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Here, turn these stones into bread by your power, that you can eat.
Or let me get you food.'
" 'For once will you listen to me!' He said, smiling. 'Stop talkingof food and drink. Who is human here? I am! You impossibleadversary, you argumentative devil! Hush for now and listen. I am in theflesh. Have pity at least and let me speak my piece.' He laughed atme, His face full of kindness and sympathy.
" 'Here, come into the flesh, too, with me,' He said. 'Be mybrother and sit beside me, Son of God and Son of God, and let ustalk.'
"I did as He said at once, creating a body thoughtlessly thatmatched what you see now, as that was as natural to me as thinkingwas natural, and I gave myself a similar robe, and I realized that I wassitting on that rock there by His side. I was bigger than He was, andhad not thought to reduce the scale of my limbs, and now I did ithastily until we were men of equal proportion, more or less. I wasfully angelic in my form, and not hungry or thirsty or tired.
" 'How long have you been in this wilderness?' I asked. 'The peoplein Jerusalem say almost forty days.'
"He nodded. That's about the right number,' He answered me.
'And it's time now for me to begin my ministry, which will last threeyears. I will teach the great lessons that must be learnt for admissionto Heaven梐wareness of Creation and the Understanding of itsdeliberate unfolding; an appreciation of its beauty and laws whichmakes possible an acceptance of suffering and seeming injustice andall forms of pain; I will promise a final glory to those who can attainunderstanding; to those who can surrender their souls to theunderstanding of God and what He has done. I will give that to Men andWomen, which is precisely, I think, what you wanted me to do.'
"I didn't dare to answer him.
" 'Love, Memnoch, I have learnt to love them as you told me Iwould. I have learnt to love and cherish as men and women do, and Ihave lain with women and I have known that ecstasy, that spark ofjubilation of which you spoke so eloquently when I could notconceive of wanting such a tiny thing.'
" 'I will talk more of love than any other subject. I will say thingsthat men and women can twist and misunderstand. But love, thatshall be the message. You convinced me and I have convinced myselfthat that is what elevates Human above animal, though animal iswhat Humankind is.'
" 'Do you mean to leave them with specific guidance as to howto love? As to how to stop war and come together in one form ofworship?
" 'No, not at all. That would be an absurd intervention and wouldundo the entire grand scheme which I have put into motion. It wouldstop the dynamics of the unfolding of the universe.
" 'Memnoch, to me we human beings are all still part of Nature,as I said, only Humans are better than animals. It's a matter ofdegrees. Yes, humans cry out against suffering and they are conscious ofit when they suffer, but in a sense they behave exactly like the loweranimals, in that suffering improves them and drives them towardsevolutionary advance. They are quick-witted enough to see its value,where the animals only learn to avoid suffering by instinct. Humanscan actually be improved within one lifetime by suffering. But theyare part of Nature still. The world will unfold as it always has, full ofsurprises. Some of those surprises will be horrid, and otherswondrous, and some beautiful. But what is known for certain is that theworld will continue to grow and Creation will continue to unfold.'
" 'Yes, Lord,' I said, 'but surely suffering is an evil thing.'
" 'What did I teach you, Memnoch, when you first came to mesaying that decay was wrong, that death was wrong? Don't youunderstand the magnificence in human suffering?'
" 'No,' I said. 'I see the ruin of hope and love and family; thedestruction of peace of mind; I see pain beyond endurance; I see manbuckle under this, and fall into bitterness and hate.'
" 'You haven't looked deep enough, Memnoch. You are only anangel. You refuse to understand Nature, and that has been your waysince the start.
" 'I will bring my light into Nature, through the flesh for threeyears. I will teach the wisest things I can know and say in this flesh-and-blood body and brain; and then I will die.'
" 'Die? Why do that? I mean, what do you mean, die? Your soulwill leave? I broke off, uncertain.
"He smiled.
" 'You do have a soul, don't you, Lord? I mean, you are my Godinside this Son of Man, and the light fills every particle of you, butyou ... you don't have a soul, do you? You don't have a human soul!'
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