The saga of Gilgimarsh (part seven)

Now Midge had had lots of time to think in all those years wandering the desert and living in strange lands. Perhaps the time had come to make Gilgimarsh into a true binational type of place where the gods and the people were truly equal. This is what Saint Josh had dreamed about, inspired by Martin the Buber. She had studied these ideas in far off places. Cows in most lands were considered as 'the mother of all civilization' and seemed quite content to freely roam the land and live long and peaceful lives. But gods, they were a restless sort and every so often some upstart would get the pantheon all riled up and they would bury the land in regurgitation till a new truce was forthcoming. Why not bring the gods down to earth or go up and join them in their treetop heaven, there must be more in common than love of cow pie mushrooms. People needed love, gods needed love, 'I – Thou'.

So Midge had a few visitors one day and she asked them a riddle, “If a god has a mushroom and a man has a mushroom, which mushroom is worth more?” And another riddle, “If a man drops a mushroom and a god picks it up and drops it also, whose mushroom is it?” Some people thought that this lady who lived in a cave was just plain nuts, but others were amazed at her wisdom and called her 'pearl of the earth' and asked her what the answers were. And Midge said to them, “If you don't know the answer don't worry about it, because if the riddle has an answer the answer is there whether you know it or not”. And they were truly amazed. And Midge had a grin from ear to ear.

Midge continued to help the sick folk who would come to see her and they really felt better when they changed their diet. These people would go out in the fields where the sacred cattle grazed and catch grasshoppers, and into the forests where the gods resided and collect wild honey. The gods were rather curious about this new development, with people climbing up to the heavenly treetops where the bees had their nests but the people seemed to mean no harm, so slowly the gods got to know them and they would joke around and got along rather well.

Back in the villages the priestly types, whose life work was the preservation and veneration of the beloved lasagna, where becoming slightly annoyed at this diverging food culture. People had thrived on lasagna since the ancient times of Saint Josh, everyone got a bit of indigestion once in a while. This business of climbing into the trees with the gods was also unnerving. The major deterrence to keep the gods in heaven over the millenniums had been to keep them fearful of people and this disregard for the lessons of history would lead to nothing but a major drone invasion. It was definitely time to consult with Justin the Bieber on his next 4 a.m. visit.

Silly stories are like silly dreams. We think there might be some meaning to them but we can't quite figure it out. More to come.