The Book of All things New

They had to banish the 'sickness.' They had to cure it. Jonathon, after discussing theories and observances with the others, said - We need an event, or a stunt, as they say in these times. Something to bring out the hidden goodness and the longing for spiritual closeness in the people. But something big. Something real, or at least something that seems real......... Albion, who had been watching television with some of the other 'young' ones heard and he came over. I could try to get us the talking Oprah woman from the magic mirror. That might help. - he said...... Jonathon hugged him and answered - Maybe it would...... Sarah luaghed - Can you imagine what that show would be like? YOU get a blessing! And YOU get a blessing! And YOU get a blessing! Along with the keys to brand new Volkswagon Jettas! She'd have Rabbi Shmuley up there and Marianne Williamson and a gospel choir and.... Edith chimes in - Ooh, I'd like to see that. Don't go disrespecting the 'O' lady........ Baylah says - Yeah, she's big, but she ain't the only one....... They all turn to her, expecting further explanation....... Sarah says - Why? What are you going to do?..... But Baylah only chuckles and says - Don't worry. It won't be the first time....................... Now the restaurants are crowded this time of year. Families draw together during the holidays. They have reunions. They have renewals. They have fights. They crave fellowship. And the crowds were particularly stiff at a certain Italian style place. I believe it is known as The Olive Garden. The flat, black, cinder-tar exterior plain adjacent to the inn-like structure was covered with all manner of mechanical conveyance. A long line of hungering humanity patiently waited for room at the tables. Baylah was also there. She was all alone and dressed in a long white, woolen gown. Over that, she  wore a pure blue, flowing, hooded mantle. Her dark, wavy hair spread softly down the front of her attire. She watched from a stand of shrubbery, initially meant to hide some of the air cooling mechanisms. Now the sun had already set, so she was safe, even though the sky was still violet and tinged with orange in a Maxfield Parrish kind of way. That's when she did it. That is when she made her 'miracle' happen. Baylah lowered her gaze. Her arms went up and her hands reached out as her feet left the ground and she sublimated up through the air, up through the molecules of nitrogen and oxygen, to a place where all could see her. And all of the people did see her. They gasped. Assorted bickerings stopped in mid bicker. Parents grabbed children. Grannies broke out in prayer....... And Baylah said five words. She said - Your hands are the hands of God....... She repeated it two or three more times maybe. Then she rose up to a great height and vanished. But what she actually did was sublimate through the air at great speed, so it only appeared as if she had vanished. Almost everyone on the ground came equipped with various forms of electrical communication devices. And the miraculous occurance was enscribed on countless image catchers and little talking things. The 'Word' was out and the media soon started screaming about 'Our Lady of the Olive Garden' and 'The Black Madonna.' By next morning, fifteen thousand people showed up. The place never took in so much money or sold so many bottles of wine. True, the toilets in the men's room and the ladies' room did overflow a few times, but when heaven speaks you have to expect things like that............. And for good measure, just a few leagues away, just as evening services were starting in the huge sanctuary of the great, Byzantine-Moorish, Rodeph Shalom Synagogue on North Broad Street,  at the precise instant the rabbi opened the Ark and prepared to take up the Torah scroll (the symbolic presence of God), a shimmering shaft of illumination pierced through an already darkening, ornate, stained glass window and came down to bathe him in its light. And that wasn't all. Jonathon sublimated through the translucent mosaic too, dressed in a suitably, scriptural  costume. He stopped. His feet dangled five cubits over the dumbstruck rabbi's head. He turned to face the silent, astonished congregants, threw out his arms and in his best Ancient Aramaic (almost an exact match for Liturgical Hebrew), said the same five words as Baylah - Your hands are God's hands. Then he continued to sublimate down through the bimah (altar-table), down through an opened Bible, continuing all the way to the basement, where he ran up some stairs and disappeared into the night.................. Up above, about four or five  piously devout Comcast executives (headquartered in Center City Philadelphia) were there to see it all. And four hours later, there was already a quickly prepared special on basic cable. That was it. The fire was lit. A miracle had happened. The people bore witness. And humanity (at least for the time being, was 'changed')............