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Point and Counterpoint: Series One.
Point one: Weep for Humanity
He is excited.
He hadn't done this in thousands of years. Not that no heed at all had been paid to goings on there.
He just hadn't visited in a while.
He rematerialized on a street in a city. There were cars rushing past, and people rushing past too. Directly ahead, a store. Inside, a little girl was buying a candy bar from the elderly man behind the counter.
He thought, "How nice. How quaint. Glad to see things are shaping up around here."
He decided to use psychic powers to check in more depth. The little girl was trying to think of what she'd say if the man behind the counter realized she had also shoved two packs of cigarettes into her pockets, and didn't plan on paying for them. The elderly man himself was thinking about the little girl in ways that were completely inappropriate.
He is shocked.
He had truly believed things would be better this time. Apparently not.
He crossed the street quickly, and expanded the scope of the psychic intrusion to the next few blocks, in hopes of finding something to redeem humanity.
He instead finds murder, adultery, and more burglary, all within the two nearest city blocks. Gambling and slander are heard in the open air.
He is desperate.
He runs three blocks to the tallest building in the area, opens the door, and begins climbing the stairs. Up and up, the climb continues, all the while the psychic revelation of horrible sins continues.
He reaches the top of the building. Here the psychic range can be broadened beyond the borders of the city into the surrounding suburbs and far beyond.
He is disappointed.
He gasps. The immorality and practical inhumanity extends beyond this one area to most of the world. A shudder of horror and disgust is uttered aloud.
He must escape the mortal form used to visit this world. High hopes were dashed, as if from a great fall, and now…
Closing his eyes, He jumps.
Counterpoint one: Everything wrong, everything right
Little known fact about me: I once got so fed up with life, I decided I was done. I just said, “I quit.”
That’s when He came to me and said, “Oh no you don’t.”
Frustrated, I said, “Why not? Look at all these things that are wrong with me, and my environment, and the whole world!”
And He replied, “I see nothing wrong with you or the world. These things you are pointing out, they are only places where you can make improvements. There’s nothing wrong with them. And besides that, look at all these things that are right with you, and everything around you.”
Unconvinced, I clammered on, “But just look, I can list a thousand things that are horrible and should prove that the best course of action would be to simply quit.”
Calmly, He replied, “That’s too easy, and besides, look at my list of wonderful, amazing things that you would miss out on if you quit- there are millions of things here.”
Starting to realize, yet still undeterred, I said, “But the suffering, so many people are suffering. Why would I want to live in a world where such horrible pain and suffering is so prominent that it forces itself into my life, unable to be ignored?”
Angrily, He replied, “Shame on you! You are not suffering. And you should want to help those less fortunate than you at every chance possible, not ignore their suffering!”
Humbled, I survived.
And He remains by my side.

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