by J O'Keith
“Have you ever made a mistake Jack? Have any of us in this room never misplaced our judgment, or taken a wrong turn? If one of you can honestly say that you haven’t, I will happily renounce my faith at this very moment.
“No? Good, because no matter how religious I or anyone will be, we are flawed beings, we are only human after all, we are bound to make mistakes, some so terrible that they will haunt us long after we pass away.
“By misplacing my trust in this horrible man, I’ve probably consigned Christianity and all other religions to extinction. Every morning I awake and question my integrity, my judgment, my very being.
“But never have I questioned the Almighty. I do not believe that he will show his face at the very last hour, I’ve made peace with the fact that the only reason I’ve been kept alive is so you can humiliate me and make me break. But it will never happen, not now or in five years time.
“So why don’t we get this over with?”
This was the only time that Jack and the courtroom were speechless. But they found their footing again, and the result of the trial was that they gave me this notebook to write my confession in, giving me until dawn the next day to retract my beliefs or face execution that next morning.
I can hear footsteps nearing my door and it appears the hour has arrived. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you more but I ran out of time and I’d like to end by saying how much I love the Almighty and how excited I am about seeing...
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What can I say, except that I’m alive and that Christianity has lived to fight another day.
I was grabbed by the neck, blindfolded and taken to what I assumed was a firing squad. But when I was thrown onto the floor and heard the start of a motor engine, I knew something miraculous was happening.
A woman with strawberry blonde hair, who I now know to be called Delia, removed my blindfold and told me that a small group of the A.P.D. had been astonished by my performance on trial, and while they were not sure that they shared my religious beliefs they refused to allow Christianity to become extinct.
So they organised an elaborate plan that involved swapping me with a dead body and giving the impression to the A.P.D. that I had been killed and that therefore, Christianity was no more. That allowed them to take me to an undisclosed location with minimum hassle and ensure I could live a safe existence.
Just as Thomas had predicted, the Atheists have now turned on each other and civil war has engulfed the world, with hundreds of thousands of innocent men and women dying in nuclear attacks.
I am leaving this book with you, dear reader, whoever you may be, in the hope that you will spread this story and keep alive the spirit of Christianity.
And if you find yourself touched by the hand of the Almighty, I have some exciting news. Delia told me that the A.P.D. have one final copy of the Bible hid in an undisclosed location. I have made it life’s goal to find our holy book and remind the world of its great teachings. There has rarely been greater need for God’s teachings.
If I never get a chance to write a written word again, I would like to ask for God’s forgiveness for all my sins and mistakes, particularly those I made on Samosir. I wish I had been stronger and possessed the strength Thomas did. I know he sits with you now, my Lord, so please tell me that I am ever so sorry for costing him his life. I will do everything in my power to redeem myself in both of your eyes, and show to my mother and father that I am worthy of our family name.
Finally, I would like to leave the reader with some advice. Once you find your faith, it is not enough to hold it in your heart. Building a relationship in your heart and soul with God is no longer enough. No, spread that unfiltered joy, that unbroken ethereal light with those you trust, because we must rebuilt this broken world as the Almighty would have wanted us to do so.
For all the pain, suffering and blindness that this world has suffered, there is now an opportunity to start afresh, to build a world in God’s image without the burden of history, technology and the past.
Know that wherever you are, no matter how lost you are or how hopeless things may seem, if you stand by your principles and beliefs, God will always find a way. If you don’t believe that after reading this story, then you’re not a believer.
God is with us always, even when we have forgotten him, so never be afraid to turn to him for his love because Jesus Christ will never leave your side.
Mary