Abraham, the jewish man who was formerly obsessed by demons, looked the priest straight in the face. "It was awful, absolutely awful. But this Jesus who cleaned me told me to take things easy now. He said I shouldn't look at the law anymore. I should understand it as a guide to loving, but it would require God to explain it to me, not these Pharisees." The priest looked a bit upset. "The law is a gift, it is not a curse." "Oh really? Then why are there all these graves outside of the city, where we stoned so many people! Do you think God likes that?" "Oh my fellow jew, but we need rules or we can't coexist with each other." "Oh yes we do, but the main rule is love. And we suck badly at that." "But isn't the law a light?" "Yes, it is, but are we light? Are we so pure? We are not, and so the law can only kill us. Can't we conceive of our Master simply hating this?" "God is good because He gives us good rules. We must accept these rules or all goes downhill." "But maybe God wants to make the law into a blessing?" The priest chuckled, "Isn't it one already?" "No it isn't. As it is the law is a curse. We shouldn't take it literally anymore. We need to know what God wants us to know. Sinai is far behind us. What is our future?" "We cannot have a future without the law, I tell you plainly." "Well, I actually agree, the law of love will always be an important part of our lives." "So what's your problem?" "I still think the law must be tuned into a blessing. We serve it too singlemindedly. There are other things in our religion than the law." "Really? What do you mean?" "Well as it is we think the law suffices itself. We perceive God to have left us pretty much alone. We think He is only interested in the carnage that happens at the temple." "Do not blaspheme, these are holy things." "Didn't God say He wants obedience and not sacrifice?" "Sure, that's why we have the law." "But shouldn't we serve God? I only see us serving the law. When was the last time one of us really prayed for those who break the law. When did we really have huge compassion for them? When did we really consider them part of our family? We so quickly leave them behind. It's as if they don't exist for us once they have broken the law." "You mean we should not consider them sinners? That's nonsense." "I just feel we must keep the law on the behalf of others. Nowhere in the law does it say that a sinner cannot be our neighbor anymore. Or that we must stop loving them." "You don't understand it. The law makes us righteous. We cannot forego on righteousness." "You are right on the last part. But still, people are dying because of this law. We must ignite a brighter fire. The law may console the righteous, but how can it make the sinners righteous again. They are beset with so many bad desires." "They just have to try a little harder. Someone must be earnest with them." "I have talked with some of them. I know an adulterous woman and she is so kind to her children." "That's not right, you must turn her from her ways." "Yes, and I am trying to do this, I do not like adultery. But isn't this woman good? I know plenty righteous people who are so harsh with their children." "That's not a concern of ours. God wants us to keep the whole of the law." "But what if some laws can only be kept if others are broken? How can we say we love our neighbor if we stone him?" "Do you want to play God?" "Do you?" "I hold the righteous view, we have always practiced this." "So you want to play God righteously?" "Erm, what do you mean?" "What if God is brimming with love and mercy and He gave us these rules mainly so that we would come to him personally with such things? That we would realize not even our morality can save us. That we need a loving person, a wondrously loving person in our lives?" "You beat me. God isn't such a God. Think of how Moses saw God. He is a burning fire!" "Maybe God wants us to be burning fires too. I do not think of abandoning the law. But this fire comes first. This love comes first." "You think God's fire is love?" "Yes, I really do. He is in us, the Higher Power of life and death, but we are not burned up." "I have never heard anyone say this. How could God be with us? He is with us with blessings only, and in the temple. But nobody may visit the place where He dwells." "This Jesus told me all these things when we talked together." "Who is this Jesus dude?" "I don't know for sure, I think He was a prophet especially loved by God. Anytime I think of God now I think of this kind man." "Alright, we could all be a little more loving, a little more forgiving. But we can't leave the law behind." "As we shouldn't. But maybe it is time to bring this law back to God, so that He would decide it always. I bet He would surprise us. If love is His priority, maybe all the hard things are not of the same importance. But we can't decide this ourselves. We need the holy one to decide for us." "You surely have fire in yourself. I wish you peace. But please keep the law. It's what we always did." "I will, but I will think of this Jesus. He brought something, a feeling, I feel so free and peaceful in my soul, as if I were a little bird in a nest." "Oh that sounds beautiful. I am sceptical of these teachings, but I can see peace in you. You are so relaxed." "Maybe that is a gift of God. He knows I am a sinner." "You are humble still." "Oh, it is not humility. I just like to be who I am now, it's so simple and quiet inside."
