“Philosophically Profound!”
_The Author
“Irreverent and Hilarious!”
_The Author
“Brilliant”
_The Author
“Quirky and Heart Warming”
_The Author
“A Truly Novel Novel!”
_The Author
“Timely, Timeless and Relevant!”
-The Author’s Wife
“Really Weird!”
_The Author’s Daughter
Praise for The Second Coming
“It’s about time someone wrote a story
about Jesus that’s actually believable. Believe me; I couldn’t
believe how believable it was! Unbelievable! But I don’t expect anyone
else to believe me.”
An Imaginary Admirer who wishes to remain anonymous
“The author of this book obviously knows very
little about the life and times of Jesus. He also knows very little about
the Barstow area and even less about Hispanic culture in the Barstow area.
But he does put on a very good show about being someone who ‘knows’
and he does have a beard and that helps.”
The Author
“The beauty of this story lies in the message
that the entire creation is sacred and that we, who are conscious (hopefully),
are responsible for its care. The Truth is present before us and all around
us and we do not have to make it into something else to feel special or different
or chosen. This story reminds us that we are co-creators and what we choose
to do matters, whether a ‘savior’ comes or not!”
Janet Mangiameli
Other Books by Luigi Enrico Pietra d’Oro that haven’t been published
Of Fleas and Fleadom, A Tale of Two Vermin
An epic poem about the life of Finnegan T. Flea
Revolving Door Books
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2007
Cover art copyright © 2007
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the copyright holder.
ISBN 0-9791597-0-9
Acknowledgements:
I dedicate this book to all the people on planet Earth who appreciate her incomparable beauty, power and generosity, and who act accordingly.
My deepest love and appreciation go to Leela, my partner in this dance of life, for continuously reminding me of where I am.
Invocation:
Jesus, be my muse. Channel your wisdom through me
and, together, we will begin to right what your followers have wronged for
the last 2000 years.
A letter to all people, of all religions, who believe their home is elsewhere
and are eager to exit planet earth:
Dear Brothers and Sisters who are eager for the end of days,
I write this letter at the very start of this story because once you read what’s next, you will likely not finish this book and this first request is important for you, and everyone to read; more important than this story. I have heard from you that ‘soon’ this world will end and you will be raised up in rapture into heaven, while everyone left behind will perish in the destruction. I have heard the eager anticipation in your voices, the certainty that you are among the special and the saved, and I have heard your righteous condemnation of the damned, all those who are of a different faith, who are unbelievers, of a different sexual orientation, who are at home on this planet, who do not fit your criteria, and in your eyes deserve to die, perhaps even suffer eternal damnation.
This I say to you:
“In your eagerness to reach the ‘end,’ do not advocate, hasten or contribute to the destruction of this exquisitely beautiful planet that has hosted and nurtured life. We have no certainty, not even any evidence, that there is any life like ours beyond this small sphere flying through the vastness of space. This fact alone warrants we do everything possible to honor and preserve what is.
By all means, leave if you are called. Go wherever you believe you can. But do no harm to our Home and to us who prefer to be left behind. Your destructive desires and actions will not bring salvation, nor will they usher in a time of peace on earth. Only care and love and cooperation will move us towards peace on earth. That’s right, only peace on earth will bring peace on earth. I am bewildered that this is not obvious.
We like it here, so… good bye and good luck, and don’t mess with the earth.
Sincerely yours,
Luigi
Introduction
“This is the revelation given by God to Jesus
Christ so that he in turn could tell his servants about the things which are
now very soon to take place. The Lord sent his angel to make these events
known to his servant John, and John has written down everything he saw, and
swears it is the word of God guaranteed by Jesus Christ. Happy the man who
reads this prophecy, and happy those who listen to him, if they hold fast
to all that it says – because the Time is close.” (bold text added
by author)
Revelations 1:1-3, 90AD
“So it is not one whit mysterious that we poison
the water and air and topsoil, and construct ever more cunning doomsday devices,
both industrial and military. Let us be perfectly frank for a change. For
practically everybody, the end of the world can’t come soon enough.”
Kurt Vonnegut, Timequake, 1997AD
Sorry folks, it ain’t gonna happen. But we
can take comfort that you and I will be dead soon enough. It seems the World
keeps going, going and going! Everyone seems ever-ready for it to end except
creation herself. John’s timing must have been off or “soon”
means almost forever. Perhaps he was totally mistaken. After all, he was pretty
old, and banished to a prison island. If anyone today told a story like his
he would either be put away or published as a fantasy/science fiction writer,
or both. It wouldn’t be a long shot to conclude he was a bit off. This
John guy didn’t even have the balls to own his own words, swearing it’s
the word of God, guaranteed by Jesus?! Jesus!
Luigi Enrico Pietra d’Oro, 2007AD
Prologue
His was a voice crying out in the wilderness.
His name was John, John “Dusty” Baptiste, and he roamed around the high desert near Barstow like a crazy man. I didn’t say he was crazy, but most people thought he was. Isn’t that often the case with people who are different, unkempt, homeless and seemingly anti-social? It’s often so much easier and less disturbing to label them ‘nutso’ than it is to wonder why they live that way, and certainly less threatening than to actually make contact and ask them what’s going down!
Actually, John’s actions were far from crazy and his thoughts were probably saner than most people in the area. He talked to himself quite a lot and that seemed crazy, but he preferred his own company and liked what he had to say. Whenever he tried to talk to other people, the conversation either went to the weather, which rarely changed in this part of the world, or it shifted to some TV show he knew nothing about since he didn’t even have an outlet to plug one in. Other options were politics or the illnesses currently being experienced.
John thought that most other people were crazy for spending their lives absorbed in things that didn’t really exist. It seemed that everyone either wanted to scare themselves or fall in love with someone not even in their daily experience. Hardly anyone liked what they looked like, the way they smelled or the work they did. No one spent much time outside and everyone seemed to reject the world around them, preferring a world that’s artificial. That seemed crazier to John than hanging out in the desert having a conversation with someone who always had the same interests as himself.
He liked his own company. He liked to sing. He liked it to be quiet and he liked talking to ravens and tarantulas. He liked his freedom and occasionally he ran into someone of like mind and hung with them for awhile, usually another ‘crazy’ like himself.
What John didn’t like was plastic. He hated plastic! Plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic cups, all of them blowing all over the desert, getting stuck in the Joshua trees and creosote bushes.
John loved the desert. John loved the Creation. John’s chosen work was to pick up trash, mostly plastic, and bring it back to the ‘civilization’ that created it. It was a never-ending job and for John, an act of love.
When he came back into town with bags full of plastic trash, he would angrily yell out loud to anyone close about how they, in their consumerist wastefulness and lack of care for the planet, were all responsible for making the creation filthy and endangering all the other creatures who shared this planet.
John Baptiste, the voice crying out in the wilderness.
He was feeling exceptionally frustrated and sad this day having found a raven that suffocated to death in a plastic bag from Wal-Mart.
He picked up the bag and the dead bird, stomped into town and through the door into Wal-Mart. He jumped up on a counter and held the bird in the bag high above his head and began.
“You, all of you, you are responsible for the death of this innocent life. In your carelessness, you have killed this creature and thousands of other creatures that did you no harm. Yes, in your apathy you are murderers!”
Then John looked up and began to pray out loud.
“God, creator of all things, all creatures and (I wonder why) all people, You have to do something to protect your Work. Somehow You have to teach Your children some consciousness and responsibility. Do something to teach people to pick up after themselves!”
Everyone in the store looked at John like he was crazy and turned and went about their important business of shopping.
“Crazy bastards,” he said as he jumped down and walked out of the store and back to his important business of cleaning the desert.
Someone was listening.
To be continued...
