POCKET GODS

Matthetes smiled as he jingled his new gods, jumbling them in his pockets like a

potpourri of coins and marbles.

His Dad had given him his first god when he was thirteen – just a man. His first god

was Ambition. Ambition had served him well, making him first in his class and head

of school, landing him great job opportunities and a bright future.

Over the years, he gave himself fully to the gods in his pocket but worried that something was wrong.

They didn’t work anymore.

Matthetes became disillusioned with his gods, then, and threw them all away. All his

life he’d wanted, then got, then lost, then got, then been disappointed by, his gods.

And now they were gone.

And he felt no differently.

So he went to get the new God he’d heard about put into his heart.

The surgery was invasive, but didn’t hurt as much as he’d anticipated.

The ritual was spooky, but it was the good‐spooky

            (more mystical, less haunting).

The alchemy was almost non‐existent, though everyone attending assured

Matthetes that a transformation had – in fact – taken place.

As he was completely emptied out of all his Ambition,

            his love for Flesh,

            his addiction to Media,

            his fantasy of Fitness and Diet and Novelty;

                        as his need for the pocket gods vanished Matthetes was left with only

                        one certainty in all the world.

The God in his heart would always continue to grow.

And from that central truth he took strength.

The God‐in‐his‐heart grew – and so would he.

That was the turning point – working together with the God‐in‐his‐heart,

cooperating with the God‐in‐his‐heart,

Matthetes began to learn about achievement without pride,

            love without lust,

            pleasure without novelty,

            health without anxiety,

            economy without greed,

                        friendship without agenda…

His whole life was different.