“I am afraid she is gonna turn on me, and curse me , as they practice the craft, and you should see the spells and curses. You don’t know.”
The man listened, and looked into her troubled eyes. He shook his brain back and forth, slowly nodding disapproval inside his head.
“You need not fear when someone is casting spells, or claims a power through witchcraft or any of its variants.”
“But you don’t understand. I have seen it. Once, my grandmother told a woman who had crossed her that she would die. It went about a week before the woman turned up dead. I think she was hit by a car, or something like that.”
“You have to ask yourself some questions, my dear one. If the power is from God, and this god of gods is good, and if their power was true, would it not result that only true blessing can come from their deeds? “
“Yea, but they don’t say it is from God, necessarily.”
“Well if it is not from God, but from his creation and lost friend Satan, would it not hold that Satan cannot move, breath, or think, without the hand of God? I mean, since we derive our Satan and God from the same book, and the story is clear, if true, the one is the creation of the other.”
“I suppose, but wait, aren’t you also saying that God allows Satan to do evil, and thus, God has a hand in evil?”
“Oh nothing of the kind. God allows man free will. Man chooses what he will do, right or wrong. Sometimes, with billions of men making their choices, these things conflict. God’s goal is not to eradicate evil, but rather, to give man the choice to freely love him, which, in practice, eventually eradicates evil.”
“But isn’t he permitting, endorsing evil then, allowing it to exist?”
“Does a teacher encourage failure by allowing students to fail? Should the teacher eradicate classroom failure by stopping the tests, or giving all the answers? Should failure be removed from the pursuit of knowledge? You let the students find their way, while still frowning when they opt to play instead of learn. “
“Well, what if there is no God at all, and their powers come from some force, and they are among the few born with these powers to curse or help people? What if it is not a matter of being aligned to God or Satan, but rather, there is no God or Satan, and these powers exist, and they have them, and we don’t. “
“Then I would say to you why? Why were they blessed with an advantage from nowhere that you do not have? Are they smarter, more cunning, deserving? Are they greater in wisdom or scientific arts? Have they studied year upon year to gain such power or skill? I would say not.”
“But yet, they have it, and I have seen the powers work.”
“And are we speaking of happy people? Are we speaking of millionaires or of ones overflowing with joy? Are we speaking of people with abundance or great earthly goods? These with the powers, do they have great earthly or spirtual blessings at every turn?”
“I don’t follow you”
“For all their talk of power, it is used for the petty and small. You know people, and their powers, by their fruit. What can you say to the man who can curse you dead, and yet, cannot lift himself out of his own daily misery. What do you say of the woman who can strike sickness upon you, but lacks the power to heal herself? And why should such people, via voodoo or witchcraft or the numerous other arts, have a power that strikes good or evil in other’s lives, and yet, they cannot rise from the bed in the morning with joy?”
“And yet, I have seen people cursed, and sickened.”
“Then you have seen life as it happens, and every curse or blessing is the result of coincidence or physical actions, but not incantations of vague sourcing.”
“Well my grandmother says her powers are from God anyway.”
“Then you have nothing to fear, for in as much as good fruit is in her hand, then you are blessed, and the moment she offers strange fruit filled with anger, revenge and spite, you are still blessed, for God would not allow such, if you are his.”
“But if I am not his then, I could be harmed?”
“Well, it is like this. No man has power over you, unless you give them power by being afraid, or heeding their words and allowing the spirits of fear and darkness to take your mind. But you have to allow it by investing faith in their bad intent and evil suggestions. Whomever you choose to believe, that is who holds the power. We choose our Gods and our allegiances, and when we give them the power of our minds, and our faith, then we reap the results. Put your head in a lions mouth and he will give you his teeth. Put your heart in the hands of God and he will give you joy. Put your faith in the words of the sorceress, and you are at the mercy of her whims. You can invest in good and evil. Millions of Germans invested in an evil man and made him strong, or stronger. They placed their faith in him.”
“I see, sort of.”
The bus pulled around the corner and her office loomed into view. “Well this is me right here. Are we still on for later?”
“Yes Minette, certainly. Remember, it only works if you believe” said the monk in the garb of an average man.
“What does? ” she asked, leaning into his whisper.
“Good and evil,” he said, kissing her cheek and bidding her a good work day.
