Come Again?

A short play written for Easter 2009

 

The camera focuses on the host of the talk show. He smiles broadly; his polished, capped teeth gleaming below his forcibly upturned lips as he speaks to the audience and viewers.
‘...and finally tonight I’d like to introduce you to a very special guest. It’s been a while since his last visit; so please give a big hand for the people’s poet... Jay C!’
The audience erupts in applause as ‘Jay C’ appears at the top of the illuminated stairwell dressed in white robes that flow below his long hair and beard. He inhales deeply from what appears to be a cannabis cigarette and waves to the cheering crowd.
The host stands and joins the applause as the guest purposefully descends the illuminated staircase and approaches the host’s chair. The host gestures for Jay C to take his place on the ‘guest sofa’ between two previously interviewed celebrities.
The audience’s applause gradually dies down as Jay C takes his seat and shakes the hands of the host and the other guests.
Host: ‘Welcome, welcome! (takes his seat and looks to the smiling Jay C), it’s really good to have you here- how long has it been?’
Jay C answers as he takes his seat between the other guests:
‘A little over two thousand years I believe’
Host: ‘Wow- two thousand years is a long time! What have you been up to in all that time?’
Jay C: ‘Well- up until recently (gestures at his physical form- audience giggles) I’ve been kicking back and chilling with the angel’s dude! I needed a long holiday after the last time I was here, I can tell ya!’
Audience laughs
Host: ‘How have things changed in two millennia?’
Jay C frowns and takes a deep drag of his joint, before regarding the host with a look of concern: ‘So-so’ he says with a see-saw twisting motion of one flattened hand, ‘you’re really coming on in some ways, but you’re still really underdeveloped in others’
The host smiles mischievously and leans toward Jay C: ‘Any hints on the judgement?’
Jay C looks at the host with a wry smile: ‘Oh no! I won’t be giving that away, but I must say that I’m less than impressed at the moment!’
Audience breathes in collectively as the host glances nervously toward the camera
Host (stammering): ‘W...why- I mean; what’s the greatest problem you’ve come across- I...I think I speak for everyone. Where are we going wrong?’
Jay C gestures from the stage to the audience as he inhales yet another large drag and splutters in answer: ‘I think a more pertinent question would be; ‘what are you doing right’- don’t you think?’
Host blushing: ‘Of course- what are we doing right?’
Host again glances nervously to the camera as Jay C reclines onto the sofa and puts a hand behind his head. He takes in yet more cannabis as he says;
‘I see a lot of love man’ he exhales plumes of smoke and sighs dreamily, ‘a lot of love’
Host: ‘Love? Of course- we all know love in some way’
Jay C sits up- suddenly very alert and asks the host in all sincerity: ‘Do you know it? Do you truly know love when you see it?’
The host smiles and shrugs at the camera: ‘Well- I sure know when I feel it!’
The audience laughs in affirmation- grateful of the broken tension, but Jay C remains calmly unfazed by the surrounding din and waits for it to subside before answering. ‘Feeling something is not necessarily the same as recognising something for what it is...tell me, do you see love around the studio here?’
Host looks around the space, perplexed, he is beginning to panic. Jay C leans toward him and urges: ‘No, no, no; you’re looking at the fear brother man. You’re all afraid of the judgement, but life isn’t like reality TV dude.’
Host (defensively): ‘We’re all afraid of God’s judgement- your judgement. We know that you’re going to punish us for our sins’
The host lowers his head and turns from the camera to weep quietly. Jay C puts a hand on his shoulder and speaks reassuringly, not once taking his gaze from the host
Jay C: ‘What do you know about God?’
Host looks up to Jay C, tears running down his cheeks- the audience is in complete and utter silence. They are all afraid.
Host replies uncertainly: ‘God...He created us- he is our f...father and h...he loves us?’
Jay C shakes his head and holds up a hand for the host to stop speaking:
‘God is all things; he is me, he is you, he is the earth and everything upon it. You and I and ‘they’- we are all a little piece of God. Did you not see that written upon the pages? Words scribed by your own hands, forged from your own knowledge?’
The host looks to Jay C, dazed as he wipes the tears away at this new hope.
Host: ‘Yes- yes, I suppose I do see that now’
Jay C looks toward the audience and then directly into the camera; one hand still comforting the host- the other periodically bringing the smouldering joint to his lips.
Jay C: ‘Look at it this way- if you held a global referendum- a democratic vote between more than 6 billion living breathing pieces of God- then what do you think the judgement would be?’
Murmurs begin to emerge from the audience around the studio and in the hearts minds and souls of the viewers. The camera zooms in on the face of Jay C.
Jay C: ‘What? Don’t tell me that you’re waiting for a number to text your vote?’
Jay C smiles humorously and points to the camera,
‘Everything that you have created is your judgement; every scientific advancement, which ended in death and destruction- each tool that you utilised to wage war- every cure that became a cancer and had you living in fear of its malignant power’.
Host interrupts: ‘But there is more to the human race than misusing our knowledge surely’ (wipes away tears as he makes to assert his point), ‘what about all the good things that people do every day?’
Jay C smiles contentedly as he slumps back onto the stage sofa.
Jay C: ‘Many people would have you believe that it is both impractical and unrealistic to have faith that co-operation and mutual care for one another is the way to attain an ethical society and a peaceful world, but consider this if you will’

Once again the camera focuses on Jay C as he licks his fingers and then uses the dampened digits to extinguish the smoking cylinder in his other hand,
Jay C: ‘Imagine that the world exists within a cycle- a self perpetuating spiral of karmic cause and effect. Every action creates an equal and similar reaction. The irritated driver in the traffic jam gives off his contempt to his fellow motorists who return the feeling to others around them. The travellers all return home and are impelled to dispel the frustrations that they feel and an argument is created in their place of sanctuary- thus infecting all others with this negativity. Their family members leave the home in a similar frame of mind and visit the feeling upon their schools and workplaces, etc- and so the cycle continues’
Host: ‘That makes perfect sense, but then isn’t the opposite also in force- isn’t the kindness- the goodness- taking a similar yet opposite course?’
Jay C: ‘And which would you say has become the most powerful force on your planet?’
Host shakes his head in sombre silence as Jay C continues optimistically,
Jay C: ‘It is not insurmountable however. Consider a ‘good deed’: Humans have always practiced such acts of altruism and sacrifice, but they have become defined by doctrine and philosophical thought and are, for the most part, regarded as a penance or a duty to some power higher than the purveyors of the good deed. It is not a matter of free will, but a command. It is the greatest deceit of the devils that have taken charge of your earth: They know that many will rebel against such demands of their time- providing there is a suitably egoistic outlet that can help direct this natural aptitude for goodwill to feelings of self-gratification. As much as poverty forces a person into a life of crime- restrictions will channel thought to forbidden fruit and all knowledge and wisdom slowly becomes a moot point to a globe full of self-assured individuals who then become isolated from their world’
Host: ‘So what can we do to change this?’
Jay C: ‘I challenge you- all of you- to play a game. It is a simple game with basic rules- and a game that you all already know. The game is called ‘Good Turns Bad Turns’’
There is a dramatic pause as Jay C pulls another joint from the folds of his robes and lights up. He gasps in satisfaction from behind plumes of blue hued smoke before continuing.
Jay C: ‘Let us cultivate a form of self-awareness that will raise our understanding of everything that exists around us. Let us purposefully be nice- nothing too complicated and acts of your own making, a smile at a stranger- a loving embrace- a kind remark- anything really- but be ‘nice’. Then let every recipient of the ‘niceness’ understand that they have a responsibility to pass this feeling- this kindness- on to another person and that any negativity should be paid back only to the perpetrator of their ills- or else be wilfully ignored. Then let each person think of the power that they have in their grasp- a power to effect change far beyond that, which is directly in front of them. And then let us each make the choice of what we prefer to be: Angel or Demon? Good or Evil? Do we prefer to rule in Heaven or be ruled in Hell?’
Jay C stands from the sofa and straightens his robes as he prepares to make his exit to the stairs at the rear of the stage.
Jay C: ‘Thought will become a pre-requisite to all action and all action will become the subject of analysis and amendment as there would be no one to blame for an act other than the architect of the ‘bad turn’. Each of you will realise your capacity to affect all that exists around you and consideration of your actions will slowly render the cycle on a good turn’
Jay C walks to the steps still speaking to the hushed audience and the viewers in their homes.
Jay C: ‘As things stands, you don’t mean much to each other and as a direct result you suffer from stress and insecurity- isolation and depression. You are as alone in life as you imagine you will be in death- all for the promise of a reward in someone’s idea of Heaven.
Your concept of self-worth; your aspirations and morals have become targets set by others for you to attain. You judge one another within the context of a false reality that is maintained by an order that has fooled you into walking down its line of acceptability. The only hope and faith left to you is to aspire to be one of the fortunate few who control the input to maintain the output demanded by a people who try to buy their way out of their discontent’.
Jay C turns to the cameras one final time and speaks through a heavy drag of cannabis; squinting through smoke and gesturing with his hands as he concludes the interview.
‘But you were all born free, and your free minds have the power to liberate all those that your thoughts touch. You have no need to walk the road of the ‘righteous’- go your own way, the path your free heart takes you. Then make choices from an unbiased mind- not through defiance, guilt, fear and anger, but with truth and with honour. I hope to see you along the way.’

 

Author's Note

Pass your judgement please!

Reviews

[Nautili]

interesting take on Jesus. He definitely was an iconoclast, much like you!
I do not agree with the supposition that if you go your own way and follow your heart, you will necessarily find truth. The human heart can deceive. It has an amazing capacity to delude even itself.
What is truth? I honestly believe truth is found in him - in his teachings and his life. jesus said,"I am the way, the truth, the life."
True righteousness, not hypocrisy, not rules and regulations, but the real thing- is beautiful beyond words.

[hvysmker]


The camera focuses on the host of the talk show. He smiles broadly; his polished, capped teeth gleaming below his forcibly upturned lips as he speaks to the audience and viewers.
*** I'd drop all the "his"s ?

'...and finally tonight I'd like to introduce you to a very special guest.
*** I assume you're British. That makes it harder to spot grammar errors. Also, take any suggestions or errors I point out with a grain of coke. I've been known to be wrong. It's easy to see errors in someone else's work, while missing the same ones in my own.

It's been a while since his last visit; so please give a big hand for the people's poet... Jay C!'
*** Not THE J.C.? The one that skipped out on his wine bills 2,000 years ago? By now, with interest, he owes the Egyptian Mafia more money than Midas did, and look what happened to Midas.

The audience erupts in applause as 'Jay C' appears at the top of the illuminated stairwell dressed in white robes that flow below his long hair and beard.
*** I'd put a comma after "stairwell," since I've never seen one with long hair.

'A little over two thousand years I believe'
*** Comma after "years"

'you're really coming on in some ways, but you're still really underdeveloped in others'
*** Two "really"s close together.

You're all afraid of the judgement, but life isn't like reality TV dude.'
*** Comma before "dude"

Jay C: 'Thought will become a pre-requisite to all action and all action will become
*** prerequisite

Jay C: 'As things stands, you don't mean much to each other and as a direct result
*** stand

You judge one another within the context of a false reality that is maintained by an order that has fooled you into walking down its line of acceptability.
*** Very good. We get our ethics from a 2,000 year old book that has been translated at least 117 times. It's interpreted by people who read it in a special way, while other groups of people read the same book in a different manner. Which one is correct, or are any of them?

One of my earliest memories is of my grandfather, a lay preacher, arguing with a real one. They were both waving Bibles around, my grandfather showing how the book condoned his drinking and womanizing. It was a strange but memorable sight for a small boy.

The only hope and faith left to you is to aspire to be one of the fortunate few who control the input to maintain the output demanded by a people who try to buy their way out of their discontent'.
*** Catholic Church, circa 1700.

'But you were all born free, and your free minds have the power to liberate all those that your thoughts touch. You have no need to walk the road of the 'righteous'- go your own way, the path your free heart takes you. Then make choices from an unbiased mind- not through defiance, guilt, fear and anger, but with truth and with honour. I hope to see you along the way.'
*** While living in Japan, I had a neighbor who insisted on dropping texts in English at my apartment. He'd been converted to Shintoism by his native wife. Akin to Buddhism, the basic premise, to me, was to live your life the best you can, trying not to harm others while doing it. In Contrast, Christianity tries for complete control, anything the least bit enjoyable, like marijuana or sex, is forbidden or severely restricted. Christianity thrives on guilt, and couldn't survive without it.

Charlie