Thursday, June 9, 2011

A MIRACULOUS ARRIVAL IN A SMALL ROOM IN JERUSALEM

They stayed right where they were. Jonathon and Sarah never moved, nor did their strange companions. Renate simply smiled and the omniverse, or rather Earth's little part of it, was transformed. The nighttime disappeared, so did the forest. And they sliced through creation like jinns on a flying carpet. Rivers of color swirled all around them. Snatches of songs sung in tongues yet unheard echoed through the void. John Lennon said - I think I have to take a piss.....Renate said - Do as you must.......So he stood up on a sliver of nothingness and followed her directions. Yet what exited his body was not the usual concoction of ammonia, salt and waste water, but minute, little solar systems, each as large as fine grained Bazmati rice. He laughed and cleaned his glasses, the better to observe them as they spun off to fill their assigned positions in the sky.

And then, after what could have been heartbeats or multiple infinities, the endless pin-points of possibility surrounding them began to solidify, drawing our foursome down into a very real place. It was Jerusalem, or more precisely a small room above an eating establishment for biblical scholars in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. Two men sat at a table, quietly discussing God's intentions with the perfect faith of childlike, true believers.

Believer Number 1, a visiting rabbi from London, pondered the purpose of Revealed Religion. He drank a bit of tea, served in a small glass, Ukrainian style, and then said - God shows us these things so that we will become better people.......His friend, a highly spiritual screenplay writer from Los Angeles, gestured with his half eaten Pop Tart (yes, they have them in Israel too) as he spoke.......Then why are all these 'better' people heaped together in warring groups, constantly hurling insults and missles at each other? - said the two-time Academy Award nominated scribe.........The British clergyman carefully put down his glass, smiled his best pedigogical smile and said - Because the patient is not quite 'better' yet, I'm afraid. And that is all the more reason to continue with the prescribed course of treatment............. Or get a second opinion - said the writer.

That's when they noticed our four travelers. That's when Jonathon and Sarah and Renate and John Lennon ran out from behind an old, leather bound tome (the Shulan Aruch, [the 'Set Table,' a revered book of Biblical commentary] I believe) and addressed them from the center of a round stain left by a wet glass.......Gentlemen, - said the Lady Renate, I bring visitors. Come, let us converse and share our inner-most thoughts........But the two gentlemen in question stared wide-eyed at the pawn sized individuals before them.  Sarah burst out in a fit of laughter. The former Beatle did a little, spontaneous dance, while Jonathon responded with his best, most courtly, Andalucian bow.....The Lady Renate, much too dignified for all that, just stood there like a tiny queen, waiting for the two humans to respond................