Transition State
The man in the golden skullcap walked to the front of the sanctuary and faced the crowd. Every seat was filled. Cameras were focused on him, prepared to transmit his remarks to hundreds of other sanctuaries, located in all 51 states and in more than 35 countries – and to record them for posterity.
"Hello," he began. "My name is Bill Ledbetter and what I'm sharing tonight is the story of how I became your spiritual leader – leader of the Church of the Golden Rule."
The crowd sighed as one. Groans could be heard, as could the sound of sobbing. Everybody had known that Kara Cummings had been dreadfully ill, but they had hoped that prayers (and the best doctors the Church could find) might heal her. They had been wrong.
"Yes. I'm sorry to report that Kara Cummings has passed. She's made a transition to a different way of being. She's gone now and we will miss her terribly."
He paused because the sound of sobbing had grown louder. He let the sound grow and he waited until it subsided. Then he continued.
"Her husband and children are well. Naturally, they have requested privacy at this time in their lives, privacy that I hope everybody – including the media – will respect. I want to make it clear to you all that the Church will provide for them. Whatever they need will be provided, be it food or shelter or clothing, or money. Kara's family will lack for nothing. It's the least we can do for them."
The audience liked that. Bill noted vigorous nods and some "amens" from around the crowd.
"Now it is time to move forward. At first, like many others, I despaired of a future without Kara, a future devoid of her leadership and her vision and – most of all – her communication with God. I thought our Church might falter, might lose its way, without her.
"But I shouldn't have worried. Kara always said God would provide, if only we followed Her will. The trick was to listen to God and then do what She said, no questions asked. Kara always did that and look where we are now, thanks to her unquestioning devotion!
"You probably don't know me. I've played a small role in Church leadership over the years since I made my Commitment to the Golden Rule. Before my Commitment Ceremony I wasn't a great example of humanity. I was a member of a biker gang and I did some things I'm not proud of. I've been arrested. I served time in prison. But that all changed with a motorcycle accident.
"Like Kara, I had severe injuries, life-threatening injuries. But thanks to her I was able to receive the same neural lace she had, and it saved me – just like it saved her. I say 'thanks to her' because not only did she blaze the trail for such surgery, surgery that saved many people, but this Church also paid for my surgery.
"Where did the money come from? Why did our Church … well, it wasn't my Church then … why did this Church decide to sponsor such expensive surgery for a convicted felon, a miserable excuse for a human who didn't think of anything other than his own immediate gratification? I didn't know then and I still don't know today. Whenever anybody ever asked Kara where the money came from, she would always smile and shrug, and answer with a simple, 'God provides.' She didn't know and I don't know and, quite honestly, nobody knows. The money is there for our needs and we trust that God will continue to provide it.
"But back to my story. Like Kara, I received a neural lace and learned to walk again. But unlike Kara, I never heard God speaking to me. I learned to walk and I got on my bike and rode away from that hospital. But I never forgot that some church I'd never heard of had donated the money for my surgery. A bunch of strangers had saved my life and they'd never asked for anything in return. After a month or two I got curious about that crazy church and I started to research it. Then I attended a meeting, just as a pre-Questioner … just to see what was up with these people. Were they a cult or what?
"And like so many of you I was called to the Question and then the next question and the question after that. And pretty soon I realized that I was going to spend the rest of my life spreading the Question so that everybody who wanted to was going to have a chance to ask it and answer it to their own satisfaction.
"And that's when God started to speak to me."
The audience was in his hands now.
"God didn't speak to me the way She spoke to Kara. It wasn't an everyday thing for me. It was just a sometimes thing. Once in a while I would get prompting, maybe I had a decision to make, and then God's voice would speak to me and tell me which way to go.
"I know now She was preparing me for this role. And I want to make it clear to you all that I'm not the only one. There are others who sometimes hear the voice of God. We don't talk about it much, but it's happening.
"So when Kara moved on, God spoke to many of us and told us all that I was going to be the new leader of our Church. You need to understand that there was no argument, no discussion. There was no vote taken. Many of us heard God's voice and we all heard the same thing. God spoke and made me your spiritual leader.
"I don't know why God chose me. I don't know the answers to a great many questions about God and our life on this planet. But I do know that Kara always had a simple answer to complex questions, to doubts, to skeptics. She always said that if we listened to God and did what She said, then we would be fine.
"In that vein we have listened to God – I have listened to God – and we will follow Her direction."
The audience cheered; those that weren't crying.