1: The Prophet is Born

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I

On June 14th, 1988, the mountainous town of M.C. welcomed the birth of a prophet.  Born to Nellie and Edward, the infant drank his first breath of earthly air, which he would soon know as home.  The nursemaid of the small hospital moved this noblest of noble things to the nursery and all the town’s people crowded around the windows to look upon this very special baby.

II

Edward, father of the boy, parted the crowd that had formed around his kin, entered the nursery, approached the padded basket in which the infant lay, and spoke to him thus: 

 

“Son, I have waited eternally for your arrival, I have existed hitherto in the dark, I have witnessed those around me fall victim to vice, to unreason�"to this world.  

I have hitherto believed in nothing, and thus been nothing.  

But my son�"blood and flesh of mine�"I declare that you are the meaning of my life!  

You are the light in my dark!

You are the voice of my most muted values!

You are the the

You are Cliff Edwards!”

And verily, Cliff Edwards was born.

III

After Edward spoke, Nellie�"weeping joyously and with great passion�"ran to her husband and pressed his hands before turning to the basket in which their infant lay, and spoke to him thus:

“Son, a mother’s love knows no bounds: where there is great love, there is no rule of emotion, no limit of action.  This, I teach you.  For the earth, for all that is real, and for all that mankind aspires to be, you shall practice this love.

Love not what is inhuman, but what is human.

Love not what is uncomfortable, but what is good.

Love not what you think, but what you feel.

Love all who love you!

Love all who live life!

Love all who know this love and nothing else as truth!”

And verily, a mother’s love became human.

IV

After Edward and Nellie spoke, the people�"flopping over each other like a bunch of fish in too shallow water�"became unruly, began cheering and chanting the name of Cliff.  One man, a quiet, gray-haired, grey-bearded  old man with a cane parted the crowd, stepped to the infant’s parents, and spoke thus:

“My noble Edward, my lovely Nellie, for many years I have walked through the mountains, accompanied by my eagle, my serpent, and my lion; I have gathered wisdom, become overrich, overflowing with this wisdom.  For many nights, many seasons, many years, I have seen nothing but midnight, affirmed only the coming of the overman on this earth.  For many rains, many storms, many blizzards, I have all but perished waiting for the coming of your boy.

I must first share with him my song, a lullabye especially for him:

O man, take care!

What does the deep midnight declare?

‘I was asleep 

From a deep dream I woke and swear:

The world is deep,

Deeper than day had been aware.

Deep is its woe;

Joy�"deeper still than agony:

Woe implores: Go!

But all joy wants eternity 

Wants deep, wants deep eternity.’

Now, cast this boy away!

This boy, I teach you, must become animal before he can be man.

This boy, I teach you, must become man before he can be himself.

This boy, I teach you, must become himself before he can overcome himself.

Only then, after overcoming, shall he return to mankind.

Only then, can he be among mankind.

Only then, can he teach and lead mankind.

Dear parents, I say unto you, abandon this child to the earth!

Dear parents, I say unto you, overcome yourselves so that this boy may overcome man!

Dear parents, I say unto you, deliver this boy to solitude, for only there can he overcome all that is human!

Ye parents, all ye spectators, all ye gods, leave this boy alone!

This boy belongs to no one!  

This boy is the earth’s overrich soil, and from him nothing will sprout so long as you all stand around casting your shadows over him, blocking the sun’s life-giving rays!

This boy is of the earth, and to the earth he shall belong eternally!

This boy is the meaning of the earth!”

And verily, the hermit imparted his 105 year’s wisdom.

V

But after the hermit spoke, the crowd grew restless, became furious: they despised his words.  They began chattering violently among themselves.  They began to disprove his words.  Edward was still, Nellie soon gave into the crowd and despised the hermit.  “How dare you take my son, this gift unto me, from me!”  She shouted and persuaded Edward, too.  “You ought to be taught a lesson for that, you old hermit!”  Edward shouted, overcome by emotion and his wife’s discontent.  Edwards shout enticed the crowd: it was a call to action.  The crowd burst through the door, fumbling over each other, two men grabbed and threw the hermit to the ground, and one more grabbed his cane, held it above his head and spoke thus:

“You old hermit, you left mankind not because you wished, but because we wished.  You left us because you were unwelcome among us.

You old mountain climber, all are equal, every man is the same!  No man belongs on mountains, no man can place himself above the crowd.  All are of the crowd!

 And now, we call you evil, we despise you, for you are a hater of all that is good, all that we love.  What do you have to say for yourself!?”

The hermit, laying on the ground, began to speak softly, calmly:

“My friends, you are wrong.  I love the earth and reject your ideal of the earth.  From this earth, came the boy, Cliff.  He is not from your ideals.  To the earth Cliff shall return, for he is of the earth and nothing else.  All you despisers, you secret enviers, will see that Cliff belongs to none of you.  You will see that he tastes your belief in such ideals as poison when he is of age.  

Do with me what you wish, but the fate of this boy lies in the earth.  

Do with me what you wish, for I love the earth. 

Do with me what you wish, for I love all who are solely of the earth”

And verily, when the hermit finished speaking, the man holding the hermit’s cane swung down on the hermit’s head, cracking it to pieces.  The hermit lay there dead, while the crowd rejoiced and chanted feverishly, “Justice, justice, all hail justice!  We the just, live on, while the unjust perish at our hand!”

VI

Nellie, ignored the chanting, picked up her boy and ran from the nursery to their home by the green pond.  Edward, still and confused, felt guilty for the death of the hermit.  Soon, he came to himself and rushed home to console his wife.  Edward and Nellie placed their baby Cliff in the crib and held each other in awe.

“My dear” Edward spoke, “We have created life, something beyond ourselves.  The boy, surely will give to life all of which he is capable.  Cliff is the meaning of our lives!

Only, I know that the day will come when I am incapable of raising this boy, for I have not mastered myself.  The boy will need to leave us one day.  Nellie, what the hermit spoke was truth, that much I feel.”

“Nonsense!” Nellie replied, “The boy belongs to me, to us.  He will be showered with love.  Love is what he needs.  Love will teach him to love the earth.  There is no greater wisdom than love, unconditional love!”

Edward listened pensively and grew somehow sad, for he knew his time with Cliff was short.  He knew the disappointment that awaited his wife.  He knew that he and his wife were powerless before the fate of Cliff.

“Nevermind the future!” Edward broke in with a sudden change of heart, “We must nourish this boy all the same: one waters a mighty redwood sapling regardless of knowing that it will outlive and outgrow its waterer.”

And verily, Cliff began to grow.