Celestial music. Clear blue skies. Trees and flowing rivers heavy with fish.
A gentle breeze tickles the grass meadows where the gods are gathering. Their colorful flowing robes mimic exotic butterflies.
They’re coming from every culture in earth’s history to the Elysian Fields to attend an emergency meeting. The site had more room than the Christian God’s Heaven, Seven Heavens, Tian, and Valhalla.
The atmosphere is electric with powerful energies. A mighty horn blast suddenly gets everyone’s attention. All eyes fall on Odin as he walks into the center of the gathering. His one good eye ablaze with emotion:
“I’m sorry to say we’re all going to be forgotten by mankind soon. Every book about us will turn to dust. Every story will be forgotten. No one will ever call upon our names again in times of need.”
Zeus stood up and asked, “Who dares to threaten the gods!”
“Mankind,” Odin replied.
“How so?” Aphrodite asked.
“First off, let me say all of our fates are not the same. Allah, Jesus, the Christian God, Vishnu, Shiva, and Devi still have many believers who worship them. The dwindling pagan population in the 21st century however, is barely enough to preserve the rest of us.”
“What about scholars? They read about us. They know of our numerous followers,” Chalchiuhtlicue asked.
“The scholars get fewer by the day,” Odin explained. “Our real problem is that mankind is turning away from all religions. The ones that still exist are fighting a daily battle that is going badly for them.”
“How can this be?” Horus asked. “Mankind has always needed us.”
Hsi-Wang-Mu rose from his sitting position and stretched. “Has this not always been a concern?” he calmly asked.
“You speak the truth,” Poseidon agreed. “Why should we worry now?”
Odin looked at his fellow gods and a trace of sadness momentarily crossed his face.
“I didn’t arrive at this observation alone. For years Apollo, Mercury, Frigg, Isis, Thor, Venus, and I, have been studying these modern humans. They are rejecting the idea of a higher power.”
“But like you said Odin, they still believe in some gods, and we are still living in libraries worldwide,” Athena pointed out.
“The gods that are still openly worshipped have been losing followers at a rate never seen before in history. As for libraries, they too are becoming a thing of the past,” Odin said.
“Then this is our last meeting,” Dionysus said, after sipping his wine.
“It appears that way,” Fortuna agreed. “Our luck has run out.”
As It Stands, where do you turn when in crisis or seeking solace?
The Creative Chronicles of Dave Stancliff 