyone will eat the same, everyone will wear the same and everyone will listen to the same music. Travel before is too late.

"I better pack my bags."

I am not aiming at the masses; I am always aiming at the individual.

"You are aiming; at tens of millions right now Teacher."

In fact whatever we do to our fellowman whether good or bad we actually do it to ourselves.

"We will press on."

Love dissolves the ego of man to the point of ignoring his existence. The only thing he is interested in is to serve the person he loves, unaware that with it starts his redemption.

"We certainly all know how important love is."

The most and biggest crimes happening in this world are committed in the name of love of justice and of God. Obviously the perpetrators don't know what love or justice is, and certainly no God.

Don't look at the vessel. Look at what the vessel carries.

"What about that, Teacher?"

"This is similar to; don't judge a book by its cover."

How many philosophers make one wise man?

"I don't know. Five or ten? How many do you think, Teacher?"

"Here the same saying applies; a bishop is not necessarily spiritual."

There is nothing as degrading as the man who squanders his valuable time on Earth with the sole purpose of accumulating more and more material.

"Ladies and gentleman, it is time for a break. I am sure the Teacher would have lit many fires by now, for I know that by judging your response from our previous break this one is going to be even hotter. Don't go away; the best is still to come."

And indeed the Teacher lit many fires. This time responses came mainly from atheists that were complaining of turning the show into a religious propaganda machine and religious people that demanded to know which religious organization the Teacher belonged to. Progressive ones condemned the network headquarters for how low they would go in order to lift their ratings. The management of the network itself were not to be able to hide their satisfaction and rub their hands for their achievement.

"And now ladies and gentlemen we have arrived at the last section of our program and I will ask the Teacher about something that made a big impression around the world. There is great controversy about the photos taken by the press of the Teacher and the chairman of the WCFET. So much has been said so much about it, so much ink has been used, and so many hours of prime time television devoted to it that I can hardly remember. But why should you listen to me? Why are we not listening directly to the man himself?

"Well, Teacher, the whole world is eager to listen to your explanations about the happenings in the WCFET hearing, and especially the relationship with your chief examiner; in other words, your judge. What is your relationship with this man?"

The presenter pointed to a man who had just appeared on the platform. The audience and the Teacher turned their heads and ooh...what a surprise for the Teacher! It was the chairman of the WCFET.

With no hesitation, the Teacher got off the chair and went to meet him. They embraced each other happily with many flashing lights but with no concern whatsoever from the two. Finally the presenter guided them back to the platform and when everyone settled down, he asked them, "Now, how long have you known each other?"

They started to talk simultaneously and the presenter had to cut them off, saying jokingly, "Even in this you two are inseparable... let's start with you, Chairman. How long have you known the Teacher?"

"I met the Teacher the day the hearing started. In fact the first time I laid my eyes on him was when the doors opened in the WCFET hall and the Teacher entered for the hearing."

"Is that so? What about all the things said and written about you two? Is that not true?"

"There is absolutely no truth in it!"

"Is that right, Teacher?"

"Absolutely."

"What about the first photograph that made headlines around the world? It looked as though you two knew each other for years. You looked so familiar. That photo did not show two men meeting for the first time and, wait for it; it was between a judge and an accused in the court room during the proceedings. That is surely a first worldwide. Can you explain please? I will try to understand the unexplainable. You go first, Chairman."

"We were running late in our hearing and when I realized there would be insufficient time for the press to ask their questions as we promised them, I decided to adjourn the hearing for the next day. As this was not in the program and as far as the Teacher knew the hearing would last only that day, I thought to ask him if it was all right with him. I hoped he did not have commitments the next day. So I went to the Teacher and apologized for the inconvenience, asking him if it would be possible to continue tomorrow with the press conference. He told me he had to consult his secretary-travel companion-organizer-butler- friend and in turn the organizer-butler etc. would have to consult his mobile phone.

'I believe you call it a gel-phone here. Is that right?' the Teacher asked me.

"At that moment I burst out laughing for I thought it was funny. Then he asked me if I have a gel-phone and when I answered no he felt good and he started laughing for he does not have a gel-phone either. He thought he was the only person in the world without a gel-phone."

"Is that so Teacher?"

"Absolutely."

"And what about the second photo that appeared in the newspapers next day?"

"I was driving home that day. It was the day I issued the recommendation. Although it was getting dark, I saw these two figures walking along and thought I knew them. I went closer and I realized they were the Teacher and his friend. I asked them if they needed a lift and they replied, 'No thank you, it is a beautiful day to walk.' So I stopped the car and went out to say goodbye to them, as any decent man would do. After all, for two days he was our 'welcome guest' and the recommendation found him not guilty.

"Both our meetings lasted about five minutes each and now this is our third meeting."

"You said the recommendation found him not guilty but this recommendation was issued by you they are accusing you of being too soft and too lenient, to put it mildly."

"I issued the recommendation based on the findings of the hearing and my conscience and I can tell you that I am sleeping easily at night. Now because so much has been said about this I declare that I issued the recommendation according to the hearing and my conscience. Whatever has been said before and after that is beyond me."

"We have only a few minutes left. Teacher, I will let you close this extraordinary show. Is there something you want to say? Is there last minute advice you'd like to give?"

"Man cannot act as though as Earth is limitless. Only in the spiritual spheres can it happen that there are no limits and can one so expand for ever. This is wonderful news for man to know but until then man has to be thoughtful on how he uses this Earth. So this is my wish for those who happened to listen to us speaking. In the material world, whatever you do, think if it is sustainable, for sustainability is going to be the word from now onwards. As in the spiritual sense, be spiritually alert; let your spirit guide you and the intellect fulfill it. That is my wish."

"Well ladies and gentlemen, tonight was certainly an interesting night in all its aspects. I hope tonight's show will make it easier for you to decide about whatever you were skeptical about in this issue, and give a better, clear picture about the whole controversy that has been unfolding in the past week. It is the first time that a major network has tackled a topic of this kind but as they say, the challenging subject is for the brave. Good night."

The show was over. Everyone in the studio was elated. The presenter thanked the Teacher and the chairman of the WCFET. The management came to congratulate the presenter and the guests and could not hide their satisfied smiles as the show had produced beyond expectation. The audience came to congratulate the trio with mixed comments.

As the night was beautiful with a soft breeze and a full moon, the management's small party was held outside in the garden area with drinks and food on the tables and all the guests mingling. Needless to say the main attraction was the duo of the Teacher and the chairman. They were in such demand that thy hardly exchanged any word between themselves.

Finally the chairman said to the Teacher, "Would you like to go for a walk? They have a beautiful park here."

This park was adjacent to the garden and with many lights and the full moon lighting it, it looked picturesque and very inviting. The Teacher agreed, and they strolled off.

The Teacher said, "I didn't know you would appear in the show. That was a beautiful surprise."

"I didn't know either. Believe me, my surprise and relief was even bigger."

"I don't understand."

"They asked me if I wanted to take part in a show in order to clear up some allegations that were made about the recommendation. On the spur of the moment I said yes, I would do it. But when I came here today I decided not to take part in it. In fact I am not interested in this anymore. I don't care about all the mud they sling on me. I am quite happy to be. For some reason I am enjoying things that before I took for granted. I love simple things. This life I was living before with power and exposure in spotlights and interviews does not attract me anymore. I don't know what is happening to me but I am changing or rather I have changed."

"You are one of the lucky ones, and you must be proud of yourself. My wish for you is not to ever let this feeling go. You have broken the bonds that were holding you down as a true human being. I am proud of you, for many people when it knocks on their door defy it. They suppress it until it becomes a fading memory, and finally they gave in to the old habits, ignoring the opportunity of a lifetime."

"Teacher, do you mean that it happens to every man?"

"It happens to every man who is mature for it. Unfortunately, most people when they hear this sublime voice suppress it until they cannot hear it anymore."

They walked for a while in silence.

Then the chairman said, "Anyway I want to finish what I was telling you before.

I came here for the show but I changed my mind and I didn't want to appear in the show anymore. I was so frustrated that I would give anything that moment for someone to take me away from that predicament. I even thought of running away but then what seemed a miracle happened. An official came and told me how sorry he was because they changed the program and that I would not participate in the show after all. My elation was such that I wanted to kiss this guy for the wonderful news he brought to me. Then I rushed to see the guy who offered me the show to ask him to organize a taxi for me and... listen to this! He offered my wife and me a month's vacation in the Greek Islands if I would take part in the show in which you would appear. It was unbelievable! A few minutes earlier I wished the Earth to swallow me and now I would meet you again, take part in the show and there would be a month of holiday waiting for me in the Greek islands."

This last three hours were probably the longest of his life, thought the vice-chairman. In order to pass his time and not to look odd just sitting there smoking, he went four or five times to the toilet, went to the cafeteria twice and nearly finished the packet of the cigarettes he'd opened earlier. In the meantime while he was smoking outside, the workers from a catering company were preparing tables and chairs for some sort of a party. Finally, as he was changing positions again, the doors of the studios opened and the audience started to trickle outside in the corridor. Now he could mingle with the crowd without looking suspicious, although he should be careful not to be seen by the chairman.

The waiters guided people outside in the garden area and they started to form small groups. The vice chairman watched the Teacher. Obviously he and the chairman were the men of the party and it would take time for the Teacher to be isolated. But surely it couldn't be that long, he thought. He must feel tired.

The vice-chairman was tired himself. If it wasn't for this important mission he would go home right now to sleep for who knew how long but he had to bring this mission to the end.

Suddenly he saw something that made his heart beat incredibly fast.

"Two birds with one stone?" he whispered to himself.

He could not believe his luck as the Teacher together with the chairman left the party and strolled towards the park. It felt as if the breeze was pushing them towards the park so he could finish his mission. At last, he thought the time has come; I have been rewarded for my patience.

He followed them, making sure no one was watching him. There were bushes and trees everywhere so it was not hard to hide and gain ground on them, and finally he came into the position to see and hear them. At least, they were talking but somehow he could not hear them as clearly as he expected. It was as though the wind took their voices away.

"Two birds with one stone," he whispered again, trying to take the gun out of the holster. Oh... it was so heavy! Finally he managed to pull it out but there was an excruciating pain in his chest. He lifted the gun to aim at them but it was so heavy... so heavy that it fell from his hand into the bushes. He held himself up with a tree branch for a few seconds and then he collapsed.

Michael was tidying up the paperwork at his desk ready to go home. It was a hard day but he was very satisfied as he had to take initiatives and to make decisions that he found invigorating. On the way out he passed the party in the garden and he thought that perhaps it would be a good idea to have a drink and something to eat as his fridge at home was empty. He filled himself a glass of wine and grabbed a sandwich then went to a corner. He was enjoying the meal and watching people conversing. He saw the Teacher with the President of WCFET. He wanted very much to join the conversation but he thought it would not be tactful for him to interrupt them. After all, they would have so much to catch up.

He was almost ready to go, but as he lifted his glass, he noticed the guy he bumped into earlier. He was sort of hiding himself from the crowd but he was watching every move the Teacher and the chairman made.

Suddenly he remembered who he was. He was the man sitting next to the chairman during the WCFET hearing. He had seen him when watching the hearing on television. The cameras had often focused on the panel and he distinctly remembered this man. But why was he watching the duo so suspiciously?

He was about to go when he saw the chairman and the Teacher leave the gardens and walk to the park. The guy followed them.

"Now what is he up to?" Michael whispered to himself, and decided to follow him.

He saw the man following the pair, taking care not to be detected by them but at the same time gaining ground. When he almost reached them, he stopped.

The ex-rookie hurried to have a better glimpse of him. He was coming out of some bushes which obscured his vision when he saw this guy collapsing on the ground. He ran towards him, leaned down and asked if he was all right. When he did not respond, he called the Teacher. "Someone needs help."

The Teacher and the chairman ran towards him asking what had happened. They recognized Michael and asked again what happened?

Michael indicated to the man lying on the ground.

The Teacher bent to take his pulse, but the chairman exclaimed, "It's the vice-chairman! I wonder what he was doing here."

"That's right," said the Teacher. "I remember him sitting next to you in the hearing." He shook his head. "We're losing him." Turning to Michael he said, "Go and get a car."

Michael ran to the network garage and fetched a van. He returned to find the other two giving CPR. He parked the car next to them and they loaded the vice-chairman into the van and continued with the CPR as they drove to the hospital.

And then the inconceivable happened.

The vice-chairman found himself sitting in the back of a van, looking at his body. The Teacher and the chairman took turns trying to revive him by applying constant CPR while the van sped through the streets of the city towards the hospital.

This entire scene looked tragic-comic to the vice-chairman. He burst into a loud spell of laughter, screaming, "Hey you— what are you doing there? Can't you see? I am alive!" But it was all to no avail. He shouted right in their ears but they continued with the CPR. They just could not hear him.

He moved to sit in front next to the driver. "It is funny you know," he said to the driver. "These guys back there are trying to resuscitate me. They don't know I am alive." The driver took no notice of him either. He shook the man's shoulder, saying. "Hey, I know you. You are the guy I bumped into earlier. You know me, don't you?"

But Michael was driving furiously until they reached at the hospital.

The hospital people put the patient on a stretcher and quickly conveyed him to the operating table. This time he found himself floating on the ceiling, looking down at his body. He could see the doctors working frantically, but finally they gave up. He floated a bit further. He was amazed with this ability he had to go wherever he wanted at will, but there was something he could not understand. Although he was away from his body, he felt he was attached to it somehow.

The Teacher, with the chairman and Michael, were sitting on a bench when the door opened and an orderly wheeled out a stretcher, bearing the body of the vice-chairman, covered with a white sheet.

When they realized there was no reason anymore to wait, Michael asked the other two if they would like to go for a drink.

The Teacher said, "That sounds good,' and the chairman seconded it, so off they went with the van to a bar nearby. They ordered drinks, and when they settled down, the rookie said to the Teacher, "I did not envisage you as a drinker, Teacher. I thought that you would stay aloof from these things."

"First of all, the most important thing man does, my friend, is not what he inputs, but what he outputs. I mean that we can occasionally try various things in our life, according to the circumstances, as is the case right now. We felt like a drink, so we have one. Man can try just about anything appropriate in this life, as long as he does not get hooked on it. The problem is not what he intakes in moderation; the problem is what he outputs, even in moderation. You cannot, for instance, try gossip, glancing, lying, swearing, slandering, etc., in moderation; you just don't do it at all."

"I must say I never looked it this way; I thought all the spiritual or religious people, would stay totally away from all these things."

And then he turned to the chairman and asked, "Why was this guy following you?"

"I am not sure, but I think I have an idea."

"What is that?"

"I think he was trying to listen the conversation I had with the Teacher, in order to use it against me in the upcoming election."

"Do you think he would go to all this trouble to achieve just this?'

"I cannot think of another reason... if he only knew!"

"If he only knew what?"

"If he knew that I am not intending to take part in the election he would not go to all this trouble.'

"You intend not to re-run for the presidency? I thought that this was full time work for you. What are you going to do then?"

"I don't know. But I know what I am going to do in a month's time."

"And what is that?"

"We are going for vacation for one month. My wife and I are going to the Greek islands."

"That is fantastic! Which island are you going to?"

"We are going to Patmos."

"Patmos. Isn't it the island that John wrote the Apocalypses?"

"Yes."

"That is fantastic! What about you, Teacher?"

"I don't know the schedule exactly. My organizer does all this. I know I am invited to give a speech next week in a university; and that we are going to tour the country for a few months, but that's all. What about you? Things have changed so much for you suddenly. You got a promotion so you must be very happy? Not many young men could hold an important position as you do at such an age."

"Thanks to you, Teacher. The opportunity arrived when you appeared in the scene."

"Nevertheless you had the ability to grab it."

The coffin lay in the chamber. Many mourners brought flowers and paid their farewell tribute to the body for the last time. The vice-chairman's ex-wife leaned over the body and kissed it on the forehead. Outside the chamber there were small groups having casual discussions.

The vice chairman, after he accepted the idea that people could not see or hear him, resigned with a heavy heart to reality. He remembered how all his life he mocked everyone who brought up this subject in conversation. He remembered how bitter and even hateful he was about the people who believed in these things. He remembered the murder he tried to commit to prevent his countrymen being influenced with such anachronistic ideas that would take the country back to the middle ages. And now! Now he had to revaluate and to recall all his thoughts about it and say to everyone that life continues after death. But how could he do it? No matter how loudly he spoke they could not hear him although he could hear himself distinctly.

At least there was one thing he felt good about. He did not commit the murder. He went outside and mingled with the mourners. He was astonished to hear them talking of everything but him. There were some references made to him out of politeness, and in only a formal manner, but no more. He heard people talking at his funeral about football, the weather, politics... anything you can imagine, but not of him.

Then he spotted the trio that tried to save his life and went there to listen.

As he went closer he realized they were talking of him. It was not small talk or formal talk. They were really talking about him.

He reached them just as the chairman was saying that he was a good patriot and that he was not an opportunist. Whatever he did, he did in order to protect his country that he felt so strongly about.

"That's one of the reason he did not like you, Teacher, because he thought all these ideas would harm his country, and he wanted to protect it."

Oh how ashamed he felt. He had tried to murder this man who seemed the only one who understood him.

Then Michael turned to the Teacher and asked, "And what is happening now? Where is he? Where is his soul?"

"Somewhere around here. Probably he is listening in to us right now."

"Is that so? I thought the soul goes away somewhere in heaven."

"It may do so but not straight away."

"When then?"

"After the silver thread is cut off. When man departs this Earth he is still attached with a cord with his human body. It's something similar to the way a baby when born in this Earth is attached to the mother. Because of this cord, the soul is bound with his body and so he stays around it without knowing why."

"Why? He cannot see that?"

"Exactly! No."

The vice chairman was astonished with what he was hearing. In a few minutes these people whom he tried to kill taught him so much. He wanted to apologize so much as to kiss their feet and ask for forgiveness with all his heart, but he wanted to hear more.

"And how long will it take for this cord to be cut off?" asked Michael.

"It does not cut off just like that. It dissolves slowly. As the body decomposes, so does it."

"Does it take days? Weeks? Months?"

"It depends on the condition of the soul. The lighter the soul the quicker it is released. The heavier, the more Earth bound the soul, the longer it takes. I would say generally from two to three days to a week."

"And then what happens?"

The vice-chairman was waiting eagerly to hear the answer. After all he was right so far, so why should he not believe him now?

"What happens then?" Rookie continued. "What happens when the cord is dissolved?"

"This I cannot answer for each soul prepares his own environment. The Lord provides each individual with a free will and everyone gets what he deserves. He does not intervene arbitrarily."

The chairman asked, "Can you elaborate a bit more about this?"

"The most I can say is that the law of gravity plays a big role in this. The lighter a soul is the higher it will go. The heavier a soul is the lower. Now this is a general picture. But there is one other law that also plays an immense part here. That is the law of attraction of homogenous species. So we will have lighter noble souls assembling in specific lighter areas, or spheres, and heavier and gross souls assembling in lower heavier spheres, but it can vary as much as man varies."

"Can someone escape from their environment? Can someone from a lower sphere rise to a higher, or vice versa?"

"It can, but it is much more difficult than here on Earth. This is why Earth is such an important transit point for man's evolution. Here on Earth, the good and the bad ones are rubbing shoulders, constantly, and the bad can learn and can be influenced from the good if they so will. In the beyond, the law of the attractions of homogenous species brings together souls with similar characteristics, and as everyone is more or less the same, they assume that this is how life is and settle with that. It takes much courage, and a heart-full prayer, in order for help to come, but if someone wills it so, so it will happen."

The vice-chairman hearing all this felt sad, and ashamed. He remembered before his earthly death how agitated he would become when someone brought this into conversation. He felt so much remorse, so much sorrow, that he wished he had a cigarette. He saw a lonely figure away from the rest of the mourners, smoking a cigarette, so he went over next to this guy. Whenever the smoker inhaled, the vice-chairman also felt the sensation of it, not as strongly as when he was over the other-side, but enough to feel a bit better, so he left the smoker and mingled with the mourners again.

He wanted to go back to hear what the trio were saying, but he also wanted to listen to the others, before they dispersed. He went to a group of WCFET members. They were discussing the up and coming election on the WCFET. Most of the members affirmed the notion that if the vice-chairman was still alive, he would be the favorite to win the elections.

He went to another group. They were gossiping about the circumstances of finding his body at the television station. It was amusing to hear all these people talking of something with all gossip and theories.

He left them and he went to another group, but he left immediately, as they were talking about basketball. The next one was engrossed in small talk. He was ready to go to listen to the trio again, when, far away from the rest of the mourners, completely isolated, he saw the four members of the group elected to solve the 'Teacher problem'.

He was their boss, and now without him, they looked like a herd without a shepherd, he thought. From far away as he saw them, they looked to be in a serious discussion, so he decided to listen for a while.

When he reached them, one of them was finishing his phrase, saying, "...and we have to act fast."

"I don't think so," another said. "We don't want to make the same mistake as the vice-chairman did. We have to be as cool as a cucumber, and when the opportunity arrives, and then we will strike."

"You don't understand," the third said. "The issue here is not when we are going to strike, the issue is, how are we going to strike? Will that be through legal channels, or should we follow the means of our vice-chairman? The one is arduous and long, and the other instant and final."

The vice-chairman started to scream, and slap as hard as he could at the guy, saying, 'Don't you ever make the same mistake as I did! Don't you ever!", but no matter how hard he hit him, how loud he screamed, the man was not taking any notice.

Exhausted, and completely disheartened, the vice-chairman collapsed on the ground, and lost consciousness.

When the vice-chairman regained consciousness, the funeral parade was on the way to the cemetery. He spotted the car where the four were riding and jumped in it. He was amazed how easily he could move around, almost at will. He heard them again talking of how to solve the Teacher problem, and how in a way, they felt guilty of letting him down. They were convinced that they had to make it up to him.

Frightened and full of sorrow and anguish for what was coming, he felt that he had to do something about it; after all he was the reason for this four to be feeling so strongly about it. He had to do something, but what?

He left the car tormented with the idea that they would commit an act for which he would be responsible. In his despair, his mind went back to the Teacher. He floated above the cars of the funeral parade, and finally he spotted the right car. The young man was driving, and the Teacher with the chairman sat in the back. He sat in the front next to the driver, but unfortunately for him, they had stopped talking; they all were withdrawn into their own thoughts.

Fearing that the time for the burial would come soon, the vice-chairman leaned towards the rookie and told him in a commanding voice, "Ask the Teacher if the deceased can communicate with the living ones."

He waited for a while, and as he desperately tried to understand what else he could do, abruptly Michael cut the silence as with a knife, and asked the Teacher, "Teacher, if a deceased one wants to contact a living one, say for example, if the vice-chairman wants to contact one of his friends, can he do it?"

"Under certain circumstances he can."

The vice-chairman was hanging on the lips of the Teacher, anxiously waiting to see if there was something he could do to avoid this crime.

"And what are these circumstances?"

"For example, through a medium."

"I know about that, or rather I've heard about that, but is there another way?"

"If the vice-chairman wanted to come in contact directly, he could use the body of a child with special radiations of the blood. Through this special emanation of some children's blood, the deceased can draw some strength from them, in order to form a kind of message, but with the possibility is always a danger to the child's life."

"Does this happen, Teacher? I never heard about it."

"It happens, but mainly from earthbound spirits, doing it to annoy someone, or to tease."

The vice chairman went out of the car, with some hope appearing in the horizon for the first time. He thought amusingly, they are going to have a wedding, without a groom. He left the funeral in a hurry. The only chance he had was to see if he could leave a message through one of their kids. Out of the four, three-committee members were married with kids. He knew where they all lived, for he used to visit them occasionally.

Although he felt bound with his earthly body, he was amazed how easily he could float or walk along in the streets of the city.

He choice to start with the closest one, this member had three kids, and although he didn't have a special position in the committee, he was up and coming and very ambitious. His was an average house in a modest suburb.

The vice-chairman entered the house without having to open the door. He found it amusing, but also intrusive. Nevertheless, he could not be sentimental. The kids were there, and so was his friend's wife.

The time to start his experiment came. According to the Teacher, whom he would not dare question any more, it would be possible to lift or write things or leave a kind of a message through the radiations that emanate from some children.

Well, here is the opportunity for it, he said to himself. He concentrated on one boy. He was about ten years old. The vice-chairman tried to lift a pencil that was lying on the table but to no avail; it did not matter how hard he tried, the pencil would not budge. He concentrated hard but nothing happened. He tried again with the next kid, a girl about eight years old.

Again, no matter how hard he tried, the pencil would not budge.

The third was a boy about seven, and again, as hard as he tried it was all in vain.

Disappointed, off he went to the next house. It was close by, and was in an affluent middle class suburb, with nicely groomed lawns, and meticulous gardens. It belonged to one middle aged member. Although he didn't hold any special position in the committee, he was the man behind the scenes; a 'king maker'. Without his help, the vice-chairman would never have reached the position he had held. Thinking about it, he felt ashamed of the way he had accused the committee of being cowards. This man had two kids. One of them was in the house, but the other one and his mother were out.

The kid in the house was about twelve years old. He was reading a comic book when the vice-chairman entered his room. There on the table was an empty paper cup of ice cream, with a little plastic spoon inside. Here was an opportunity to put in place what he had just learnt. He concentrated on the boy, trying at the same time to overturn the ice cream cup, pushing it as hard as he could. Nothing! Exhausted, and disheartened, he collapsed on the floor. His hope began to fade away fast, and he started to question the wisdom of the Teacher, but then he remembered the Teacher saying some kids. It could be one in hundred, or in one in thousand, or even in ten thousands, he thought. The Teacher was right on the spot so far. Why he should be wrong this time? The only thing left to do was to try the other two kids.

"At least I will be content that I tried my best," he said speaking to himself. He could talk to himself now without worrying that someone would misunderstand him.

But now the dilemma was, whether he should wait in this house until the other boy returned, or should he go to the treasurer's house? He decided to wait. Being in the boy's room for no reason, he felt he was intruding someone's privacy, so he waited in the lounge. As the time went by, without the other kid coming back, he decided to go to the treasurer's house, and if needed be, he would come back. Again the house wasn't far; a very similar sort of a house, but a bit more spacious than the other two.

The treasurer had one kid, a lovely little girl about six to seven years old; she was in her room, playing one of the video games. Her mother was in the kitchen, preparing the meal for dinner. The vice-chairman went straight to the girl's room. He watched the little girl, as she was occupied with the video, and said to himself, "If this is going to fail, I won't bother anymore."

There were toys on the floor, drawings that the girl had colored in, and an open paper envelope with what it appeared were small pieces of paper, each one with a letter from the alphabet, in order to teach the girl how to spell. There were all sorts of colored pencils, and more. He concentrated on the girl, trying to see if he could lift a pencil, but nothing. At that moment the outside door opened, and the treasurer came in the house shouting, "Darling, I'm home."

His wife embraced and kissed him saying, "Do you want a drink, darling?"

"Yes I would like one; what a hectic day!"

"How was the funeral?"

"Oh, just like any other funeral."

"Were there many people there?"

"O yes! Even the chairman and the so-called Teacher, were there; can you imagine this, of all the people he could not stand, and this two turned up in his funeral.

"Are you hungry?"

"I am starving."

"How is our little one?"

"She is playing one of her video games. I'd better check up on her."

The door was open and as she entered the room, she froze; she turned back and called her husband, with her finger across her lips, indicating to him not to make any noise. They both entered the room carefully and saw the little girl, in an unusual position, watching one of the small cut up pieces of paper she used for learning how to spell lift off the floor, and rise until it lay on the table, next to a word that was already taking shape. This letter was the letter "D", it lay a bit further from one word formed previously that read DONT, but without the apostrophe between the letters N and T. The next letter that came out of the pack of letters on the floor was the letter "O". It lay down next to the letter "D", forming the word DO. So far two words were formed; DONT DO.

The treasurer and his wife looked at each other, baffled.

What the hell is going on here? Wondered the treasurer. Before he finished his thought, another letter slowly lifted from the floor. This time it was the letter "I", and it settled a bit further than the previous word DO, obviously starting to form a new word.

I, what? Thought the treasurer, I what? And at the same time the letter "T" lifted slowly from the floor, and laid next to the letter "I".

DONT DO IT.

Cold sweat started to run down from his forehead. Immediately he knew what the message was for him; he knew what it was all about. He looked at his wife, and she looked bewildered, and as he came to his senses and thought of trying to do something about it, suddenly a pencil that was lying on the floor, started to rise. It reached the word DONT, in between the letters "N" and "T" and was trying hard to scribe the apostrophe, but then, the pencil fell, the little girl fell, and over the other side, the vice-chairman fell too. All of them collapsed simultaneously, out of the sheer tremendous exertion from what he had managed to perform.

The parents ran to the girl, wetting her lips with a glass of water. She was pale, and unconscious, but after a while, she sat up without ever remembering anything.

At night the treasurer could not make out what it was all about. He sensed what the message was about, and that it was a warning for him not to proceed with what he and his buddies had planned, but he could not understand what happened, or how it happened. If he had not seen that with his own eyes, he definitely would not have believed it. But now, how could he dispute it? How could he resist what happened? And what should he do now?

More or less they had agreed to take a radical step to eliminate this so-called Teacher. Should he back off? And what were the others going to say? They would demand an explanation. Should he tell the truth? Who would believe him? These guys, like him, despised anything to do with supernatural things, so they would be the last people in the universe to believe anything of paranormal phenomena. They would certainly mock him, and even suggest seeing a psychiatrist. But that was not all. Any hopes, and any aspirations he had of contending the chairman's post in the up-coming elections would go out of the window.

But how should he proceed then? After today's incident, to get rid of the Teacher physically was out of question. The only road left open was to proceed with legal channels to achieve it. With this in his mind, he fell asleep.

The four members of the committee that have been assigned to solve the Teacher's issue, met again, this time without the vice-chairman, to plan how to proceed. Already, at the funeral, they had decided to take the course, of physical elimination, in order to stop this guy continuing his attacks against their country, and the world. With all this paranormal garbage, new age sophistries, and ideological paranormal ties, the chances of this small wave becoming an unstoppable tsunami, were highly possible.

They met in the back of the room at the WCFET again, but without the presence of the wise chairman, it looked rather incomplete, and it felt odd. The treasurer, as the highest-ranking official in the group, began to address them. "Gentlemen, we all know why we are here, so we will go straight to the point. Wasting time on formalities is an unaffordable luxury for us. Last time I could not sleep for thinking about our predicament, and so I have revised some thoughts about our Endeavour. First of all I want to say I do not think that there is one other man in the world who wants to get rid of this guy, as much as I do. Having said that, I will now elaborate on thoughts I had last night. As I was putting my little girl to bed, it occurred to me that it would be a tragedy if she lost her father because my irresponsible action. You all have children, so you know what I am talking about.

"Then, I thought about the last time we met in this room, how we reacted when the vice-chairman suggested we should exterminate this guy physically. He even called us cowards. I am sure at that time we all acted rationally, but somehow; we deviated from that course influenced by the death of our vice-chairman.

"If we analyze the problem we face with this guy, we'll see we don't show enough faith in our profession. Sixty per cent of our members are lawyers. I am sure if we concentrate on it, we will find a way to put this imposter back to his hole without violence. It is no use crying over spilt milk. It may take time, but I am sure we can eventually throw away the keys."

"The truth is that I was not quite sure about it myself," said one of the others. "I think we over-reacted yesterday."

"Is there anyone who wants to pursue what we had decided yesterday, gentlemen? Shall we take a vote for it?"

They shook their heads.

"Very well then," said the treasurer, "let's see how we shall begin then, for we will have to start from scratch."

"I think," said one of them, "the best way to go is to declare elections in about one month's time. Our draft allows it for special circumstances, and we can justify it easily. We elect one of us as chairman, and then we will declare the recommendation issued by the former chairman as void, because of conflicting interests of the parties concerned."

"That sounds all right. After all, these pictures of the pair prove that."

"The problem is, whom shall we select for chairman? We don't want to finish up with a weak one. Don't forget what happened with the one we still legally have."

"We need someone that we can trust."

"I suggest that you should run for the chairman's position," the king maker said to the treasurer. "I think that you will make a good one, and above all, we all know where you stand."

"That sounds all right," said someone.

"I'll second that," said another.

The date for the elections was set. Everything was going well for the treasurer. The king maker behind the scenes made sure things to turn to his favor, by campaigning the way only he could. It was not that hard, as the topic for the campaign was the issue about the way with which the WCFET handled the Teacher's problem. It wasn't a typical election, as such, as various governments from around the world appointed members, for it was affiliated by the UNO. The hardest problem, logistically, was to bring all the members together at the particular date at short notice.

As the tradition was for the host country to hold the chairman's office, and since all the countries were dissatisfied the way things turned out of the Teacher's hearing case, it looked as if this election would be a breeze for the treasurer.

And it was so. By a landslide, virtually unopposed, he became the new chairman of the WCFET, with two of the buddies of the four taking important positions in the committee.

It seemed the new chairman would have his hands free to handle the Teacher's problem, as he felt fit. He called the first meeting of the new committee.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we all know how irresponsibly the previous chairman handled the hearing of the so-called Teacher's case.

"It would be an under-statement if I say that we became the laughing stock of the world, because it is not a laughing matter anymore. If we don't tackle this case head on, it will have serious repercussions for the whole world in the future.

"In order to do that, we'll have to declare the recommendation of the previous administration of the WCFET void. We will claim, with good evidence that the ex-chairman acted against the charter of the WCFET by issuing a recommendation without submitting it to the committee for approval. It will be a legal challenge, which I am sure we are going to win.

"This is basically the way we shall tackle this matter. If we achieve this, then we will reconvene in order to issue a new recommendation. Has anybody else any other suggestion?"

"Yeah, and in the meantime he'll be crisscrossing the country stirring up our kids. I already heard that he is going to lecture at a university," said someone.

"Have you another suggestion? Has anybody else any other suggestion?" There was a silence. "Well that's that then," said the new chairman. "We will reconvene after the results of the appeal."

# PATMOS I

When Adam Clarke the chairman heard about the elections to be held in the WCFET, he did not mind at all. In fact, he was glad that this page of his life was over.

He was enjoying his days with his wife as never before. He started to notice little things in her that made him appreciate her company more and more, and in return, she responded to his acknowledgment, with gusto and pleasure; whether it was the way she served dinner, the arrangement of the flowers that the chairman would bring home occasionally, or rearranging things around the house. It seemed she did not want anything to become stale during this beautiful time.

In return, he would appreciate her more and more, and show it in every opportunity, with a sweet smile, an appreciative word, or a gesture. This spontaneous behavior of both evolved into a wonderful catch twenty-two, in a never-ending delightful merry-go- round situation.

They were so happy; they hardly noticed that the day for the trip to Patmos had arrived. That was also the day that the chairman learned he was no more the chairman of the WCFET, but the ex-chairman, as the elections were held smoothly, and the treasurer won the vacant seat. Well, he thought, what better way to start the new page of my life?

Rhodes was fading behind them as they headed for Patmos on a small ferryboat. They spent two beautiful days there, wandering in the old city, with its cobblestone pavements, the old shops, and the nice little restaurants with the checked tablecloths. The cool gentle breeze on the ferryboat soothed their faces as it smoothly cut the waters on the Mediterranean Sea, leaving behind a line of white froth as far as the eye could see. The seagulls that had begun to accompany the boat the last half hour or so multiplied, which it meant the island would not be far away.

The island started to appear, like a fairy-tale land, popped up in the middle of the blue sea of the ancient times, ready to be explored by the modern invaders. The ex-chairman beamed from happiness and satisfaction. His wife was even more excited. Her eagerness and expectation were drawn all over her face, in her glittering eyes, in her pleasant movements.

Patmos was a modest island, an island for reflection. And that was exactly the reason the ex-chairman, and his wife were excited. They wanted to be alone. It seemed that they needed time by themselves to catch up for all the beautiful moments they lost during the chairman's term in the WCFET. For the Adam Clarke was honest with what he was doing. He would give hundred percent of his inner being to whatever occupied him. He was not merely a figurehead in an organization. But that was not without consequences. He would bring all the worries, all the agonies, concerns and anguish home, and his wife was just the buffer zone, absorbing everything he would throw at her every night. He was aware of that, and tried to make it up to her now, while she was enjoying every minute of it.

They settled in a nice, small, clean hotel, with panoramic views of the blue sea in front, and the fortress, where John wrote the apocalypses in the cave, imposing over to the right.

They would stroll along leisurely in the little streets, browsing into the small shops, and mingle with the locals, and the few tourists.

It was far from the renowned islands with the cosmopolitan and jet set colorful people that flock to islands like storm troopers, leaving behind the pieces to be collected again by the locals when it is all over.

No, this island was much more intimate. It was a place to get close to the locals, and cherish their warmth, and friendly smiles and friendship, regardless of the language barriers or culture. It was a place to know the baker, to become friendly with the owner of your favorite cafenio. It was a place to become acquainted with the locals, or the tourists that frequently visit your favorite restaurant. People here start to call you with your first name, and you start to become a part of the whole. That is a warm feeling.

The days were passing carelessly, in an uninterrupted indescribable enjoyment, until Mr. Clarke decided to ring home, to see if things were all right. Since they did not have a mobile phone, he went to the post office and made some calls.

A friend informed him that the new administration of the WCFET was trying to overturn in court the recommendation issued by him, and if he wanted to challenge it, he should not waste one hour.

He went to a cafenio, which was next door, and sank into a chair wondering what to do. He ordered ouzo, and became absorbed in his thoughts.

They were in the mist of their third week of their vacation, and there were still nearly ten days left of a beautiful dream. Did he have the right to do this to his wife? What else could he do for this man? He had lost his job and many of his friends and professional associates, and had being ridiculed all over the world for someone he hardly knew. But should he stay here enjoying his holidays as though nothing happened? And this entire sacrifice; should it all be for nothing? What about the aim of the council? It was called, the World Council of Freedom of Expression and Tolerance. If the council could not tolerate something, just because it was inconceivable to them, then what was the reason of its existence? And what about this; should he allow an injustice to take place? And who was he to tackle the whole world? After all, there were others paid to solve this problem. He was just a civilian who happened to be on his vacation with his wife, and nobody was going to spoil it.

These kinds of thoughts were bubbling in his head when his wife started to look for him. She knew he went to the post office to make a telephone call, so that was where she went. She saw him outside sitting in a cafenio under a tree. She knew straight away that there was trouble brewing.

She approached him with care and asked him, "What is wrong, honey?"

"I told you once before, a man wants to sanctify, but the devil won't allow him."

His wife knew straight away that this was really something serious which could even jeopardize their vacation.

"Has it to do, with the WCFET case?" she asked.

"You guessed right."

This time, it was she who sank into the chair next to him. Sensing what was coming, she swallowed the half empty glass of ouzo on the table and then she got up, walked into the cafenio's premises, and returned with a bottle of five stars Metaxas in one hand, and two fresh glasses on the other. She sat down, and after a while she said, "I suppose all good things must come to an end sometime."

The chairman did not answer. His body was there, but not his spirit. Then he said with a convincing tone in his voice, "Dear, don't worry. I won't allow anything to spoil our vacation."

The tone was convincing, but it sounded as if he tried to convince himself rather than her.

His wife had hardly touched a drink before, apart from the occasional liqueur with a coffee after dinner, but now she was already in her second glass of Metaxas. As the night progressed, they changed their conversation to other things, laughing merrily, and reminiscing on moments far from the problem looming in the corner. Finally, holding and helping each other, they managed to find their room, and collapsed on the bed, both of them with their clothes still on.

In the morning, when they awoke seeing themselves in this state, they burst into laughs, with the chairman's wife holding her head, and complaining that this was the first and the last time ever that she ever going to touch a drink in her life, while the chairman whispered to himself that it would be worthwhile, if at least it had helped us find a solution for the problem.

Without talking much they walked to the little restaurant that they both enjoyed, to have brunch. During the coffee his wife said gently, "Now honey, let's see if the problem we face is as difficult as it appeared last night. Either way, we will have to face it."

"I would rather leave it as it is my dear. I don't want to spoil our vacation."

"I could not possibly enjoy a minute of it, my honey, if I know something is bothering you. You know that."

"I am in such mess, I feel schizophrenic. One side tells me I don't have the right to spoil my wife's vacation, and the other side tells me my duty is not here, but to defend what I stand for, and to fight against injustice and prejudice."

"But honey, you still did not tell me what happened!"

"The new administration of the WCFET is taking legal action, trying to overturn my recommendation as illegal."

"That is even more serious than I thought," she said, concerned. "If that happened, everything you accomplished so far would simply blow away into dust." She thought for a moment as though she wanted to be hundred per cent sure of what she was going to say, and then she added, "But you are not going to allow this to happen, are you honey?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"You mean?"

"Yes!"

"I don't know what to say."

"Of course not, because you are a doer. You are not good at saying things; you never were. You are good in doing things, so let's go and do it."

"I feel so bad. I spoiled your vacation Lillian"

"Look honey, we had a wonderful time, so wonderful I will never forget it. It's shortened up a bit, but so be it. I am happy when I see you have peace of mind. The rest can wait. After all, I would not like to continue with our vacation as though nothing had happened! No, I would expect much more from you."

Mister Clarke held both her hands, and said, smiling while he looked deep in her eyes, "I am the luckiest man in the world. I have the most wonderful person in the world, and she is my wife, right here in front of me. I can touch her, I can hold her, and I can kiss her." Then he started to kiss her, saying, "I'll make it up for you dear; I'll make it up to you," and with that, they got up holding hands, feeling calm, and at peace, and went to the travel agent to organize the trip back home.

As soon as John Watson the new chairman had been elected, he started to work towards over-ruling the recommendation issued by his predecessor. He had an overwhelming majority in the committee, and his hands were free to act as he felt. After he tightened up the case, gathering all the information and documents he needed, he put in the appeal in court. To his surprise, the author of the recommendation challenged the appeal. The ex-chairman had returned from his vacation and lodged an injunction against the appeal, claiming the recommendation was valid, as it had been issued by applying all the legal letters of the law.

The court upheld the ex-chairman's appeal, and issued a hearing in five days.

The day for it arrived, and both parties were in their positions ready to defend their cases. The side of the new administration claimed that due to a quorum, the recommendation was non-valid. They had enough material, claiming that when the ex-chairman issued the recommendation, most of the members were in another room preparing it. This was in order to facilitate him, as he had insufficient time due to the fact that he insisted on presiding over the hearing without interruptions.

The ex-chairman claimed that the recommendation was made according to the letter of the law that specified that in order for a member of a committee, to be eligible to participate in the process of forming a recommendation of a hearing, the committee member in question had to participate for a justifiable time in the process of the hearing itself.

The new administration claimed that indeed the committee members participated in justifiable time in the process of the hearing. The only time they were absent was the time during the press conference, but that was irrelevant anyway, for the press conference was not part of the hearing.

The ex-chairman hit back, claiming that the press conference was valid, for it was held under the jurisdiction of the WCFET, hence, it was part of the hearing process. It was even more informative than the hearing itself. In fact the press conference provided much more informative material. As he put it, the press conference was, "The tipping point, the cornerstone, the gist", that made him and the few colleagues that participated issue the according recommendation. "Therefore," the ex-chairman ended, "the claimant has no right to appeal against the recommendation, for they have an incomplete picture, due to lack of attendance and insufficient evidence."

It did not take long for the verdict, which was in favor of the defender, with the preamble that the claimant had shown insufficient interest in the proceedings of the hearing, by not participating in the press conference. The court found that this was indeed part of the hearing proceedings.

But the same night, as the ex-chairman and his wife were celebrating their victory, the new chairman called a meeting of the committee, claiming they had only lost a battle, not the war.

He called all the big guns into action. He engaged one of the biggest and best known law firms, together with the assistance of some of the WCFET lawyers, and they made an enormous legal machine.

After the favorable court verdict for the WCFET recommendation, the Teacher was bombarded with offers inviting him to appear on television networks, in newspaper interviews, on radio and at universities. He chose mainly the universities, firstly because he liked the personal contact with the audience and secondly because these audience were young. He thought the young more appreciable to new teachings than the old.

This was also the weapon his opponents mainly used against him i.e. that he incited the young in to revolt against the established world order.

They ignored the fact that the gist of his message was to obey the natural laws that govern the universe.

This was the Third University at which the Teacher would appear. There had been scuffles and small demonstrations outside the previous ones and so the organizers took some precautions for the upcoming gathering.

As the Teacher had the luxury to choose the venue, he insisted on a number of rules, one of which was to apply the same technique he used in the television interview. That is, during the presentation, the organizers to show various passages they chose from various sources authorized by the Teacher, whether from his writings speeches or interviews. They had to select and present them for debate, as it was a good way to trigger the notion for conversation. It gave food for thought, and brought always-lively dialogues, an exchange of ideas and discussion, and that was the aim of the whole endeavor.

One of the previous universities had used a projector for this purpose; the other one used video. This university had a huge amphitheatre with a screen as big as a cinema's. The amphitheatre was packed and at the back many were standing. There were two podiums; one for the Teacher one for the organizer and two boom operators for the sound with one microphone hanging from each one for the audience to participate.

In general it looked a pretty well organized gathering.

Everything was ready for the presentation to start.

The Teacher and the organizer were ready standing on their podiums and the organizer started to address the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have been organizing forums for this university for at least the last twenty years, and every time I have done it in the past I was able to categorize the subject or to be aware of the motive behind each. This time I am racking my brain to put our guest somewhere; to categorize him. I even had problems promoting this event because I did not know what label to use. He does not belong to a political party or political ideology. He is against religion, as we know it. He called the new age groups the Pharisees of modern times. He claims and accuse many professions are unethical and even outright criminal as in the case of hypnotists. After all that, if you would think that the rebellious or the revolutionary ones would side with him you are wrong, for he advocates that the citizen of a state has the duty to respect and obey the laws of the country until they are abolished by the inner pressure of the same citizens exerted on the government.

"To be honest, there is hardly anyone left to support him for if you add it all up it summaries the whole of mankind.

"With all this in my mind, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to one of the most controversial men of our time; to the man as the whole world knows as the Teacher.

"Well Teacher is there anything that you disagree with in my introduction or is there anything you want to say in general for the opening of this forum?"

"Yes! For a start I don't accuse anyone. I merely state. I am not a peculiar old man saying every morning when I get up, 'hmm let's see which one shall I accuse today...' and to all these people who feel that I have offended I would advise that all this energy they use against me would be better used inwardly to re-examine themselves. They might derive much more by doing that. After all, prevention is always better than cure.

"I also want to say, that I never comment on comments made for me, whether favorable or not. If I did that, I would spend the rest of my life doing just that, although the analysis you just made approaches pretty close to the facts.

"But what are facts? Let's we assume that we want to go from point A, to point B. This road from A to B is the factual road, or the road that interests us, or better, the road that is relevant to us. Now, if we for some reason, unknown to us, made a detour, then we entered the non-factual road, or the road that is not in our interest, or the road that is irrelevant to us. Hence it is immaterial, therefore non-factual, and thus pseudo-factual. This is what I wish to explore with you all.

"Man lives in a world that is pseudo-factual. If we take as a base the fact that nothing in this world is as it should be, that is because, on the way from A to B, we made a detour. Rather than following the road straight from A to B, we are on a pseudo-factual road that we assume is the real road. Therefore, whatever calculations a man makes will be irrelevant or wrong, because his calculations derive from a wrong starting point.

Man has lived in this pseudo-factual road for such long time, he has immersed himself so deeply, that whoever makes calculations the results will be wrong. Nevertheless, he assumes that this road is the real road, and directly refers to it as the real road, i.e. the factual road. Because he is unable to recognize anymore the real road i.e. the factual road, he calls it non-factual.

"This is what I wanted to say as an introduction, and let's see if this is going to trigger some further discussions today. With this, I am handing back the chair to our organizer."

"Very well then, lets us start with some passages of writings or speeches you made in the past."

The huge screen lit up, and the first passages started to appear. The quality was so good that even the audience in the back rows had no problem viewing or hearing as the organizer started to narrate.

It is true that the old gods in what we call mythology today, in Olympus, Valhalla, etc., were no gods, but that does not erase the fact that they existed then, and still do today.

"Do they really exist?"

"Yes they do."

"And who are they, what role do they play?"

"They are animistic beings. Some were the leaders of the elementals, with incredible size by man's standards. Unable to figure out who were they, man assumed they were gods. They still occupy the same spheres as in those days. Some men could see them then, for their ethereal eyes were open, and as for what role they were play and still do; it is of working with the ethereal, and material. Without them, there would be no worlds as we know them today."

"Do they participate only for the creation of the worlds, or also for their destruction?"

"For both, their roles are already defined."

"And why aren't we seeing them now?"

"Man has lost his innocence. In order for man to see and understand spiritual, animistic, and ethereal happenings, he has to become a child in heart. In the old days man had not succumbed to his intellect yet. If we go back and retrace the behavior of various cultures, we will find that in every culture, there is evidence that they were able to see animistic beings according to their spiritual maturity, and that they were aware of their existence and even had contacts with them."

"Okay. We will move on."

You can tell how a man has lived in the past, according of how many mistakes he made. You can tell how a man has matured, according of how many of the same mistakes, he won't make.

"Well a straightforward one; obviously we should learn from our mistakes."

What is missing from the modern man is the sense of equilibrium. He refuses stubbornly to imitate the laws in nature, and that will be one major factor of his downfall.

"This one obviously deals with the environment, is that so Teacher? And if so, can you add more, as this topic is in the headlines lately?"

"Yes, if man only is willing to observe nature, he will realize that nature is never one-sided; nature always takes, and gives back, or vice-versa. Through this, nature maintains the equilibrium, which is absolutely important for sustainability. So you can see everything nature does is based on this law, of taking and giving. There are countless examples if someone wants to see. But let me give one or two examples that happen daily in front of us, with man hardly taking notice of it. By doing that, he may start to get more aware of the happenings around him.

"Observe for instance the water, in dams, lakes, and oceans. The water evaporates but it does not disappear; it becomes clouds and eventually rain, which refills, the dams, lakes, and oceans again. Look at the apple tree; it takes from the ground all the goodies it needs, but then gives back the seeds for other trees, and eventually even its body, in order to be recycled again preparing a rich ground for more apple trees. But why should I take you that far? Look at man's body; we inhale, that means we take, but we also exhale, which means giving back, or we eat and drink, but we also give back waste, which in the long run decomposes, and rejuvenates the Earth.

"Only man takes, and takes, inconsiderably, without giving back anything, so we have an Earth now foul with scars. Scars appear on the face of the Earth, with an inconceivable speed, so much so, that the damage that would take thousands of years to occur in the past, now takes one day. Now just imagine if someone inflicts scars on your body, lots of scars, how long do you think you could survive? The sad thing about it is that most of these scars could be avoided if man would be more considerate, and more consumer-conscious. But how could this happen, when all the governments around the world encourage material consumption, in order to progress economically, even if that is going to cost the existence of the Earth, itself?"

"So, we continue with our next passage then."

Finally, man has entered in the epoch of re-examination.

"Now, what would be the meaning of this?"

"That man has no time to waste. The warnings and admonitions do not apply any more; it is too late for that. The only hope that is left for him is to re-examine his life, and through that, he may came back to his senses."

Man has entered the epoch of reckoning, where the good becoming better, and the bad, becoming worst.

"Can you elaborate on it please?"

"This passage is from the same paragraph of the previous one. It expands somehow, by explaining the mechanism that takes place now in the world, which I already stated quite a few times. This happening takes place because of this enormous pressure that occurs in this part of the world that forces everything to fructify, in short to show its true face, so the good become better, and the bad get worse. Nothing can hide its inner core anymore; everything has to be revealed, everything has to lay bare, and to expose itself."

In essence, man is brought of whatever already exists, in order to make something, and he is incapable to make even a speck of dust, out of nothing.

"I will confer with our department of science, to see if this really applies."

The hardest obstacle for an intellectual to overcome is simplicity, but that is, also his only escape road, that left for him.

"That I cannot understand; surely anybody can be simple if he so wish."

"That is exactly what I am stating, the problem is, they do not wish, they will never wish. They are too clever to be simple."

Those who are not offended, or hurt, by all this abnormalities that is happening around us, may not be hurt, but surely, they are dead in their heart.

"Please explain."

"There are some people in this world, who don't give a dime for whatever happens around them as unethical or illogical as it may be. By doing that, they unwittingly expose their spiritual immaturity."

Everything is radiation, except the one that emits them, God.

Let your deeds be portrayed silently, as a flower silently portrays itself.

Be like a bee. You can test all the flowers, but don't adhere to any of them.

"Very well... let's stop for a while with the passages section, and get some questions from our audience."

"Sir, I would like to take you back into your introduction. You said that in order for man to be in the real road, or in the factual road as you put it, he must not detour from it, and as we have made a detour, we are in an unreal world, or a non-factual world. Can you please give us an insight of how this world would be, if man did not make this detour, and travelled along the factual road as you put it?"

"That would be impossible to describe, for if I attempt to do that, it surely would rendered ineffective. It would be futile, and I would undermine what I would try to achieve. I can only say this; it would represent a micrographic picture, or rather it would represent a reflection of that sphere, of which man's Endeavour would aim to take this road in the first place, and that is the sphere man calls paradise.

"Now having said that, we must now deviate from the deviation point made by man, for man cannot wander indefinitely in this road as he pleases, for the allotted time for it is over. Man lives with borrowed time regarding this matter. I have already stated this is not a real road; this is an imaginary road that very soon will come to an end. If man travelled in the right road, and did not deviate, he would be already now on the road back home, and would never have looked back. As it is, he risks the possibility of being lost forever."

"Sir, you said that if man did not deviate, and travelled on the right road, he would be on the way home by now; can you tell us what is home for man?"

"Home is a place that someone is born, or the place he came from, or the place that he feels at home.

"Now, this place that man comes from, where he has been born, that man will feel forever home, is the sphere man calls paradise. This is man's destination and he won't rest until he achieves that. But either way, he has to return there."

"What do you mean by; either way he has to return there?"

"The one way, as I said, is to return as a fully conscious human being at the place he started from. There, he will meet and mingle with human beings that did not need to travel down below in the lower spheres, in order to mature. There they will be equal in value, with those who were created instantly when God allotted his radiations, to burst beyond the sphere he occupied for ever with the words, let there be light. There, they will feel home, for they will know that they have made it, and never again will they have to go through whatever they had, in order to mature. The other way is, to return as an unconscious primeval seed, as the way it started. That is the most horrible, horrific, dreadful conclusion that can be befalling man.

It will be worthwhile to mention here, the mechanism that is taking place in these cases. Perhaps some of the 'brilliant' minds that are ridiculing those who ever dare to occupy themselves with this 'backward stuff' may have a second thought about it."

"What determines who is going to return as a conscious human being, or as unconscious primeval seed as you put it?"

"There is a law in the universe called the law of attraction of homogenous species. This law, together with the law of gravity, determines where everything comes to end. These two laws are also the catalyst man use unknowingly, in order to get what they choose according to their free will. Now as man chose to follow the material road, and not the spiritual that leads him to higher spheres, he actually attaches to the material; he becomes a part of it."

"Does this apply also for the beyond? The so-called ethereal?"

"Yes now here I must deviate a bit to say that material is not only what we perceive as such here on Earth, butt is also whatever is ethereal, so when man is attached to the material i.e. the material and the ethereal, when the time comes for them to go through the analogous vortexes, the so-called black holes, the human spirits that are attached with them have to go through this also, and cannot escape this the last minute, when these souls realizes in what predicament they have find themselves in, will be too late, for the time that have allotted man for this is over.

"Why are these souls attached to the material?

"Because so they wished through they free will". Now as the material and ethereal worlds going through their black holes in order to be rejuvenated in this mega cycle of evolution, the spirits that are attached to them will have to experience everything they have experienced through their whole existence in reverse order. That is a countdown from the moment they leave now, backwards in an agonizing endless fashion, reliving everything they lived in the past, and at the same time erasing it from their memories, in order to turn back in to a primeval seed, unconscious as the way it started the journey in the beginning.

"This primeval seed as is neither material nor ethereal, but spiritual. Because its composition is lighter, the law of gravity pools it back to the sphere it belongs, but this time not as a conscious human being like the ones that managed to accomplish their mission, but as an unconscious seed, who will try again in one other world hoping, that next time he may succeed."

"Sir I heard you talking on the same subject in a television show. It prompted me to find more about it, but when I started to make inquiries, the only thing I got back about it was irony, sarcasm, and mockery. Why is that?"

"Man relies to his intellect to understand things. As the intellect is material, he understands only material. Anything beyond that, the intellect cannot grasp. The intellectuals actually have a tunnel vision, they cannot see or perceive spherically. Because right now the intellects are in their highest peak, in the zenith of their performing ability, they assume that they have the right to impose their will upon the others. They think they know better.

"If they are confronted with something they don't understand, the only thing they can do is to mock the person opposite them, and say this entire hullabaloo belongs to the sphere of fantasy, for they are incapable to perceive anything beyond their microcosm."

"As I understand many of the misgivings that are happening now in the world, you blame what you call intellectual justification. Can you please elaborate on it?"

"Nothing is as it should be."

"If we take this as a thesis, as a jump thought-base, then we'll likely come to the question, of how could it be? However, in order to tackle this question of how could it be, we have to begin from a zero-thought-base. If we start from the base that is, then we will come to a conclusion that nothing is as it should be.

"We live in a world of the intellectual justification. No matter how absurd anything may look, no matter how ridiculous an idea may sound, no matter how ludicrous it may appear, you can be assured that the intellectuals will trip over to adopt it. The more incongruous, the more illogical, the more bizarre; the most likely it is to be adopted by them, for the intellectuals have lost the sense of balance, of logic, and of equilibrium. In short, the intellectuals that run this world are crippled imbalanced people. They are incapable of perceiving the forest any more, for they can only look at the tree in front of them. They are unaware that at the same time this tree that they are so proud of, which they can analyze, and of which they can tell you the history, the composition and which family this tree belongs to; at the same time, it obstructs their view of the forest.

"The peculiarity with them is that they think they are miles ahead of the rest.

You must understand that an intellectual is a crippled personality; it is like an airplane with one wing, he leans only on one wing, the intellectual one, and ignores the other wing, the spiritual one. This is why he will be always ground down on Earth. But nevertheless, he is so sure of himself. In fact, you can be assured that anything illogical, irrational, or preposterous, happening in this world, is devised by the intellect. No matter how absurd, how ridiculous it may be, the intellect, will try to justify it.

"Let me use an example. As we converse here, outside in the streets there are demonstrators crying for their rights, and their causes. But do they examine their conviction? I tell you, in most cases, their actions are justified by their intellect. Some men have succumbed to it partially, and some, totally. Man is incapable to use his spirit anymore. He cannot hear this small inner voice that warns him of what is right and what is wrong; he has lost this ability. The intellect took over, and justifies it no matter how absurd it may be.

"And we haven't seen anything yet; this absurdity is going to reach gigantic proportions, so much so, that men will rise their hands in despair. It will feel as if they have immersed themselves in a gigantic labyrinth with no exit. The confusion is going to be such, that they going to give up in despair, but not before they chase those who created this labyrinth, with all these 'brilliant' ideas which their intellect has justified."

"But what can man do? This Earth surely run by intellectuals, so what can man do about that?"

"The days of the intellectuals are numbered. Already the confusion has started. This is not a prediction, it is happening now. Look outside right now; as we converse here, those people there want to change the world, as long as the others change. If you want to change the world, start from yourself does not apply for them, no, they are too clever for that, their intellect is as sharp as a razor; they are above all the rest, so they have the right to impose their will to others. They think the others are incapable of understanding things such as abortion for example. They think it is okay to cut the fetus out of the woman's womb; it is something like cutting her hair, or nails. You don't let your hair grow so long do you? Neither do you let your nails grow long. A fetus is not different at all; those are part of the woman's body. Or... who has the right to oppose the marriage of two people, just because they are from the same sex? Big deal, we are above that, we are modern, progressive, open-minded, up-to-the-minute contemporaries. Restrictions of any kind don't touch us; let the squares, the backward people worry about these things. Or... open up the borders, let everybody in. You have no right to close borders; let everyone to go where he wants to go. Burn down the flags. Who needs flags? Flags are for the imbecile ones. Let the world became a soup. Or... bring that government down; it is not right to be governed by Theocrats, (but excuse me, they have been elected by their people), who cares, we know better than them, we know what is good for them, we are going to install a democratic government. (But this people have traditions that go back thousands of years; you cannot overturn it in one day,) rubbish; wait and you will see.

"I can go on and on, for this will be an endless story."

"And the governments?" asked someone. "Surely they know better than that, so why do they fall for it?"

"They are not falling for it; they are the instigators, that is why they are governments. They represent one hundred per cent of these people, for they were in their positions before they became politicians. There is an affinity between them that has the roots in the originality—" Before the Teacher finished his phrase, the doors burst open.

The invaders rushed into the amphitheatre, hurling items and abuses. They called the Teacher every name under the sun, and a half bottle of water just missed his head. Even the audience of the auditorium could not escape their fury. The security just managed to rescue the Teacher from the back door, and so abruptly, the meeting came to an end.

It took the legal machine, created by the new chairman of the WCFET, about three months to overturn the recommendation issued by the old administration. During this time, the old chairman fought as hard as he could, but, with the meager funds he had, after using a substantial amount of their personal account, finally, he conceded.

As soon as the court overturned the recommendation, the new chairman called for a new committee meeting. He was beaming with pleasure at his big achievement as he took the chair, and started to address the committee.

"Ladies and gentleman, with pleasure I announce to you that we have won the war regarding the previous contemptible recommendation issued by our previous administration.

Therefore, we can go ahead with the next step, which is to issue a new recommendation. We have drafted one, which I am going to read you now."

After the deliberation that took place, following the hearing in the WCFET headquarters, concerning the so-called Teacher, we the committee of the WCFET found there is sufficient evidence to suggest that it would be appropriate for the accused to answer further inquiries, preceded under the UNO guided affiliated organizations. Therefore we recommend the SLIU to issue an international memorandum to the authorities concerned, for further action.

"Well," a member shouted, "it is short, and directly to the point, but in the meantime, this man is using the freedom, and tolerance of our people, to slander and accuse everyone, governments, religious organizations, professions, activists and their movements, the new age groups, you name it, and he has slandered it. Surely there must be a way to stop this agitator at least for the time being in this country?"

"I have to remind you my friend that WCFET is an internationally affiliated body, and we don't have any jurisdiction in any country in the world. All we can do is to recommend, and that is exactly what we are doing."

As the committee agreed unanimously, the new chairman sent the new recommendation to the appropriate international authorities.

As soon as the SLIU received the confirmation of the new recommendation of the WCFET, they started the ball rolling. They immediately issued a go ahead affirmation, authorizing Interpol to issue an international warrant arrest for the Teacher.

The SLIU, the UN affiliated watchdog, under the international terrorism, and crimes against humanities umbrella, managed to pass a bill called the IACA act i.e. international anachronistic conspirators act. This gave the international authorities, more room to maneuver; in fact it was a preventive act.

They noticed that the last few years, because of a lack of international legislative 'muscle', international agitators were roaming the social media network, inciting young vulnerable people to violence, and even to suicide bombings. One particulate country started to use drone planes to eliminate these people, but as there were many innocent bystanders killed, especially innocent children, there was a worldwide condemnation for it. The SLIU brought this bill up, and were eager to see how it would work. They thought the Teacher's case would be an ideal start, to test the waters, as his case considered by them a mild one, and the reactions would be minimal. Above all, they wanted to see if the charges would stick in the international court of justice in The Hague.

# THE ROOKIE

After the event with his promotion and the death of that mysterious man in the network's park that night, Michael now senior representative, never looked back.

He was flying high, and it seemed he would soon make another big leap forward in the corporate scale of success. The management was very fond of him, and especially the senior adviser and the CEO were eager to see him on the board. As he was young, they thought they should give him time to mature. They did not want to burn him out by throwing him in too deep, too early.

The ex-rookie could feel all this happening around him, and felt good about it.

I am so lucky, he thought, to be recognized for my abilities in such a young age, and he thanked the God for that. He was not a religious person. He could hardly remember the last time he went to the church or prayed. He felt that behind all this wonderful life on Earth, in the animals, the flowers and the trees, the seas and the rivers, the stars, the moon and the sun, there must be some kind of power, and he would make sure to find out.

Thoughts like that would pop up sometimes whenever he was not busy with his work, which made him wonder if really this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

So the time was rolling along with him pleasantly absorbed with his work. Then the management informed him that his vacation was due. When he secured the deal with the Teacher, they had combined this with his annual leave, so he had quite considerable time up his sleeves.

It came unexpectedly for him, for he had never thought where he was going to spend his vacations. One thing he knew was this time he wanted to spend the time by himself. Up to now, he had always spent his vacations with his friends, and they always had wonderful time, but this time he wanted to be alone. There was also something else. Since the ex-chairman of the WCFET Mr. Adam Clarke had mentioned Patmos to him in that bar while they conversed with the Teacher, it had stayed in the back of his mind like glue. He never thought about it, but it was never erased either. And now with a vacation coming up, he found himself thinking about it.

At night he could not sleep for thinking again and again about various places he could go, but he always returned to the same idea of Patmos. He sprang out of bed in a hurry, turned the light on, took a chair and put it next to the wardrobe. He stood on it, and managed to pull an old atlas from the top of the wardrobe. He laid it on the table.

He knew Patmos was a Greek island, but that was all he knew. He tried to find the island on the map, but all in vain. There were many Greek islands, but not Patmos, and finally in the small hours he fell asleep.

In the morning, as his vacation days started already to tick over, he got up wondering how to find out more about Patmos. Then he remembered that the barber in the corner shop was of Greek descent, so he ran to the shop, and asked him why he could not find Patmos on the map.

The barber smiled kindly and told him jokingly, "this island is so big; there is no room in the map for it."

The Michael was confused for a moment; had he missed something? Then the barber noticing how serious he was, and laughed.

"I am only joking. I am trying to tell you that the island is so small, that only good maps have it shown. It is not only Patmos; there are many more small islands that do not appear on the maps, because they are small. However, this must be your lucky day. I have a map here, and as you can see I am not busy, so I will show you."

He brought a map from the back room, opened it up, and showed Michael a small speck in the Mediterranean Sea.

"That is Patmos?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes."

"Are there houses there?"

"Yes."

"Will I find food there? Are there restaurants in Patmos?"

"Yes."

"How about rooms, hotels?"

"Yes... are you going to Patmos?"

"Yes."

Did he say yes? He was going to Patmos? The more he thought about it, the more the idea crystallized in his head that he actually was going to Patmos. Finally he went back to the barber, and asked him if he knew a travel agent that specialized in the Greek islands.

"I know a good one," said the barber. "Tell him that I sent you."

In four days he was in Patmos. The moment he got off the ferryboat, someone was waiting for him with his name written on a placard. It was the man from the small hotel, which the agent back home had already organized for him.

"Are we going to get a taxi?" the ex-rookie asked.

"No, it is only three minutes' walking."

"You speak quite good English."

"I learned English when I was working as a seaman, travelling around the world with the merchant navy. Now I am sort of retiring."

"What can you tell me about the island? Where can I go, and what can I do?"

"To be honest with you, not much. Do you like swimming?"

"Well, when I am with my friends I suppose I do, but by myself, I don't think it is going to be fan."

"Here we are. This is the hotel."

It was a nice little modest hotel. The room was neat and clean, with only the absolute essentials, but with a nice view overlooking the sea.

The man from the hotel told him he couldn't suggest much, as this was a family- oriented island, more for relaxing rather than doing things. He told him not to hesitate to ask him if he wanted something, and left the room.

Michael was tired from the long journey, and lay in bed thinking a little snooze might rejuvenate him, but it was all in vain; he could not possibly sleep, for he wanted to go out and explore the place where he was going to spend his vacation. He got up, and started to wander the Scale, the little port where his hotel was. The first thing he noticed was the pace of the people. Everything seemed to move with this languid leisurely way, compared with his home, especially with his work.

It seemed that here everything ran in slow motion; the priest with his long black robe, the donkey carrying the old man, the little fishing boats dancing lazily with the rhythm of the waves that softly rippled in the sand. Even the tourists seemed to have adopted this pace.

Watching them walk on the streets, Michael was puzzled. No, what am I saying here? he thought. Nobody walks here, they stroll; that is the right word I wanted to use, people here are strolling leisurely, and that is something I'd better get used to.

He walked along the pier, watching the fisherman mending their nets, throwing the little fishes to the cats that passionately and patiently waited for their rewards.

This was something he had always wanted to do, he thought, to be able to fish, but he knew absolutely nothing about it. Farther up, he stumbled to a little restaurant where the chairs and tables were just about wetted by the ripple of the waves. He sat down and ordered fried sardines, a salad and small bottle ouzo.

That was his first day in Patmos, and after the meal, he returned to his hotel room, had a shower, and collapsed on the bed, awaking late the next morning.

This day he went to Chora, the main village of the island, and also went to visit the cave, where John wrote the apocalypses. He followed the procedure of elderly people that happened to be there at that time, by lighting a candle and staying in silence for a while. As he was in silence, he was trying to visualize how it would have been in the days when John wrote the apocalypses. It was in vain, so he left the place, got a taxi and went back to his hotel.

For dinner, he went back at the little restaurant so close to the water. The restaurant owner was happy to see him again and told him in broken English that today's special was octopus on charcoal. He ordered that, with a nice fresh Greek salad topped with some feta, and this time he ordered a bottle of retsina, a dry golden yellow wine, with a very distinctive smell by the pine resin.

This one is something you either like it or do not. There is not in between, but luckily for him he liked it. And the octopus, topped with freshly simple sauce based on olive oil, lemon, basil, and oregano was perfect.

The next day, he decided to explore the island. He hired a scooter and off he went. He was roaming the island, stopping in places with a good view, or a cafenio for a coffee, or a snack, when he realized it was getting dark, and thought it was time to go back.

He was traveling on a gravel road parallel with the coastline, but high above it, when the sun started to sink far in the sea. It was a view he could not possibly miss, so he stopped the scooter, and sat at the edge of the cliff, while in front of him unfolded one of the most serene, peaceful, and most beautiful scenes he ever experienced in his life.

The sea was as still as a calm lake, and there were two suns. One was the orange fireball. The other was its reflection on these tranquil, calm waters, resembling an enormous mirror. Inside, it reflected the birth of the universe, genesis, and there was absolutely a silence. His heart seemed that it was going to burst in a thousand pieces. He felt as a magnet, as a focus point, as if all these magnificent happenings were absorbed by him and ready to rupture in a galaxy of millions of stars into the universe.

He closed his eyes, and slowly he was engulfed by this goldfish-orangey light that made him feel in totally peace and soothed all his body. It felt as though the sun did not actually sink in the end of the sea, but in his heart, deep in his heart, as it dissolved him into a sea of love. He did not know how long he stood there, neither if this experience was real, or the accumulation, the zenith point, of this magnificent natural happening that unfolded in front of him.

Suddenly, he realized he had to go. He tried to start the scooter, but it would not start. He tried everything he could but it just would not start. He thought it may have run out of petrol, or perhaps he had pushed it too hard.

Then he saw far away some lights flickering. That must be the place he saw right in the edge of a cliff surrounded with a wall before it got dark. He thought it must be a monastery or something. He turned around and as there was nothing else to go to, he started to push the scooter towards the flickering lights.

What an anticlimax, he thought as he was pushing the scooter uphill, but after a while; he had to abandon it there, as it was too much.

So he started to walk towards this place, with all this mixed feelings fighting in his head.

Finally he reached the place, and knocked at the outside gate. Someone answered from inside in Greek and the Michael answered in English, saying that he needed help.

Someone answered, and he heard him unlocking the door. A young man appeared holding a torch in his hand. He was about the same age as he, and was wearing a black robe.

I was right after all, he thought. It is a monastery.

"Thank God you speak English," the rookie said, my name is Michael I broke down with my scooter. I pushed it as far as I could, but then I abandoned it. I could not do it anymore."

"My name is Anastasios come inside," said the young man. "We will have to ask the Geronda. By the way, Geronda means old man in Greek. He is in charge."

The young man led Michael through a hall with long heavy wooden tables and benches; it seemed that they were preparing for dinner. They went to an elderly man, with a nice trimmed white beard, and sweet eyes, and the young man explained to Geronda what had happened.

The old man without hesitation called to another man, slightly older than the other two, gave him some directions, and off they went with an old truck, to bring the scooter. It did not take long to find it, and they put it on the truck, and brought it at the monastery.

At the monastery, the Geronda told the young man to tell the Michael that tonight he would eat and sleep there, and as for the scooter, they had already rung the man and informed him that the hirer and the scooter were all right, and tomorrow he would came to pick it up.

The tables were already set for dinner. The main meal for the night was fish soup, a glass of red wine, and some feta, olives, and bread.

Everyone would take his portions; bring it to the table, and sit about three meters away from the nearest monk. While they were eating, there was silence among them, but someone was reading aloud from some scriptures in the corner of the hall.

When dinner was over, everyone brought the plates to the kitchen to be washed, and then they started to converse again. The old man came towards the rookie, and through the other young man, asked him how he liked the meal. Michael said that the meal was good, but the bread was lousy. The young man said to the Geronda that the meal was good, but he stopped at that; he did not mention anything about the bread. Michael felt that, and asked the young man why he did not mention anything about the bread.

He said, "I am only try to protect you; you don't want to upset the Geronda, do you?"

The Geronda sensed the ping-pong that was taking place between the two, and asked Anastasios what he had said. Michael intervened, and asked Anastasios to explain.

The young monk finally repeated his unflattering comment about the bread.

The old man cracked a smile, and said to the Anastasios "at last there is someone that understands about bread!" And then he told the young monk to tell Michael they had problems with the bread, since the old monk who had been their baker had passed away.

The old man left, and the two young ones went out and sat on the veranda.

It was a mild night, with a soft breeze soothing their bodies, the moon was nearly full, and was flickering on the water, mingling with some other lights of a village on the corner of the island in a merry dance.

"How long do you intend to stay in Patmos?" the young monk asked Michael.

"I will be here for about two more weeks."

"Do you like it?"

"So far, so good."

"Can I ask you what you do back home?"

"I am in the television industry."

"That is interesting; you must meet many interesting people there?"

"That is true, and what are you doing? Are you a full time monk?"

"No, I come here whenever I can. The rest of my time I study."

"What do you study?"

"Theology."

The rookie did not comment on this one. He thought, is there a man in this world to teach his fellow man about God?

The young man sensed it, and asked, "Do you believe in God?"

"I don't know. I sense that there is something out there, but I don't know more. If people want to call it God, so be it."

"I feel kind of the same, and this is why I am here, when I am not study theology.

I think so far, it keeps me on track; it is a check for me, not to do what my friends do."

"What do they do?"

"You know... drinking, violence, fanatical soccer fans, bouzoukia."

"What is bouzoukia?"

"Oh, bouzoukia... we call these venues which play a certain style of music of the subculture type which I despise, something like your rap stuff you know. Mind you, there's nothing wrong with the bouzouki, some of the most beautiful music that great musicians as Hanzidakis and Theodorakis were based on the musical instrument of the bouzouki. It is the quality of it, the messages they spread, the irresponsible way towards life, the subculture in such that I cannot stand. And you know it is like a narcotic; when you start it, you are hooked, and all these aspects are married with one other, drinks, bars, soccer and violence, and at night topped up with bouzoukia. If you don't follow it, and you happen to search for something more than that, then they start to talk about you, thinking something is wrong with you. The funny thing you know is they will try to 'save' you, as my friends did. And if they do not succeed, they give up on you as a lost one.

"It is ridiculous. If you participate in all this senseless acts, then you are okay. Even if you participate in violent acts and get caught by the law, everyone will try to save you; friends, political parties, various activities movements if you happened to belong to one of them. They say... well it is the normal behavior of young people even if you crack open someone's head in a soccer brawl, or if you are caught burning up someone's car, or throwing a Molotov cocktail in a political demonstration. They all will reprimand you with a slap in your wrist, and forgive you, but not if you start searching for something higher, no, not even your parents; they will not forgive you for that, I think they sense they are going to lose the grip they have on you, that is what I think."

"Aren't your parents supporting you for what you do?"

"They are sort of lukewarm; they are very disappointed about me, because they thought I would follow in my father's footsteps, to take over his business. When they realized I am not intending to, they became furious, and now we have as I said a lukewarm relationship."

"I am sorry to hear that."

"Well, I had better show you your cell. It is time to prepare for bed, as we will have to get up early tomorrow."

"Why, what is going on tomorrow?"

"Nothing special, we always get up early in the morning."

"What time is that?"

"About five o'clock."

"What do you do so early?"

"We are going to the chapel for Morning Prayer. Do not worry; you are a visitor; you don't have to do that."

They got up, and the young monk led Michael to a modest cell, freshly painted white, with a bunk, a hanger on the wall for clothes, a small table with a chair in the corner, and a small window overlooking the sea.

"That is it," he said. "This used to be the baker's cell." Then he gave him some fresh bed sheets, showed him where the toilets and the washing area were, and told him if he needed something, not to hesitate to ask.

Michael thanked him, and after the young monk left, he lay on the bank thinking, this must be the earliest he'd ever gone to bed, since he was a kid, and also that he must be the first network officer without a television around him. As he was thinking this, he drifted away, and fell asleep.

It was still dark when a bell ringing frantically awoke him, then he realized that it was only the call for the Morning Prayer and he relaxed.

He lay there thinking what to do. What was the purpose of him being there? He was trying to dig something out of the back of his mind when it hit him. He got up, washed himself, and went out looking for the young monk. He found him just before he entered the chapel. Anastasios was surprised to see him getting up that early, and asked him, "What is happening?"

"Nothing," said the rookie. "I need your help. I need to bake some bread for the monks."

"You cannot do it now; you need permission from the Geronda. Besides, you need yeast. Geronda likes bread with the yeast; he does not like the bread with all this new methods used nowadays."

"That is true. I don't like them either. I, too only use yeast."

"Well, now that you are fully awaked, you may as well come for the liturgy, and after that, we will talk the Geronda about it."

Michael answered disappointedly, "Well, I suppose so."

So they went into the chapel. Michael followed the young monk, and when the young monk lit a small candle, he did the same.

It was a small chapel full of icons and candle stands. Even the walls were covered from the bottom to the ceiling with religious figures. Sometimes a monk would chant alone, while at other times, they would chant all together.

Michael went into the corner and was watching the whole procedure when he nearly burst into a laugh thinking that it all sounded Greek to him. The olds man's eye caught him in the chapel, and it was a pleasant surprise for him to see the young visitor there.

When the liturgy was over Anastasios and Michael run out of the chapel, they rushed towards Geronda, and the young man told him that Michael wanted to bake bread for the monastery.

"Do you know how to bake bread?" he asked, surprised, through the young monk.

"Yes."

"Who taught you?"

"My grandfather."

"Was he a baker?"

"Not only a baker, he was the best baker!"

"Do you now know to bake with yeast?"

"I only know how to bake with yeast."

Then he gave the young monk directions, and while the Geronda was leaving, he turned and asked.

"How did you like the liturgy this morning?"

"Tell him," Michael said smilingly, "that all sounded Greek to me."

The young monk did not hold back this time, and without being able to stop smiling himself, said to the Geronda, "He said that it all sounded Greek to him."

"Of course, it sounds Greek to him," he said, "they are Greek." And, shaking his head, he left.

Michael was very happy, and so was Anastasios; Michael because he thought he had pulled the biggest deal in his life, but why the young monk? Anyway, they went and found the other monk with the old truck, they loaded the scooter on the truck and off they went. When they reached Scala, the shop that hired out the scooter had not yet opened, but the bakery was open, and luckily for Michael, they had some yeast to spare. They got the yeast, and after that they went to Michael's hotel, where he gathered all his gear and put them on the truck. He told the hotelier while he was handing back the key, that he may not need the room anymore, although he paid for the room for the rest of his vacation.

The hotelier told him that if things don't turn out good at the monastery, he must know that there would be a room waiting for him. So in no time, the scooter shop opened up, and they handed back the scooter.

Now free from all assignments, they got into the truck and drove off for the monastery.

At the monastery, it was the first time Michael really had a good look at it and its surroundings. It was at the end of a cliff, overlooking the sea. In front was a magnificent view with a step path that led to the sea, and a big wall surrounded the other parts.

Michael was eager to see the bakery, but the young monk told him they had plenty time for that afterwards and they should have breakfast first.

When they reached the dining hall, the others had already finished, so they were the only ones there. For breakfast they had milk, honey, bread, and butter. When Michael went to seat next to the young monk, the young monk gathered his gear and moved to one other table, so there were three persons on the hall, occupying three tables.

When they finished, Michael asked Anastasios if this applied for all occasions, and he nodded that it was so, and that was the last time Michael attempted to sit next to someone during the meals.

"Come, I will show you the bakery," said the young monk.

They went to a building in the far end near a garden full of vegetables, the young monk opened a heavy wooden door, and they went in.

What the rookie saw then was more than he had hoped for. There were bags of flour arranged in order, a big solid wooden table, and all the equipment needed for bread making. There was running water, and even a small machine for kneading. Michael was thrilled. He would be the baker for the entire monastery, he thought. He would be able to experiment and improvise and make the best bread in the world.

But suddenly he thought, but where am I going to bake it?

"Where is the oven?" he asked the young monk.

"Come, I will show you," he said.

They went around behind the building where there was a huge oven surrounded with tons of wood.

When Michael saw it, he said... "I thought it was too good to be true."

"What do you mean?"

"I never baked in a wooden oven before; I don't even know how to light the fire, let alone the degree of heat and all this."

"Don't worry, I can help you. Before the baker died, I used to come to help him sometimes, for he was weak. I know how to make the fire, and roughly when to put the bread in and when to pull them out."

"Do you really? Ooh, I thank you so much!"

"Tomorrow, I will ask the Geronda for me to come and help you instead going for Morning Prayer."

"That is fantastic. I thank you so much. You can go now because I want to work out and rearrange a few things. I will see you later."

The young monk left and Michael stood there alone, in his bakery. He was elated, and started to rearrange things. He checked the flour and he thought that the old monk certainly knew what he was doing. He spent about three hours cleaning the place up, and during that time some monks and the Geronda came to see what this stranger was up to.

The Geronda was very satisfied, and although he would not say it, his whole face and eyes could not help showing it.

Michael suddenly left the bakery and went around it to where the oven was. He was engulfed by this beautiful scenery with the green of the garden, and the blue of the sea and the sky. He went back into the bakery, where there was a wall with not a window separating this beautiful scenery. If I only could open up a window here, he thought, then I would have the best bakery in the world.

After lunch, he followed the path that led him down below to the beach. There was only a monk there, mending some nets. Michael greeted him, and he nodded back smilingly. There was a language barrier there, but as Michael was interested in what the monk was doing, it did not take too long to start some sort of communication between the two.

What a wonderful opportunity, Michael thought, to learn fishing. I could become a real fisherman here...

When the monk realized that the Michael meant business, and was not just a curious onlooker, he showed the rookie what to do, so he started to mend as well. The two were absorbed with mending the nets when Geronda, with another monk, came down to see a boat that needed to be repaired, and if it was worth doing it. He seldom came down the beach because of the steepness, but when he saw these two men absorbed in what they were doing, he was surprised. Could that be their visitor whom they'd left a while ago cleaning the bakery? The other monk assured him he was the same guy, and without interrupting them, they left.

Just before dinner, Michael met with the Anastasios outside the dinner hall. He asked him about the fisherman, and the young monk said he was doing it as his main duty, whenever the weather allowed.

"Do you think he can teach me to fish?" asked the rookie.

"Sure, he will be glad to, but there is a problem."

"What is that?"

"By the time you finish with your baking duties in the morning, he will be gone."

"That is a problem."

"Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless you make the same trick as the old baker... the last few months when he was not very able, he used to bake every two days."

"Then it means I will have to compromise."

"This is what I mean."

They entered the dinner hall. Today's main course was fasoulada, kind of a bean soup, olives, salted sardines, feta, and tomatoes and cucumber salad topped with lots of onions and a cup of red wine, in fact, the red wine was a must for every dinner. That night Michael lay in his bunk thinking. Could this be real? In such a short time he had his bakery, the opportunity for learning to fish, food and shelter. All these nice people, with this magnificent scenery, and an easy pace of life, surrounded him. He remembered his grandfather telling him, when he used to go and help him, that to bake a really good bread, it has to be done in a wooden oven. Even this opportunity had materialized here. All of this, because of one little scooter not starting! Could that be a coincidence? Is that an omen, or what? He must be the luckiest man in the world, he thought, and then he drifted, drifted, and slept peacefully.

The bell rang, and eagerly he got up to go to work.

He mixed the flour the way his grandfather taught him, and started to knead. It was not long after that, that the young monk arrived. He showed the rookie how to make the fire, how long to wait for the oven to get hot, and how to empty the burned wood out of the oven and clean it. Finally, they put the dough in it and sealed the door.

They sat on the bench next to the oven watching the sun appearing slowly out of the sea. It was such a beautiful moment that they would not dare talk, fearing it would spoil this magic time.

Finally the young monk asked Michael, "What were you doing back home, before your job at the television station?"

"I was a law student," he said. "I nearly finished it, but it was hard financially, so I started this job in the television station thinking of saving money to continue with my studies, or open a bakery shop like my grandfather."

The sun came up and the time came to unseal the oven. They looked inside anxiously and what a marvelous scene; beautifully colored golden brown breads perfectly baked with a symphony of marvelous aromas. They were hot, but Michael was eager to try some. He managed to break a piece and gave half to his friend. It was just fantastic. The smell as they unsealed the door and pulled out the bread travelled quickly all over the monastery. It was some time now since they smelled such beautiful aromas, so slowly the monks started to trickle in to see their new baker at work.

Half of the monastery's monks were there, even the Geronda; they all tasted the bread while it was steaming hot. Everyone loved it but the one that really was elated was the Geronda. He congratulated Michael saying although it was still too hot to judge, he thought it must be one of the best breads he had ever tried.

Michael had passed his first test with flying colors.

That night Michael felt on top of the world. He felt contented, satisfied, and fulfilled.

Next day everyone smiled at him and he could see he was the talk of the monastery, in a very favorable way. Then he saw the young monk coming in a hurry towards him and he said, "You know about the fishing thing we were talking about?"

"Yes."

"Well, I thought about it. You seem to be so keen learning about fishing. Apparently on Sundays it is the day off for everyone, even for you. Everyone must attend the Sunday services, except... guess who?"

"Don't tell me... the fisherman?"

"Exactly."

"And how is that? Why is he excluded?"

"It is tradition, I think because of the weather. Sometimes you cannot fish during the weekdays, and you can do it on Sundays I suppose. Anyway, I talked to the fisherman-monk, and he said he will be happy to teach you every Sunday and so..."

"And so, what?"

"You will kill two birds with one stone."

"What do you mean?"

"If you would not go fishing that means, you would have to go to Sundays services, and as I understand, it sounds all Greek to you...you got me?"

"You are brilliant! You are the smartest guy I have met, and I don't know how to thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, it still has to be approved by the Geronda. He is strict with it; he insists that everyone must attend the services on Sundays except the fisherman-monk."

So off they went to see the Geronda. He was sitting under a tree drinking Greek coffee.

The young monk explained to the Geronda all about why they came to see him, and when the Geronda heard it, he said, "Yes... I know, he can do it, and I am sure that he will make a good fisherman also."

Happily they left the Geronda to enjoy his Greek coffee.

A few days already had passed since Michael baked his first bread, including one Sunday, which gave him the opportunity to go fishing with the fisherman-monk. It was a day he really enjoyed. Although there was lack of communication due to the language barrier, it was really a blessing, for it needed not to be cut by unnecessary human talk. These serene tranquil moments were those of bygone ages engulfed by time; the kind some of the postcards tried to depict. No, those were really sacred moments, which could be absorbed only by silence and by all the senses of man. You could smell the water and the seaweed; you could see the blue sea and sky above you with the little port of Scala completing the perfect picture. You could touch the water if you allowed your hand to slip on the edge of the boat, and you could even taste the iodized salt of the water after a while when the gentle breeze sometimes would spit some mist in your face.

No, this was not time to talk; it was a time to let your senses have their say, to let your senses run wild in the most subtle way. It was a time of silence, and absorption.

That day, Michael did not practice much fishing. Mostly, he was just watching. The fisherman-monk sensed it, and did not bother him at all. He was doing what he had to do, and Michael was just watching. He knew he would have ample time to practice in the future. This was only the first day.

Every day, after Michael finished with his baking duties, he would wander in the vegetable garden, which was adjacent to his bakery, and help the gardener. He was an old monk, whom Michael would find every day from sunrise to sunset, caring for his vegetables; weeding, loping, and shuffling about, he was an ever unstoppable busy bee. His hands could prove that, through the callus and deformity of some of his fingers. Who knows for how many years these hands had been immersed deep into this Earth.

Michael would help the man by doing some weeding, carrying the baskets of the vegetables to the kitchen, bringing manure in a cart for him and more. The old man was very pleased with him and would show it with a big broad smile.

The Geronda would visit the garden sometimes, to chat with the old gardener, and seeing Michael helping also in here was so pleased that he never ever questioned his abilities and his honesty any more. In fact, every time a new arrival would come, except for the main work that he would have to perform daily, the Geronda would add various other errands to everyone, such as helping washing the dishes, gathering the rubbish, cleaning the toilets etc. With Michael he made an exception this time, for he knew he deserved it.

One day as he passed a shed with some unwanted junk, Michael noticed a big window with intact glass lying there. He went closer, and whispered to himself, "Exactly what I am looking for."

He found a stick and measured it, and then he went behind his bakery where he would put the burned wood and he got a charcoal stick. He went back to the bakery, and with the charcoal he drew the window at the wall at the place he would like to be. Then he went around back again, and when he was sure that the oven would not interrupt the view, he could not possibly wait. He went to the young monk, asking him to interpret something to the Geronda.

"Interpret what?" Anastasios asked.

"You will see," Michael said. "Be patient."

The old man was again in his favorite spot under the tree, sitting on a chair reading a scripture, and on the table were a Greek coffee, and a glass of water.

"Geronda," said the young monk; "Can we interrupt you for something?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"I don't know, I only came to interpret."

"Well, do it then."

He turned to Michael, and asked, "What should I say?"

"You cannot say, I have to show him something."

"Geronda, we have to show you something."

"Now?"

Michael looked to the coffee cup, and as it was empty, he told the young monk to say, "Now if you can."

The old monk took his reading glasses off, put them in his pocket and said, "This better be something important," as he got up.

"Is it something important?" Anastasios asked Michael.

"For me it is."

They reached at the shed with the junk, and rookie showed the window to the old man.

"This."

"Yes."

Then Michael started walking again, until they reached the bakery. They went inside, and he showed the drawing on the wall, saying, "Here!"

The old man, fondling his beard asked curiously, "Why?"

Then the rookie decided to say half of the truth.

He turned to the young monk and told him, "I will tell you the half-truth. Tell the Geronda, that if we open a window here, then we will be able to put a board here, and I will slide the bread direct to the oven, instant of carrying the loaves around by hand."

"That is good idea," the young monk said. "Last time when I was helping the old baker, I had to do it, and I know about that."

"Well, tell him then."

So the young monk told the Geronda.

The old man was answering back, but it would take long time. The rookie started to worry about it, then he turned impatiently to the young monk and said, "Well, what did he say?"

He said, he remembers when he was younger, he had to help the baker sometimes, and he knows about that. He also said what a good idea.

Michael was as excited as if he had won the first lottery prize. He embraced them happily, with the Geronda and the young monk not to be able to understand what such big fuss was all about.

When things calmed down, the old man gave instructions to Anastasios, and he left bewildered, after shaking his had.

"Come," the young monk said, "we have to see someone; by the way, what is the other half of the truth?"

"That... I will tell you when I can."

They reached a shed, which looked like a plumbers shed. A monk was working on some pipes, and when the young monk explained the reason for their visit, he nodded, and off they went to the bakery. He examined it from inside and out, then he explained to the young monk that it would take some time, because they would have to install a beam first.

Before the young monk left, they all went together and brought in the window as it was quite heavy, and the maintenance-monk and Michael started to work.

They worked for two days after Michael finished baking the bread, and on the third day; it was ready after some small touches by Michael.

"Come, and I will tell you the other half of the truth," Michael told the young monk, when he found him peeling potatoes in the kitchen.

"Why don't you tell me here? No one understands, and can't you see, I have to peel half a bag of potatoes."

"I cannot tell you, so I will help you with the potatoes, then we will go," he said. He grabbed a knife and started to peel potatoes.

That moment the Geronda walked in the kitchen baffled. How could this man be in two spots at the same time? He had just come from the bakery and he thought he saw Michael working on the window.

When the potato peeling had finished they went to the bakery, but just before they went in, Michael asked the Anastasios to close his eyes, and guided him in, then he said, "You can open your eyes now...tarararara!!!"

"Oh... what a beautiful view! That is amazing!"

"That is my other half of the truth."

"That is fantastic."

"Isn't it beautiful?"

"I can see that, it is so panoramic."

"And you can slide the bread directly outside on the table."

"Exactly, what a marvelous idea!"

After all the excitement Michael said, "Tell me; I know you don't really need any money here, for everything is provided, but for personal things like razor blades, toothbrushes and creams, or for a coffee if someone goes to the village, what does he do about money?"

"Come with me, and I will show you," said the young monk.

They went to a building that was used as a welcoming hall, with many benches around for the visitors when they happened to come as a group. The monks usually guided visitors into this hall, serving them loukoumi and coffee, said the young monk, and they went upstairs, and entered a huge room. It was a kind of studio with many icons, and komboskini, a sort of a rosary used by pilgrims in various festivals when they are praying.

There were two monks; one working on an icon, and the other on a komboskini. They were so engrossed with what they were doing that they did not notice the two visitors.

The young monk led Michael downstairs again, sat on a bench, and said, "Look they make the icons and komboskini, and sell them in various venues. This is their main assignment. When others have time they come to help. Participating in it is not a priority, but the money they make is split equally for everyone. It is simple; the more people help, the more goods for sale; the more goods for sale, the more money in the box; the more money in the box, the more pocket money for everyone."

"But how can I help? I don't know anything about kombosh... I don't even know how to say it, or icons either."

"Well, they will teach you. They start usually with komboskini, for icons take longer. It is an ancient technique, using the yolk of the egg as a base, but they will teach you that, if you are interested."

"That is fantastic! I want to learn how to paint icons."

"Well, you may have to do that, after you learn making komboskini."

"Can you please organize it for me to come and help?"

"Are you sure about it? You hardly have time for anything else."

"I should be able to squeeze about one hour every night, before I go to bed."

"Well, let's go and talk to them then."

They got up again, and the young monk talked to one of the monks, who said he was pleased to have Michael work with him, and that he could start any time he wished.

The young monk told Michael, and then he said eagerly, "Well in that case I will start now."

He thanked Anastasios, and sat down to get his first instructions about how to make komboskini.

The young monk was walking towards his cell when he saw the old man coming from opposite direction. Geronda is looking for me, he thought. I wonder why?

"Have you seen the window they installed?" the old man said. "What a beautiful job they did, and what a nice view."

"I said the same thing when I saw it, Geronda."

"Now, why didn't I think about it, when I was carrying the bread around the bakery?"

"I said the same thing, Geronda."

"By the way, where is he? I want to congratulate him for it."

"He is in the workshop, helping the monks with the komboskini."

"But how can that be? A while ago he was working in the window, then I saw you two peeling potatoes, now you tell me, he makes komboskini!? I give up." And, shaking his head, he walked away.

That night Michael as he lay in his bunk, thought, how could he overcome this problem that was in the back of his head. How could he avoid going to esperino? This was afternoon prayers. Everybody had to go, and although they didn't mind if he didn't go, he felt bad about it as he was the only one in the whole monastery, and it looked very bad.

A few times he went, but he would say to himself that this was the last time, as he could not understand anything. He had solved the problem with the morning prayers because at that time he was baking bread. He solved the Sunday service because he was going fishing, but about the esperino? What could he do about it?

He lay there thinking but nothing would come, and he fell asleep.

It was at midnight that he sprang from his bunk saying "...scones that is it, yes, scones!" and then after a while he fell back asleep.

Next day, before esperino, he went to the bakery and baked some scones. He took them to the dining hall, made a big pot of tea, put some butter and marmalade on the table, and as the scones were still steaming hot, he went outside the chapel, and when the monks started to trickle outside, he indicated the dining hall, and said, "Trapezaria parakalo," which meant, "To the dining hall please."

It was an instant hit.

This is fantastic! Michael thought. Now I will be able to experiment with different baking to make the sweets I want.

The days were gone, and the day of reckoning arrived. Tonight Michael had to make the big decision of his life. Up to now he had erased this day completely out of his mind, but he had not the luxury for this anymore. In all these days, there was a silent agreement, that nobody would bring it up; neither him, nor the monks. It seemed that as long as they would not bring up the subject the time would last forever.

This night the rookie hardly closed his eyes; he had to choose between his mind, and his heart. For his heart told him to stay, and his mind and logic said to go back to work, and how irresponsible it would be to leave such an important work.

Finally he fell asleep, knowing what he was going to do, but not wanting to admit it even to himself.

After Michael finished baking the bread, he found the young monk and together they went to see the Geronda.

"Please ask Geronda," he told the young monk, "how long can I stay here?"

"You can stay as long as you want to my son," he said.

Michael's heart quivered.

"What is the procedure, can you please tell me?"

"You continue as you do now for three months. This is the formality. After that, you will become a novice monk, and you will wear a black rob. There is a small snag, but I think we can overcome it. After three months, your tourist time that is allotted will finish. We will have to make an application for an extension, and again next time. You may even have to go over the border, and come back and start afresh all over again. Turkey is not far from here and you can return the same day. We will find a way; you can be sure about that."

"Then... that it is then."

The old man embraced him, and with eyes filled with tears said, "Welcome aboard son."

So did Anastasios, then Michael new that a new page of his life had already started.

The same day, Michael went to Chora to take care of some things at home, to notify the network, and his apartment, and to purchase a few small personal items. They told him that there was an internet-café somewhere there, and when he found it, and opened the door to enter, he bumped into a very attractive girl with the longest, blackest, shiniest hair he had ever seen in his life. It was so black, that it looked almost dark shiny blue, reaching down to her waist. As he pulled back in order to let her go first, he made things even worse, because he hit her wrist.

"I am so sorry," he said.

"Ladies first, still applies, you know!"

"I am sorry I didn't see you; I had so much in my head when I was opening the door, but tell me; you speak English? How come?"

"We must be expatriates, judging by your accent."

"Don't tell me you came from the big..."

"Yes..." she nodded.

"That is fantastic," he said, "but why are we talking here standing? Can I offer you a coffee?"

"I would love a cup of coffee."

So they sat down, and he ordered two cups of coffee.

"Tell me then," he said, "What are you doing here? Are you on vacation here?"

"I am visiting my aunt, and having my vacation."

"So you are doing two in one."

"Well you can say that, but what are you doing? Are you a student?"

"No, I am a baker; actually I am a senior representative of a major television network."

"That sounds impressive!"

"No, I am actually a monk, a novice monk. Actually I will be a novice monk in two and a half months."

"Oh... and what do you do, for your spare time?"

Michael, without noticing her ironic tone of her voice said, "In the afternoons I bake scones."

"Scones... eh... what about at night?"

"At night, I make komboskini, but soon I will learn how to paint icons."

"And what about Sundays then?"

"Sundays I am always going fishing."

"Well then," she said in an annoyed manner as she got up abruptly, "you are full handed, aren't you?"

"I am sorry," he said, "it did not occur..."

"No, it wouldn't," she said, and left.

Now, what did I say wrong? He said to himself. I must be more careful with women.

He sat there for a while, and finally when he composed himself, he started to work.

First he sent an e-mail to his employer, saying he was sorry to be leaving his work without prior notice, but he had decided at the last minute to become a monk, and that he was aware of the fact that there was a penalty applied for not notifying in advance when quitting a job. If there was still some money due to him, please send it to.... and he gave the address of the monastery.

Then he rang one of his friends whom he knew was always looking for a cheaper place to live, something like his small apartment. When he heard that the Michael's apartment was available, he was elated. Michael told him where the key was and to move in, put his belongings in a cupboard, and keep paying the rent to this agency. One day when he came back and managed to collect his belongings, they would go together and make the transfer official. The guy on the line was overjoyed and thanked the rookie heartily.

After that, Michael bought some personal items, and went back to the monastery.

"Honey, you did what you could," the chairman's wife Lillian said. "If you could not do it, nobody in the world could. Who could challenge such a legal machine by himself and win? And even so, you managed to win the first battle. You did your best, which is all you could do."

Some time had passed since Adam Clarke the ex-chairman of WCFET and his wife had cut short their vacation on Patmos, but finally he realized that he had to concede he won the first battle, but he lost the war.

He could not possibly go on any more with this legal machine opposite him. Already he had spent considerable time and money for someone he hardly knew. His wife was right. After all, the recommendation may have been overturned, but the Teacher was still free, and continued with his work. It could be not so bad after all.

Perhaps it is time to take care of my wife, he thought. After all, I promised her that I would make it up to her for the interruption of our vacation and it seems that now is the ideal time for it.

So it was a time for reconciliation, for reunion. The last ten years since he became chairman of the WCFET, they may have lived together, but totally one-sidedly, and the time had come for him to balance things up.

They would go to her favorite restaurants, to the movies, even to a square dancing ball, which he would not dare do for anything before. They would take the car, and go to neighborhood towns and sleep overnight there and whenever they stayed home, he would help her with the housework. He even managed some cooking. Can you believe that? He thought, before that I did not even know where in the kitchen my wife kept the plates and the cutlery. Or where the laundry in the house was situated!

The rumors and the newspapers articles were in full swing. The arrest of the Teacher was imminent; since of the overthrow of the original recommendation, it was only a matter of time. Friends of the Teacher warned him to lie low; to hide or to leave the country and go somewhere else, but the Teacher was adamant, why should he hide? People hide when they have something to hide, he would say.

That was also the first question of the interviewer of a major newspaper asking the Teacher that day.

"Teacher," he said, "newspapers articles, and the social media are suggesting that your arrest is imminent; what do you have to say about it?"

"I don't have to say anything; I don't live my life according to rumors, whether they derive from the social network, or respected newspapers like yours."

"But sir, they talk about your imminent arrest; does this not bother you?"

"I already said that my life is not run depending on rumors."

"Okay, I will try to put it in another way, I will ask you; how would you feel if you arrested today? This is not a hypothetical question; it is a question of high probability."

"I would feel sad very sad."

"That is obvious, but which reason would be the biggest factor in making you feel sad?"

"That my work should come to an end so abruptly."

"Is that all? Aren't you afraid of the prison? You may spend the rest of your life incarcerated."

"That is my last worry; in fact, that may give me some time to myself. But I feel my time has not come yet for that," the Teacher was saying, while he watched two athletic men with suits waiting for the interview to finish.

"How can you say that?" the interviewer continued, also watching the two men, "when we see right in front of us that this is imminent?" And before the rooster crows three times, the moment the interview finished, they burst inside and told the Teacher he was under arrest, and that he had the right to remain silent. So he was; the only time he spoke again was when finally they reached The Hague, except when one of the Interpol officers told him. "Sir, my duty is to bring you safely to the international court of justice for court proceedings. The rules specify I am supposed to bring you there handcuffed. I am prepared to avoid doing that, and I am willing to take the responsibility for my action, if you give me your word that you will not try to escape."

"I do," said the Teacher.

And they started the long journey to The Hague.

Although this was foreseen, the news of the arrest of the Teacher caught the media and the social network like a wildfire. Most of the comments made were in favor of it with some small exceptions. There were some small demonstrations around the world, but they were too small and too peaceful to be reported by the media, which mainly concentrated to the alertness and highly professional attitude by the new administration of the WCFET, and especially its new chairman John Watson. He was riding high; he was on top of a crest wave looking down at the world, satisfied that he accomplished something that the whole world had been waiting for.

That day, the new chairman of the WCFET was the man of the day, he was so much in demand from the media, and he was pleased to respond, and especially from live television shows, that he reached home in the early hours of the next day. He was exhausted and sank to a chair as soon as he reached home. His wife, watching him parade in front of her on the television screens, had mixed feelings, for she was proud of the achievements of her husband, but something was telling her that it was not right. She managed to suppress this, and welcomed her husband in her arms, showing how proud she was of him.

They talked for a while, for all this attention that was on him this day. He asked how the little one was, made a light snack, had a shower, and they went to bed.

Not long after, they heard a thump in the girl's room next door. They ran in, turned on the lights, and saw the girl in the floor, white, pale and unconscious. Her mother picked her up, and the chairman ran to bring a glass of water. When he tried to stroke her forehead, his wife cut him cold, and as sharp as a razor, saying, "Don't touch her, don't you ever touch her again! I know this all has to do with you and your damned work," and as she got up, while the little one was coming back to consciousness, and her husband was hiding his face in his hands as he sank in a chair, she added loudly, "Repent now!"

The mother with the child in her arms walked out of the room, the new chairman finally got his hands away from his face and as he got up, he looked on the table, on a white paper written with an orange crayon in block letters, REPENT NOW.

Next day the new chairman hardly talked to his wife. He went to work, and his office was bombarded with congratulations from all over the world. Even the State Secretary congratulated him, and all his colleagues wanted to talk to him, but he asked his secretary not to let him be interrupted by anybody.

He shut down the Internet, phones, telexes, and doors, and opened up a bottle of whisky.

When Adam Clarke heard of the arrest of the Teacher, he became withdrawn. He became so remote that his wife was really concerned about him. She considered visiting a psychiatrist to ask his advice but it occurred to her that nothing was wrong with her husband, and that she felt more or less the same. It was about this injustice in front of them. The difference was that he was personally involved, whereas she was just an onlooker.

That's right, she thought, he is personally involved and we cannot erase it by pretending that it is not our responsibility any more.

She found her husband sitting in the garden engulfed with his thoughts.

"Honey," she said, "do you remember the first time you were elected as the chairman of the WCFET?"

"Yes Lillian."

"Do you remember the main reason for it? Why they chose you?"

"I don't remember dear, why?"

"It was because you were one of the most respected practitioners of international law in the country."

"Well those were the days," he said.

"You still are honey, one of the most acclaimed practitioners of international law in the country."

"Oh yes? Look where is the Teacher right now."

"I know that the case is not over yet, I know that you won a battle, and they won a battle, but the war is not over yet."

"But honey it is all over, the case is in the hands of the international court in The Hague."

"I also know that he refused to be represented by anyone, even though an international law firms offered their service for free, for publicity reasons obviously after all this interest of media coverage from around the world."

"What do you imply, dear?"

"That he is waiting for you, honey."

"Are you suggesting I should take the case in The Hague?"

"Hmm... yes."

"Are you out of your mind?"

"On the contrary, I know what I am talking about."

"I don't believe that!" he said, and at the same time a tiny speck of sparkle shone in his eyes.

"Tell me, honey, does anybody in this world know this case as well as you do?"

"To that I must say, no."

"Does anybody believe in the innocence of this man as you do?"

"I must say I totally believe in the innocence of this man."

"Well then?"

"Well, where shall I start from? How about from the economics? We already spent a considerable amount of our money, and it cannot go on forever."

"I am sure if you spread the word to his followers ..."

"He does not have followers, he despises this word. As a matter of fact..." and he was whispering to himself, "It was the only time that I ever heard him use a word like that."

"Anyway if you spread the word that you are going to represent him, I am sure there will be few people willing to help you."

For the first time it started to sink in, that he might actually represent the Teacher in The Hague. His eyes sparkled like a kid's; he grabbed his wife, shook her shoulders, and said out aloud, as though he wanted to wake her up from a lethargic dream, "Are you sure dear? Do you believe so much in me, and you are willing to go all through this again?"

"I believe in you honey, and I am willing to go through all this totally."

"But how can I do it? I don't even have associates anymore. Hardly anybody talks to me since that day of the recommendation. Everyone avoids me as they would avoid a leper. Except one, that is, and he is not even a lawyer; he has not finished law school yet."

"Oh, and who is that?"

"The young guy I told you about, that works at the network."

"Well, you seem to be fond of him, so why don't you ask him?"

"This is a good idea. After all I have to start from somewhere... I can't believe it though," he said, elated, "I can't believe it!" and he embraced his wife and started to kiss her.

Without wasting any time, he rang his friend in the television network, and asked if he could borrow Michael the young representative. "He has done some law studies and I want him to work for me for a few months," he said. "It is really important; I need someone I can trust, and there aren't many around me anymore."

"You want that rookie rep? I tell, you he is the most in demand man right now in the whole world. We want him, you want him, the monks want him, and everybody wants him."

"What are you talking about? What monks?"

"The ones that won him."

"What do you mean?"

"He has become a monk."

"A monk?"

"Yes, a monk. We could not believe it either; we had big plans for him."

"And where is he?"

"He is in Patmos, the same island we sent you for a vacation."

Did he hear right? It was impossible!

"Can you give me the address please?"

The managing director asked his secretary to find it, and while he was waiting for it, he asked the ex-chairman, "What is so important about this job?"

"I am going to represent the Teacher in The Hague."

"You what?"

"You heard me."

"Is that official?"

"It is for my part."

"Well, that is headline news," he said, "and I got it straight from the horse's mouth," then he gave the address to him, and said, "Are you interested in verifying this on our network?"

"I don't have time to lose."

"I'll make you a good offer."

"You're barking up the wrong tree. Don't be so selfish, I already gave you headlines."

"Okay then, I appreciate that. Good luck with your project; I'll be here if you need me."

The ex-chairman put down the phone. He looked worried.

"What's up honey?" his wife asked.

"We haven't started yet, and we already have a major setback."

"Why, what is happened?"

"Michael does not work at the network anymore, and guess what he is up to?"

"What?"

"He's become a monk."

"A monk?"

"Yes, and guess where?"

"Where?"

"On Patmos."

"On Patmos?" she said amazed, sitting down on the couch.

"Yes! On Patmos."

"I must say," She said, "this is a setback. Why on Patmos? Is that a coincidence?"

"The question is what we are doing now?"

"Surely honey, you will find someone else to help you."

"Well, I will have to."

"At least do you have his address, if need be?"

"Yes, I have that."

It did not take long. The headline news on the television network was the exclusive story about the ex-chairman that he was going to represent the Teacher in The Hague. They had a story with old pictures with him and the Teacher parading in front of the television screens, and flashbacks of the older story. This was mainly to fill time, rather than as an information gesture.

It did not take long before the telephones started ringing at Adam's Clarke house. There were all kinds of messages, from outright-disgusted people and some encouraging ones, and even from people who wanted to assist economically. But by far the most of them were from agitated people.

"We'll have to turn off the telephones again, dear," said Mir Clarke. "It cannot continue on like this."

"Not before we make some contacts honey."

"What kind of contacts?"

"Some of the callers are sympathizers of the Teacher."

"So?"

'We will keep their telephone numbers, and I will arrange to meet them, to make a Defend the Teacher fund. Leave that to me. You have enough to worry about as it is."

"Oh, I don't know what I would do without you dear," said the ex-chairman.

When his wife had collected sufficient contacts, they turned the telephones off.

In the morning, his wife said during breakfast, "Honey, I will tell you something that you are going to nag about, but you will have to do it."

"And what is that my dear?" he said.

"You will have to learn to use a cell phone."

His fork and knife fell from his hands. "Me! At my age my dear! Haven't you heard that you can't teach old dog new tricks?"

"Not only that, but also how to send and receive texts and e-mails. You have to honey; you will be in a strange country for long time so how are you going to communicate with us here? How are you going to communicate with the young man, if you manage to get hold of him? Believe me honey; this is your only weak point. I'm sure with a little persistence you will overcome it. Don't you think the cause for doing it justifies that?"

"It does, my dear, but I am hopeless with this, you know that."

"Look honey, up to now you did not need to, for so many years you were surrounded with people who were able to it and who were paid to do it.

"But up there, you will have to rely on your abilities. You have to be prepared at least for the basics. I am sure, if you put your heart into it, you can do it."

"I tell you, I never thought I would see this day."

"I have arranged for it. While I'm going to organize this business, for the Defend the Teacher fund, you will go to this place, at this time, and this is your new cell phone."

"Dear, you didn't even give me a day for psychological preparation."

"Do you think we have time for that honey?

"I guess I don't."

"Well. Let's do it!"

As soon as they went outside to get their cars, Adam looked at his wife and said, "Here we go again."

"What is that?"

"Look," he said, and showed his wife to the gate. There were about a dozen reporters waiting outside, when they realized the two were coming with their cars, they became so excited that they would not even open the road for them to go through. Finally the ex-chairman had to wind down the car's window, and a flock of microphones burst through it.

"Is it true, that you are to represent the Teacher at The Hague?"

"It is true."

"When are you leaving for Holland?"

"I am going to travel to Holland as soon as possible."

"Who are your other associates?"

"I have one assistant."

"What do you have to say to those who accuse you of backing a dark horse?"

"I am not backing any horse. I am not a gambler. I am merely trying to defend an innocent man."

"What is the relationship between you and the Teacher?"

"The relationship is that of a lawyer and his client. That's all, fellows, we have to go, thank you."

It was late in the afternoon when the ex-chairman reached his house. His wife was already in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he embraced her and with a smile. "How is my sweet wife, my marvelous cook, and my secretary of finance doing today?"

"I want you to tell me first, how did you go?"

"Well, in the beginning it was frightening, but after I made a small deal with this man you sent me to, things are looking good. Watch this..." and he started to dial a number, and then their land line telephone rang.

"That is fantastic."

"I can even send you a text!"

"That is amazing, but this is not the telephone I gave you! That one was the latest; this one is an old model."

"This is the deal I told you about. That one, when I was touching it, it would go all over the place. This one is solid, and I can handle it. I am very pleased."

"How about with the computer?"

"That will take longer. He made an e-mail address for me, which I will go to tomorrow. In fact, I will go there every day until I leave for Holland, but he said I should be able to continue there."

"How about an assistant? Did you find anything about that?"

"That is a hard one. I went to the lawyers' club. They all avoid me, but today a couple of them that approached me saying they are available if I need help for the case. I am sure they don't believe in it; they are doing it for publicity."

"Well darling, the only alternative left is to go to Patmos and try to persuade the young man to follow you."

"I am starting to think the same. How did you go with the sympathizers? Did you meet them?"

"Yes, and I have this for you." And she handled him two sealed envelopes. "This is some money to start with. They totally trust you, honey. They've been following all you have done so far for the Teacher, and leaning all their hopes on you. We also are trying to organize a fund for it; I will have to see them tomorrow again."

"Then we have started the ball rolling. Who would think that even yesterday?"

# THE HEARTS DESIRE

The ex-chairman finally accepted he would need to go to Patmos to see Michael, but which would be the best way to go about it? Three days had passed already since he decided to defend the Teacher, and he was still with not even an assistant. The rest was going all right. His wife had organized the fund, and he started to get familiar with the electronic devises, but he had to know soon whether he could rely on Michael or not.

"Dear," he said to his wife, "I shall go and see the young man in Patmos, and take all my papers for the case, and my belongings. If things go well, I will continue from there to Holland, if not, I will come back, grab someone, and then go there."

"When do you intend to do that?"

"Tomorrow I will go to the travel agency, and book the first flight to Athens. In the meantime I have to gather everything I can, and do some more study for the case."

"I have prepared your suitcase with your clothes honey; make sure not to forget anything."

"Thank you my dear."

Within two days, he was on the way to Athens, which was a good time to study the case. It was a bit awkward, as he had chosen to travel economy class, even though the sympathizers told his wife to use business class. He was absorbed so much with the case that he had to hurry up and gather his papers when they landed in the international airport in Athens, but the effort was worthwhile, for he had settled on the strategy he would follow for the defense case.

He caught a flight to Samos. This time he did not open his briefcase. He just closed his eyes and thought about it. The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that this would be the best chance to win the case, if he had a hope at all.

Finally he got the ferryboat to Patmos.

This part of the journey was different; it was more a nostalgic one, for it reminded him of the day when he and his wife were on the ferryboat going towards Patmos. It was so different now without her he thought, it seemed so bland so uninspiring, regardless if the sea was still so blue, and the sky even more so; regardless, if the breeze was soothing his cheek and his body as it did before, nothing looked or felt the same without his wife next to him. The only compensation was that he was going to see his friend.

The Skala appeared in front, and his heart quivered a bit, bringing back all the beautiful times he spent with his wife.

When he disembarked, he headed for a restaurant, and then changed his mind. Instead, he took a taxi to the monastery. He told the taxi to wait, went into the monastery, as the gate was open, and asked a monk if anyone there spoke English.

"Come," the monk, said, "English." The monk guided him to an old building near a vegetable garden. The ex-chairman smelled bread as they went in and the monk indicated a young man cleaning some baking apparatus, saying, "English."

They both lifted their eyes at the same time. The apparatus the rookie was holding dropped from his hand, and the ex-chairman ran and embraced him. They hugged each other and Michael said, "What a surprise! So good to see you Mr. Clarke Are you here alone, or with your wife?"

"I am here alone; I came specially to see you."

"You came all the way here to see me?"

"Yes."

"It must be a very important reason, which to be honest I cannot understand."

"I will tell you later, but I have a taxi waiting outside. Do you have some free time? Perhaps we can have something to eat, and I will explain to you."

"As matter of fact, I just finished my baking, and you could not possibly pick a better time."

"Okay then."

"Give me five minutes and I will see you outside."

Michael went to see the Geronda, and informed him of this visitor, and that he was going out. The old man gives him the go ahead, and then Michael went to his cell, put some fresh clothes on, and went out. The taxi was there, but the ex-chairman was nowhere to be seen. Finally he appeared, saying what a beautiful place it was.

"I was talking to a young monk who speaks English well. He said the whole monastery loves you, and that you introduced to them lots of new things. He said you even introduced them to scones, and it became a status quo for the monks that after the evening prayer there is always freshly hot steaming scones and tea waiting for them, thanks to you."

On the way to Skala the ex-chairman asked Michael, "How come you chose Patmos from all the Greek islands, or from the whole world for that matter?"

"Because you introduced me to it," smiled Michael.

"I introduced it to you?"

"Yes, remember when we were in that bar, you, the Teacher and myself, and I happened to ask you where are you going for vacation, and you said Patmos?"

"Yes. I remember that."

"Well, since then, this idea stuck in the back of my mind, until it materialized."

"Well, we will have to immaterialize it," said the ex-chairman, smiling.

When they reached Skala, the ex-chairman asked Michael which was his favorite restaurant.

Michael said, "There is a little one further up, right on the water's edge," and when they reached it, the ex-chairman said, "Oh...I remember this. We came here, and my wife liked it too!"

They ordered grilled fish, Greek salad, fava, stuffed tomatoes, and a bottle of retsina.

"And how do you like it here?" asked Adam.

"So far, I love it."

"They are flabbergasted in your old job; they had big plans for you, you know?"

"Yes I know. It was a hard decision to make, but finally I think I made the right one."

"So you preferred to be a monk, rather than be where the action is?"

"I followed my heart, that's all."

"You don't wear a robe? Everybody else does, in the monastery."

"Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I will become a novice monk. I am excited about it."

The ex-chairman felt nauseous. He dropped the fork and the knife, pushed the plates aside and said, "Look, the reason I am here is about the Teacher."

"What is wrong with the Teacher?"

"He was being arrested by Interpol, and is held in Holland in jail."

Michael this time also dropped his cutlery, and pushed aside the plates.

"So that's it! They have done it after all."

"Not yet; the war is not over yet, and I need you to help me in this."

"And how can I help you? Don't forget I am not a lawyer yet."

"I need someone I can trust, and more important, someone who believes in the innocence of the Teacher."

"I cannot believe it is happening to me again. Three months ago, I had to make my biggest decision in my life, and now I am in the same predicament again," said Michael after a long pause.

"I don't want to rush you, but if it is going to make it easier for you, I know you have found your port here, that you are content with what are you doing, and the peace of mind you have. I also know the people love you here, and I don't have the right to appear suddenly and rip you off from them in such abrupt manner. Still, these people more or less have found their way, and if you go, there will be a pleasant memory for them. But you are a talented young man, and if you finish your studies, you can help so many people up there that will really need your help. It will be far more important than making bread and scones for the monks. You have done this in the most beautiful way, and in a way all this experience served its purpose, but life goes on, and I believe your mission is there helping the ones that need your help. If you decide to do that, I will help you in assisting with your studies, and financially until you get your degree. But first, we will have to do our best to free the Teacher from the prison."

The rookie was dumbfounded. Just an hour ago he was making a plan on how to build an oven in the corner of the building, saving so much hassle, and had thought up a new method of how to make the komboskini easier, and to use also pots for fishing crabs. No! This was far too much, the ex-chairman was asking too much of him, and so suddenly; and the bread? Who would bake the bread and the scones? How would the monks feel when they came out of the chapel after the esperino, with no scones!

The voice of the ex-chairman aroused him from his thoughts. "I am deeply sorry. I know, son, it is too much, too sudden to answer me right now. I will be here until ten o'clock tomorrow morning, when I will get the boat that goes to Piraeus; if I hear from you by then, so good, if not, so long."

The chairman got up and left. There was no point for him to wait there anymore, for what right he had to say anything else? Anyway, he felt devastated; how could he be so superficial in this? Why didn't he think deeper before he made this long journey, before he hurt this young man? Who in the world was he to expect others to have similar goals, and to share the same ideals as his? He even started to have doubts about himself, and his mission to save the Teacher; after all, the entire world cannot be wrong, and he be right. Because this was after all what it came too. Only a handful of people shared the same beliefs as his in this matter; no the whole world couldn't be wrong.

He got a room in a hotel, and lay on the bed with his clothes on. He did not even bother to take his shoes off. He immediately fell asleep, and dreamed he was a soldier. When he saw the enemies were coming, he threw down his weapon, and ran for cover behind the woods, and then he awoke, with cold sweat all over his body.

By then it had started to get dark. He had a shower and went out to the cafenio, where he had previously sat with his wife, when they made the decision to go home earlier. He ordered a double Metaxas, and sat down, wishing his wife was here.

He ordered something to eat, but the food would not go down so, he went back to the hotel, and lay in bed thinking whether to go back home, go to Holland, stay here in Patmos, or go somewhere else, and disappear from the face of the Earth.

After the initial shock, when Michael recomposed himself, he got a taxi, and went back at the monastery; he had to hurry, to catch up the time to bake the scones. After dinner he went to the workshop-studio to help the monks with the icons, for by now, he had progressed from helping with the komboskini, to do the underlines of the icons, but as he could not concentrate, he left early.

The water in the shower calmed him down; he went to his cell and lay in bed a bit earlier than usual, for he wanted to think.

He remembered about three months ago, when he had to make the decision whether to go back to work, or to stay here in Patmos. Although he was thinking all night, he knew right in the back of his mind which choice he would make. This time, the stakes were even higher, and if he were leaning to one side, just a bit, he would say, that this side would be to stay put!

He thought, and thought, of the possible avenues left for him, until he fell asleep.

At about five o'clock in the morning, the bell rang for the morning prayers, and for Michael to prepare the baking procedure. First is first, he thought, and after he washed himself he went straight to the bakery.

He started to work diligently as though with mania; he thought by doing that, he would forget. He did not want to think anymore; he wanted to be left in peace, as he was in the last three months.

The breads were backed, and he was cleaning the equipment, when suddenly he stopped, and shouted out aloud, "You selfish bastard!"...Then he thought... and what about the Teacher? Did he have the right to refuse the helping hand they asked from him? How would he carry this burden the rest of his life? How would he sleep from now on? How would he find peace again? To hell with the bakery; there are thousands bakers in this world, maybe even millions! The world needs spiritual bakers, spiritual breads.

He threw down the towel, took off his apron, and looked at his watch. It was twenty past nine. He ran to the monk with the old truck. He was not in his cell. Someone said he was in the kitchen. He was not there. Someone told him that a while ago he was with the Geronda, so he ran to see him talking with the old man under his favorite tree drinking coffee.

With his little Greek, he asked him to take him to Skala.

"The truck is broken down," said the monk.

Michael said, "I'm sorry," to Geronda, and did not wait for an answer. He ran towards the gate. He estimated the trip to be four to five kilometers. He was on the gravel road that led to Skala, but he had a dilemma. Should he stick on the road and hope a car may pass and give him a ride? Or should he take the short cut, and rely on his own strength?

He chose the second, and ran as he had never run in his whole life. The short cut he chose was on uneven and difficult ground, but he kept going. He kept on going until finally he was over the hill, and saw the port of Skala with the boat still there, and three or four cars left for loading. He knew if the boats were loaded the boat would sail away, and with this thought, he ran even faster.

He thought his lungs would explode, and his knees started to tremble and give in, but then he was closer, closer, so close, that he could see a man lifting one of the ropes that was holding the boat. He was encouraging himself, you can do it, yes come on,you can do it!

The man was lifting the other rope, the heavy door started to lift up, the official of the port authority was blowing his whistle frantically not to do it, but Michael fearlessly made the biggest jump of his life, literally and metaphorically. He landed one of his feet on the door as it was lifting up, and with a huge attempt, he pushed his body up as hard as he could. For a moment he was at limbo on the door that was still lifting up. It looked like a pelican taking off on one foot, with his hands flapping the air frantically. For a moment it looked as if he would not make it, that he would go backwards and drop in the water, or hit his head on the cement, as the boat already leaving the dock, but with a super effort he managed to keep his balance for a second on the door, and then he pushed hard, as hard as he could, and landed on the deck face down. He managed to turn around and as he was flat on the deck facing the blue sky with his nose bleeding, he saw the ex-chairman smiling.

"Count me in, Mir. Clarke," said Michael, and then he fainted.

"Welcome aboard son."

When he came too, there were a few passengers around him, with the ex-chairman asking them to make room so he could breathe better.

"You worried me for a while, said the ex-chairman."

"How long was I unconscious?"

"Only a few minutes luckily."

"My elbow is hurting."

"Let me see...yes you have a bruise here; can you move it?"

"Yes."

"You scared me to death when you made that jump. The ship was nearly two meters away from the dock."

"I had to make it."

"Now, hold your nose with this tissue for a while," said the ex-chairman, and he offered him a packet of paper tissues. "It should be all right, it's nearly stopped bleeding already. And what are you going to do now? Are you coming into Piraeus with me now?"

"No, I am off at the first port we are going to dock at. Then I will go back to Patmos. I have to take care of a few things."

"Which port is that?"

"I think it is Ikaria." He got up for the first time after he made that mighty jump, and was pleased to discover he had only wounded his nose and his elbow.

"I will be back in a minute," he said, and left.

After a while Michael came back waving a ticket to the ex-chairman saying, "Yes, as I thought it is Ikaria. I paid my dues."

"Is this the island, where Ikarus the son of Daedalus fell to his death, because he would not listen to his father, and flew too close to the sun? The sun melted the wax of his wings, and he fell near this island which in turn took his name?"

"That's the one."

"Heavens, how many historical places has this country got?"

"I tell you, the whole country is an archaeological site."

"In that case, I don't want you to rush again, so let's clear things up before we reach Ikaria. First of all, this is my phone number. You can ring me or text me, or e-mail me. This is my e-mail address. Now this is a bankcard, and here is the pin. You can draw up to thousand dollars a day so I suggest you to draw a thousand today from Ikaria if you can, because tomorrow or after tomorrow when you are buying airline and boat tickets, you may need more than that. You got me so far?"

"I got you."

"Okay, there are ten thousand dollars in this account. If you run out, this is the phone number where you can reach my wife. You ring her and ask her to add more. Now, whatever money you spend, you keep the receipts for we have to justify every dollar we spend to the Free the Teacher fund. You got that?"

"Yes, I do."

"Now, what else...let me see... oh yes, give me your phone number."

"Hmm, I don't remember it. I haven't used it for a long time. I will ring and give it to you."

"Okay now, let me think... I can't think of anything else, are you clear so far?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well, let's talk about our plans and strategy now. I will go to Athens and get the first plane to Amsterdam to see the Teacher. You will go to Patmos, take care of whatever concerns you, then, you go to Athens and get the first flight home. Don't go to the trouble yet to find an apartment, for we don't know how things are going to work out. I may need you in The Hague, so just get a decent room in a hotel, but not too expensive. Okay so far?"

"Okay."

"Now, let's talk regarding the case for a while. Do you remember the interview the Teacher gave to the network the time you were working there?"

"Of course I do."

"You remember when they put those segments, those sayings of his, and the teacher elaborated afterwards? In fact that was the essence of the whole show; I would say the strong point."

"I remember that the Teacher insisted on that."

"Well, I am afraid, the prosecution is going to do the same thing, but this time, the Teacher won't be able to elaborate. He will have to answer with a yes, or no. If this is to happen, we are doomed, for they are going to dig out everything the Teacher said in the past, regardless of the why and the reason for it. They merely will ask, "Did you say that? Yes, or no," and the Teacher will answer, "Yes". So all accusations; all the charges that the prosecution is going to bring in, will be confirmed by the accused himself. So, even if the court is sympathetic towards him, it will have to find him guilty.

"Now, our strategy will be to avoid reaching this stage of the court hearing. Our strategy is to hit where the weak point is in the whole case and I know that because I won it the first time. That is to make a case for the second recommendation the WCFET made to be deemed non-valid; therefore the charges won't stick and the whole case will collapse."

"What shall I do then?"

"I am not sure; I want you to play private detective for a start. You remember the vice-chairman; the guy whose life we tried to save?"

"Yes of course."

"Well I am sure he was up to something and his best friend the ex-treasurer is now the chairman of the WCFET. I want you to go there and start digging as hard as you can and report to me anything you find. I may be able to use some of it in The Hague. We have to overturn the second recommendation as invalid or at least to make it look questionable or doubtful.

Is there anything else you want to know about the case?"

"Yes, where shall I start? When I reach home?"

"That is the decision you will have to make. That is why I chose you."

Not long afterwards, the boat berthed at the picturesque harbor of Agios Kirikos at Ikaria Island. Michael disembarked and the ex-chairman continued his journey to Piraeus.

It was late in the evening when finally Michael reached the monastery. It was the first time he hadn't baked scones for the monks since he started the tradition and when esperinos finished that evening the first monk came out of the chapel and went straight to the dinner hall.

"No scones?" he said. He went out and said to the incoming monk, "No scones."

And the incoming monks would say, "No scones?"

And the outgoing would say, "No scones."

And the incoming would say, "No scones?"

This verbal ping-pong game lasted to the last monk who also asked, "No scones?"

Finally everyone realized that there were no scones or tea and that something wrong was going on that day.

Michael went straight to Anastasios and together they went to see the Geronda.

"Tell the old man tomorrow I want you to help me to make bread for two days, or maybe even for three."

"Okay my son, but why is that?" Asked the old man.

"Because this is going to be my last day. After that I will go."

"Forever?"

"Forever."

They all sank on the bench looking downwards in silence.

"I am not asking the reason," said the old man through the young monk, "but I suspect it is very important."

"It is very important Geronda."

Michael wanted to hug them and cry like a little child but he must look strong. He did not want to make things worse.

"After baking the bread I will leave straight away. I organized the taxi to pick me up at nine o'clock; I have to catch the ten o'clock boat to Piraeus." Then he got up and went to his cell where he hid his face in his pillow and cried like a little child.

Next morning Anastasios came to assist him. They made as much bread as they could to last them for two or three days and while they were waiting for the bread to rise before they put it in the oven, they sat on the bench. The sun broke up from behind the sea with its spectacular golden orange colors.

Michael thought this was the last time he was going to witness this panoramic view and said to the young monk, "This is the last time I witness this fantastic view. I am going to miss it as I am going to miss you the old man and the monastery itself."

"We are all going to miss you. I will miss you and I will always remember you. I have learned so much from you through your diligence and perseverance. Mostly the quality that I will never forget is this willingness to serve. It amazed me. I try to emulate you but I just can't, yet to you it seems to be so natural."

"Don't try to imitate anybody, my friend; just try to use your qualities to the best of your abilities. You're doing very well and don't worry how you fare comparing yourself with others. I tell you the most important quality in man is his good will. He may stumble and fall and stumble and fall again, but if his will is for good in the end it will prevail, and your will is for the good and that is what counts."

The time was nearing for Michael to go. He was packing his backpack when the bell rang three times.

He did not know what that was all about and after all; he did not have time to waste. The taxi should be here, he thought. He put on his backpack and went to the square of the monastery to say goodbye to whomsoever was there before he got to the taxi.

To his amazement everyone was there. They had formed a line in his honor and waited patiently for him to appear.

He started to shake hands from the end of the line that he was less acquainted with and worked his way towards the front. It was a silent and somber sort of farewell of the kind you meet in funerals. Finally he reached towards the end of the line where the two monks that taught him the komboskini and icons gave him a warm handshake. "Kalo taxidi, kali antamosi," they said, meaning, "Have a nice journey" and, "Until we meet again."

Then there was the fisherman monk who shook hands warmly and repeated the same farewell. Then came the Anastasios, who could not stop the tears running down his face. He embraced him, unable to talk.

Finally the old man was wishing him well. He gave him a letter with the stamp of the monastery recommending him to anyone it may concern.

Finally unable to stop his tears, Michael got into the taxi and told him to go.

After he left Michael, the ex-chairman arrived to Piraeus and got a taxi to the airport at Athens. He flew to Amsterdam, got a bus to The Hague then a taxi to the Scheveningen Detention Centre and finally he was there in front of the Teacher.

Yes, he was in front of the Teacher but what a pleasant surprise! He expected to find some irritated annoyed person blaming the world for the injustices committed to him, but instead he met a man with a pleasant smile and a happy face who embraced him, saying, "Welcome, Chairman, to my humble palace."

"I don't know, Teacher, if you mean that or if you are acting. If you are acting you should apply for Oscar nominations."

"I am not acting or joking. I mean what I say. This place is a treat. Look around you! I have anything I need. Here is my private toilet and washing area. I have access to a small gym the food is good. I can even cook for myself. I even have a computer for organizing my defense.

"But most important of all, I have time to myself. It is something I really need for a while and it could not possibly come in a better place and a better time."

"I am so glad about that. Speaking about defense and the computer they provided you, have you opened it up? Have you starting using it for your defense?"

"Oh no. I don't know anything about computers. I am hopeless with these things."

"I am hopeless too, but look," the ex-chairman said in an irritated manner, showing his cell phone, "I had to learn this. I had to learn this as well." He showed him the computer. "If I can, why shouldn't you?"

"Because the Lord will provide," the Teacher said smilingly.

"The Lord helps those that help themselves," retorted the ex-chairman.

"Please sit down," said the Teacher. "Look...when I was living in the mountains back in my old country, before I started my mission, it was autumn and the winter was closing in on us very fast. Further up was living an elderly lady alone. I noticed that she did not gather any wood for the winter. I went and asked her, 'Why aren't you gathering wood?' She said to me, 'don't worry, son, the Lord will provide.'

"A few days passed and the cold started to be noticeable. I went and asked her again, 'Aren't you going to gather any wood?' She was still capable enough to do that and I was irritated that she was not doing it. She said, 'don't worry, son, the Lord will provide.'

"I said to her, 'The Lord helps those who help themselves.'

"Then when the winter finally arrived, feeling sorry, I brought to her a car load of wood. She called me inside and made me a cup of tea and gave me some homemade marmalade on freshly baked bread. After she thanked me for the wood, she said, 'I told you the lord would provide didn't I?'

"I didn't know what to say."

"Neither do I," said the ex-chairman. "So, Teacher, I presume you know why I am here."

"Of course I know. You brought me the wood for the winter," he said, smilingly.

"Did you really expect that?"

"I know I am here to recuperate and use this opportunity to rejuvenate myself. If I bother with the computer and worry about my case the whole purpose for it would go on strike. Others are doing it for me. Here, the law of reciprocal action takes effect in the most natural way."

"I don't understand."

"When I helped the elderly lady with the wood I did not do it wanting back anything for my gesture. I just did it because I thought that was the right thing to do. Now, the law for reciprocal effect may be slow sometimes but surely it will close its cycle by a visible or symbolic effect without man being aware of it. Sometimes it will happen even in the beyond, but it surely will happen.

"Now you help me for a reason. You don't really know what; you are just doing it because you feel this is the right thing to do. You don't expect anything for it. In fact, you lose rather than gain in material sense. You see, the time I helped the elderly lady was the time where she used that time for reflection. She was gathering the good thoughts and erasing the bad ones of her life. That was her concern, and for her to live a little longer was meaningless. So those who say that when you help a stranger you actually are helping yourself are absolutely right.

"So here I am regenerating myself in order to help others while you are helping me without knowing that you actually are helping yourself. This is how things work... or at least how things should work. And so here you come for the case. I tell you I would never give it to someone else, although many big lawyers offered their serves free for publicity purposes. I knew you would come."

"Then we will make it official. How do they treat you here anyway? Have you any complaints at all?"

"Not at all."

"Very well then. I will register as your official attorney and from tomorrow we'll start working."

# APHRODITE

Michael was waiting at the boarding area in Athens airport to take his flight back home. The announcement came from the P.A. speakers for the passengers to start boarding.

He leisurely joined the back of the queue but he noticed a young lady right in the front of the queue. She had long black shiny hair down to her waist. He was sure this was the girl with whom he had coffee in Patmos, although he could not see her face.

He boarded the plane, and the moment the seatbelt sign went green he set off up and down the aisle looking for her. When he could not find her he assumed he'd made a mistake so he left it at that.

When they reached his home airport, he noticed the girl again right in front of another row waiting for her passport to be checked. It took a while for him to pass the checking point and he quickly went to the baggage area. She was not there, but as he was lifting his backpack he got a glimpse of her from the corner of his eyes as she moved into the customs area. He moved fast but the line was full so he went to another line. She finished first and was walking towards the exit when he finally caught up with her.

"I knew it was you!" he said. "I saw you in Athens Airport and I looked everywhere, but now finally I caught up with you."

"Oh yeah? And where did you look?"

"I was going up and down the whole aisle. I could not find you!"

By this time they reached the waiting area where relatives and friends came to pick up their loved ones.

"Did you look in business class?"

"No; are you a business woman?"

"No, but my father is, there he is with my mother waiting for me."

"I am sorry it never occurred to me..."

"Of course it wouldn't occur to you." She walked towards her parents and he said quickly, "Tomorrow at one o'clock I will wait for you in front of the general post office for lunch."

She turned and looked at him but he had no idea why. He was annoyed with himself for not thinking of something more original.

I don't even know where this place is! He thought.

Michael found a nice modest hotel. He had a shower and went to bed, but his mind kept returning to the girl. Did she like him? Would she come tomorrow? What if she didn't? Why wouldn't she?

He just could not take it anymore, so he dressed and went out.

He wandered in town for a while. He thought of ringing some friends but changed his mind; right now too many things occupied his mind between the girl and the Teacher's case. Whenever he tried to think about the case, his mind would drift away to her and would be lost in thoughts without achieving anything.

This cannot go on, he thought, so he decided to go to the movies.

After that he went to eat something and finally he went to his hotel room. It took him some time but finally he fell asleep.

In the morning he had a shower and shaved, put some fresh clothes on, and off he went.

Today he decided not to think about her any more. Either she comes or not, he thought. If she comes that would be good, but if she doesn't come she probably didn't like me anyway, so it's not be worth worrying. He went to the rendezvous prepared for the worst.

He was there ten minutes before one and waiting until seven minutes past when he decided to go. When someone bumped into him he raised his head and there she was, saying, "We have to stop meeting like this."

"Don't say that," he said. "If we did not bump into each other the first time we would never have met."

After some formalities Michael asked, "Is there any particular cuisine you like?"

"There are quite a few nice restaurants in the lane back there," she replied. "Let's walk there. We will find something."

There were some nice restaurants, mainly for white-collar workers and businessmen. Michael allowed her to choose the one she liked and they settled down.

"You seem to know the places around here," he said. "Do you live nearby?"

"No, my father's offices are not far from here. I come often to visit him or to work so I know the place."

"In what line of business is your father?"

"He is in real estate business but more into land development lately. How about you? Are you still in the bakery business or in the television industry or what?" she said, laughing.

"Actually right now I am on a special mission that I cannot explain, but I will go back to law very soon."

"So you are into law now too?" She was unable to hide her amusement.

"Not right now but very soon."

"Criminal law or..."

It was as though an electric current hit him. He got up and said, "Criminal law..." as though he was figuring out something. "You don't mind if we have the meal a bit later do you?"

"Well... no but what do you want to do in the meantime?"

"I want to go somewhere. Come on, I will get a taxi. We will be back in less than an hour."

"Can't we go with my car? It's at the corner near by the garage."

"Okay, let's go."

They hurried to the garage, and as she unlocked her car he asked, "What kind of car is this?"

"It is a Boxster. My father gave to me for my twenty-first birthday."

"A boxer?"

"No. A Boxster. It is a German car."

"Like a Mercedes?"

"It is a Porsche. Gosh, don't you know anything about cars?"

"Not much."

"Can you drive at least?"

"Oh yes, but only the automatic ones."

"That is something! Where are we going?"

"You follow this road. I will direct you."

Finally they arrived outside the television network. "We'd better stop here," he said.

They parked the car outside the establishment and walked to the checkpoint at the main gate.

"Hello," said the boom-man. "I know you. You are the guy that brought in the Teacher. Are you still working here? I haven't seen you for a while."

"I am in a special mission," Michael said.

"I need an I.D. for the young lady."

"Don't worry, she is with me," he said and ran towards the park holding her hand.

"You can't do that! The boom-man yelled behind them.

"It's okay, don't worry," Michael called back.

They reached the spot where the ex-vice-chairman died and Michael bent down and started to search the area. Suddenly he saw what he was looking for in the bushes.

I was right after all! he thought.

He again grabbed the girl's hand and started towards the gate in a hurry. The boom-man was not there, for the moment they rushed in he had rung the management office.

When the managing director heard what had happened, he rang back, asking if he was sure of the intruder's identity. The boom-man said surely he was the one.

The managing director rang the presenter to see if he knew anything about it. "Is he here?" he asked.

Then the managing director rang the boom-man again and said, "Take me to the place they went."

The boom-man left his spot and went to the main door to find the managing director but as soon as he opened the door he saw him together with the presenter and the CEO.

"Are you sure he was the one?" asked the managing director as they meet.

"I am positive sir." The boom-man took the others to the park. "I saw him bending over here as though he was looking for something," he said.

"This is the place where the vice-chairman of the WCFET died. I wonder what he is up to and where are they now?" said the managing director. He looked about, but they had already gone.

They were in the car driving back to the restaurant.

They sat in the same table in the same chairs and, after a big deep breath, she said. "Now what was that all about?"

"It is part of the special mission I told you about."

"It has something to do with the Teacher the boom-man mentioned?"

"Yes."

"And what this has to do with you?"

"I am investigating something."

"Are you a private investigator now?"

"Sort of, but not officially."

"Is the Teacher the guy that the whole media was occupied with a few months ago?"

"That is the one."

"And what do you have to do with him? He should be in jail as far as I know."

"And what do you know about it?"

Not much at all, but according to the television news he is kind of a terrorist and should be in prison."

"Let's us change the subject," said Michael. "You know, the first time I bumped into you back on Patmos I thought I bumped into the Venus de Milo."

"You mean Aphrodite of Milos?"

"Is there not an island in Greece called Milo where they found a famous statue called Venus de Milo?"

"You mean Aphrodite of Milos!"

"Okay, I believe so. You really looked like the goddess of Milo. May I call you Venus then?"

"No, but you can call me with the original name."

"Which one is this?"

"I told you... Aphrodite, the goddess of love."

"I like that. The goddess of love."

After their lunch and during the coffee he said, "Well, Goddess of Love, did you enjoy your lunch?"

"I did not mean you to call me Goddess of Love, although it sounds beautiful," she said, smilingly, "I meant Aphrodite."

"All right, Aphrodite, how did you like the lunch?"

"It was all right, although I really had to earn it."

"Come on. It was not so bad after all; at least it solved one of the questions you had in your mind," Michael said.

"Yes? And what is that?"

"Finding out if everything I was telling you was true or not."

"So I ticked one square as okay?"

"Yes, the one concerning the position at the television network. After all, this is the main reason you came. You wanted to find out more about me to quench this curiosity."

"You know, I just cannot make up my mind about you; you must be the most stupid man I have ever met or the most brilliant one."

"That is up to you to find out," he said, smiling, "and in order to do that we will have to meet again. Tomorrow at the same time I will be here for lunch again. I would very much like to see Aphrodite of Milos again."

And with that after they exchanged telephone numbers parted.

So the man that died that night actually wanted to commit a murder, Michael thought. I wonder if the current chairman was implicated in this.

That was what his instinct told him but how could he prove anything? How could he uncover anything? That's if there is anything to be uncovered, he thought as he lay on the bed in his hotel room.

When the new chairman closed himself in his office with a bottle of whisky after the second incident with his little girl and his wife blaming him for it, he spent a few days drinking and more days not attending his duties as the chairman of the WCFET.

Finally he came to the conclusion that he was not going to solve any problem like this, so he managed to come to his senses. He hoped it was not too late.

He was in his office trying to think of a way out of this mess when the answer knocked at the door. His secretary's head appeared at the half-open door saying a young man was here to see him.

"I told you I was not to be disturbed," he said.

"He said it is urgent and that he must see you."

"Who is he? Did he tell you?"

"He said he rubbed shoulders with the vice-chairman before he died."

The new chairman was curious, and finally, after considerable thought, he told his secretary to let the young man in.

"I understand you knew the vice-chairman," he said as soon as the Michael walked in.

"I rubbed shoulders with him before he tried to murder the ex-chairman," said Michael

"How on Earth do you know that?"

"I also know you were involved with it and if you do not repent you—"

"Did you say, repent?"

As soon as Michael realized he had hit a nerve, he started to work on it, telling the chairman he was chasing an innocent man and sooner or later he would pay for it unless he repented. And he emphasized the word, repent.

The new chairman was going to and fro in his office but when he heard this word again he went and collapsed in his seat. "Who are you? How do you know all this?"

"The issue is not what I know; the issue is what you are going to do about it."

"I don't know. I am lost. I am afraid I am going to lose my family, too," he said, almost crying, "But why should I talk to you? I only just met you."

"Trust me, I want only to help. Consider, I know enough to make your life hard if I wanted to but I only want to help."

"You seem to be a decent guy and to know things. Do you think I will I ever mend things with my family? Right now I am not allowed to touch my kid, and I'm not speaking with my wife anymore."

"How is that?"

"She blames me for things that take place at home."

"Don't tell me... some unexplained messages?"

"Yes, the last one is the word repent."

"And I suppose your little kid is always present when it happens."

"Exactly. Who are you? How do you know all this things?"

"Don't worry about that. It is your dead friend. He understood that he was wrong and is trying to convey it to you through your kid. The good thing about it is that you can fix things with a small amendment."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want to mend things with your family?"

"Very much so."

"Do you want your friend's soul to rest in peace without bothering your kid again?"

"Of course I do."

"Do you want to have peace in the rest of your life with your conscience clear and be able to enjoy your life with your family again?"

"Of course I do. I would give everything to make things as they were before."

"Even give away your position as chairman?"

It was this question he was reluctant to answer.

"Look," Michael told him, "you are still relatively young and you are a good lawyer. You will surely find your way again to support your family and reclaim your dignity. Is it worth losing everything you love for a chair? Look what happened to the ex-chairman. Look what happened to the vice-chairman. Look what is happening to you. Do you want to go further into it until it is too late for return?"

Michael realized it was too much and too sudden for the man to give an answer right away and he told him so. "I understand this is too much and too sudden. Here is my phone number. If you make up your mind, ring me and we will work something out."

He left for lunch.

The table they occupied yesterday was empty so Michael sat in the same chair again. He withdrew into his thoughts of what to do next if the current chairman decided not to ring him.

Two soft hands gently covered his eyes, bringing him back to the moment. "Now let me guess," he said. "Venus de Milo."

"Wrong. Aphrodite of Milos," she said. "Where were you? I was right in front of you and you could not see me. You were miles away."

"Now I see a goddess right in front of me," he said, smiling.

"Certainly you were not thinking about me," she said. "I hope not anyway as you looked very concerned."

"Do I look concerned now?" he said, smilingly.

"No, because I am here."

"Exactly. When you are around concerns and worries go out of the window."

"In that case I should be around more often, for I don't want you to be concerned or worried."

"You can say that again."

"I should be around more often."

"Once more."

"Shut up," she said teasingly. "Let's order something to eat."

While they were eating, Michael's phone rang. It was the ex-chairman Mir. Clarke.

"How are things there?" the ex-chairman asked.

"Hello, Chairman; how are you? How does the Teacher receive the idea of being in jail?"

"I tell you he acts as though he is on vacation; I am more concerned than he is!"

"That is the way to be, Chairman; you don't gain anything by worrying."

"How do you go on with the case? Do you have any idea of how to approach it yet?"

"I am working on it."

"Good, because if the case goes to full court hearing I feel we will be in trouble. We will have to appeal before the hearing proceedings; this is the only hope we have."

"Tell me, sir; we can appeal against the indictment, but what evidence do we need for that?"

"We need to make an appeal on the grounds of sufficient evidence to challenge the validity of the indictment."

"This is exactly what I am working on, sir."

"Are you still at the hotel?"

"Yes."

"Stay on; for if nothing pops up there you may have to come here to help me with the case. I am hopeless with these electronic gadgetries."

"Sir, if the recommendation is amended will that be sufficient ground to appeal?"

"That's all we need. But if that happened I tell you it will shake the whole judicial and legal system from its foundations. There is no precedent for three alternative recommendations in such a short time."

"The records are there to be broken."

"That will be something."

"Is there anything else you need from here, sir?"

"No, if I need something I will ring you. If you have to tell me something you ring me."

"Okay sir."

He turned the phone off and waited for Aphrodite to return from the washroom where he thought she had gone. Then after a while he realized that she was upset with this long telephone conversation and she would not return. He decided to ring her but then changed his mind. He thought that perhaps it would be better to let things cool down so he rang his friend to see if they could finalize the deal of turning the apartment over to his name.

The friend said he was at work, but he asked him to go for coffee after he finished.

"I will be home about six o'clock. I'm looking forward in seeing you," he said.

By now it was about two o'clock and he had four hours to spend before he met up with his friend. He went for a wander, until he thought a considerable time had passed, but when he looked at his watch it was only three o'clock.

Michael was bored stiff. It was definitely the worst thing for a man not to have a job or a goal in his life. The time just wouldn't go.

"That would be the worst thing to happen for me ever, he thought, not to be able to participate in life and just to watch the world idly go by.

Finally six o'clock arrived and off he went to his friend's apartment. He was very pleased to see him and they talked about various things until the conversation somehow come to Aphrodite.

"You seem to hit the jackpot," his friend said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the way you describe her, she is young, beautiful and rich. Do you want more? What else does a man need?"

"I must say I never looked at it this way."

"You will learn. You will learn fast, my friend!" his friend said.

That night Michael lay in bed in his hotel room thinking of everything that had happened with the ex-chairman, the current chairman, his friend and Aphrodite.

About the current chairman he felt sorry. The man wanted to get out of the mess he was in, but he didn't know how to go about it and that he did not want to relinquish his position as the chairman of WCFET.

About the ex-chairman he was uneasy, but the only reason he had not informed him of his meeting with the current chairman was that he did not want to raise his expectations high in case things did not turn out the right way.

Then he considered the discussion he had in his friend's apartment about Aphrodite. Maybe his friend was right, and he should be more careful with her. After all, his friend had many experiences with women whereas this seemed to be the only relationship Michael had had that seemed it might develop into something serious.

And as for Aphrodite, he must admit that he spoiled her dinner with the lengthy phone call, but on the other hand she could be a bit more patient.

This was Michael's way of ending the day just before he fell asleep. He would reflect on what happened during the day. He would make a resume and he would examine whether he should have acted the way he had acted or perhaps differently. He would go back to see if he hurt someone unwittingly so as to be more careful next time. In general he wanted to keep the good lessons the day served and to throw the bad ones out the window.

Today was a mixed sort of a day; he thought and slowly drifted asleep.

In the morning he decided to ring Aphrodite to patch things up.

"Before you say anything, can we make a deal?" he said.

"What kind of a deal?"

"That I will apologize to you for spoiling your lunch with that long telephone call and you apologize to me for being so impatient."

She thought for a moment and then she said, "It's a deal. By the way who was this chairman over the phone that seemed so important?"

"I will explain to you another day. So what are you doing now?"

"I was going to say that!"

"I am still in my hotel room; do you want to go for lunch?"

"Yes, but not to that restaurant. It is a jinx; always something happening. I will take you to one."

"That is fine with me; can you pick me up from here?"

"Yes. Give me the address. I will be there in two hours."

"I will be down the lobby waiting for you."

She came in time and found Michael reading the newspaper. She had a glance around the lobby and she said, "Not actually the Four Seasons is it?"

"Good enough for me."

"Let's go."

So off they went to a classy restaurant right on the waterfront.

"Now this is a mighty place I must say!"

"Special places for special people."

"Tell me; aren't you working at all?"

"Oh yes, I am working for my father. I have flexible hours. I go when I like and I leave when I like," she said, laughing.

"And what are you doing if you ever decide to go?"

"I am the public relations officer of the company; I have my office there and my private secretary."

"Why would your father's company need a public relations officer? Is it such a big company?"

"Not that big, but lately we developing some sites with considerable public opposition. When you are a land developer, no matter how considerate you are, there will be always be opposition. Anyway, I would suggest lobster le grand. It is fantastic, and how about if we start with some oysters au naturel?"

"Sounds good."

The current chairman of the WCFET was in turmoil. Since the second happening with his little girl and the appearance of this young man in his office the other day he was walking on in hot coals; his anxiety was such that he thought that he is losing his mind. There was not a night passed without having nightmares and getting up in the middle of the night showered with cold sweat. His wife wouldn't share their bed with him anymore and his little girl was wondering why Daddy had changed so much and why he would not even hug her anymore. For a moment things seemed to work out, but the second happening with the warning message repent now and the appearance of this young man that seemed to know everything had blown the whole thing apart.

But how did this young man know so much about the vice-chairman and him? He was sure his friend had never mentioned him at all, and yet he seemed to know so much.

The last straw had come last night when he was sleeping and heard a thump on the floor. He was so terrified that he was shaking with fear, but luckily for him it was only the cat. Otherwise he would not be able to face his wife or kid anymore.

He made his decision to resign from the chairmanship first thing tomorrow.

He came to his office today with this in his mind oh... it was so hard for him, so hard... but what if he could save his family and his sanity? If he was going to resign, he didn't need the young man, but then again he seemed to know things and he seemed to be a nice guy.

I had better ring him before I resign, he thought.

"The oysters natural with lemon were fantastic," said Michael as he finished his last one.

"Do you know what they say about the oysters au naturel?" asked Aphrodite.

"No, what?"

"That they are very wait for it... aphrodi..."

"What...Aphrodite?"

"Pretty close. It derives from Aphrodite; it is an aphrodisiac. The dictionary describes it something like... stimulating or ... intensifying sexual desire. Anyway, something like that."

"But how do you know all this?"

"My name is Aphrodite," she said teasingly, "you remember?"

"Oh, here comes the main dish. What a picture! I hope it tastes as good as it looks!"

"I am sure it does. It's Lobster le Grand; they specialize in it."

At that moment Michael's phone rang; it was the current chairman of the WCFET.

"Hello, Chairman," said Michael.

That moment Aphrodite choked as she was sipping a glass of white wine.

"Don't worry," Michael said to Aphrodite whisperingly as he was covering his phone with his hand, "he is a different chairman."

"Well," said the chairman, "I don't know if this is going to change anything but I am going to resign right now. I've had enough."

"Please Chairman, don't do it yet. I'll be there in no time. Are you at your office?"

"Yes I am."

"I'll be there soon."

"I don't believe this...I just don't believe it."

"Aphrodite, I am so sorry, but it is so important. I will make it up to you. It's a promise."

"No you will not," she said, and went to pay the bill while Michael ran outside to look for a taxi.

As he waited there he was nearly run over by Aphrodite driving furiously out of sight. He wondered if she did it purposely.

He reached the office of the chairman and found him in a distressed state.

"Calm down," said Michael. "It is very important to listen; otherwise your resignation will be in vain."

"What do you mean? If I resign it's finished, finito. I will go home and start my life again. Do you understand? I want my life back."

"This is why I am here; to help everyone to get their lives back."

"Who are you? Why do you want to help me? I don't even know you!"

"I don't want to help only you. I want to help your kid, your wife, your friend in the beyond and an innocent man that may rot in prison because of you."

"Don't talk about my kid...anyway if I handle my resignation things should go back to normal again."

"No, for you won't have achieved anything. You will only have burned the ace you have. You will destroy your strong hand without achieving anything. Your kid will continue to be harassed, your wife will blame you for that, your friend the vice-chairman won't be able to find peace, the Teacher is going to rot in prison and you will sink even further into the shit."

"Okay, okay, you told me that already, but why would that happen?"

"Because your friend, the ex-vice-chairman of the WCFET; persecuted an innocent man to the point that he even tried to murder him. But this is not all; he influenced you so you continue in his tracks repeating the same mistake as he did. When he passed over into the beyond he realized he was wrong and he is trying to atone things by warning you. I tell you, his soul won't rest unless you amend things."

"And how can I amend things?"

"With an amendment, man."

"Are you joking now or what?"

"Not at all. I am very serious."

The chairman started to breathe slightly better. It was not that he solved any problem, but this mess he was in started to make a little more sense if things were as this young man described them. Although he never believed in these things, at least it was some kind of an explanation. After all, this young man seemed to know so much he could even use it to his advantage. He could even blackmail him. He had no reason not to believe in this young man.

"What do you suggest then?" he said.

"I want you to trust me. If you trust me; things will turn all right for everyone."

"What shall I do then?"

"When do you have any important meeting with any dignitary in the near future?"

"In four days I have to meet the Secretary of State... wait for it... to congratulate me for the good work we are doing. But this won't happen here, but at the foreign office."

"That is even better. Can you call a meeting of the committee that day?"

"Yes."

"And how much quorum do you need in order to make an amendment to one of previous recommendations the WCFET made?"

"Sixty-five per cent out of present committee members."

"Do you think you can gather that number?"

"I believe I can." For the first time the chairman felt alive again. He felt like conspiring against the conspirators... against the whole system that brought him into this mess. He did not include himself in it no... everything could be swept away with a fresh breath and above all he didn't mind to losing the chair of such an important position. The idea that he would get his family back gave him wings.

To hell with this jinxed chair, he thought. This chair does not bring any good to anyone; it just brings worries and despair.

"Yes I can and I will do it," he said, and for the first time his voice had a shade of optimistic tone.

"Now," Michael said, "how many confident pals have you that trust you?"

"Right now I am invisible. Everyone trusts me for the good job I am doing. Everyone wants to be my friend but for sure I can say four; the ones I was conspiring with to change the amendment."

"Is there a special form when the WCFET issue a recommendation or it is done on a normal official paper?"

"We have a special form for it."

"Can I see it?"

"Sure and the chairman handed one to him.

After Michael studied it for a while he said to the chairman, "Can you persuade your four buddies to sign this blank recommendation form just before you are supposed to see this dignitary because... say... lack of sufficient time for it and that you are going to fill it out later on?"

"I think I know where you are going with this. I think you are brilliant and you are not even a lawyer."

"Not yet. Now listen carefully; how good an actor are you?"

" I don't know anything about acting."

"Well you better learn fast. Make sure everyone knows about this important meeting with the dignitary."

"They all know about it."

"Well, at the last minute, just before you leave for this important meeting, you will pretend that you forgot something and that you have to take care of another item. Open your briefcase. Go first to your buddies and show them the form. Sign it, telling them that a slight amendment has to be made and that you don't have time to fill it right now, but they need to sign it too.

"While you are getting out of the meeting room you will stop at the door. Turn and in a natural way you will say, 'Friends, there is another small item we have to take care of. Unfortunately I don't have time to explain, but I and some other members have already signed it. It concerns the recommendation. It needs a slight amendment for more accurate wording, as the last was too general. I will take care of the exact wording later. After all we cannot let the secretary wait for me, can we?' Do you think you can do that?"

"By golly how did you think about all that? You are a genius."

"Listen, it is not a joke. It is absolutely necessary to choose the right words you are going to use in this case. I doubt it very much but someone may dispute it in court. They won't dare do it, because they have signed it and you told them that you intended to make an amendment, which you then did. You are a lawyer and you know the weight words carry and the consequences of it. You may even find more appropriate words to use."

"You are a whiz kid; where do you get all this from?"

"I don't know. They just come."

"Then what?"

"Then we roll into action."

"You mean all this was the pre-game stuff?"

"Exactly."

"With this kind of laymen on the loose who wants to be a lawyer?"

So the day of the meeting was set and then Michael left the WCFET place and went to eat something in a restaurant. Then he went back to the motel. After a short reflection of the day he fell asleep.

Next day he thought to ring the ex-chairman to inform him of the progress he was making.

"Chairman," he said, "I don't want to raise your expectations high but something is brewing here."

"Good, because I'm in a dead end here."

"Chairman, I want you to concentrate on the appeal side of the case. Do you know when they are going to convene? Have you got any idea when will be a good time to lodge an appeal?"

"I know that at the beginning of next week they are going to hear an appeal by one defender of the former Yugoslavia. If we lodge one soon they will probably accept it for that day but we will need a case for it and I can't imagine it happening."

"Let us be positive about it. I will call you as soon as I have something solid to tell you."

After the telephone call, Michael decided to write down the new recommendation to have it ready if needed.

After considerable re-examination and deliberation of the so-called Teacher's case, I the chairman, and the committee members of the WCFET, have decided to re-enact the recommendation to its former stature as we were unable to gather sufficient evidence to support our previous findings and as we were misled by various accusations that proved groundless so we have no sufficient evidence for the continuation of his indictment.)

This signed by the majority of the committee members and especially by the chairman himself should be sufficient reason for an appeal to upheld, Michael thought, and as the driving force behind this second recommendation was the chairman himself and his four buddies he did not think anybody would dispute it.

Besides, most of them were lawyers and they should be careful where they put their signatures next time. You have to use the same weapons as they use in order to fight evil he thought; you have to use fire against fire.

The day of the committee meeting arrived and Michael went to the WCFET to see the chairman. The chairman told him it was the first time since he made the decision to amend this recommendation that he had slept peacefully.

"Even my wife notices the change in me and she is much softer towards me. I am looking forward to opening a new page in my life," he said.

"You even look much better since I saw you; things are starting to look up. Anyway this is the new recommendation I have drafted. I want you to have a look at it."

The chairman read the recommendation and said, "I couldn't write it better myself. I will only change some words to make it more incomprehensible." He laughed.

The time arrived for the meeting and the chairman made sure the recommendation form was in his briefcase.

Michael suggested he should see the Secretary of State after all for it would look more official and give more prestige and more status to his recommendation. Everyone would associate this meeting in the Foreign Office with the new recommendation.

"So in one hour time you must leave the committee meeting to go to the other meeting, and before that, you must tell your secretary to take the recommendation form signed by the others and to leave it on your desk and that it is important.

"Now how long you think you need before you can come back here to your office?"

"I don't know. In about three hours I suppose."

"By then the WCFET will close its doors for the public I presume?"

"Yes and the committee members and everyone will be gone home by then."

"Can you give me a ring as soon as you leave the secretary's office? I will be around here, and then we can walk into the office together."

"I will sure do that."

"Now I want you to look like a billion dollar man. Be as confident as can be. I am sure you can do it and we will meet in front of the building whenever you finished with the secretary."

The chairman entered the meeting room with the flair of a king. His four buddies stood up clapping and soon everyone followed suit. The chairman looked elegant and graceful and every member wanted to shake his hand and to congratulate him.

The meeting rolled with some formal and mundane topics and when towards the end the chairman asked his buddies to sign the recommendation form, they did it without hesitation. Going towards the door he stopped and repeated what Michael told him to say but his confidence and the way he said it even surprised him.

As soon as he closed the door behind him he ran to his office and had a gulp of his whisky.

The Secretary of State was waiting for him at the front door of the building with some photographers taking some pictures for the occasion. This time the chairman was far more confident; after all, he didn't really have to act, he merely had to acknowledge the prizes and the honors.

After some formalities and well wishes, the Secretary of State guided him to the front door of the building for some more photos and then off he went for the WCFET headquarters.

Piece of cake, he thought on the way there. Piece of cake.

Then he rang Michael to say he was on his way.

They met in front of the building and walked together to the chairman's office. They found the recommendation form with all the signatures on the table, and they started to work on it.

Then Michael rang three of the major newspapers to send a reporter each to the WCFET concerning of the amendment of the recommendation they made about the Teacher.

"It's a complete one hundred and eighty degree turnaround," he said.

After the calls were confirmed, and while waiting for the reporters to arrive Michael asked the chairman as a last move of the day if he could appear at the late night news show in a major television network and above all to deny emphatically that he would resign.

"Your word will hold much more strength if whatever we do concerns a current chairman rather than an ex-chairman."

"I will do that," he said, "and then I'll go home and sink into my bathtub to be drenched with a glass of Champagne in my hand—"

"Hang on, Mister Chairman; there is one last thing I want you to consider before you do that. This is an optional move for you, as you have done so much already."

"What is it this time?"

"What I will ask you to do will tremendously facilitate things in Holland but not only that, it will be the guarantee of success in case something goes wrong."

"What shall I do then?"

"I want you to come with me tomorrow to Holland."

"By golly you give me a full hand. You think about everything don't you?"

Michael shrugged. "Ideas just come as we go along."

"Tomorrow?"

"As soon as possible. Even today!"

"Why this urgency?"

"There is a good chance for the court to accept our appeal, as it will be convening for another case early next week."

"Well I don't like half-baked breads."

"Me neither! I like your analogy, Mister Chairman."

"Well let's do it then."

"While you take care of things with the reporters I will organize the television station to send a limousine to pick you up, and also for air tickets. By the way, I use economy class for myself as the money came from the Free the Teacher fund, but for you I will get a business class ticket. Will that be okay with you?"

"You get two economy tickets. I like company when I travel and besides it is time for me to land in reality. I have had enough of this world of fantasy."

Michael left the chairman to deal with the reporters and then rang the television station where he was working before.

The managing director was pleased to hear from him asking, "Are you still on Patmos?"

"No, I am here."

"Are you ringing about your job? If so we will welcome you back."

"No, but thank you anyway. The reason I am ringing you is about WCFET. They have amended their previous recommendation about the Teacher."

"Good grief, what is going on there? Are they gone bonkers? It's a headline story!"

"Then send a limousine to pick the chairman up for the late night headlines."

"How do you know all this? Are you working for them now?"

"No, I am the chairman's adviser"

"Until tomorrow," he whispered to himself.

"Will you consider being my adviser?" the managing director said, amused.

"I will think about that. Thanks for the offer."

Michael went to the travel agent who organized his trip to Patmos and asked him for two tickets to Amsterdam as soon as possible. The travel agent finally he came up with two seats available at half past six tomorrow morning. "But it's via London," he said, "with only half an hour changeover time. You will have to be quick, and hope the flight will be on schedule."

"I will take the chance," Michael said.

After that he made a telephone call to one of the newspapers, asking when the early editions of the newspapers would arrive at the airport.

"Around six o'clock they should be there," said his informant.

That will have to be another chance we have to take, thought Michael.

Finally he got the tickets and went back to see the chairman. He had just finished with the reporters who were pressing hard, asking him if he intended to resign. He was adamant that he was not leaving his position.

"Well, Chairman," Michael, said, "you know the scene you were describing to me about the bath tub with champagne?"

"Yes... what?"

"It will have to wait, because tomorrow morning at five we'll have to be at the airport. We're leaving at half past six."

"Shit!" the chairman said. "I'll have to go direct from the television station to the airport?"

"It is only one night, Chairman. We're nearly there. Here is your ticket. Give me the recommendation in case you cannot make it and I will see you tomorrow morning at five at the airport."

I must make two more calls, Michael thought, and then I am done for today.

First he rang the ex-chairman in The Hague and told him that he would be there tomorrow and to start any proceedings necessary for the appeal. He did not mention anything about bringing the chairman because he was not sure about it.

Then he decided to ring Aphrodite. She must have calmed down by now, he thought.

"How dare you?" she said, and before she could say anything more Michael cut through her sentence saying, "I want to tell you two things if you are calm enough to listen."

"What is that?"

"I want to make a deal with you."

"No more deals. What is the second?"

"I am leaving for Holland tomorrow morning."

"Can I ask you why?"

"It has to do with those perfectly timed phone calls that you nearly ran me over for; you will hear everything tomorrow in the news."

"How long are you going for?"

"I don't know. I hope it won't be for long."

"What can I say? Ring me when you return. Bye."

"Bye."

Michael was at the airport at five o'clock. He could not take a chance to be late; I'd rather lose some sleep than be late, he thought.

He gave a fifty fifty chance for the current chairman to appear but he thought he had done enough. He actually felt obliged to him. His main concern now was whether the newspaper delivery would be on schedule.

The time passed until it was nearly six o'clock, but neither the chairman nor the newspapers showed up.

At six o'clock one of the newspaper packages was dropped off but at that moment boarding time was announced through the speakers. Michael waited a little longer in case the chairman showed up or another newspaper drop arrived, but then they announced the final call for boarding.

Michael was still there waiting like a dog waiting his master in case something showed up when the public address system paged his name in the final call.

At the same time in came another bunch of papers, the man was taking his time arranging them in his kiosk.

Finally Michael spotted the one he was waiting for. He grabbed it and ran.

"Hey!" the guy screamed.

Michael realized he had not paid. As he ran, he took some coins from his pocket and threw them behind.

He just managed to squeeze through the gate as it closed.

Michael reached Amsterdam with no problems. While he waited for the bus to take him to The Hague; he rang the ex-chairman and told him to wait for him in the bus depot if it was at all possible.

They met an hour later and went off with a taxi to Scheveningen.

Inside the taxi Michael handed the ex-chairman the new recommendation and the two newspaper clippings reporting the total amendment of the previous recommendation.

The ex-chairman could not believe his eyes when he saw that. Before he said a word, Michael saw something and told the taxi driver to stop.

"Are we going to the ICC registrar in Scheveningen?" he asked.

The ex-chairman was so ecstatic that he could only nod yes.

"You go, Mister Clarke, and start the proceedings. I will meet you there."

He got out of the car and ran towards the Internet café he had just seen.

When they reached Scheveningen the ex-chairman ran to the registrar office. The registrar officer was attending someone else and it felt as if the clerk was taking his time. When he finished finally he asked the ex-chairman, "What can I do for you?"

The ex-chairman told the clerk he wanted to fill an application form for an appeal to be heard after the hearing that was due to take place next week.

The clerk looked at his watch and said, "You are late for that sir, but let me see. Have you got all the documents you need for it?"

The ex-chairman handed him the recommendation and the two newspaper clippings.

"Now let me see... is this the original recommendation or a copy?"

"The original."

"That is good... and the publication items; that is...oh sir, I need three newspaper clippings and there are only two."

"I am sorry. I don't have another one."

"I am sorry too; sir, but I cannot accept it."

"We cannot leave a man in detention just for the sake of one small lousy newspaper clipping."

"I am sorry sir. Rules are rules."

"How about if I produce it later on?"

"I am sorry sir. I cannot accept the rest of the documents. I will lose my job."

"That is ridiculous. Surely there must be a way out of this!"

"Sorry sir. It is a prerequisite to have three newspaper clippings. I need one more newspap—"

"This is ridiculous. Surely there—"

"Sorry sir. It is absolutely mandatory that three newspaper clippings accompany—"

"Here! Here's the third one!" said Michael as he flew through the office doors.

"Well folks, you are in business. Luck is on your side today. You have just made it. I wish you good luck with your appeal."

The ex-chairman was lost for words

"How did you manage that? I still cannot believe it!" he said, looking like a stunned mullet.

"I nearly brought the chairman with me to verify everything but I think he slept in. Do you think we have a chance with the appeal?"

"Absolutely. They don't have any grounds to hold the Teacher any more. The whole structure will collapse. They based their indictment only on the recommendation of the WCFET and now that doesn't exist anymore it is a matter of formalities. Boy oh boy I can still not believe it," the ex-chairman said, shaking his head. "You must be hungry, so first we are going to eat something and then I will show you your room. I have booked a room for you where I'm staying. Then tomorrow we will go to see the Teacher. I can't still believe it; I just can't."

Next day over the coffee after breakfast in their hotel the ex-chairman asked Michael, "Do you think the WCFET can it withstand another scandal of this proportion?"

"I doubt and it has not finished yet."

"What do you mean?"

"The chairman is going to resign. Who is going to defend all this media bombardment? I think it is doomed."

"And all this started because they wanted to prosecute someone who made them feel uncomfortable," said the ex-chairman. "The irony is that the name itself as WORLD COUNCIL of FREEDOM of EXPRESSION and TOLERANCE didn't carry it far away either. I gave years of my life for it to echo— to reflect as closely as possible—its name with its deeds ... all in vain."

Next day they visited the Teacher and found him in good spirits.

"How nice to see you again," he said to Michael. "I heard that you were on Patmos in a monastery. Did you bake them some bread while you were over there?"

"As a matter of fact, Teacher, I baked lots of bread. I was the baker for the monastery."

"Is that so? I was only joking, but that is really good for you did something you have always wanted to do. Are you over it yet?"

"I think I am over it, Teacher, but you're right; it was something I always wanted to do."

"Of course you did. Man learns only from experience. Man has to do in order to learn."

"But Teacher," said the ex-chairman; "the process of reading is not part of learning?"

"The process of reading is nothing more than adopting someone else's experiences as your own. It does not work like that. If that were the case this world would be in a much better state than it is.

"Look around you. All the people that hold power on this Earth are educated and where do they lead their flock?"

"Do you mean to say that we should be guided by uneducated people?"

"No, I am saying that learning through books does not help man to build character for that is something that comes through experiences.

"If this young man did not experience the process the procedure of making bread and he was simply reading about it in books, would that quench his thirst for it? Of course not. He had to experience it to live it in order to make it his own. Tell me; if we put someone in a library for say twenty years and throw the keys away do you think he would come out as a better man?

"Of course not. The only thing this would do is for this man to miss twenty years of his life down in the drain. The only experience he would get out of it is that you cannot experience without actual experience."

"I must say," said Michael, "that prior to the experience I had in Patmos I was in limbo. This experience helped me a lot to go on with my life. Up to then, I lived with the idea that I wanted to become a baker. You see when I was a kid I used to go to my grandfather's shop. All the beautiful smells from the freshly baked breads and sweets plus the presence of my grandfather, whom I loved, made me think I was in heaven and the idea stuck to me ever since that when I grew up I would become a baker.

"I remember when the people asked us kids what we were going to be when we grow up and the kids answered the usual, you now doctors, nurses, lawyers etc... I would announce proudly, 'I am going to become a baker'. I still would like to do it but it has become of secondary importance to me, for now I can help my fellowman when he is in dire times. If I finish my studies and become a lawyer I will be more helpful, for a baker cannot defend a man when he is in need. Although it is a honorable profession I am sure someone up there will be happy to fill my position."

"And I am sure you will become an excellent lawyer," said the Teacher.

"I am already convinced about that," said the ex-chairman.

When they were leaving the detention cells of Scheveningen, the new chairman of WCFET John Watson rang Michael and after apologizing for not being able to come to Holland, informed him that there was pandemonium and he couldn't hold on any more. He wanted to resign.

Michael managed to persuade him to hold on for another two days in case he had to verify something as chairman.

"I will ring you as soon as the verdict comes— straight away!" he said and they left at that.

The day of the appeal hearing arrived and at the chambers of appeals everything ran smoothly as predicted by the ex-chairman. As soon as the appeal judge was convinced that the recommendation was authentic and the amendment made public, he found there were no grounds for the accused to be further detained and ordered his release.

Immediately Michael rang the current chairman and informed him that the Teacher had been released and that he could resign if he so wished.

"If I wish?" the chairman said to himself after he finished speaking to Michael. "I am desperate for it!"

He emerged from hiding. He had imposed isolation on himself for the last few days, not being able to face his colleagues and the reporters' pressure. But now it was his chance. He was going to be through with it once and for all.

He rang the press club and he announced he would hold a press conference in two hours concerning his resignation. After that he went to the WCFET headquarters where his colleagues demanding explanation immediately swamped him. He rushed to his office and locked himself in, sat down and finally wrote down his resignation. Leaning back on the chair he managed a deep sigh of relief, collected himself and began to pile his personal belongings into a plastic rubbish bag he brought in his pocket. Then he had a gulp of his fine whisky, settled in his chair again, put the key of the car that WCFET provided for him in a bottom drawer and waited.

Outside his office was havoc. Shouts and abuse could be heard.

He took one more gulp of his whisky. There were bangs on the door. The fear was overwhelming. Cold sweat was running on his forehead, as he was sure they were going to lynch him.

More bangs came on the door— this time much harder and louder. He thought they were going to break the door down. He had another gulp of whisky.

His phone rang. The reporters were outside banging the door for him to open up.

He wiped his forehead with his bare hand and opened the door. The reporters rushed in.

"Is it true that you are resigning?"

"Yes it is. There is my resignation notice," and he showed them the paper.

"What about if the SLIU will not accept your resignation?"

"Aren't you going to comment about it?"

"Yes. I had enough and I am going home." He grabbed the rubbish bag and rushed out with the reporters following him for more explanations and his colleagues abusing and cursing him. One of them, a close associate of the original five conspirators, even hit him as he ran for cover with the rubbish bag opening up and all his belongings spreading all over the floor.

The incident started to be broadcast live and his wife saw it happening on the television at home. She sat at the coach and started crying.

Finally he managed to stop a taxi, which took him home.

His wife was still crying when he arrived, but luckily the little girl was next door playing with another little girl.

His wife embraced and kissed him, telling that she saw everything on T.V.

After a while, when things settled down, she filled the bath tub with hot water and when he slowly immersed his body into the tub his wife asked him if he would like a beer, a whisky or perhaps a glass of champagne.

"Champagne darling, champagne... today is a day to celebrate for I got my family back!" he said, and then added, whispering to himself, "Who knows? I may even get my dignity back!"

As soon as the news went out that after the recommendation amendment the chairman of the WCFET also resigned all hell broke loose. With television news coverage and panels in full swing they even brought out segments of the happenings with the previous administration, the ex-chairman and the Teacher again. They tried to associate that scandal as they said with the last few days' happenings. They claimed it was a sort of conspiracy going on in a big scale to be able to free the Teacher even from the international criminal court in The Hague.

The newspapers again drew out the pictures of the two men 'giggling' as they headlined it. Every television talk show panel, every newspaper and radio commentator, had their hypothesis ready for public consumption with the most bizarre claims imaginable.

Conspiracy theorists were up with unbelievable accusations and scenarios that touched the sphere of paranoia, but rational and skeptics stayed aloof from all this.

The Secretary of State's office was forced to make a statement that it withdrew all its funds from the WCFET.

"How come only few days back you called the chairman of this organization to congratulate him for the good job he is doing?" asked the reporters. "You are withholding the funds for it now!"

The spokesman for the foreign office said that the chairman of the WCFET was not called here to be congratulated but to be reprimanded for the way he handled the WCFET matters.

When the reporters insisted that they had photos showing the chairman of WCFET and the Secretary of State exchanging warm handshakes and smiles as he came in and out of the building the spokesman said that the Secretary of State was a friendly person and that it didn't mean he was personal with any visitor that attended his office.

Besides how could you be sure what was discussed in the office? Were the reporters in there to listen?

The SLIU was not able to absorb any more violent vibrations emanated from the WCFET. With the failure of making the charges stick in The Hague plus the fact that the Secretary of State withdrew the funds allotted for it (and as those funds were the lifeline of keeping the WCFET afloat) they made the unprecedented decision to ask the secretary of the UNO to terminate the operations of WCFET.

After the Teacher's release the three boarded a bus and went to Amsterdam. There they booked a hotel. They also booked airline tickets; one for the Teacher, who was going to stay in his house in the mountains to write something before he started another world tour, and two for Michael and the ex-chairman to go back home.

They went to their rooms for a shower and decided to meet down in the bar for a drink and for something to eat to calm down after such a hectic day.

They met in the bar and ordered some drinks.

"Let's sit down here," said the ex-chairman. "I don't understand how this people stand up for such long hours and what pleasure they are getting out of it."

"That is a good idea," said the Teacher. "Let us sit down."

"What happened to your butler-organizer-travel companion...and whatever else he can perform that I don't remember right now?" the ex-chairman said laughingly.

"I sent him home to see his folks; we will meet again when I go back home anyway.

"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the things you have done for me," said the Teacher to the ex-chairman. "Keep up the good work, for as I said, when you help someone else you are actually helping yourself."

"In this case, Teacher, you must thank this young man, for if it was not for him you would be still inside. He single-handedly managed to do something that to me seemed inconceivable."

"I am aware of the character and abilities of this young man so much so that there is something I am going to say. It has have never crossed my mind before, but now I am thinking of extending my entourage to three," he said, smiling. Turning back to the chairman, he asked, "Do you think if it ever happens it will start to look like an organization? Because this is what I am trying to avoid all this time."

"Definitely not," said the ex-chairman. "Three people are just three people. Organizations consist of hundreds or even thousands of people with offices, cars, internet web-sites, accountants, lawyers—"

"Now that you mention lawyers... that will be the provision." Turning to Michael the Teacher said, "If you ever finish your studies and became a lawyer, and if by then you still want to serve your fellow man, come and join the battle against ignorance. Come to serve the poor and deprived ones and all the destitute ones that I am coming across during my wanderings on Earth."

As they drank coffee after the meal, Michael said to the Teacher, "So tomorrow we part our roads, Teacher."

"Until we meet again."

"Do you think we are going to meet again Teacher?"

"It depends."

"It depends on what?"

"It depends on how well you are going to keep this candle of yours for serving your fellow man alive. Many a man senses this and is heartily ready, especially in his adolescent years, but with the passing of time this quench to serve evaporates to the point that it becomes just a reminiscence of the past. It becomes something of a vague idea that never materialized."

"Teacher," said the ex-chairman, "what do you think about the world situation? Where is man heading?"

"There is not a doubt that man has made a detour from the road he was once at the beginning of his incarnation on Earth, when he saw in this detour road lights glitter sensuality and material accumulations. This led him into propensities in an endless cycle of reincarnations and wasted valuable time allotted to him for his maturity.

"Up to the last century the intellect of man has invented all these sophisticated ideas which eventually became ethereal movements with the characteristics and peculiarity that their names ended with the syllable ism. These include Nazism, communism, nihilism, fascism, and capitalism. The consequence is that we all know when these ideas started to be materialize here on Earth, and we know the rest that are following now.

"But the last nail in the coffin is driven now in a very sinister way by this new sophistical idea that has not a name that finishes in ism as all the sophistries of the last century did. In fact it doesn't even have a name, but this time it hits at the roots of the tree, which is bound slowly, slowly to decay and perish into dust. It is sinister because it hits at the spirit of man; the only weapon that is left in him to fight back.

"Under the pretence of the 'liberated man' he managed to demolish the last fortress left standing. It is happening now. Many people sense it but they cannot pinpoint it for it is beautifully camouflaged under the garment of modernism. People that are indolent in their spirit lost the ability to sense spiritual matters and as hungry fish charge into the colourful hooks that have being set up by the intellectuals with biblical consequences that will start to unravel much sooner than many think.

"This new intellectual sophistry is the free-for-all intellectual fruit. It erodes the society from insight from its roots. It abolishes natural barriers that stood there for thousands of years. Just because man is incapable to sense its importance anymore, so they abolish the roles of the sexes, tearing down ethnical barriers, racial barriers, cultural barriers and more with the sole excuse that they found all this 'anachronistic'.

"It is none other than the fruit I already talked about in various forums as the justification of the intellect. This is the last sophistry that can be invented by the intellect for it is in its zenith right now and this is the cherry in the intellectual torte before it dies, falls and perishes into dust."

Next day, although the Teacher's flight was much earlier, they all went to the airport together. They said farewell, and after a while Michael and the ex-chairman took their flight back home.

It was the day after his arrival at home that the ex-chairman Mr. Clarke was talking to his wife while they were drinking coffee in their lounge.

"You know, dear," he said, "I feel so privileged to meet these two men. Because of the Teacher I feel that I got my self-respect back and because of the young man I respect man more, for he in a way brought me back from the clouds I was living in as one of the most accomplished international lawyers. I was barely an onlooker in a case I was supposed to have solved."

"You were not an onlooker, honey. You took the initiative to free the Teacher, you remember?"

"Yes, but if it wasn't for the young man the Teacher would still be inside and I would go to and fro and at the end I don't think I would achieve anything."

"You did your best, honey, and the Teacher is free. That is what matters most. Besides, you are the one who was determined for the young man to help you in this case. You made a good judgment about it and you should be proud of it."

"I must say I did make a good judgment about it," he said. "By the way, there is one other thing; perhaps the last responsibility I have to attend to in this saga. I want to arrange a meeting with the donors of the Free the Teacher fund. Luckily there is a considerable amount left unused. I want to tell them that it is so because of the single handling of the whole thing by this young man. I'll tell them that if it was not for him the Teacher would be still inside so I will ask them for part of this money to go towards his studies until he becomes a lawyer. I am sure they will have a sympathetic ear towards it."

"I am sure about that, honey, too."

The day after his arrival home Michael decided to ring Aphrodite. The sun had already disappeared and he wondered if Aphrodite wanted to go for dinner.

"Aphrodite," he said, "I am ringing you from a public phone, I forgot my cell phone at my hotel and I have no more coins so I cannot talk long. Would you like to go for dinner?"

"No dinner with you anymore," she said. "It is a jinx."

"But I want to see you and to talk about the deal," he said. "It is all about this. I think you will like it."

"Okay," she said, "Grab a pizza and come to talk about it," and she gave him the address.

He ordered a pizza from a nearby shop and in no time he was outside an impressive building which was very close to the building where he had made the phone call to her. The security guy opened the door and asked him, "To which apartment goes this pizza?"

"I don't know the number of the apartment; it's for a nice-looking girl with hair down past her shoulders. I call her Aphrodite."

"She is a goddess isn't she?"

As he was talking to Michael he was writing on a Post-it note. "Well what are you waiting for?" he said. "You will not get any tips from me."

"You don't understand. I must take it myself!"

"Oh yeh? And to whom are you going to take it to?"

"I don't know you tell me."

"What is the name of the person?"

"I don't now, the girl with the long black hair."

"That is not good enough."

"But I must take it by myself."

"No way. Everything that comes in must be delivered by the security. These are the rules."

"But—"

"We don't but here, you see this red button here? If I press this red button..." and he showed the rookie an electronic device on his belt, "...if I press this button in no time this place is going to be swarmed by security people. I suggest you go now. Out! Out!" the security guy said with his hands flapping about and with a harsh raised voice.

So Michael went out and tried to find a public phone to ring Aphrodite.

After purchasing the pizza, Michael had two coins. He rang her but she was still in the shower preparing for him. He put the phone down but the coin would not came out so he thought it would be better to wait for a while before he rang again to make sure she would answer.

As soon as the security guy chased of the person he thought was a pizza-boy, he went to the men's room to groom himself at the mirror. He always wondered why they placed the mirrors so high up. He damped his finger with a touch of saliva with which to straighten his eyebrows. He stroked his hair to a makeshift order, checked the uniform by taking a few steps backwards from the mirror standing on his toes and, when he was sure everything was perfect, he went to his desk, grabbed the pizza, and took the lift to the last floor on which the young lady was residing. He rang the bell and stood there posed.

When Aphrodite heard the doorbell her eyes sparkled and her heart skipped a beat. She put on her favorite white fluffy robe, looked at the mirror and with an ever so slight touch to the front of her robe opened the gap a little more. Feeling satisfied with her appearance and with a warm welcoming smile she opened the door.

He had one of these smiles on his face like Humphrey Bogart whenever he decided to smile.

"You! Where is the guy with the pizza?"

"What's wrong with me?" he said and this time he took a serious pose as when Bogart was really serious and looked her in a licentious way.

"Give me the pizza," she said.

He handed the pizza to her and Aphrodite started to hit him with the pizza on his head. She managed to hit him couple of times before he put his hands over his head for cover and ran.

She ran behind him, trying to hit him more, but when he reached the staircase and started to take the steps two and three at a time she let him go.

She angrily went to her room and rang her father.

"Dad! I want you to fire the guy of the second shift that works for you."

"Hang on my babe. Take a breath. What are you talking about?"

"You know the guy that works for you in the afternoon shift? I want you to fire him."

"Who is this guy? I don't know all the guys working for me. Why should I fire him?"

"He is a short guy with a big head and protruding eyebrows. I want you to fire him because he tried to seduce me."

"Some employee of mine put his hands on you? I am going to kill him with my bare hands."

"Not exactly, Dad. He did not really touch me."

"Did he tell you something bad? Did he swear at you or something?"

"Not exactly, Dad. He tried to seduce me with his eyes."

"How did he do that?"

"You know the way men look at women when they want something."

"Well, babe, you are a nice looking girl. It is natural for men to want you. Would you rather be ugly so men turn their heads the other side when they see you?"

"Oh no! But Dad, he is so short, how could he imagine me going out with him?"

"I am going to buy him platform shoes to make him taller."

"I still want you to fire him after what he did to me. Anyway how did you hire him as a security guy? He is so short for this job."

"We have to; we cannot discriminate about short guys. This is the new rule."

"Oh and what would happen if a jockey club advertised for a jockey and a big gorilla showed up?"

"Then if I were the horse I would really worry. Look babe, I didn't really hire him. They are subcontracting. They work for us but we hire the firm.

"Come on babe, you are the public relations officer of the company. We have enough problems as it is in the development sites. Can you imagine what might happen to us if he went to his union claiming we fired him with no reason?"

So they left at that. It was the first time that Aphrodite asked something from her father without him obliging her request.

As Aphrodite was ringing her father, Michael tried to ring her again but the phone was engaged. When he had placed the phone back on the rest the coin did not fall so without any more coins in his pocket he thought that today was not his day. He decided to go and see a friend that he hadn't seen since he came back from Patmos.

When he finally returned to his hotel room, he saw by his cell phone that she rang him five times but it was too late to ring back so he went to bed.

Next day Adam Clarke rang him and asked him if he could go for dinner that evening at his home. Michael accepted the offer and when he was ready to go to ex-chairman's house Aphrodite rang and asked him to explain why he could not make it last night.

He said, "I am sorry it is a long story, but I'll explain next time we meet."

She said, "How about tonight?"

He said, "I cannot make it this evening."

She was furious but she did not show it. She said, "Very well then. Goodbye."

"Bye," said the Michael as he was flagging a taxi to stop.

"It was a very nice dinner misses Clarke," Michael said to ex-chairman's wife. "You certainly know how to cook.'

"I heard you are a good baker yourself?'

"So they say. My grandfather taught me and he was a great baker."

The ex-chairman questioned the rookie. "Michael how serious are you in wanting to finish your law studies?"

"I am thinking about it but first there are few things I want to take care of."

"Are this economic issues?"

"Well, sort of. I have to get a job to support myself while I study and pay the expenses. I also have to get an apartment and also maybe an old car so I can go to and fro between my work and my college. I have to do all this before I think very seriously."

"The reason I am asking you that is because if you really intend to finish with your studies I am going to ask the Free the Teacher fund to allocate a portion of the money they gathered for you to use. After all, if it wasn't for you, probably all the money would have been spent for nothing anyway."

"I didn't have this in my mind, sir, when I did what I did. My concern was at that time how to free the Teacher, that's all. However, if something good comes out of it to help me with my studies so much the better! From my part I can assure you sir that I will seriously concentrate on finishing my studies."

"That's all I need to know," Mr. Clarke said, and the conversation ended.

Next day early in the morning, Michael bought a newspaper and marked down some small apartments, which were available for rent, and also some jobs. He could not make up his mind whether to look first for a job or for an apartment but as he did not have a car he decided to go to whichever was the closest. He started looking for both but at the end of the day he was exhausted.

Then he remembered the offer the managing director of the television network had made. He was not sure if it was serious or not, but nevertheless he rang him to ask if the role as his adviser was still open.

The managing director, however, didn't seem to be keen about it after all that had occurred in WCFET, but in the same breadth he offered his old position back.

Michael thanked him but declined, as he knew that he would be unable to manage the position full time.

It now was rather late and he was ready to go back to his hotel when his phone rang.

It was Aphrodite.

"What are you doing now?" she asked.

"I am going back to my hotel room."

"Have you had something to eat yet?"

"No."

"Why don't you try to finish what you started the other day?"

"What is that?"

"Grab a pizza and a soda and come to talk about your deal."

"Okay." Michael bought a pizza and off he went, but as soon as he reached the building he remembered that he had not bought a soda.

The security guy opened the door and Michael gave him the pizza to take up while he went back for the soda.

"Please sir, you take it up."

"Are you talking to me?" Michael said, and turned his head around in case there was someone else behind him.

"Of course I am talking to you, sir."

"You call me sir now; two days ago you called me, pizza boy."

"It was a slight misunderstanding sir."

"Anyway, you take the pizza up. I have to do something else," said Michael and went towards the door.

Suddenly, with an unbelievably swift move, the security guy blocked the door with his body, forming with his legs and hands that famous Leonardo de Vinci sketch but in this case not so isometric.

"Let me get out."

"No I won't."

"What do you mean you won't?"

"You take the pizza up and then I will let you go."

"What happened to the rules? You told me last time I am not supposed to take it up."

"This doesn't apply for Venus."

"You mean for Aphrodite?'

"Either way she is a goddess."

"Anyway, I'll be back soon. Now let me out."

"Nope!"

"Okay, where is this apartment?"

"Up at the top floor."

"Okay. Give me the pizza." He took the pizza and went on the lift.

Michael rang the bell and Aphrodite appeared in a white fluffy robe showing lots of her charms with a goddess pose, a captivating smile, and a glance full of promises.

"Well," she said, "I cannot believe it you managed it after all. But where is the soda? ... I thought it would be too good to be true."

"Well it is a long story, but I can go and get one."

"I don't drink that stuff, but you know bad food goes with bad drinks. It doesn't matter now. We can do without it."

She led Michael outside to the balcony. It was magnificent scenery with a view of a hundred and eighty degrees overlooking at the city of endless lights. Further on the right side the bay with the ships spread out in a random way, and as the sky was clear and full of stars. With the lights of the city and of the ships in the bay this created a symphony of lights in a magical world.

"You certainly have a view here," Michael said. "It is awesome."

"You like it? Daytime is even better. It is in my name. My father put it in my name I think for tax purposes but still it is in my name. Behind me there lives an elderly couple; a retired general and his wife."

As the night was beautiful with a nice soothing breeze they decided to eat the pizza on the balcony. As they were eating Aphrodite said, "Well, I am listening."

"What?"

"Why did you come here?"

"Well to see you ...to eat the pizza."

"No you came here to tell me about the deal you want to offer me."

"Oh yeah... that is true. I want to make a proposition to you. From now on whenever we go for dinner I will turn my phone off."

She thought for a moment and then she said, "Whenever we meet outside to eat whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner you will turn off your telephone."

"I'll settle for breakfast and dinner but not for lunch."

"Why not for lunch?"

"During lunch times are made the biggest deals in the world. I may wait for an important call some day and disappoint you. I want to be straight with you."

"Okay, then; breakfast and dinner," and they shook hands.

"Is it a deal?"

"It is a deal."

"So I know roughly now about the phone call you received last time when we nearly..." and she signed air-quotes with her fingers... "...had lunch down at the waterfront. One newspaper even suggested your name as being the driving force behind what happened to this place ... they call it WCE or anyway something like that... and the Teacher. What I don't understand is why? Why a young guy like you would bother with these things?"

Michael took her hand, saying, "Aphrodite don't bother this beautiful head of yours with things you don't understand as you say, come on, let's go inside. It's started to get chilled out here."

They went inside still holding hands but this time Aphrodite led him to the bedroom. They sat at the bed and in silence, as they looked each other in the eye; they started to undress one another. It was like a scene from bygone times, or perhaps like a scene from a silent movie, but it was much more than that. Here were two souls that after wandering in their lives here and in the beyond had finally met each other again. They shared an unstoppable attraction that neither could resist.

They wanted to become one as they were once, before regardless of the difficulties they were facing this time due to the different paths they had chosen since.

Finally they were naked and they lay on the bed. With an instinctive move he penetrated her. It was a wonderful sensation that he never felt before. It was a sensation out of this world for it was incomprehensible to him, but somehow familiar.

He held her tightly for he wanted to become one with her. He did not want to lose her now that he found her ... and then after some soft choreographic movements like the branches of a tree doing a synchronistic dance during a soft breeze suddenly they became one.

He held her tight so tight that at last a voice waked him from this wonderful moment.

"Not so tight. You are going to suffocate me."

"It was so beautiful; I don't believe it could be so beautiful."

"Do you feel with all girls the same or only with me?"

"Well I... I..."

"I... what?"

"I..."

"Don't tell me you were a virgin!"

"I..."

"You were actually a virgin?"

"Yes," he said in a low voice.

"You mean I am the first woman you have ever gone with?"

"Yes."

This man ...this boy was full of surprises; he was an endless bag of surprises. She turned towards him to add something more, but Michael was asleep.

He lay in this peaceful state with an innocent angelic smile on his face.

Aphrodite thought of all the circumstances that led them in to this act. She had fallen in love with him at some point! She could not stop smiling, and she also fell asleep.

Michael woke first. For a moment he was profoundly in a tentative state but as he turned around and saw how beautiful and serene she was he was so glad all this happened.

He gently squeezed her hand and she squeezed back. They both smiled as she woke and she said, "I still cannot believe you were a virgin in our time in your age?!"

"I was waiting for the goddess of love."

"I don't know if I should take this as a compliment or not."

"Why should you put a label on it?"

"Anyway, I will cherish this moment for the rest of my life."

"Me too. After all it is not common to make love for the first time of your life to the goddess of love."

They had a shower and Michael asked if he could have a coffee.

"You know what," Aphrodite said, "I am going to have one too; I never had a coffee this late in my life before. Tell me where you stand right now. What do you intend to do? All these things I don't understand and which you don't want to talk to me about... It's about work but where are you going to live?"

"Well to start with, I have finished with the WCFET and the Teacher's business. I did what I had to do about that. There are three challenges I am facing right now. The first is to find an apartment, the second is to find a job, and the third is to finish my studies in law. Oh and to get a car to go to and fro."

"That is not much, is it?" she said, laughing. "You are just starting from scratch, that's all."

"I am starting from scratch."

"Let me see... how can I help you? Where do you live right now?"

"At the same hotel; you know the one you saw me at the last time."

"How about we go and get your things and for the time being you stay here. That leaves only two problems although I could solve another problem too; I could ask my father to give you a job."

"Hang on... not so fast. To start with don't involve your parents with whatever we do. Is that a deal?"

"Okay, it is a deal."

"Secondly, do you think it will be a good idea for me to move in here so abruptly?"

"Why not? This is the time you need help," she said. "Come, I'll show you. You see this?" and she opened a door to a room completely furnished with even a desk and computer. "I hardly open this room. It is about time someone used it." Then she said, "You see this? This card is the keys to your apartment, and these keys are the keys of your car. My dad gave me the Boxter for my twenty-first birthday, and since I hardly used it and it waits idle there for you."

"Oh, Aphrodite," he said and squeezed her in his arms. "You are so helpful. I'll tell you what—we'll make it as an experiment. If it works we'll continue. If it does not work for you, you tell me and I'll go. If it does not work for me I'll tell you and I will go. Is that a deal?"

"It is a deal. Let's go and get your stuff from your hotel."

Next day it was about lunchtime and Michael was enjoying the magnificent view from his new home. The phone rang. It was Mr. Clarke, who said he had great news.

"I talked to the committee of the Free the Teacher fund. I didn't have to persuade them at all. They seem to know everything that happened. As a matter of fact, they want to organize some function in your honor. Anyway, they agree to pay for all your studies until you have finished law school. They put another ten thousand dollars in your bank account as a small token for your services and the inconvenience you faced to free the Teacher."

"That is fantastic!" Michel said, excited. "That means that from tomorrow I can organize myself about my law studies."

"Exactly."

"That is marvelous news."

"And another thing," said the ex-chairman. "Don't forget if you find some difficulties with your studies, I'll be here. Don't forget that I am a lawyer specializing in international law."

"I will remember; thank you very much, sir."

Michael was ecstatic. He took the car and went straight to the university and they told him a semester was starting in ten days' time and he could come provided he paid the fees.

He rang the ex-chairman, who told him not to worry and that he would take care of that.

Michael rang Aphrodite and asked if she could make it for lunch.

She said she was hungry and that she was going to be finishing in about half an hour.

"How about if we finish the lunch we left in the middle last time?" he said, "and this one is on me?"

"That sounds great."

"Shall we meet there in an hour then?"

"That will be great," Aphrodite said.

Michael reached the restaurant first. Luckily the table that they used last time with nearly disastrous results was empty; he sat in the chair he had used last time, and ordered the same entrées, which were oysters au naturel.

Not long after, Aphrodite arrived saying, "I am starving."

They ordered the same main course as the last time.

"You won't believe what I am going to tell you," Michael said, excited.

"What is that?"

"In ten days' time I begin my—"

"Your new job?"

"It is even more important than that."

"What is then?"

"In ten days' time I am going back to my law studies."

"You are going back to college?"

"That's right!" and they got up and embraced.

"That is fantastic," said Aphrodite.

At that time Michael's phone rang.

"I am well, sir; how are you?"

Aphrodite started to worry.

"Sorry, sir, I cannot do it today. That will be good, sir, I appreciate that, sir, and I'll do that tomorrow."

"You scared me for a moment. I thought, here we go again," said Aphrodite.

"I would not spoil your day for anything," said Michael. "Not even for him."

"Why?" she asked curiously. "Who was that?"

"He is the CEO of the network I was working for; you remember the first lunch we had together?"

"How can I forget that?"

"I wonder what he wants."

"Whatever he wants you must be prepared."

"For what?"

"First of all, after lunch, we go and buy some new clothes for you for this occasion."

"And what else?"

"I want you to learn to drive my car. I want you to impress, and tomorrow you go with my car."

So Michael did. It didn't take long to learn to drive the sports car and with the trendy clothes and shoes Aphrodite bought for him he looked very smart. The CEO told him to come and see him any time after two o'clock and it was about three when he reached the boom gate of the television network. This time was a new boom-man.

"What is the purpose of you visiting this premises sir?"

"I wish to see the CEO of the company."

"Have you an appointment, sir?"

"No. I can see him any time in the afternoon."

"What is your name sir?"

"Michael Armstrong"

"Do you know the CEO personally, sir?"

"Yes, I do."

"What is his name then?"

"I ...can't quite remember."

"What is the purpose of your visit to see the CEO?"

"I don't know. He rang me to came and see him."

"He rang you to come and see him!?"

"Yes"

"Did he tell you why?"

"No."

"Sorry, sir; I cannot allow you to enter. You have to go back."

"I am not going back. I came to see the CEO and I will see him."

"I am going to call security."

"You will make a mistake."

The boom-man tried to call security but the last moment he changed his mind and decided to ring the CEO's office. As his secretary was out the CEO answered himself.

"Sir, there is a young man here by the name Michael Armstrong," said the boom-man, and then he bent down to have a better look at the car. "He's with a... boxer and he insists on seeing you."

"With a boxer!?"

"Yes sir."

"How do you know is a boxer?"

The boom-man bent down again to have a better look at the car.

"I am pretty sure is a boxer sir, looks like one."

"Why don't you call security?"

"I was going to, sir, but first I thought to notify you."

"Hold on a minute... did you say with a... boxer? How old is the boxer?"

"One minute sir. I'll find out." He put the palm of his hand on the phone and asked Michael, "How old is your car?"

"I am not telling you."

"He won't tell me sir."

"Hold him. I am coming down."

The CEO recognized Michael from far away as he was out of the car waiting and he signaled the boom-man to let him in.

The CEO told Michael to park his car near the entrance next to his car where all the VIP cars parked and they shook hands warmly.

"That is a mighty car you got there."

"Yes sir. It is a Boxter."

"He told me a boxer."

"Don't blame him; I made the same mistake first."

"He told me your name but it did not occur to me, we all remember you as the rookie rep. I thought they would know you."

"He is a new boom-man apparently, and very zealous for that mater."

They started to walk to CEO's office. In the lift the CEO asked him, "How was the experience in Patmos?"

"It was a wonderful experience sir."

"Did you really become a monk?"

"Not quite sir. I was a trainee."

When they reached the office the CEO asked Michael, "Would you like a drink?"

"No sir, not when I am working."

"But you are not working now."

"Well sir, you did not invite me here to socialize. There is obviously something that will have to do with work."

"You are right. The managing director told me you are looking for work and when he offered your old job back you declined."

"That is true sir."

"Why?"

"Because it does not fit my requirements sir."

"And what are those?"

"I want flexible hours so I can study, sir."

"How about if you work under my wing? I will give your old job back and you will work for me with flexible hours."

"I must inform you, sir that my priorities will be with my studies."

"What do you study?"

"Law, sir. It should not take me long for I have done most of it."

"That will be good. Listen, I know your abilities. Take this job. Now that I know you are studying I will be very lenient to you concerning your appearance at work and whenever I need you I'll make sure it won't affect your studies."

"So I will be employed as a senior representative?"

"That is right. And I will make a deal with you; the moment you finish with your studies you will be promoted as my special adviser and you will be able to attend the board meetings. I want you to become my troubleshooter. You will only report to me."

"What concerns me mainly right now sir is my studies. If you think that the job will not interrupt them, I am willing to give my best shot."

"I will make sure the job doesn't interfere with your studies; I give my word on it."

"And I give you my word, sir, that I will fulfil my position until I finished my studies to the best of my abilities."

"Well it is a deal then."

They shook hands and the CEO told Michael, "On the way out go to the personnel office to register. I will ring to notify them."

"Thank you sir."

On the way home he stopped at a bar and ordered a drink. He needed a drink to think of everything that happened in his life the last few days.

Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed an old man at the end of the bar counting some coins. He apparently realized he did not have enough, and he decided to walk away.

Michael went and asked him if he would like a drink.

The old man said he would love one, so Michael asked the barman to serve him a double and went back to his stool. He tried to reflect on everything that happened last week for he could not make up his mind if all this was a fluke or coincidence or what the religious people would call providence.

Only a few days ago he didn't have a room a job or anything and he remembered the day he went out looking for work and an apartment. He remembered how tired he was and how sore his legs were. And now out of nowhere he had everything. He was going back to the college, and he lived in an apartment with a beautiful woman that many would envy him. He had the use of a car, some money in the bank and a job with flexible hours exactly as he wanted. Could that be luck?

But how could it be? Didn't the same thing happen when he was on Patmos? And even before that when so easily he got a promotion at his last work in the television station.

Was there such a thing as the Teacher said that whoever helps his fellow man he actually helps himself?

But I don't do that in order to get something back, he thought.

They also say providence comes from God and that God provides for his children but was he a child of God? He hardly mentioned his name and he didn't even belong to a religious organization. He did not even acknowledge the existence of God. He just felt there was something there; one power that drives and keeps everything in order.

If science called it power and religion called it God that was fine with him. He had no problem with that whatsoever.

What concerned him was justice; not in a narrow social-economic base as political parties and movements thought of it, but in a broader sense. He sensed that justice and love were identical. He could not possible imagine love to be incompatible with justice or real justice to be delivered without love.

Michael finished his drink and went home. Aphrodite waited anxiously to see what happened with the meeting. He told her that everything went well and he got a job with flexible hours exactly as he wanted without interfering with his studies. They embraced happily and went out to celebrate the good news.

Michael and Aphrodite lived in a dream; a dream full of joy and pleasure with the time rolling as fast as the pace of their lives.

There was not one day wasted as though they wanted to make the most of all this before it came to the end.

That was how Aphrodite felt; she had a feeling that all this would not last for long and she made sure to live to the utmost every minute of it.

For an onlooker they looked the most perfect couple in the world. They were the happiest couple in the world but there was something in Aphrodite's heart that she was too afraid to face it and she let it slumber there.

This frenzied kind of life they were leading did not allow Michael to study much but nevertheless, because of his extraordinary brilliant way of learning things he managed to finish the law college and became a lawyer.

On the night after the graduation party that Aphrodite organized for him Michael felt a knot in his throat and uneasiness in his stomach...

He recognized it from before as the time for reckoning arrived again. This was the feeling of arriving at a crossroads, and he knew he would again have to decide which road he was going to follow.

Aphrodite sensed the day had arrived and that it would be absolutely useless to say something. She started to weep without a sound and when Michael fell asleep she went into the toilet and sobbed all night until the sun rose.

That day everything changed abruptly in a dramatic way. Without either of them mentioning a word... without saying anything at all; without even looking into one another's eyes, they knew what was happening. The atmosphere was so electrified that at the same time neither could bear it anymore and both decided to go out for some air.

Aphrodite went to her favorite spot, sitting on a bench overlooking the sea, Michael wandered the streets before finishing also on the waterfront on a bench; in fact a stone throw away from where Aphrodite sat.

There is something in the natural elements that soothes the souls of man, Michael thought as he looked on the water. Whether it is water, greenery or fire; when man is in trouble and needs comfort the elements help.

Right now he needed soothing and comfort as never before but this time he could not share his anxiety with the woman he loved so much and with whom he'd shared all happiness and worries for the last year or so. The other two times when he was in the same dilemma it was easier for it did not involve another person. This time was different because of Aphrodite. For a moment a spark of hope appeared in his eyes but just for a moment, for how could he ask for it? How could even do it to himself, to refuse with a stroke all the good fortune God granted to him so effortlessly as though he did not deserve this... as though he was rebelling against his own luck? How else could he explain the thought of leaving Aphrodite, the woman he loved so much, and all the advantages that went along with this life, for something unknown?

How could he decline the offer of the position in the television network at this young age which many lawyers in their maturity of their profession would envy? But what else could he do? It was the blueprint of what happened the first time when the three met in the bar that time. When the ex-chairman mentioned Patmos he knew that this was the road he had to take. The second time when the Teacher asked him, that was the most important offer ever made to him. He cherished it deep in his heart. The Teacher was bombarded by students who wanted to serve him but he was adamant it was the first time it ever crossed his mind to include a third person in his mission, and the offer was for him.

Michael even remembered when the Teacher asked the opinion of the ex-chairman about it. He felt so privileged to be part of this trio, to serve his fellow man the rest of his life that he was willing to part roads even with the person he loved so much.

After he made the decision that he was going to serve his fellow man under the guidance of the Teacher, the rest was a breeze as the other two cases in Patmos had been. However, he dreaded the moment he was going to be separated from Aphrodite.

First he rang the Teacher. As always his organizer answered the phone. He remembered him well and he said the Teacher would be pleased to see him. He told Michael how and where to find them and how the Teacher was talking about him.

The next move was to see the CEO of the network. He went and thanked him for everything he had done for him and the trust he had showed in him.

"I can tell you this," the CEO said. "Not many people in this world would knock back an opportunity like that. If you ever change your mind as long as I am here, don't hesitate to come and see me if you need work."

Then Michael went to see mister and Misses Clarke. The ex-chairman told him that he was probably the only person who fully understood him, for he went through this stage himself when he decided to give up the chairman's position in order to follow his heart. He said he was so glad about his decision although it was a pretty strong temptation to do the opposite. After all, he'd spent ten years as chairman of the WCFET. It took only a fraction of a second to change his mind, he remembered, and he had never looked back since then.

But for Michael the big test of whether he would survive this trial was yet to come. Would he be able to turn his back on her and walk away? Or would he embrace her and ask her forgiveness? For how could he even consider doing such a thing to her who had given everything to him; her love, her body and all the financially security for the rest of his life?

When he walked into the apartment Aphrodite was already there. They didn't exchange a word, not even glances.

Michael felt bad, guilty and at fault. He could not take any more. He was ready to ask for forgiveness and tell her that he would never ever play with these kinds of thoughts any more. But then the thought rushed to him; for how long? And how about if later he decided to do it after all? Would that not make a mockery out of this? And what would Aphrodite gain then? It would extend her misery a bit longer, that's all.

No, he thought, he should be strong. He should not succumb to this temptation.

He picked up his backpack and started to fill it with his personal belongings. Then for the first time Aphrodite spoke with a cold and tired voice.

"Consider this," she said. "Before you make this move. My father is an old man. I am my parents' only child and they love me immensely. In order to see me happy he is willing to withdraw from the company and appoint us to run it. Now that you are a lawyer it fits perfectly. If we marry you will have made it for life."

Michael did not know what to say. He just realized that this woman he loved so much did not understand him at all. He loved a woman concerned only with his physical wellbeing and that he could not fathom.

He was still packing when Aphrodite turned to him and with a voice as sharp as a witch and with eyes burning like charcoal and oozing hate said, "If you left me for another woman maybe I would understand you, but to leave me now that you are a lawyer in order to serve an old man with all these peculiar ideas... I cannot take it."

"Aphrodite," he said calmly, "I did not become a lawyer in order to serve the rest of my life in companies like your father's or the network. I did not study in order to become a corporate lawyer to defend the legal and to ignore the unethical and injustice. But that would never occur to you would it?" And with that he put his backpack on his back and walked towards the door while Aphrodite screamed behind him, "I hate you! I hate you as no other human being ever hated another one!"

Michael opened the door and when he closed it behind him he did not hear the thump of Aphrodite's body hitting the floor when she fainted.

When he opened the front door of the building a breeze soothed his face; he took a big breath, knowing that a new chapter had started in his life; a chapter of responsibility sacrifice and services.

Bibliography

"In the Light of Truth"

By Abd-ru-shin

