False Realities

I have a friend named Sara, who is always doing bad, but she still, steadfastly, believes that God cares for her, and is there, watching over her. Despite her belief, her life is just one big mess. I asked her one day how she could have such strong belief, even though God was totally ignoring her. She just looked at me with a blank, uncomfortable, stare. She had no answer.

After I left her apartment, she looked around the living room, then the ceiling. Then she screamed, "God where are you?! Why don't you answer my prayers? Help me, help me please! I've been begging you all my life! This is crazy."

There was complete silence. Sara looked around the room again, and said, "OK God, if you really are all powerful show me a sign, right now. Any sign."

There was complete silence. "Please, God, show me something. I need to see something for my thirty years of praying! It's obvious, you don't care," she yelled. Still, more silence.

She stood up, and, slowly, walked into her study. There, she reached into a drawer and retrieved a pentagram. Where she got it is not known. In a rage she put the five-sided- star to her chest and shouted, "Satan, I know you see that God doesn't care about me. I know you have been watching too. I know you know he hasn't answered my prayers, ever.

"So this is the deal, Satan," she continued. "If you've got a better deal, I'm all ears. If you want me to sell you my soul, then you got it. I, hereby ,sell you my soul, and in return you will answer all of my prayers and wishes. Thank you, Satan!"

"First, Satan" she commanded. "Could you just show me some kinda sign, just any sign?" Nothing! The silence was deafening.

"Please show me that you are all powerful, Satan! I serve you, now. I have sold my soul to you, to torture forever. I need to get something outta this deal, right?!" "Don't tell me you are just as heartless as God!" This went on for hours, without any results.

******************************

I found Sara the next day. When I entered her house, I saw her lying there, on the floor, in a catatonic state. I rushed over, kneeled down, and checked her pulse. She was still alive. I found her phone, and, quickly, called 911.

They put her in the Psych Ward. I was on the list of people authorized to see her. As I entered her room, she was sitting, facing the wall. I asked her how she was doing. She turned around, and started to cry. "Why does God and Satan, both, hate me?" she asked.

"They don't hate you," I replied. "The problem is that you are living a false reality. The reason your prayers are never answered by God, or Satan is because neither of them exist."

"They do exist!" she exclaimed. "The bible says so."

"Then why don't they respond?" I asked. She gave a blank stare.

"Sara," I continued, "If you accept reality as it is, you can start on a new path today. A path where you believe in yourself and not in things that are imaginary. You, not God, not Satan, will be the one guiding your life. And your choices, along with chance, will determine your success."

She didn't respond. I think, maybe, I got to her with reason...I think.

As I turned to leave the room, she looked up at me and said, "God bless you!"

SIGH!