A day with Manual

Shall I ask you a doubt?”  Litha tried to draw Manual’s attention reluctantly in between the journey. “You said something about that couldn’t be fulfilled in Adam, what’s that?”

“Adam couldn’t be given everlasting life, That’s that.” Manual replied.

“Why was Adam denied everlasting life?”

“Because he ate the forbidden fruit. Jehovah had instructed him not to eat from the tree of good and evil.”

“He was told that he would die if he ate it.” She was not ready to leave it midway. “But he didn’t die. Instead he was cursed and expelled. Why was it so?”

Manual slowed down when he heard her query. He thought for a moment and turned to her and asked, “ Do you want to know more about it?  Do you want to know what had happened in the Eden Garden?”  She answered, Yes, and he found her a place to rest and started revealing the secrets.

“Those were the days of Creation. Let’s again call that period days as we had done earlier.  The period to separate light and darkness was day one. The period during which the firmament of heaven was separated from water was day two and likewise.

On the first day itself Jehovah had created us. On the third day he separated the seas and the land and gave us the duty to bring forth new items from the earth. When the word came out from him, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit, after his kind whose seed is in itself upon the earth, we worked in groups and some alone to produce the grass and herbs and trees as per our imagination. All were different from  each other. Jehovah examined it and saw that it was good and he appreciated it and gave them life. His spirit was the basis of their life till sunlight appeared.

On the fourth day the sun, moon, stars and other celestial objects came into being in the firmament of the heaven. Everything came into being because of him. Nothing was created without him. Everything got life because of him, so has been written. Those plants and trees created because of his word got the energy of life from the sun that was his creation. They started multiplying in number because they had fruits and seeds.

 Jehovah, who was happy with us called us to assemble. He wanted to separate the firmament of heaven from the rest.

‘What color shall the sky be seen,’ he asked us.

Some of us doubted whether the sky needed any color at all.  Then he said. the color of the sky and the plants should stir in us the memories of these days.

‘Green,’ Senoy, an angel, shouted the color of his taste.

‘Green, that good color, pacifies the mind. Suggest a color as good as green.’ His eyes were caught on Senoy. It was as if the Lord expected an answer from him.

‘I like any color that you choose.’  Senoy said in a low voice.  ‘

‘Let’s see how blue is. Can there be a better color?’  Jehovah’s eyes fell on each of us.

‘Red,’ we heard the voice of Sansenoy.

‘Good. Let it be so,’ Jehovah commanded.

The sky was red, but it made us feel uneasy after a while. Yellow and some other colors were also discarded likewise.

‘We tried your suggestions, and found blue to be the most fitting color. The sky will be blue.  But it will have all the colors you had suggested for a while  daily.’ He gave his decision.

The sky became blue and it created a kaleidoscope of colors at sunset.  Even today the sky, the handiwork of God, creates a master blend of colors in front of those who have eyes to see. But what made us more happy was that Jehovah had considered our suggestions also.”

“Can I interrupt you?”  asked Litha.  “I was taught that the sky is blue because all the colors except blue are absorbed in the atmosphere. Then how can you say that it was Jehovah who gave the sky blue color?”

Manual stared at her for a while and asked, “Water, by its structure should start solidifying from the bottom. But the ice is formed on the surface first, why?”

“So that the extreme cold doesn’t destroy the eco-system under the surface. That’s the reason why the fish and other living organisms survive in the poles and such areas of extreme cold.” She answered and looked at Manual triumphantly.

“Water, going by its structure should be a gas and not a liquid. If you ask why water behaves in an unnatural way and why the sky is blue, you have only one answer – that it was the wish of Jehovah.  Are you interested in listening to the rest?  or shall we restart our mission?”  He asked in an unpleasant voice.

She realized that he didn’t like being interrupted in between.  She decided not to repeat it again and entreated him to continue.

“By the fourth day, the time, sky, earth, the plants on it, all these were created.  Seasons, days, years, the sun and moon and stars were there. And the Kingdom of Heaven was similar to the growth of a mustard seed that a man had sown on the field and like the leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of meal. From the smallest it started growing and expanding in every direction and it is so even today.

On the fifth day God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that have life and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And great whales and every living creature that moved in water and fowl that flew in air were created.  Jehovah saw it was good and blessed them saying, be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas and let fowl multiply in the earth.

On the sixth day the God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth after his kind and it was so. The lion with mane, the elephant with trunk, the giraffe with its long neck, the camel with a paunch on its back, the cow yielding milk, the dog that can be tamed, the imitating ape etc.,- the creatures, some extinct and others still surviving were created.  The God saw that it was good and appreciated us.

Jehovah gave life to all that was created and said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle and over all earth, and over every creeping thing that creep upon the earth.  But the angels, tired after creating the various creatures wished to take rest. This was going to be a big job as Jehovah had hinted that he wanted to create more than one man. They rested for some time and when they were ready to take up the new duty, they found the Lord God trying to form man of the dust of the ground. They came running towards him who was busy working on the dust to give it the shape of man.

‘Everything from the dust of the ground and everything back to it.’ said Jehovah and continued with his work. He asked the angels gathered around to go and take more rest.

The angels realized that the Lord didn’t desire their presence there and retreated. None wished to disturb Jehovah who was totally involved in his job. But Senoy, the angel dear to the Lord, didn’t leave him. He preferred staying with the Master to be with the others. Senoy loitered around hoping to be called for assistance.

‘May I help you?’  He dared to ask the Lord after some time, but was given reply in a single word ‘No.’

‘Not because he didn’t want me. But because he want man to be perfect,’ Senoy thus told others about this incident later. ‘Whatever it be he will show me the man before anyone else.’

He tried to console himself though he himself didn’t believe what he said.

After a while he approached the Lord again. It occurred to him that the Lord was taking too much time because he was trying to make man in his own likeness, in his own image. A better idea popped up in his mind. He asked the Lord to model the man after him.

Jehovah was curt in his reply, ‘when I created you who was the model?’ He asked,‘ Yet do you lack in anything? This creation of mine has to be better than everything else. So I don’t need your help now.’

Senoy was dejected by this reply. Jehovah noticed his disappointment and said, ‘Senoy, your face reflects your mind’s feelings. That’s good. Let man shall also be like that. His face shall be the mirror of his mind.’

‘Will man be better than everything else?’ It was difficult for Senoy to keep his mouth shut when he was with the master.  He had hoped secretly that man would be created for their entertainment.

‘In comparison to man you will be fit to be his guardian angel. Didn’t I say, that man will be created in my image and likeness. He will be more perfect than everything else.’

For the first time Senoy felt that he was an incomplete creation, He left and tried to forget it by pointing out the defects and short fallings he saw in man.

The angels came near the Lord when he was about to finish the formation of man. He saw them and said, ‘My dear, you can help me now. Where do you think the organ for hearing shall be on man? He has to hear all the noises made in this world – the whisper of the winds, the hustling of the leaves, the chirpings of the birds, the roaring of the lion, the music of the brook, the rolling of thunder, the dancing of raindrops on water, the hissing of a snake, he shall hear everything.’

‘Should be hear everything?  Won’t it be better if he heard the voice of your instructions only?’ It was Semanjelof who asked this.

‘I am not creating man as something to live as per my instructions alone.  He will possess the ability to think freely. He should be able to distinguish for himself what is good and what is evil. For he is to have dominion over everything that we have created until now. For that he should have temperance, humbleness, knowledge and prudence.’ Jehovah described his plans for man.

‘Will he have dominion over us also?’  Beelse-boob asked. Jehovah, busy on fixing the organ for hearing on man, didn’t answer him.

‘If he is allowed to think freely, he will do only evil. He will compete with us and rule over us.’ It was Satan who said this. Jehovah raised his head and stared at him. Satan felt the intensity of that gaze.

‘Satan, do you know what you are talking?’ asked Jehovah. It sounded like the rolling of thunder and all of us were scared.

‘I do. If man is given the ability to think freely he will be proud and arrogant. He will do all sorts of evil, will disobey even you.’

Satan’s reply put everyone in a tight situation. Was he going to give Jehovah an idea on the limitations of his creation?  If that was his intention then their existence would also be in danger for the fury of God was uncomprehendable. ‘Does anyone agree with Satan?’ asked Jehovah. None dared to answer, except Beel-se-boob. He agreed that there was a possibility of Satan’s words becoming true.

‘Beware, for your words that you speak now are enough to cast you in the everlasting fire of hell. I am creating man as one to do only good deeds. How will he then commit evil?’

Jehovah made them all vacate that place.

‘Man’s face is not sheen.’ An angel observed to his friend. ‘Yea, he has no wings.’ Another angel added.

‘Man who is formed from the dust of the ground will dissolve if he falls in water.’ This comment aroused a big laughter.

‘Look at the lillies of the field. Can that heap of mud be arrayed like that?’

  Many such defects and short comings were pointed out. Jehovah was not unaware of all this. Gabriel and Michael approached him and said that man was the noblest creation of all.

‘I heard someone saying that man’s face is not shining and he is not given wings,’  said Jehovah, but they preferred to remain silent.

‘Aren’t you seeing these defects in me when I’m making man in my own image and likeness?’ He asked. What can they answer to this question!

‘Let man come to life. Then you can see his face brightening with the goodness of his mind. Coming to wings, yes, I don’t intend to give him wings like the birds, yet with his intelligence and ability he will fly over the clouds of the sky. He won’t have fins like fish, yet he will reach the depths of the sea. He won’t be given teeth and claws like the wild beasts, yet he will hunt for his food. He will be able to climb trees and dig earth. Everything will be possible for man as he will be given dominion over everything.’ Jehovah was briefing them the blessings he planned to bestow upon man.

Gabriel’s and Michael’s faces fell when they heard this. If man was created as powerful as Jehovah, what couldn’t he do! Now they were also worried.

Jehovah noted their worry. He said to console them, ‘Though man shall be given all the abilities, he has to toil hard to be aware of it. His abilities will remain hidden as long as he remains lazy.’

They found a little comfort in his words. Raphel who had just reached there asked whether man would dissolve in water.

‘When I breath life on his face, the dust will become flesh. Then he need not be scared of water dissolving him. His skin will protect him. It shall protect him from rain and shine.“

Jehovah paused and then continued. ”I will bring him minor diseases so that he doesn’t expose his body much to rain and shine. It will remind him to care more about his body.’

‘He is naked,’ observed an angel who reached there just then. ‘It’s true,’ observed the other angels. The animals had fur and the birds plumage, and man seemed to be naked in comparison.

‘Let the man created from the dust, live in constant touch with the dust of the ground.  He shall benefit from it.  Moreover he shall be naked only when he is aware of his nakedness.’  Then Jehovah’s eyes fell on Senoy and he said. ’Senoy, I want to hear a good word about man. Let it be from you.’

‘The one created to have dominion over everything will have dominion over everything,’ said Senoy in a serious tone.

‘Is this the good word that I longed to hear or is this a warning?’ Jehovah gazed at him but he didn’t reply. Jehovah looked at each of us and continued, ‘I can’t see any happy faces here. What is worrying you? That, I will forget you. Will I forget my first borns for the sake of man?

Never. Then what is your worry?  That I will give man authority over you also? Man will have authority over none of you. His ability to create new things will be limited. He can’t invent or create anything new unless I permit him. Now where is the need to worry?’ He continued after a while. ‘No, he is not going to dwell with us. I will plant a garden eastward in Eden for the man, he will live there.’

‘Will he be able to think on his own?’ Beel-se-boob asked. ‘Will it so happen that the man, whom you create, boast that he is bigger than you, his creator?’

This worry infuriated Jehovah. ‘What’s for you if he thinks independently as long as you are safe?’ He said angrily. ‘Still to eliminate your fears I am going to separate the ability to distinguish between good and evil from him. He won’t do you any harm as long as he doesn’t know about evil?’

‘For how long is man created? ‘ A quivering voice was heard.

‘Earlier I’d decided to give him everlasting life.  But now I can’t ignore your warning that he might carry a speck of evil if he is given the power to think independently. I will give him life for one thousand years instead of everlasting life initially.’

Man, whom Jehovah had planned to create perfect and complete was going to be created incomplete and prone to death. Could Jehavah, the perfect, love the incomplete man?  The angels believed that he couldn’t. They listened when they saw Jehovah getting ready to speak. ‘The knowledge of good and evil and everlasting life will be unattainable for the man as long as he eat the fruits of the trees that I plant in the midst of the garden. I will instruct him not to eat of it, for in the day he eat it he shall surely die. Those fruits will be forbidden for him.’

The trees bearing fruits of the knowledge of good and evil and everlasting life would be in the midst of the garden! What did it mean? That it would be there in front of man’s eyes always. If man could attain knowledge of good and evil and everlasting life by eating its fruits what was going to stop him from approaching it?  As long as he possessed the ability to think he would surely grab that fruits. He wouldn’t be scared by the threat of death as he didn’t know what death was. To be brief the angels understood that man was not denied anything. Further, one thousand years was a very long span of life. On completion he would be given an extension. Perhaps the worry of angels on man might have vanished by that time.  Then there wouldn’t be any resistance in giving man everlasting life. Satan, too prudent, realized that Jehovah was scheming to create man complete. ‘Man will eat the forbidden fruits, one day. He muttered in a low voice. Though those around him didn’t hear it Jehovah heard it.

‘No, Satan, never.  He won’t eat the forbidden fruits.  He will be able to exercise self control. He will be able to resist the temptation to eat those fruits. He will obey my words. The man whom I create will never disobey me.’ The smile on Jehovah’s face disappeared. We had never seen him so serious before. He had already taught Satan a lesson by denying man the knowledge of good and evil. How could man commit evil if he didn’t know what evil was?  Then Satan’s words that man would commit evil would be proven wrong? Wouldn’t he be then liable to be punished in hell?

Jehovah’s face became more serious, ‘None of you shall appear before man ever’ said Jehovah. ‘I will give him company in the Garden of Eden. He will eat, drink, look. see and enjoy whatever we created and live there peacefully.’

‘When you are with man, if someone wants to see you?’ Senoy, who found his voice after a long time was not allowed to complete. ‘What I said is what I said,’ said Jehovah. ‘None of you are to appear before man accidently or intentionally.’ He took a bit of dust in his hand and said, ’I am going to set a mark on man for you to remember this.’ He fixed that mark on man’s neck. Instead of spoiling the beauty that protrusion made man more beautiful.

‘We won’t even know if man eats those fruits secretly.’ murmured Beeb-se-boob.

‘Man will become aware of his nakedness the moment he disobeys me. Guilty consciousness will compel him to hide away from me. If he hesitates to appear before me I will understand that he has sinned. He will then deserve punishment.’

Everyone left that place. Jehovah planted the Garden in Eden and breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of man.

Man became a living soul, ignorant about the differences he had created among us. Jehovah put the man in the garden. The rest were denied permission to enter into it.