After reading the essay below, please see the suggested reading *
A man and his wife decided to take a trip to a foreign country to study its famed architecture. The man entered one magnificent building, not noticing that his wife did not follow. He entered warm and inviting spacious rooms that led to even more rooms. When he reached one area, the building just seemed to open up to beautiful flower gardens and a cemetery that appeared to encircle the building. Then the man saw a desk, apparently set up in the open air.
As he approached the desk, the man felt a certain familiarly with it. He then understood why: it was his desk from a more youthful time. It contained various notebooks, timetables, and calendars - dated by month and year but lacking data. They were empty. In another drawer he found his old wristwatch long thought lost and his hand-held CB radio, still in the "on" switch position.
The CB spoke to him; his presence was requested in the old hall. On his way he peeked into a few rooms. Some were like warm and inviting classrooms. Others were small, intimate dining rooms; the smell of good cooking nearby was overpowering. And yet others were small but amply furnished individual living quarters. Finally, he reached the "old hall."
The place was full of older folks, sitting comfortably in huge arm chairs. One of the women spoke to him, dismissing his confusion.
"Greetings, Caretaker," she pleasantly said, "it is almost time for our evening meal."
The man had trouble with the title "Caretaker."
"Oh you poor dear," the old woman opined. "You are the new Caretaker of all of this in here and out there," she said, as she gesticulated with her hands. "You make sure everything in here and out there runs smoothly and fix things when they don't."
"But I do not want another job; just do not. And what happened to my wife," the man said, rather exasperated with this new experience.
That brought another "Oh you poor dear," from the old woman. "It looks like "they" didn't tell you. You're dead, and this is your afterlife." The man began to shake uncontrollably.
He still shook long after his wife woke him from his fitful, yet vivid dream. They talked about his UPG experience for hours, thinking it may be a divine message of sorts. And they talked to more people and those people talked to other people. When the very human factor known as "whisper down the valley" was readily applied, a new religion came into being; the man was "The Prophet" and his wife "The High Priestess." Yes, this is a bit ludicrous, but how much more or less than below.
An old man climbs up a mountain and a few days later comes down with two stone tablets containing ten rules that his God supposedly carved for him.
A virgin gives birth to a child - his birth father is God (there are a few of these, not just one). While still living at home with mom, the child, now man turns water into wine, feeds the masses, and after being murdered, comes to life.
Don't forget the 72 virgins.
A UPG in the hands of the wrong people can be a dangerous thing for many while profitable for a few.
*UPG and Rational Thought 07/08/2016
*UPG, Joan of Arc, Joseph Smith, and Cults of Personality 03/21/2012
Copyright @2016 Terry Unger
