THE BOOK OF THE GAME

from

THE GOSPEL

ACCORDING

TO

THE CHRIST BROTHERS

And so it was that a voice spoke to us, speaking for a long time, saying:

"Indeed, from the chance you are born, and into the chance you die, and it is to be so for everyone, until you accept the True Gospel! Accidents compose what you are, and everything you are is nothing but an accident. You parents met by a coincidence, and so did their parents, and so on, even up to the beginning of times. Should your grandmother have married another man, you would be a different person. What joy is in it for you - living your non-life, knowing that you exist only due to a chain of coincidences? Adam was the only man to be created according to a plan, and for this Our Father has to pay the price. None of the qualities that you possess are truly yours, and there is nothing you could be proud or ashamed of. All that you are is a sum of your genetic code, your upbringing, people and events you have encountered in your non-life that affected you in one way or another. Strip yourselves of all the layers of qualities that have been contributed to your personae by different circumstances in your lives - and all that's left is a blank spot, a symbol of emptiness! Even your physical bodies owe their shapes to certain characteristics of your environment."

The voice interrupted, as if to allow us to ask a question. And so we did:

"Our Lords, but if we are nothing but blank spots, what remains of us in the non-afterlife, providing we are worthy of it?"

"At each stage of your every non-life, you are a sum of influences that you have been subjected to. The most recent condition of your persona is determined by the most recent sum of influences, or chances. When a person is about to receive the non-afterlife, their essence is preserved in the form it was in at the latest point of their last non-life. This way the most progressive version of each individual is awarded Salvation. The blank spot is filled, the emptiness is overcome! This is the only goal that is worth reaching!"

"Why is it called the Game then?" We asked.

"As We have already explained, everyone is a combination of chances, nothing more. The chances participate in never ending circulation, moved by their own energy, by the efforts of people and other live beings, and by Our manipulation. Every event in everyone's non-life is just a sophisticated set of chances, which float freely, leaving one entity and attaching themselves to another. The process of this rotation is to a very big extent accidental, therefore no rules could be traced, apart from the ones We chose to impose at one time or another. Thus, the Game has a meaning to Us, and to Our Father, but to all humans it is completely pointless. There is only one reason to play it, and this reason is the possibility to exit it upon receiving the non-afterlife. You see."

"Yes," we confirmed (and it was so that They spoke in one voice, and so did we, speaking in one voice too). "Our Lords, You talk about the pointlessness of non-life so often¼ And yet, many people seem to enjoy it, and consider it worthwhile. How do You explain it?"

"They just do not know what is what¼ They lull themselves with false ideas and concepts, believing what they want to believe instead of what is true. They think that they have control over their existence, that big and small events in their non-lives are results of their own choices. How naive!"

"We understand that," we retorted. "And still, if they enjoy it, what is wrong with it? Why do they have to know the truth? Why should the happiness of ignorance be taken away from them?"

"This is the price each one of them has to pay," They replied. "Just as well as Our Father had to pay His price. Otherwise - they are trapped. Of course, many of them might not know that, but what difference does it make? They are trapped twice, that's all!"

"Forgive us, Lords," we implored, "We don't want it to sound as though we are arguing with You, but why do You perceive non-life as a trap? We still can't quite fathom this. Isn't the value of one's existence determined merely by the value attached to it by the person in question?"

"Yes, and no," They replied. "Imagine a man who is having financial problems. He is walking down the street, and suddenly he notices something on the ground: a wallet. He picks it up: there is a thousand dollars inside. You see. Of course, our man is happy, and he thanks the lucky coincidence that drove him out of his house just in time. There is something he doesn't know, however. At the very same moment a messenger of Higher Luck is knocking on his door, ready to offer him a life-time employment as a way to rid himself of ALL financial problems. He knocks, and knocks, and knocks, and then he goes away, since there is no one home. When the man gets back, he doesn't know the other person had come. He is still overjoyed by his find. And yet, if he knew what he had missed, he wouldn't be happy. So, how can one be happy by chance?

"Let Us give you another example," They continued. "Imagine a couple of people who fell in love with each other. They think that they have found a perfect match, and yet, all it is is a combination of chances. Of all the people in the world one gets to meet only a minuscule part. So how can someone be sure that their perfect pair did not stay outside this small circle? Chances throw people together, but they think their meeting has some universal importance, whereas in fact they could have encountered someone else - and feel exactly the same. Thus, in non-life it becomes irrelevant who you are surrounded by, who your friends are, your enemies, your lovers. All of them are but coincidences, pawns in the Game. Most assuredly: those who do not know of the True Gospel deceive themselves all along. You see.

"Haven't you noticed: you may run into a beautiful woman accidentally, and sense wonderful warm witty connection arising between the two of you: maybe only a couple of words said to each other, a couple of jokes and a couple of glances exchanged. And then the woman's boyfriend walks in, and there it is, the instant understanding you have been seeking¼ And yet, if not for the boyfriend, something could have been possible¼ You see. And then you encounter someone else who is not involved at the time, and you may spend the rest of your non-life together with that other person, ever imagining how it could have been, if¼ Ever trying to deal with minor defects of your partner, minor incompatibilities between the two of you - pretending that nothing like this exists, and yet forever condemned to thinking about how wonderful it could be if the person you are with were just a bit different. How can you be satisfied with something so elusive, so unreliable, so coincidental? Nothing in your non-lives has any meaning, nothing! The feelings humans have for one another are just projections of their own need to feel. The connections created among humans are designed to make their non-life easier, more enjoyable, more everybodyelselike. No one cares about anyone else: only about their inner desire to care. Don't you see: even for each one of you, non-life is just a Game, in which other people play parts you want them to play: the parts of wives, husbands, sons, daughters, parents, friends, strangers - good and bad parts, just so that you could create a simple scheme of the world driven by simplistic concepts of your good and evil. You audition for a while, and then you make your choice: final or not, it is made, and now you try to fit people into the little slots in your non-life that you want to fill. Sometimes they don't fit in so well, and then you attempt alterations, trying to adjust their personalities according to your specifications. You see. You don't need real people, you just need to fill up empty spots!"

"What about the non-afterlife then?" We asked.

"Non-afterlife¼ " They replied, "non-afterlife is completely different. Everyone receives their Perfect Chance, something that they really want, even if they don't realize that. Or, to be precise, EVERYTHING they want combined in one reality. All the restrictions that had been imposed upon them by the time they live in, or the society, or their own moral standards, or places they visit or do not visit, or real people they get to meet - all these restrictions are waived. Can you imagine this? Surely you can't, can you?"

"No, Our Lords," We confessed.

"You'll see it in time," They promised. "The True essence of each individual is examined at the point of entrance, and the most suitable environment is created for everyone. You become surrounded by the people you want to have around you most, you do things you like to do, you are not responsible for anything. All your needs are provided for even before you realize them. This is the Ultimate Goal one must strive to achieve, and this is what makes non-life so pointless: the alternative is just so much better! And once you accept the True Gospel and abstain from chancemaking, this alternative is only one non-life away!"

"Why is chancemaking such a grave sin?" We inquired.

"Because no true Believer can be a chancemaker. The very idea of chancemaking contradicts every basic concept of the Gospel. Once a person accepts it, he, or she, should see right away how pointless the non-life is. And if so, there is no reason for anyone to try to improve something that's unimprovable. Therefore, chancemaking indicates the lack of faith, which, after all, is the only sin that exists."

"It seems so simple," we commented. "You just believe, and act as it is suggested - and the non-afterlife is yours¼ "

"Most assuredly, it is a simple thing to say, but not a simple one to do," They replied. "You have to truly, truly believe to be able to spend your non-life as a temporary state of preparation, as a prison term if you wish. The so-called Christianity of the past, altered as it was, requires much less of a sacrifice. You see. As long as one obeyed the basic rules and rituals, it was considered that this person was saved - a mistake, of course. Not so with the True Gospel! Your entire non-life is the sacrifice that We require! One has to dedicate it to the Gospel to receive Salvation! Is there any proof? Anything the two of you could show to people when you go out on your mission? No! There is no such proof! There is nothing more that We wish to disclose, than the Words that the two of you are going to bring them. Otherwise, the deal We offer would be a rather silly one on Our part, don't you think? The Ultimate Chance is not to be given away: only those who are worthy are to receive it, and this is a thing to remember! And this is why you will find it hard to convince many a person. And yet, the victory of the True Gospel is inevitable! And it is for the two of you to explain to everyone that they have no choice."

"We shall do our best," we promised.

"We know you will," They replied.

"Allow us to ask another question, if we may," we said humbly.

"Please, do," They consented.

"It pertains to the things we have discussed. We do not mean any offense or disrespect, but if in the non-afterlife everyone should receive everything they want, what is going to prevent it from becoming a waste-basket of the world, so to speak, at least in our modern point of view? Killers allowed to kill, rapists allowed to rape, all sorts of monstrosities taking incredible proportions?"

"This is such a pessimistic view," They replied. "What if the positive in you overcomes the negative once you are allowed everything? And after all, one must remember: you have to pass a narrow gate to enter through the door of the True Gospel. You have to deny your non-life any importance! It changes a person! A killer? Most assuredly, there is a long way between killing and the non-afterlife! Besides, one thing is obvious: you have to disregard your "modern point of view", before you are ready to receive the True Gospel. You know. You have seen much already, and you will see more. You shall have all the answers you need." (We did not know then that the Lords were referring to the Final Vision we were yet to receive.)

"Our Lords! If we are chosen to be the Prophets, and thus achieve recognition, are we not taking upon ourselves the grave sin of chancemaking?"

"Yes, you are," They replied. "But there are different levels of chance circulation. By bringing the True Gospel to the people, you will help many to renounce their non-lives and to reduce their chances. Therefore, your mission as the Prophets is ultimately a chance-diminishing one, and thus you are forgiven in advance, providing you succeed in getting a sufficient amount of non-believers to accept the Gospel. Look at it this way: each person you bring into the realm of the Church will help you achieve the non-afterlife of your own."

Instantly, the space around us fell apart, and we were together no longer.

It is then that They spoke again, saying;

"Now it is time to examine the elaborate scheme of non-life and its web-like structure of coincidental formulation.

"Each non-life exists independent of human standards such as wealth, education, and prestige, but instead as the solitary realization that within the web lies the essential course by which the flesh make their way towards Salvation. In other words, the integral makeup of all that is, or all that is to be, resides in the plane of chances and thus becomes THE decisive factor in the mathematical relationship that determines Our involvement in the Game.

"Moreover, it is the realization of decimal point manipulation that influences the moral standards by which the undivine life will be allowed to function. Mind you, We do not approve of how humans treat one another, especially since We have proclaimed unto you an expression of general disdain for the non-life in favor of Salvation. The only positive outcome of the non-life are the disciples who follow the Gospel. Thus, We have spelled out the fundamental thrust of this conversation: The harmful effects that will befall upon Us and the non-life if one participates in the activity of life-taking."

They continued;

"So it is this that We bring upon you as the most important and the vaguest of the Fundamental Universal Codes that my Brother and I have both authored and abide by. Contained herein are the Chance Rules that pertain to the illegality of chancemaking and chance improving. As quoted in the FUC:

"It doth lie herein the precedent by which all energetic matter will convene and behave amongst itself in a way that will be most agreeable to the Lords and to Our Father, who rightly shall be most affected by the events that counter against it.

"Furthermore, it is so that the presumption and acting out of life-taking shall be duly regarded as a slight against the Gospel in light of the fact that future non-lives should not be forsaken as a result of homicidal menace.

"It is not the action that We do decry however, but the insurmountable menace that it will have on the final reconciliation of the Gospel and of Our Father.

"The reasons for this are as follows:

"Each non-life serves as a responsible party to every other non-life currently present or existing immediately before the next generation of humans to follow. Therefore, each participant of the Game must operate by the rule that each non-life is THE ingredient towards the resurrection of the Gospel, and therefore the extinguishment of a non-life also extinguishes the chances that would have been born out of that one non-life.

"Assuredly, one that is not centered within the Gospel should not be bound by such particulars BUT HIS ACTIONS WILL REMAIN WITH HIM and he will be the diner of his own overcooked shame and scorn. So, it is the wisest viewpoint to respond to all actions of others by not intervening, instead remaining placid in the solemn understanding that all will be corrected at a later date."

They continued:

"It is this doctrine of pacificity that We declare the most prudent line of thinking when it comes to issues that address the question of murder. (Suicide becomes a separate issue in a way, since it involves the decision of one individual as opposed to the meditation of others.)

"The bounty of opportunities that Our Father has offered Us to pursue the Gospel extends beyond both fact and fiction. It is the integral part of the Game, the ability to give and receive chances. Therefore, it is crystallized as THE basis for all contemporary recognition of important matters. Any termination of a non-life before its pre-destined time immeasurably effects the non-life, leaving unrecognizable images of what is and what is supposed to be.

"This is true that We had foreseen the non-life's events differently from the way they turn out to be. Thus We have chosen now as Our point of intervention. Granted, We have existed since the beginning of time that you began keeping, yet in no small way have We found it imperative to alter the course of forces already in motion. That is the responsibility of the Overseers of the Gospel and that is the responsibility that We bestow upon you. As the foremost Prophets of the Gospel, it will now be in your hands to shape the direction in which the Gospel develops. This is a task that will require you to employ all the tactics that you have been equipped with, paying extreme attention to the FUC and the doctrine that lies within it.

"One must remember: you are not supporting the most popular point of view, but instead, the most righteous point of view. Popular NEVER leads to Salvation. That is the pathway to heresy."