26
What’s your favorite commandment?
None of them. They’re all out of date.
Huh?
They’re too ambiguous, too wordy, e.g., ‘thou shall not kill’. Nowadays there is a debate about the meaning of a simple word like shall. If you don’t even know what shall means, how can we understand the commandments themselves?
What do we do?
Talk about love. It already defies definition so it’s the perfect word for the age.
27
Some called you a great magician. Were you?
I didn’t use traditional magic.
Did you suspend the laws of the universe?
No, I exploited them.
Can you walk through walls?
Only when I’m late for supper.
28
You don’t talk much about the fires of Hell.
I try to be positive as much as possible. I like to think my message is one of moderation and amelioration.
But don’t some people need fear as a motivating factor?
If they do, they’re not my kind of people.
That’s not a very inclusive remark.
On the contrary, I’m all inclusive.
29
Is the prodigal son a type of everyman?
Let me answer your question with a question. Can you go home again?
I suppose so.
What if home is no longer there?
Keep searching?
You build a new home.
30
What’s a normal life span?
Three score and ten.
What constitutes a life?
A beginning and an end.
How do you a measure a life?
Arbitrary distinctions.
When do you do more good – while living or while dead?
That’s easy. While dead; one bad deed cancels out a thousand good deeds.
31
What is The Way?
The Way is Route 66.
I agree, especially around Lubbock.
What is The Day?
You mean, The Day the Music Died? So along The Way you can find The Day.
You’ll be blessed.
32
How about that time in the desert when you went forty days and forty nights without food and water?
I saw visions.
What did you see?
I saw London in the late eighteenth century.
What was it like?
There were cobblestones, chimney workers and horse drawn carriages. The streets were unlit and thieves lurked in dark corners.
Where was Jerusalem?
Beneath London.
33
Who reckons time?
The maker of time.
How long is time?
As long as necessary.
Who sees the future?
No one.
How do you know the future?
Like an architect, I draw the plans and employ others to carry them out. Thus is the future.
34
Who were the wise men?
Men of knowledge and understanding.
But they followed a star.
No, they didn’t.
But…
They followed the light.
35
Why so much emphasis on forgiveness?
It was a placebo.
Really?
The cure had not yet been discovered.
Is the cure now found?
Partially.
Will the world experience this cure?
It must first realize the illness.
36
Did you ever find yourself at a loss for words?
Occasionally.
What did you do?
That’s when I performed miracles .
Actions spoke louder than words.
Yes, sad to say. I always preferred keeping things on an intellectual level, but after twenty minutes they would get bored.
37
What’s left?
Nothing. Everything is gone.
Do we start over?
I haven’t decided.
38
What is impossible?
I can’t answer that question.
What is improbable?
Existence.
Then why are we so matter of fact about it?
Because of our fondness for certainty.
39
Innocent children die.
That is true.
Do you have an explanation?
It all seems to be a matter of chance.
That doesn’t seem fair.
If you don’t like my answer, then think of a better one.
40
Why was Saul blinded?
So he could see.
41
I hear you were born on a cold and rainy day.
Weren’t we all?
42
Solomon was wise?
Beyond his years.
What about all the women?
He was experimenting.
What was he testing?
The value of the scientific method.
43
Where does one begin?
One begins with two.
44
How do you explain evil?
I can’t explain it but I do accept it.
Is evil necessary?
Is good necessary?
Life wouldn’t be worth living without good.
Neither would it without evil.
45
Why do we feel guilty for something we didn’t do?
But you did do it.
But I don’t remember…
You do remember or you wouldn’t feel guilt.
46
Can I trust my own mind?
At two levels.
What are they?
One of release and one of surrender.
47
It’s getting cold.
The desert is like that. It leaks heat as the sun goes down.
River valleys are better suited to the demands of civilization.
But there’s only so much room in the RV’s.
The desert is for outcasts.
How long do we stay in the desert?
As long as there are outcasts.
48
What do you do when someone has lost their way?
I let them continue.
Won’t they get even more lost?
Being lost isn’t a matter of degree. It’s more like an opportunity.
An opportunity for what?
An opportunity to be found.
49
What compels one to create?
A desire to be alone.
What do you mean?
To create is to make something new, something different. The act of creation separates.
Why do we wish to separate ourselves?
To become as God.
50
Was Buddha a friend of yours?
I knew Buddha.
But was he a friend?
Buddha had no friends.
Do you have friends?
All my friends are not yet born.
Go to UNIt III
