All Living : A Seedvision Saga (9781621473923) (27 page)

“Oh, Irad. Yes, that was Cain’s grandson, and he was always a bit, hmm, high-strung.”

“You don’t have to be a diplomat on my account, Al. He seemed like a first-class jackass.”

“Well, maybe so,” agreed Al reluctantly, “but I always try to picture a person as God would. We’re all His children, you know, so I’m sure Irad will one day be given his chance to repent of his mistakes, just like the rest of us.”

“Mmm, I guess.”

“I had a number of run-ins with Irad over the years, none of them pretty. But I suppose Irad wasn’t the only one to blame. As pop psychologists today would say, he was a product of his environment. It’s surprising he wasn’t worse, considering he grew up in Enoch, under the thumb of Cain.”

“Is that where the ‘rule of thumb’ expression came from?” asked Lester.

“Uh, I don’t think so. Why?”

“Oh, well, it’s just when I read your bio you seem to have been involved in coining a lot of phrases,” Lester smiled sheepishly, knowing he’d just used another cliché, “like staying ahead of the game and a ‘pride’ of lions.”

“Well, everything had to start somewhere,” Al replied modestly.

“Speaking of which,” said Lester, changing the subject, “you mentioned earlier that these Lightmen, as you call them, have always wanted to gain knowledge that they didn’t have.”

“True.”

“You implied that they have been around since before the great flood. Was that a mistake? I thought that everyone except Noah and his family died during the flood.”

Al paused before speaking. “That’s what I like about you Lester. You don’t miss a beat. No, saying that these types of men have been around since before the flood was not a mistake. The men who championed these ideas before the flood did perish, but their ideas survived. The wives of Noah’s sons carried with them many thoughts and beliefs from the antediluvian world. Even Noah’s wife and sons themselves had philosophies that were ingrained in them from the pre-flood landscape.

“It’s the same way that young children can grow up in a household, taught solely by their own parents, to believe what the family holds to be sacred and true. But when they go off to school for the first time, they come home with many new ideas from teachers and peers. Some they may eventually discard, but others they will absorb into their own ideologies. Years later, those ideas that were nothing more than someone else’s random piece of fluff have become quotable pieces of truth that they willingly fight to defend without even remembering where it was they first heard it or that while they were learning and growing they were also diluting their core beliefs with tainted wisdoms.”

“And it’s these ideas that are influencing the people who are looking for you; these perverts who are creeping around my house and looking in my windows?”

“Well, without putting too fine a point on it, yes,” said Al

“So, tell me how these Lightmen got started, Al. Who are they, and where’d they come from.”

“Do you know the rest of the story of Cain, Lester?”

“More than likely not.”

Al pulled a laptop out of his satchel.

“Whoa, did you stumble into the twenty-first century since I saw you last night?” mocked Lester.

Al grinned. “I’m not always in the mood for sandals and scrolls, you know. There are a lot of useful resources online. I can pull up various versions of the Bible to compare translations and maybe give you a clearer picture. Then when you read about my first encounter with Cain, you will have a greater depth of insight.”

“Finally, I thought I’d never get to read about that. I mean the hunt story was incredible and all, but I can’t wait to see how this all turns out with you and your brother. And Kesitah.”

“Well, first things first,” said Al, sliding the computer over so he and Lester could both see the screen.

“You sure seem to be adept at keeping me in suspense.”

“Sorry, I just thought that maybe you’d like to read all the journals in chronological order. If you want to skip ahead, that’s fine with me. I’m sure I have…” Al was reaching for his satchel again when Lester interrupted him.

“No, no. That’s not what I meant.” Lester felt bad. He knew what Al wanted to show him was important and more than likely mind-blowing. Everything else he had said in the last twenty-four hours had been.

“No harm done. Check this out.” Lester looked at Al for a second, thinking how great it was to have a friendship with someone like him. Even if he was just a normal everyday guy, he’d be a great friend. Never held a grudge; always willing to just move on. The fact that he was the oldest human being that ever lived and could still play racquetball after work was just cool icing on the cake. Lester leaned over to read the screen.

Al had a version of the Bible pulled up; The Contemporary English Version. Al began to read from it in Genesis chapter four and verse eleven.

And so, I’ll put you under a curse. Because you killed Abel and made his blood run out on the ground, you will never be able to farm the land again. If you try to farm the land, it won’t produce anything for you. From now on, you’ll be without a home, and you’ll spend the rest of your life wandering from place to place. ‘This punishment is too hard,’ Cain said. ‘You’re making me leave my home and live far from you. I will have to wander about without a home, and just anyone could kill me.’ “No!’ the
Lord
answered. ‘Anyone who kills you will be punished seven times worse than I am punishing you.’ Then the
Lord
put a mark on Cain to warn everyone not to kill him. But Cain had to go far from the
Lord
and live in the Land of Wandering, which is east of Eden.

“The Land of Wandering?” interrupted Lester.

“That would be the land of Nod. Nod means wandering.”

“Abel’s lamb?”

“Yes. This was the land that Abel’s lamb wandered to; an area east of my parent’s home. At that time it was believed that the Lord was with his people only in their own land. And perhaps at that time, it was true. For it was certainly difficult to find any sign of the Lord in the city of Enoch.”

“Okay, but if Cain was told he would have to wander, how was he able to build and live in a city?” debated Lester.

“Good point, Les. That was just another way that Cain bent himself to defy God. It was rumored that when Cain left he did wander for a time, living on the flesh of animals and whatever he could find growing wild. He could no longer coax produce from the ground; where once it had always been hard work to grow a crop, now for Cain it became impossible.

Before the first sin, the earth was created to offer itself up to man, its fruit growing naturally and in abundance. After the exile from Eden, the earth was uncooperative but could be tamed to reluctantly give of itself. For Cain, the earth rebelled against him, struggled to thwart his every effort.

It was during his wanderings, after he had been gone just over a year, that he discovered Nod, grazing in a strangely beautiful meadow. There was no sign of other animals in the area, and the story goes that Cain approached Nod. The little animal was not timid but came to him. Cain reached out to stroke his head, but when he did, a strange anger came upon him, and he killed the animal.

He built a new altar there and sacrificed the lamb upon it. When no fire came from heaven, Cain lit the offering himself and watched as the smoke of the burnt offering rose into the air. Cain then declared, and indeed taught all his sons, that from that time on, he would not ever again
require
the Lord to come down from his place in heaven and light the offerings. He decreed that man should light the offerings for God and send the sweet savor up to him; that this was a more righteous way. It was upon that spot that Cain built a habitation and attempted to establish for himself a permanent place to reside.”

“This is all very interesting Al,” said Lester, “and I don’t mean to sound rude, but what does all this have to do with the Lightmen?”

“I’m just coming to that, Lester. You see, Cain’s folly had to do with his arrogance, or perhaps better said, his lack of humility. And it came to fruition on the day that he killed Abel, on the day that he first thought to offer his own offering to God. Even after having a mark placed upon him, something that he would see every time he saw his own reflection, something that everyone would see when they looked at him, Cain still did not bow himself down and ask to be forgiven. He did not change his self-centered ways. Instead he looked for ways to change the world around him to his own liking; he look for ways to defeat his punishment, to make his wrongs into rights.

“The Lord put a mark upon Cain’s face, not only to warn those who would think to dole out justice to him, namely my father and me at the time, but so that Cain would look at and examine himself and see his faults more clearly. But instead of finding in the mark a key to unlocking his lost humility and humanity, Cain convinced himself that it was a mark of honor; that the Lord was protecting him for something special; that the Lord was testing him because he had proven himself strong enough to be tested.

“And Cain graded his own paper, so to speak. He came to believe that he was good. That God had given him superior intellect to overcome all adversity, even death. His philosophy, ‘Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,’ usurped God’s philosophy of ‘Whatever doesn’t kill you helps you become more humble.’”

“Wait, I’ve heard of that phrase, ‘whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ Cain made that up?” Lester blurted out with round, questioning eyes.

“Aye, he did, and you’re right. The phrase survives to this day. You hear it all the time. Quoted in books, movies, television shows, interviews with famous people. Friedrich Nietzsche is credited with the quote, but that philosophy has been around a lot longer than the nineteenth century.”

“Wow,” said Lester. “I guess if a person learns something new every day, I’ve learned about a year’s worth in just the last twenty-four hours.”

Al smiled slightly but went on, “According to Cain, Abel had been weak and had failed his test. But Cain would not. Since he could not farm the ground, he looked for other ways to live. He began a search for eternal life at that point, and the search continues to this day.”

“Maybe this is getting off track, Al, but I’m curious. What exactly was this mark that God put on him?”

“Actually, Les, I’m surprised you haven’t guessed.”

Lester shrugged.

“God put the mark of His altar upon His face to remind him of how sin can start. To remind him that sin can creep in even when we think we are doing something right and with good intentions. If we do not do it as the Lord has commanded, then it is wrong.”

“The mark of his altar? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Cain built an altar to offer his sacrifice on, on the day that he killed our brother Abel. His lack of remorse at that cold-blooded action is overshadowed only by his pride in what he built with his own hands. After his exile, Cain thought more about the loss of his beautiful altar than about the loss of our brother. So God placed a dark mark on his cheek, just under his right eye, in the exact shape of the flat-topped altar that he had built, to remind Cain that He had been watching him while he built it, and that He saw more than Cain intended Him to see. He saw what was in Cain’s heart and found it wanting.”

“And Cain misread the message completely, huh?”

“Completely? Oh, yeah, you could say that. He wore the mark as a badge of honor. He flaunted it. He turned it into his token, his emblem, and had it carved on the buildings of his city. It became the symbol of everything he stood for; a new way of serving a new god, always under the watchful eye of Cain.”

“So Cain made a god of himself?” guessed Lester.

“Cain made an idol of himself. Or better put, he made an idol of self—self-love, self-interest, self-gratification. Selfishness became his virtue, and self-centeredness was his moral compass. He worshipped as he wanted and taught everyone they could to do the same. And his greatest lust, what he coveted more than anything, was to be able to live forever. So that all who came after him might sit at his feet and listen to him speak.”