Chapter 73: The Conundrum of Qumull

“Do you believe the Sonuam?” David asked at lunch.

“Yes, I believe them. I am both pleased and disappointed,” said Ashlyn. “I am pleased there is something else out there, but I am sorry I don’t know who or what it is.”

“I feel the same. It is two contradictory feelings. I like the idea of an unknown being out there with our interests at heart. Simultaneously, I am curious about who or what it may be,” said Brendan.

“I am sure the Pearl group and the Brainiacs have our interests at heart. DNA in another dimension expands our ability. How we use power is a test of who we are. We could equally abuse what we have,” said Ashlyn.

“Yes, I agree. We could go both ways. Last night, after you fell asleep, I asked myself what I believed. I asked myself how I wanted to live my life. I wanted to be both a doctor and a rabbi. Now, I feel driven to do the best job I can for the Paradigm. I miss medicine terribly, but I don’t miss the rabbi part as much as I thought. I pray as I used to, though, like you, in my own words. I feel comforted by prayer and the idea of God. Yet, I ask myself, to whom am I praying?”

“Yes, I understand how you feel. Lately, I’ve been struggling with the same questions about the nature of God.”

“David, how have your beliefs changed since you trained as a rabbi?” Ashlyn asked.

“I realize now the rebbes were shaping me to adapt to the developmental path, but both talked of a God. Judaism seems such a distant and small part of who I am now, yet it formed the basis of important values I hold. Your family, as Catholics, had many of the same values. I can see where we went wrong on Earth. Our religion did not evolve, and most religions rejected the personal development path as it interfered with their power. The XaX constantly inspires me. They have integrity, are selfless, and work well together. Crime is virtually unknown. They know about the word god but have no concept of it. I would like to believe a God created the developmental path, a spiritual god whose only ritual revolves around the best outcome of the developmental way.”

“We have beings who deal with universes and multiverses, planets and societies; why not one dedicated to a developmental path with a powerful ethical core?” Brendan asked.

“Yes, that is what the Paradigm lacks. It lacks an ethical belief system. Something out there is that pure spirit, the essence of spirituality. There should be a spiritual component in the major life events we celebrate,” said David. “I believe celebrations are essential, but something is lacking in the Paradigm. We had an inordinately primitive developmental path that did not evolve on Earth. All the ancients and those who specialized in it had a clear path of development. The Church and Synagogue are relics of an extinct path of development. Separate religions are not a good way to go. There was so much war,” said David.

“I can feel a spiritual presence and talk to it daily as I always did. I have learned much about talking to God from how we evolved communication with the Brainiacs. I believe the spiritual presence is an advanced being who cares for us. A developmental path is essential, and it must evolve. It must be based on a development model with a backbone of firm ethical beliefs. Like you, I think celebrations are vital, as is a deeper meaning to the ceremony. I have a bleak view of organized religion. The church was all about man, power, and control. Every organization must take care of itself and create processes to prevent it from corrupting. The Paradigm was as bad as the Catholic Church was during the Inquisition,” said Ashlyn. “I am sad our religious beliefs kept us apart. We were made for each other.”