THE CULT CONVERSATION

Am I a religious man?

Not really.

Do I believe in deities?

Not historically.

For a long time, I was atheist, insistent that nothing like our universe could come from one mind, however great it was. Insistent that no kind and loving God could allow kids to die from terminal illness, that no omnipotent entity could stand us not being able to save our kin.

The Bible was full of stories about this ‘kind’ and ‘powerful’ God, and my town was drowning in religious zealots. I couldn’t start a meal without a prayer, couldn’t do a favour without a “God Bless You”.

But my mind was changed.

I see now that there is no singular deity. Since the beginning of time there have been an unimaginable number of divinities locked in an endless battle, each with their own causes and ideologies. Each thinking they know what is best for the universe and its inhabitants.

This resonates with me because I understand how they feel. I too am locked in a battle to prove my beliefs are best for those on this planet, constantly besieged by those who think they know better. I am often exhausted from the effort it takes, but these Gods have been at it for centuries, millennia even.

And it was as I realised that the Gods weren’t all powerful, but battling for power, that I realised I was no longer an atheist. My mind was open to all the possibilities, all of the different beliefs in the world.

Well, I say all…

Most.

You see, whilst the modern Christian likes to believe in the kind, loving, powerful and biblical ‘Yahweh’, and the Greeks had a whole Pantheon of Gods that had their own domains and interests, there is one belief that I cannot bring myself to understand.

The Congregation of Forever.

My hometown may have been drowning in zealots, but this zealot arose from near drowning. Sent insane by his brush with death, he believes himself to be a vessel of divinity, but not from above. From below.

Eli Forever is a very capable man – he clearly has a knack for persuasion, and he can hold his own with his fists – but he is not a smart man. Whilst the world worships idols and titans, he worships water.

That’s right, water.

He does not believe in the power of a deity, but in the supremacy of a slightly sweeping stream.

He does not believe in a God OF Water, but the River itself as his spirit guide.

But water is just water, and powerful as it may be in many ways, it is not theologically powerful, and is open to my own powers.

The River may have been flowing through you, Eli, since the death of your father and the rebirth of your family, but there is one sure way to stop that. Water can be FROZEN, and it shall flow no more.

So Eli, get ready for a FROSTY RECEPTION this week at VHS, as I put your little aquatic cult ON ICE, and leave you OUT COLD.