Those who seek escape from the intolerable cruelties of life have not dealt with the intractable will of our soft-spoken leaders of kindly mien. They soothed our withered soul and parched spirit with the promise that they could - that they would - lead us into an era of uncommon prosperity and peace. I, for one, looked upon these princes among men and felt deep within me that, at long last, a direct line of communication had been established betwixt me, the merest of mortals, and the Divine.
The so-called soft-spoken leaders of kindly mien, I have discovered to my regret, are not whom I believed them to be. In the unplumbed depths of my heart of hearts I once safeguarded them; they were second only to Messiah. Accordingly, it was they who warned me against the smooth, convincing talk of Light's Angels. How, then, could I have known? They assured me that I was poor. That I was lonely. That I was loved. My desire to climb the highest mountain (or go yet beyond and ascend into the heavens) to find truth was acknowledged as entirely unnecessary. Youth assures himself that the grass beneath his feet is not green at all. Surely, then, the pastures are increasingly verdant, as well as luxuriant, the greater the distance the young man goes. It is merely illustrative of wanting more than home - literal and figurative - could ever supply. Youthful folly is reined in, not by one's natural parents, but by those seekers of candidates for the Kingdom. It is they who become surrogate fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters to the initiate of the Spiritual Family. Long-time associates - I now realize that they were my genuine friends - grabbed hold of my authentic self and begged me not to abandon my life and them. It was too late. Reality declared that I was not poor. That I was not lonely. That I was loved. These princes among men and their recruiters had promised me a glimpse of the divine, and now it was they who held sway. Resistance became futile long before it had ever hit the silver screen. The alteration had commenced ...