Solomon's Private File #131
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 19 in this story, in the Winter of 2045-2046.
Solomon's Private File #131 "No Killing"
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I asked to meet with the President of Iran. He agreed. I said, "There
is going to be a major earthquake here." I showed him on a projected
map. He said, "Bad area." I said "Yes. City would be destroyed." He
said with a lot of hope, "Would be?" I said, "The epicenter is far
enough away so I can use a time stasis bubble to protect it.
Unfortunately, the small villages closer to the quake can't be
protected that way. If I use stasis, the moment I release it, and there
is no gradual way to do to that, they get a worse bang from the ground.
Do that to a lot of villages, and the whole area is worse off than if I
had done nothing at all." He said, "I understand." I said, "This puts
you in a difficult situation. Accept help from who some of your people
could consider to be an enemy for multiple reasons, and you could be in
trouble. Don't accept it, and the city is destroyed, and while some
fanatical idiots would support you in that, most won't. And we know
from experience, that if I help, many will not believe the help was
necessary, because the help was successful, and attack you for that."
He thought a little and then said, "Will you say this on local
television?" I said, "Did you think I said all that just for YOU?" He
grinned and we hugged.
That's what we did. Then, still on air, he asked me, "Why do you do
this?" I said, "God gave me the scientific ability to know when these
things will happen, specifically to be used to help people. I can't go
against God! I can't even decide to." He said, "Some say that God
favors some people more than others." I said, "It could look that way.
In many of my past lives I believed that in envy, when it wasn't I who
looked to be favored. In some lives I did believe my people at that
time were the favorite of God. Then disaster befell us. Even now, I
don't know if that belief caused our downfall, or just that the belief
was false, but I think it could be that both were true. Through many
lives I have learned that it is not wise to believe that God favors any
person, religion, group, or nation, over any other. Acting on that
belief is wrong. We do NOT have God's permission to decide who He
should favor, or even that He does. We are NOT the judge of God! Of my
own knowledge of Him from the past and the present, I believe that God
loves each one of us equally, and if we fully open ourselves to Him, we
will know it."
He said, "What is the true word of God?" I said, "Much of what is
written about God was created by men to rule other men, and changed
over time to do more of that, and to fit into man's societies of that
time and place, which is not now our time and place. Should that be
assumed to be the true word of God? How can that be so, because it has
changed, and much of it is contradictory, and God is perfect and
unchanging? Of all the words that have been said to have been from God,
only once was it given directly to man, and has remained unchanged. His
Ten Commandments. If you do not obey them, you are not close to God. If
you need to believe that God favors any person or people, you must
believe that it is those who obey those Commandments." He said,
"Sometimes it is necessary to kill." I said, "Necessary, by who's
desire? He who kills for ANY reason, will suffer for it, if not in this
life, then after this life is ended. That Commandment is absolute,
because it refers to functional reality. He who kills in immediate
defense of life, will be judged less harshly, but will still know
suffering. This can't be avoided, because killing another damages the
soul, more or less depending on the reason for it, which is repaired by
suffering for it. He who kills is not holy. He who would order others
to kill, is also equally responsible for all that they do, and WILL
suffer for it. He who even desires that some person be killed, is NOT
holy in the eyes of God, and should not be thought to be holy in the
eyes of man. It is NOT our right to take the life of another! Only God
has that right."
He thought a little and said, "What kind of killing causes the
harshest punishment?" I said, "You know this. The killing of the
innocent causes the most suffering in those who do that. In actual
fact, it causes suffering for all who know of it, who are close to
God." He looked at me strangely, and said, "You must suffer very much."
I said through my tears, "Yes. It is what forced my father out of this
life. I have made myself stronger, but I don't know how much longer I
can remain here and live this kind of life. But I must. There are
things I am still required to do. I don't know of them now, but I will.
I exist to serve, and I WILL!" That ended the show.
The Pres said, "I'm sorry that you suffer." I said, "So am I. But in
a way, and in many different ways, we all suffer. Best not to dwell on
that too much. We are blessed with the ability to enjoy life, too.
Everything in moderation, still leaves room for a significant amount of
fun. I have a great wife and a wonderful child. You KNOW I've had some
fun." He grinned and said, "That I truly understand!" World reaction to
that was a mix of shock, awe, disbelief, and a lot of other feelings
and comments motivated by them, but most were in approval of me. Some
radical Islamic religious leaders were annoyed, and even angry, but
knew they shouldn't express any of that right away. They knew my words
would soon be forgotten, and then they could resume reprogramming their
people, their victims. And that's what happened, and sooner than many
thought it would. The earthquake happened as predicted, and so did my
assistance, and things happened after that also as predicted. But those
leaders weren't as effective as before. They couldn't be, because they
couldn't avoid that I had been one of the most respected men in their
religion, the original Solomon. They believed it, in spite of their
desire not to, and so did the majority of their people. And all through
that was the obvious metaphorical gorilla in the room. I did perform
miracles. And even if I didn't do them where they could see them, they
were reminded of that every three months with Kam's love and healing
broadcasts
Then I was asked if legal executions were in the same category as
other reasons for killing. I said, "The Commandments were all about
health and respect for other people. For example, adultery caused much
bad things to happen because of it, much suffering, in individuals and
in their society. It is the same for killing. That includes health,
too. The soul is damaged by killing another. That is not a punishment,
but something like when you are struck on the arm, you have a bruise.
That's cause and effect. A natural law. A bruised arm can heal. So can
a damaged soul, but that is much more difficult. Suffering for sins can
help it heal faster. That is still not punishment, but is in fact a
kind of healing, a balancing, also called expiation, atonement, and
Karma. Not all medicines taste good, and they shouldn't. Many children
have harmed themselves in stealing more good tasting medicine, because
it was good tasting. To God, we are all his children, young children,
which we continuously affirm with our lack of wisdom. So it should come
as no big surprise that he often needs to treat us that way. Some of
our medicine tastes very bad, and it should, to motivate us to not need
it. It is almost universally agreed that a person should suffer for his
crimes. Suffering happens in life. End that life, you end that
suffering. That causes the criminal to have to suffer more in his next
life, where he is innocent, not knowing of the past life. It is very
cruel to cause that unnecessarily to a new life."
I said, "Some believe that the criminal will go to a place of eternal
suffering after they die. God does not waste his creations in such a
useless way. And we don't know that actually happens. Nobody has ever
come back from Hell to tell us what happens there. Well, nobody sane.
But we DO know that reincarnation exists, and I've watched it happen to
others in this life, and I have my own many past lives to remind me of
it. In some of those lives, I was the worst kind of criminal one can
imagine, who shouldn't want to imagine that. I suffered greatly for
that in those lives and in others, possibly the worst that could ever
happen to a soul, yet I did not go to an afterlife of hell. I learned
from all those lives, how to be better. The hard way, it's true. I have
become a good man, a man of and for God, with love. I am proof of what
I say about this. Jurors suffer for awarding the death penalty. Judges
suffer for ordering it. Executioners suffer for applying it. Their
souls should NOT be made to suffer for the crimes of another! That just
doesn't make sense! Abolish the death penalty!"
That caused quite a firestorm of comment in America, and in a lot of
other places. It didn't take Congress long to outlaw the death penalty.
I was asked if prisoners should be made to suffer more than just from
imprisonment. I said, "To punish others for their sins will harm the
punisher. WE do not have the right to act for God, without his direct
personal order. For breaking just and fair laws, yes, that right is
man's. Being cruel about it, is not justice, but revenge, and that
harms the souls of those who seek and act on it. The problem with
causing the suffering of others, even in good justice, is that it harms
the souls of those who cause it. Not as much as killing, but it is
still harmful. One might ask us, do we suffer for doing the
consequences we do to terrorists? YES WE DO! We feel what they do, and
it hurts us even more that we are actually causing it to happen, ALL of
us, even those of us who aren't directly involved in it. We share
everything, we who feel each other's feelings as we do our own. But
those consequences are a different kind of thing. We cause them to
experience what they did to others, so that they may learn how bad it
really is to cause that. It's like showing them movies, but a lot more
involving. Those who experience that in this life, do NOT need to
suffer in the next life. We view that as actually being good to them.
And we have God's approval for it, or we couldn't do it."
I said, "Yes, we do sometimes ask for His advice. We will never
believe we are perfect. I recommend that criminals be imprisoned. That
is punishment enough, and anybody who has experienced that can tell you
so. But there is more. For those prisoners who will be released
someday, they should be prepared for that with rehabilitation. Some
would think they don't deserve that. Well, I have to tell them that's
STUPID! What they deserve is irrelevant to this issue. Who do you want
back into society, an angry and resentful criminal, or a reformed
productive member of the community? Right. Sometimes common sense isn't
so common, when revenge is on the mind. Rehabilitation isn't aways
successful, and there are degrees of that, too, but still, it's better
than not trying, when less suffering in society is the goal."
That was well received, and most so by the major religions. It's too
early to tell if it will make any difference. I was asked for more
comments about the subjects, but I declined. Things were different in
the Bureau. No amount of pickle talk could change that. I hope that
will change over time. I went to see the Iron Lady. We met in a gym. I
said, "Got anything new to show me?" She made her unbound hair go up in
the air. I grinned and said, "That's original!" She chuckled. She put
different objects in my hands, and said, "Change them around behind
your back." I did, and my closed hands back in front came under close
scrutiny. She picked the right one. I said, "How did you know?" She
said, "I'm not sure. Just felt different." I pointed to a sign on the
far wall that had printing that was normal for a letter. I said, "Read
it out loud." She looked surprised, but after a minute, she said, "Now
you know how to use Ki to sharpen your senses. Wow!" I said,
"Included." I ported a piece of paper to my hand. I dropped it and
swung my hand across it, close, but not touching. It split in half. She
said, "I thought about trying that, but I couldn't decide if I wanted
to actually be able to do it." I said, "You can, even if you don't want
to. Prepare to defend yourself!"
She did that, and I attacked her with external Ki. She did very well,
even in attacking me. Then I ported a staff to me, and said, "Protect
with Ki." I hit her with it, and she wasn't harmed. I said, "You have
passed all tests for the Rank of full Senior Master Instructor of
Martial Arts." We bowed to each other. I said, "In the past there was
some material indication of rank, such as a belt, or sash, or a pin.
Unfortunately, in today's world, there is so much of that out there,
they no longer have special meaning. And who should it be from? Which
er, me?" She said, "I see what you mean. It would be good for the
Bureau to have something to point to." I said, "There is something, if
you're willing. I, as Jack, can tell Sol about you. The test would then
be from him, including a trip to Shaolin, where you can demonstrate
your ability, and knock their sox they don't have on, off. You can do
more than they can." She said, "Wow!" I said, "No, that's what they'll
say." She was speechless. I said, "You know, you can add Ki to speech,
too. Make all on the parade ground jump out of their skins." She
laughed.
I discussed that with the Director. He said, "If you can manage it
without making what you do here public, go for it. That we have the
best martial arts instructor in the world, is a very prestigious thing
that we would, in all modesty of course, not want to keep the world
from knowing." I said, "Well said! Would be interesting if you actually
used that in an announcement." He grinned and said, "I'm tempted." I
said, "She'll be asked to do teaching and demonstrations all over." He
said, "If she wants to, but with permission. Think she might want to
leave us?" I said, "I doubt it. Not while I'm here. She knows I would
prefer that she stay." He said, "There are times between new classes."
I said, "Such promotion isn't going to be too bad for the Bureau.
Unfortunately, she can't do much real teaching then. And she can't
teach much here. Academy is just for the basics. She will want to share
understand. She's actually too much for us, and she shouldn't be
restricted to being just a trophy. Liberal time off, then. Please
discuss this will her. Then we meet, so she knows how much I appreciate
her." I said, "Planned." He grinned.
I told all that to her. She had a lot of wows for that. I said,
"Never forget that you are NOT just a great martial artist. You are
great person. People who know you, care very much about you. And I want
you to know that includes my people as well. In fact, they absolutely
love my involvement with you. I don't exactly hate it myself." Her
emotions were all mixed up. I hugged her with love. Then I said, "I
love doing that, messing with people's minds for good things. A little
too much, maybe." She said, "Anybody complain?" I said, "Actually yes.
Your boss here, and on up. But not seriously." She ginned. I said,
"Let's go see him. I'll be the real me." We were noticed. It was like
eyes were glued to us, and head and necks had no choice but to follow
them. I whispered that to her, and she had a difficult time not
laughing. I told him what was going to happen. All about it. I said,
"You should hope your face doesn't freeze like that." They laughed. He
said to her, "I hope you open up a martial arts studio nearby. You'll
have your pick of the best students in the world. That couldn't hurt us
here at all!" She said, "I've thought about it, but not for now. I'm
still training my assistants, and I like this job. I feel like part of
a very important family." He said softly, "I know the feeling. A lot of
head hunters are after me. I'm not going anywhere." Then we went to see
the Director of the FBI. That went well. Funny, us walking the halls
together, with me in no disguise. I whispered to her, "I'll have to
invent some eye glue remover, or I won't need to teach anybody, to be
covered with pupils." She had to laugh.
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Grant
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