Glenn Kleier - The Last Day

“Thus have I come to you to carry forward the Word so that you may at last find your way back to the Father. For only in knowing the Word shall you close the abyss which separates you still.

“In the Word shall you recognize the enduring disharmony that divides you from yourselves! Hear the Word and understand. For, behold, I am the Anointed Messenger. I am the New Meaning. I am the final chapter of the New Testament…

“I am the Book of the Apotheosis!”

With this ringing declaration, the turbulent, brooding clouds above the prophetess were rent by an enormous shear of lightning. The multitudes dropped to the ground in abject terror as the earth reverberated from the deafening, apocalyptic peal. But Jeza was unfazed and unblinking.

“I speak to you of the great iniquities that prolong your fall from grace,” she called out to them as the thunder faded and the cries of alarm escalated. “I speak of the ungodly separations of man from humanity!”

Collecting themselves and calming under the Messiah's continuing sermon, the masses regrouped and refocused.

“At the fall from grace,” she pressed on, “God ordained the separation between Himself and mankind. Yet, after the fall, man took it upon himself to create further divisions, unnatural and prideful in their conception, and blasphemous in the eyes of the Lord. In these unnatural divisions, man first chose to set himself above his mate, separating himself from woman, whom God had created as equal and counterpart.

“Over the millennia, man has sought to lend sanction to this wrongful division by corrupting the very Word of God. In the Book of Genesis, chapters two and three, woman is portrayed as secondary in creation; subservient to Adam; the perpetrator of original sin; the seductress who tempts Adam to taste of the forbidden fruit, thereby bringing about mankind's fall from grace.

“I say to you, the debased meaning of this book is the foremost of the many corruptions of the scriptures. These passages were first given to you as a holy message of the general and of the symbolic. Yet, has the true meaning been abandoned, reduced to the specific and the literal.

“Be it known to all that, in the true progression of life on this earth, it was the female form that came first. In the beginning, God created the primitive organisms. And in His design, He created them female one and all. Cell begetting cell, female begetting female. It is only later in time that maleness emerges, male issuing from female.

“And it is only later in time that man, as the hunter and protector, surpasses woman in strength and prowess. And then deigns to wield his powers to hold dominion over woman. Yet, when woman attempts to offset lesser strength with greater wit, she is condemned for her cunning.

“In the writings of the Bible and in all ancient scriptures, the symbol of woman suffers from the biased pen of man. Over the ages, these false meanings have been used to sanctify the enslavement and abuse of woman. Throughout the millennia, man has denied woman access to her true spirituality and religious authority, holding her in spiritless submission out of arrogance and stubbornness and jealousy and insecurity.

“Look about you in your midst,” she called out, arcing a reproachful finger over the crowd. “See among you the many women still bound by doctrine to conceal themselves behind long veils, their value discounted, their presence and importance diminished.”

There was an uneasy stirring in the crowd as the reclusive female subjects of Jeza's observations were made conspicuous.

“Look to the hypocrisies of the Western religions,” she continued. “And look to the successor of the Apostle Peter of the Roman Church who refuses woman control of her body in propagation; restrains her status within her house of worship; denies her blessed fulfillment in the performance of the sacraments.

“Be it known that, through me, God shall deliver woman from her spiritual bonds. For now, through me, does God give to man a new law. A separate, new Commandment by which all men shall live.

“I say unto you, sons of Adam, hear and obey the Will of God:

“‘Thou shall honor woman as thy equal; and thou shall cherish her in unity with thy fellow man. (Apotheosis 25:15)

“Thus be the new Law of God to man in keeping with the others by which you are already bound.

“Therefore shall you return to the scriptures to right the inequities. Wherein you discover passages of abasement, do as I direct you: where you find male, write female; and where you find female, write male. And read again the Word in this New Way, woman learning confidence and man selflessness, in even measure.

“I command you, woman, throw off the spiritual shackles that encumber you. Put aside your veils and your false shame and rise up-not against man, but next to man, in balance.

“Yet I admonish you, woman, do not harbor in your heart bitterness nor resentment toward your counterpart. For these are empty passions that will divide you further. But rather, accept your partner and understand the forces of the ages within him, as he must strive to understand you. Together, work toward resolution and harmony whereby you and all your children may ascend toward godliness and the exaltation.”

As if exhaustion had overcome her, the Messiah seemed to wilt slightly, dropping her chin to her chest, placing her right fist against her heart, and lapsing into silence.

The masses took this opportunity to wonder and conjecture among themselves. Noting the absence of any referrals to an imminent call to Judgment, many of the faithful began to take heart in what they had just heard, hoping Jeza's message might conclude without incident.

But the prophetess was not quite through. Gathering her resolve once more, Jeza squared her shoulders, lifted her face, which appeared even paler than before, inhaled and began anew.

“Now I speak to you of the larger separation of God and man,” she cried out, jolting everyone to rapt attention once more. “I speak to you of the last and greatest separation which distances man from himself.”

Her small hands gripped the edge of the lectern and her brow knitted with the effort of her convictions. “In the Book of Genesis, chapter four,” she continued, “is this separation revealed. Yet again has the figurative been corrupted to the particular, and the rightful meaning lost.

“This passage of scripture is the telling of Cain and Abel, an allegory in which is hidden the larger meaning of man's most damning secession. It is the story of the self-betrayal. Of man turning against his fellow man; violating his own humanity; denying his brother sanctity and life in an act of ultimate disloyalty.

“So abhorrent is this sin that God marked Cain and his kind with a sign so that all might know and reject them. Yet have you also corrupted this meaning. You look to find the mark of Cain in the physical dissimilarities of those who differ from you.

“But you are mistaken. The mark by which you shall know Cain is not a physical sign. It is not in the color of his skin, nor in the features of his face, nor in a brand upon his body. The mark is in his actions. By his words and deeds shall you know him. Enmity is the mark of Cain. Hatred of fellow man. A mark that is to be found evident among all peoples, in all places. It is the enduring trait of evil that divides you most from yourselves. Until you remove this mark from you, you shall not achieve the unity to know God.

“For two millennia, have you had this clear and certain message from the prophets who preceded me. Yet still you continue to use your differences as justification for inflicting sorrow, suffering and death upon your brother. Still you divide yourselves by race, by creed, by color, by age, by station, by wealth, by possessions, by every and all differences you can distinguish among one another.”