99 Stories of God

74. Walk-In

He was in the chapel, waiting. He was a little early.

A man came in, genuflected carelessly before the altar, and sat down beside him. “How’s it going?” he said.

“My mother has to do something in the undercroft,” the boy said. “She’ll be up shortly.”

“You know that’s just the basement,” the man said, “another word for basement.”

“I’m here for the blessing of the backpacks. It’s the blessing of the backpacks today.”

The man grinned. “What a lovely idea. Reverend Margaret has the loveliest ideas. What’s in your backpack?”

“Nothing. Some pencils.”

“Gum.”

“Gum too,” he admitted.

“My name’s Joe,” the man said. “You ever hear the song?”

Hello! My name is Joe.

And I work at the button factory!

I have a house and a dog and a family!

One day my boss came to me.

He said: Joe! Are you busy?

I said No!

He said …

“I don’t know it,” the boy said.

“What’s your name?”

“Tobias.”

“You ever seen the painting Tobias and the Three Archangels? Botticini. Fifteenth century. Listen, I want to tell you something, because this blessing of the backpacks or whatever silliness Margaret has dreamed up will happen any minute. I want to tell you: Christ and Jesus were separate souls. Okay?”

“I guess,” Tobias said.

“Jesus prepared his physical body to receive Christ, and at a certain point in his life vacated this body so as to allow Christ to take it over and preach to the world. Christ was such a highly evolved soul that it would have been impossible for him to have incarnated as a baby, and even if he could have done so, it would have been a waste of precious time to have to go through childhood.”

“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t going into just the second grade,” Tobias said.

“Exactly! Childhood is unnecessary for certain individuals.”

Joe patted him on the shoulder. “Maybe I’ll see you around,” he said. “Maybe we’ll talk again.” He went out just as a half a dozen children were coming in, through the big red doors. Tobias knew them and all their pretty, friendly mothers. His own mother appeared then, too, along with the Reverend Margaret.

I wish I was going into the fourth grade, Tobias thought.