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"Velu, do not play with me."<br />
"How many?"<br />
"There is but one God."<br />
"Why would one God want various religious groups to disagree about the means of providing<br />
for a safe and secure life on this planet?"<br />
"The rules of life, as opposed to the rules of spirituality, are determined by priests."<br />
"Who determines who is a priest?"<br />
"Velu, we are going around in circles. We have been down this path before and now you want<br />
me to travel it again?"<br />
The priest <strong>from</strong> the Faith of Eternity, Vaozur, spoke up:<br />
"Urnun, you know as well as I do that Velu wants you to become an Aklan, to throw away your<br />
priesthood and align yourself with what she determines to be the correct path for surviving in the<br />
physical realm."<br />
Velu sent a burst of acceptance to Vaozur and said:<br />
"There are large numbers of people on this planet who abide by no formula of religious rites yet<br />
accept the Words of Akla about the most equitable manner of organizing our physical lives."<br />
"Settlers..."<br />
"Yes, settlers who have freely shared their knowledge of many of the secrets of material<br />
existence and made all our lives more comfortable, even yours, Vaozur, and yours, Urnun. You<br />
can enjoy the fruits of their physical prowess and they can accept Akla's injunctions for physical<br />
security yet you want what? That they agree with rules of living that, even if they once met the<br />
needs of your followers, are now increasingly being left behind by those same followers?"<br />
"Sin is a condition that is inherent in our lives."<br />
Velu sent all present a huge burst of love and said:<br />
"Sin is not doing what is necessary to get along with other children of God, no matter what rites<br />
or practices they feel are correct."<br />
She walked, in turn, to each of the representatives—Lord's Army, Faith of Eternity, Disciples of<br />
Faith, and Aklan—hugged them, and, as she began the walk to her tent, Morna, who was always<br />
with Velu though usually quite silent, said:<br />
"Patience is our weapon of choice."<br />
~~~<br />
Zena was on <strong>An</strong>ga-Param thinking that to call this the Corporate World was completely<br />
inaccurate. He made a mental note to begin a personal campaign to end the too-common practice.<br />
Seeing people struggling to keep the fruits of high technology working, in spite of horrendous<br />
weather and disabled infrastructure, was heartening but the reality was that <strong>An</strong>ga-Param was a<br />
World that was very sick and needed a completely new form of government. His imminent<br />
meeting with the current head of the Planetary Leadership Council was going to be the beginning<br />
of his attempt to change the words people used to refer to this planet. The Corporate Leadership<br />
Council still demanded negotiation time and considered themselves the voice of the planet but the<br />
representatives were the saddest and most confused people on the planet—prone to emotional<br />
outbursts and irrational displays of incoherent demands. Zena was most pleased that they were so<br />
incompetent, mostly because they had no effectual means left to continue the endocrine<br />
alterations of the citizens. He hoped the scientific and technical people who were still capable of<br />
rational action would swiftly alter the nature of the simulated recreation available to the populace.<br />
Having been acclimated to emotional swings that necessitated the simulated recreation didn't<br />
mean that the average person could cope with only simulated recreation—they had also become<br />
addicted to the emotional swings. <strong>An</strong> improved simulated recreation would aid stability.<br />
The Planetary Leadership Council representative had arrived. It was always a guess as to who<br />
would show up for the meetings since each member of the Council was critically needed for the<br />
seemingly never-ending tasks of keeping the planet alive. Zena was happy to see that it was Keloz,<br />
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