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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nIt’s the fury of angels!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A punishment of the Almighty!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n What have we done! <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n How can we atone!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Patriarch had been reluctant to\nrespond to the first attacks, staying in the apartment and private chapel of\nhis palace. He was defender of the faith but also conciliatory towards the men\nof science, sometimes suggesting they could explain intricacies of how God\u2019s\nwork unfolded. But as the crowd outside the gates grew and their voices grew\nlouder \u2013 clamouring for his explanation and guidance \u2013 I told him he could not\ncontinue to ignore them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou think I have an explanation?\u201d he\nasked me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou are the closest to God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He dipped his eyes. That was the\nfoundation of his power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGod often works in mysterious ways,\u201d he\nmuttered. \u201cI need time to contemplate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was still contemplating the following\nday, when the angels returned, sustained the barrage for half an hour and left\nalmost fifty dead. The city was beginning to resemble a scene of war. I found\nthe Patriarch in his private chapel, seated with head above his knees, conveyed\nthe mood of despair and anger and told him that the people needed guidance. At\nfirst he remained silent, until my pleading prompted him to sit upright and\nturn towards me. His expression showed that he was lost. He spoke quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI need more time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n It intensified my own despair, but it was\nmy duty to serve, not question. I went back out to the balcony of the palace\nand watched as people returned to the square, comforted the injured, gathered\nthe dead, inspected the damage to buildings and exchanged a tortured question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some began to gather the stones that had\nbeen thrown by the angels and place them in a pile near the doors of the\npalace. I heard muttering that someone must be to blame, that there was an evil\nwithin the city, and was alarmed to hear the Patriarch\u2019s name spoken, as if\nsome thought he may have offended the angels. I was ready to return to him with\na fresh warning when I noticed a man emerge from an alley across the square,\nattracting a number of people that quickly grew into a small crowd. It was the scientist\nfrom the university. He halted in the square, looking around and taking two of\nthe stones for inspection. He said something that agitated the crowd around\nhim, causing some angry shouts and one man to jostle him. At first he remained\ncalm, but there were more shouts and another man pushed him hard. The lecturer raised\nthe stones in the air and yelled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is not the work of God! You did not\nsee angels!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It provoked a rumble of anger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe saw!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAn illusion! Caused by elements of the\nskies that we do not yet understand!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe understand God\u2019s anger!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot angels! It was a twisting of the\nlight and wind, a rare force that lifted stones to the sky then dropped them to\nEarth!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The crowd muttered and exchanged glances;\nthe anger remained but nobody touched the scientist. There was an uncertainty,\nas if his explanation might be as good as their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt will pass!\u201d he shouted. \u201cAnd we will\ncollect evidence and learn!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A moment of quiet followed, then a loud\nvoice from behind me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow I see!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was the Patriarch. Now he looked\nconfident and threatening. He came beside me and looked down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is this blasphemy, this denial of\nGod\u2019s power, that has caused this! Men such as he have offended the Almighty!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The scientist looked up to the balcony, his\ninsistence now turning to fear. Then a man pushed him, and another grabbed his\narm, and in seconds he was lifted, carried and thrown against the wall of a\nbuilding to the side of the square. Then people began to take stones from the\nground and the pile in front of the palace, forming a ring around the scientist\nbut doing no more. Hundreds of faces turned towards the Patriarch. He stared at\nthe crowd, his expression becoming more thoughtful, and I thought this would be\nthe moment that he would urge restraint, remind them of the merciful God. Then\nhis face hardened again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe must atone! The blasphemer must be\npunished!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A cheer erupted and the crowd closed\naround the scientist. I saw it change shape as people squeezed to the front, threw\nthe stones then slid away, and the gradual smattering of marks against the\nwall. It lasted minutes, following which the crowd moved back and thinned to\nleave a shabby lump of flesh and bone in lines of blood. I looked towards the\nPatriarch and saw that once again his expression had changed into one of anxiety.\nHe did not know if this was going to prevent another attack from the angels. He\nlooked around, picked up four stones that had landed on the balcony, then turned\ntowards the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI must retreat,\u201d he muttered. \u201cThis\nrequires intense prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I followed, shaken by the fate of the\nscientist, through the grand chapel of the palace, up the staircase to the\nPatriarch\u2019s apartment, then beyond through a short corridor to his private\nchapel. I was the only person he would allow into the room, there to light the\ncandles, chant a prayer or respond when he required sustenance. As always I\nwaited for him to kneel before the altar, placing the four stones in the narrow\nstrip of light from the single window, then kneeled myself a few feet from the\nclosed door. He began to pray, a gentle murmur from which I could not distinguish\nthe words, and I wondered if it would be one of those occasions when he would\nfinally turn to me and say that God had spoken quietly inside his head. After a\nfew minutes he fell silent, lifted his head and raised a knee to stand. He had\nreceived the words. Then came a flash at the window, the strip of light\nexpanded across the floor and a pulsating glow settled above the altar. My\nheart leapt, I heard the Patriarch gasp and saw him fall on his rear. He\nshuffled backwards until almost in my arms and we crashed into a mingling of\nfear and awe. His lips moved but without\nsound and I realised he had seen nothing like this before. Then a deep but soft\nvoice emerged from the glow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou should not have done that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Patriarch still struggled to speak.\nThe glow swirled gently around the altar. The voice came again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat man did not deserve to die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut your \u2026.\u201d The Patriarch couldn\u2019t speak\nhis words. I found the courage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPlease. He blasphemed, denied that the\nangels were throwing stones on the city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Patriarch and I glanced at each other,\nconfused by what we had heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRemember I\u2019m a merciful God,\u201d the voice\ncontinued. \u201cI do not want any man to die because he doubts my presence. He had\na right to speak what he thought.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Patriarch recovered his voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut Almighty! We saw the angels in the\nsky. We felt the stones upon the city. We knew it was your fury.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut I felt no fury.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen why?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was the angels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We were stunned into silence. After a long\nmoment the voice continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSometimes angels are unruly, infected by the\nurge to do harm. Especially those who have recently ascended to my realm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut they do your service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey do my service when I watch closely,\nbut I do not always do so. Sometimes I discover misdeeds, and I have to rebuke,\nor deprive them of their wings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo it was not your doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was not my doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I realised the Patriarch was now shaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will not punish,\u201d the voice continued.\n\u201cBut ensure the scientist receives a decent burial, express regret for what\nhappened, and show more restraint in the future. I wish for tolerance,\nforgiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cForgiveness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd you have mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again the Patriarch looked at me, lost in\na struggle to understand. I tried to find words, looked towards the light above\nthe altar, and managed to say: \u201cWe thank you Almighty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then the glow swirled, spun upwards and\nout of the window, and the chapel was once again in shadows. We both crawled\ntowards the altar, prostrated ourselves and spent the following hour in intense\nprayer. It concluded with exhaustion, both of us sweating, breathing heavily. I\nwanted to rest but knew there was something to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShall I go to the square?\u201d I asked. \u201cThe\nscientist\u2019s body should be moved to a safe place, prepared for burial.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Patriarch stared at me, a glimmer of\nanxiety in his eye, then shook his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut it was the word of the Almighty. Surely\nwe must tell the people of his instruction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He took my hand and gently squeezed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis must stay between us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stared open mouthed. How could he wish\nto hide a revelation from God?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou may struggle to understand,\u201d he said,\n\u201cbut the church has a wisdom from hundreds of years of spiritual guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut God spoke. He told us that it was the\nangels who were wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know, but it is better to protect the\npeople from the knowledge. It would create confusion, stir up heretical ideas.\nAnd remember, we instructed the people to inflict vengeance upon the\nscientist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n You instructed the people. <\/em>I\nthought but did not speak the words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then he stood, looked around the floor of\nthe chapel and began to pick up the stones he had brought from the palace\nbalcony. I watched for a moment, felt a rising sense of revulsion, then moved\ntowards the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWait for a while,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to\nclarify what we will tell the people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will tell the people the truth. They\nmust know what God said.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I turned away, took two steps towards the\ndoor then felt a sharp pain explode across my head. I collapsed, ran a hand\nover my scalp, felt the wetness and looked to see blood on my hand. Then I\nrealised that the Patriarch had advanced to stand over me, holding a stone in\neach hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSorry,\u201d he said, \u201cbut you threaten the\nchurch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then a stone struck the bridge of my nose,\nanother crashed into the centre of my forehead, and I tumbled out of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now I am with the angels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Image: Angels Throwing Stones on the City by Natalia Goncharova, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"