Eye Bleach

by Paul E. Creasy

  “Yes…, yes, you are right,” Maw Maw said as she fanned herself with her right hand. Her face was flushed bright pink and beamed with pride. “You know, Sylvia helped me form the circle this afternoon. I knew that girl had the touch. I knew she was special from the first moment I set eyes on her. I just knew it.”

  “Yes…, the spirit flows full in that one,” Father Ted said. His eyes darted up the hill and spied Darlene bringing a fresh bowl of potato salad for the party. He pointed at her and said, “as it does in her mother as well.”

  “Yes,” Maw Maw said as she followed his gaze to her daughter. “But…, let’s not say anything to Darlene just yet about Sylvia.”

  “Oh?” Father Ted said. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” Maw Maw said. “She is such a Nervous Nelly about tonight. This being the first Circle she has hosted in a while, I don’t want to add to her nerves by telling her about Sylvia’s honor.”

  “You’re sure you don’t think she will object?”

  “Definitely not,” Maw Maw said. “I know my daughter and she will pleased as punch. As will Sylvia’s father, Joe, but…, in her condition and all, I think she shouldn’t get overly anxious. Bad for the baby, you know.”

  “True,” Father Ted said.

  Maw Maw closed her eyes and nodded as she said. “I remember her first attendance at Circle. Darlene wasn’t nervous at all, but I was a complete wreck. I was so afraid she would mess up something or do something wrong. It is a lot to remember, you know.”

  “It is,” Father Ted said. “But Sylvia is special. I know she will do well.” He watched Darlene approach and saw the harried look on her face. It was stricken; worry lines about burned corn bread, overcook potatoes and soggy green beans were etched into her brow. He grinned as he turned to Maw Maw and whispered, “I agree with your assessment about Darlene. I will let this be a secret for a few more hours at least.” He pointed at Maw Maw and said, “Perhaps you should let her know right before the ceremony starts. Let it be a nice surprise.”

  “Oh, it will be a wonderful surprise,” Maw Maw said. “And…, about the altar. Have you any ideas yet? You know, all the girls are dying to know. I have never seen them in such a tizzy.”

  Father Ted smiled and held his index finger up to his puckered lips. “It’s a big secret. Of course, with so many lovely candidates to choose from, it will be hard for Spirit to make his selection. We must await his choice.”

  “Oh, yes, certainly Father,” Maw Maw said.

  “And who knows,” Father Ted said. “Perhaps you will be chosen?”

  Maw Maw howled in laughter. “Oh, Father Ted, you are the limit. I know you are joking. My altar days are far behind me. But,” she added as she put her hand on her left hip and swiveled. “It is nice to be lied to.”

  “I’m not lying,” Father Ted said. “There is no age limit for being chosen. And a fine woman like yourself would make a wonderful—”

  “—Please, stop,” Maw Maw said as she put her hand on the back of his head. “You are already making me feel too old.” She paused as she luxuriated in the feeling of his thick black hair in her chubby fingers. Her eyes drifted shut and she sighed. “Oh…, if only I were thirty years younger!” She withdrew her hand.

  “Father Ted,” Darlene said as she walked over to the picnic table and put the bowl down in the center. “We have tons of potato salad left. I do hope you will have some more.”

  “Honestly,” Father Ted said as he shook his head. “You gals are going to kill me. So much good food to eat and in such quantities, I am liable to bust a gut. I know I must have eaten a dozen of your deviled eggs today.”

  “Oh? I will go get some more,” Darlene said. “I am so relieved you liked them.”

  “Liked them,” Father Ted said. “I loved them!” He pointed up the hill to the others enjoying themselves and said, “I must say, Darlene, you put on a fantastic Circle. I think Spirit will be most pleased we had it here this month. The evening has been spectacular!”

  “See Darlene,” Maw Maw said, “you fretted for nothing.” She glanced down at Father Ted and said, “all afternoon she has been as nervous as a turkey the day before thanksgiving. I told her everything was perfect, but, she wouldn’t listen.”

  “Come on, Momma,” Darlene said as she lightly blushed.

  “Well…, you should listen to your mother, Darlene. Everything has been perfect. So perfect, in fact, I bet this might be the best Beltane celebration yet,” Father Ted said.

  Darlene started to speak but then winced, grabbing her stomach with her left hand.

  “Are you OK, Darlene?” Maw Maw said.

  “Oh, yes,” Darlene said as she straightened back up. “Just a little kick, that’s all.”

  “Praise be!” Maw Maw said as she threw her arms up in the air. “The quickening! The quickening has come!” She turned to Darlene and asked, “when did this happen?”

  “This morning,” Darlene said. “About as far into the pregnancy as I was with Sylvia when she first got rowdy.”

  “You and your sisters were quite feisty when I carried you all,” Maw Maw said.

  Father Ted closed his eyes and said, “I knew Spirit was pleased today from the second I woke up — and now we have proof! It is a clear sign of approval. As clear as a cool October afternoon!”

  He reached over and touched Darlene’s belly, his smile growing wide as his fingers ran over her stretched cotton sundress. In a soft voice he said, “all the glows of life a-blurring, through the misty shades of time; the breath of life is stirring as grapes blossom on the vine. As the blood of the young starts flowing, first breaths muffling in their throat; tiny limbs begin a-stirring, as a vigorous newborn goat. The nameless one smiles wide, his cruel mouth yawning full agape, the black bull is shod for the famous ride of Europa’s divine rape. To the mountains we cry havoc, to the valleys we cry war, from the golden dawn of wisdom, to a foaming distant shore. A greater treasure giveth no one, a higher prize to man unknown, a glorious new day is dawning, a fresh seed shall soon be sewn!”

  Chapter 17

  April 19th, 2017 - Café Del Sol Mexican Restaurant - Mountain View California - 11:00 PM

  “Honestly, Hector,” Sylvia said, “I haven’t really given it much thought.”

  “You haven’t thought about that question?” Hector said. “The question of why there is something rather than nothing? How is this possible? This is the ultimate question!”

  “Well…, I suppose, but, I guess it just doesn’t seem relevant to me,” Sylvia said.

  Hector shook his head and said, “now you are hedging, and, no offense intended.”

  “None taken,” Sylvia said.

  “But frankly, I don’t believe it. You are obviously an intelligent person and curious about the world in which we live. For you to claim you are not curious about why all of this,” he paused to wave his hand out across the room, “exists is a huge dodge. In fact, it is beyond a dodge and borders on willful blindness. You know there must be some explanation to the question as to why there is something rather than nothing.”

  “Maybe the universe just always existed,” Sylvia said. “Did you think of that? If it did, then, problem solved. There would be no reason to have to create a God to explain something that just is.”

  “All evidence strongly points away from an eternally old universe,” Hector said.

  “Well, of course, you would say that,” Sylvia said. “You are a priest, after all.”

  “I am not talking about theological evidence, but, scientific evidence, Sylvia.”

  “Oh? Like what?”

  “Like the Big Bang, for example. This event points to an absolute beginning of the universe. In the beginning, there was nothing but complete and total nothingness. Out of which, all matter, energy and even time itself sprung forth, approximately fourteen billion years ago.”

  “So, no seven days of creation, eh?” Sylvia said.

  “You should know better,” Hector said with a smile. “Most Chr
istians, like any scientifically literate person, believe in a fourteen billion-year-old universe. The science is pretty much settled on this point. With that in mind, and, to add on to the story of the big bang, the second law of thermodynamics also points to an absolute finite beginning. This law shows that all energy that has ever, or will ever, exist was created at the first moment of the Big Bang. And, since that time, all this energy has been slowly evaporating. Now, surely you see the implications.”

  “I am afraid I don’t,” Sylvia said.

  Hector said, “the implication is; if the universe is eternally old, we should have run out of usable energy trillions of years ago.”

  “Well…”

  “And this, coupled with the fact Edwin Hubble proved that the universe is expanding, through his observations of the Doppler shift of light, makes any eternal past theory impossible to maintain,” Hector said.

  “Hubble, as in the Hubble Telescope?” Sylvia asked.

  “The very one,” Hector said. “His discovery, along with the work of Georges Lemaitre, of an expanding finite universe slammed the lid down hard on any possibility of an eternally old universe. It is just not a feasible option anymore.”

  “How so?”

  “Well…, if the universe is not only expanding, but speeding up, then the galaxies and stars we see today should have expanded far beyond our ability to observe them.”

  “I don’t understand,” Sylvia said.

  “It is hard to comprehend,” Hector said. “But, consider this — scientists tell us the universe is fourteen billion years old. They also tell us the galaxies we are able to observe are over ninety billion light-years away. Pretty crazy, eh? Space is expanding faster than the speed of light!”

  “And this means what?”

  “It means if the universe were any older than it actually is, everything would have expanded beyond our ability to observe it. We just happen to exist at the exact right place and the exact right time to be able to observe the universe we inhabit. The fact we can make any sense of the universe at all proves it was created.”

  “It is interesting,” Sylvia said. “I may concede there is a ‘force’ that created the universe; but, this is a long way from calling this force ‘God.'“ She grinned as she added, “I am relieved to hear you quoting from scientists and not just theologians, Father — much better evidence, you know.”

  “Science and religion are not in competition,” Hector said. He smiled and added, “and it is ironic you just made that statement.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yes,” Hector said. “Because you see, Georges Lemaitre was not only a world-famous scientist, and a discoverer of the Big Bang, and a good friend and colleague of Albert Einstein, but, he was also a priest. Science and religion fit quite well together.”

  “Perhaps,” Sylvia said quietly.

  “And since anything that begins to exist must have a cause, and the universe began to exist…, well….”

  Sylvia smirked and said, “Yes. I will go out on a limb and accept the beginning of the universe has a cause. I get your point. But…, I know you are going to say the cause is God, but, I reject that. It could just be a force — like gravity, or dark matter or something else. It doesn’t have to be an entity with a personality and a will. It doesn’t have to be some divine being sitting on a golden throne in the sky. That is pure conjecture.”

  “Again with the golden throne. Well, I will not comment on God’s choices in furniture,” Hector said.

  “Sorry for the golden throne jibe. It was a bit snarky, I must admit,” Sylvia said. “But I apologize only for the tone, not the sentiment.”

  “No problem,” Hector said. “But, if you imagine a force powerful enough to cause the creation of the entire universe; all matter, all energy and even time itself, it would have to be extremely powerful.”

  “Of course,” Sylvia said.

  “And if you have this incredible ‘force,' or ‘entity,' outside of time and space, and it was able to create everything from nothing, well…,” Hector said as he paused. “If that isn’t a job description for God, I don’t know what is.”

  “But you are projecting your own values on this cause,” Sylvia said. “You call it God whereas I might just refer to it as a blind force.”

  “A blind force did not create the universe,” Hector said. “A mind did. This is very clear from the evidence.”

  “Why do you say that?” Sylvia asked.

  “Do you realize just how precarious the universe is?” Hector asked. “Do you understand if just one of the couple of dozen variables governing the laws of nature were altered in just the slightest, infinitesimally tiny way, life would be impossible?”

  “I will admit,” Sylvia said. “I am not up on astrophysics, so I am no expert.”

  “Well, I am no expert either, but, here is what I do know. Take the force of gravity, for instance. The value of the force of gravity could have been anything. There is nothing about it that requires it to have the strength, or weakness, it does. But…, if it were altered by just one trillionth of a degree stronger, the universe would have collapsed on itself. And if it were adjusted just one trillionth degree weaker, the universe would have flown apart into smithereens at its birth. Galaxies, suns, and planets would never have been able to form. The fact it is set as precisely as it is proves it must have been designed that way. And…, where there is design…, there must be a designer, right? A designer is not a brute force.”

  “Now hold on a minute, Hector,” Sylvia said. “You can’t make a statement like that.”

  “Oh, why not?”

  “It could have just been an accident,” Sylvia said.

  “Quite a lucky accident, I would think,” Hector said.

  “Stranger things have happened.”

  “Really?” Hector asked as he cocked his head to the left. “So…, if you are walking in the woods, and you just happen upon the space shuttle sitting out in a clearing — the most complicated machine ever constructed, by the way. Infinitely simpler than the entire known universe. And if you saw this, your reaction would be to just shrug your shoulders and say, ‘oh well, I guess a tornado must have blown all this metal together in just the right way. Stranger things have happened’.”

  “This is kind of an extreme example,” Sylvia said. “I think you are exaggerating.”

  “If anything, my example is not extreme enough.” Hector said. “Consider this also, I only talked about gravity having to be finely tuned for a life-permitting universe to exist. The reality is there are dozens of other factors, each just as delicately balanced on a knife’s edge that are required for existence. They all have to exist in order for the universe to be conducive to life — everything from the weak and strong nuclear force, the expansion rate, as well as the distribution of energy and matter throughout the universe. Each of these constants are staggeringly unlikely to exist at the values they do, and yet, each are crucial for the universe to exist in the form it does. The likelihood of all these things coming together simultaneously, inside a grand, amazing accident, is beyond the realm of rational probabilities.” He paused and added, “as Einstein himself said, ‘God does not play dice with the universe.’”

  “I don’t know, Hector,” Sylvia said. “I admit, the probabilities are small, but…, it still could have just been an accident. Anyway, isn’t this the theory behind the Multiverse? Given enough alternative universes, eventually there will be one that emerges as perfectly balanced. We just happen to live in that universe. After all, we couldn’t live in any other one, could we?”

  “Ah, yes,” Hector said, “the old reliable Multiverse.” He laughed as he added, “it never ceases to amuse me how the Multiverse, which itself would have to be finely tuned in order to exist, is more palatable than believing in the most likely scenario — God.”

  “But…, it is a valid explanation, right?”

  “Only if one doesn’t understand arithmetic,” Hector said. “I am sure the Multiverse would have been v
ery popular back in my old Parish.”

  “Where was that?” Sylvia asked.

  “I was the rector of St. Joan of Arc church in Las Vegas years ago.”

  “Ah!” Sylvia said. She laughed and added, “I bet you heard some interesting confessions there.”

  Hector nodded and said, “I certainly did. As you might guess, Las Vegas is the capital city for people who do not understand how arithmetic works. The whole city was founded on the concept of mathematical ignorance.”

  “So true,” Sylvia said. “After all, they don’t build billion-dollar casinos paying out, do they?”

  “No, they do not. The house always wins,” Hector said. “But look…, there are only three distinct possibilities for the universe being like it is: chance, necessity, or design. Science has consistently shown the universe is not the way it is out of necessity, so, it is fine-tuned either by chance or design.”

  “OK, so?”

  “The Multiverse hinges on reality being as it is by sheer chance. This is a major problem. To think the universe is so perfectly aligned, simply as the result of an amazing accident is just too mind-blowingly unrealistic to take seriously as an option. Design is the only feasible option.”

  “I don’t know, Hector,” Sylvia said. “I know many scientists believe the multiverse is the explanation to this problem.”

  “Sadly, they do,” Hector said. “But they hold this belief, not because of reason. There is no more proof of the Multiverse than there is of God. In fact, there is considerably less evidence supporting it. And if the Multiverse actually did exist, it too would have to be explained, as it would require an even more fantastical level of fine-tuning than the universe itself. No, this belief in the Multiverse theory to explain away the fine-tuning problem was born out of…, dare I say it…, faith.”

  “Faith?” Sylvia asked.

  “Yes,” Hector said. “Faith in wanting to maintain a belief in a reality without God. As I said before, I don’t have that strong of faith. I need to have statistics and arithmetic on my side.”