PERFECTION OUR GOAL

The café table they were sitting at provided them with a clear view of the street, which, in this London rush-hour, was absolutely teeming with traffic and pedestrians. Overhead, a remorseless summer sun shone down fiercely onto everything, making them grateful for the refreshing coolness of the soft drinks they had just ordered. The two women at table - Paula Hynde, a blue-eyed blonde of slender build, and Wendy Callot, her dark-haired colleague at the art college where they both taught - were in conversation with a young philosopher whom they had recently met at a party - a thin, nervous, scholarly-looking individual by name of Daniel Forde. He wore shades and sat with his back to the sun. He was a very interesting man to talk with, but, for the women, rather perplexing and, at times, even downright worrying! For instance, he had said that he usually avoided hot countries during the summer, and, when Paula asked why, had replied that they were generally more evil than places like England, and their people correspondingly less pleasant.

"But what makes you say that?" Wendy asked, hot on the heels of her friend's curiosity.

The philosopher smiled sheepishly and lowered his eyes a moment, as though ashamed of the radical nature of his beliefs. "Well, the fact that I tend to equate the sun with the Devil and am consequently all-too-inclined to see more evil in those countries where it has most influence, which is to say where the temperature is hottest," he at length replied. "Countries, for instance, in the Middle East, North Africa, or the Mediterranean, which have very hot weather throughout the year, not just in the summer, as here in England. And even now, in the middle of July, the temperature here is relatively mild by comparison. In the desert, on the other hand, it would be literally scorching."

"But what kind of evil do you particularly associate with the hottest countries?" Paula asked, screwing up her fine brows in manifest puzzlement.

"Oh, mostly of the sensuous kind," Forde replied, becoming slightly embarrassed. "A certain slothfulness among the people would be an example of the kind of evil I have in mind. Though there are doubtless other kinds of a more active nature as well." By now his blush had deepened a little, becoming quite rosy. "But the urge to downward self-transcendence is, of necessity, stronger in a hot country than in a comparatively cool one, so one needn't be surprised if the moral standards of the former are less high than those of the latter, or if, as a compensatory and protective factor, the laws relating to morality are correspondingly stricter. Whatever the case, the Devil's influence is greater there than elsewhere."

"So, presumably, the sun is Hell," Wendy deduced, allowing herself the benefit of a sceptical and slightly teasing smile.

To her surprise, Daniel Forde resolutely shook his head. "No, one might argue that the sun is merely a tiny component of Hell, which extends to the totality of flaming stars in the Universe," he averred. "Hell would accordingly be a term - admittedly rather mythical but nonetheless satisfactory in this context - which applies to the multitude of stars, not simply to the sun. For it seems to me that the main characteristic of evil is diversity and separateness, a characteristic which, alas, extends to the world around one, to that which has issued from the Diabolic Alpha and consequently bears all the hallmarks of the Devil's influence."

"You mean the city?" Paula suggested, looking a trifle worried.

"To some extent that, but to a much greater extent the natural world and whatever stems from nature," the philosopher solemnly averred. "Although there is much diversity and separateness in the city, it does at least indicate a tendency towards God and hence unity, whereas nature, being the work purely and simply of the Devil or, at any rate, a component of Hell, namely the sun, can only reflect the Diabolic Alpha in diversity and separateness, not to say sensuality. The city is, if you like, a very crude approximation to the millennial Beyond, and therefore a phenomenon in opposition to nature, a phenomenon tending away from it. Civilization aspires towards the Divine Omega, no matter how crudely or obliquely to begin with, whereas nature stems from the Diabolic Alpha. It's as simple as that!"

The two females frowned sullenly and sought temporary refuge from this polemical broadside in their soft drinks. Paula Hynde, in particular, was a trifle worried by Forde's remarks and sought to unburden herself of this worry by asking him whether he really thought nature stemmed from what he called the Diabolic Alpha. After all, hadn't it been traditionally assumed that nature was of divine origin and that God created the world?

"Yes, it had," Forde replied immediately, turning his shaded eyes on the prettier of the two women. "But that was only because men used to be more under nature's sway than at present, and were more disposed, in consequence, to view it as the work of God, conceiving of God in merely creative terms, whether or not you make a distinction between the central star of the Galaxy and the sun, or simply derive God from the latter, as, to a large extent, the West has done, given its preference for the Father over Jehovah or Allah - a preference partly conditioned by pagan precedent and partly owing something to the need to accommodate God, as progenitor, to both a Mother and a Son, viz. the Virgin and Christ. Now if by 'God' you mean the Holy Spirit, the highest possible mode of life, then it's difficult if not impossible to ascribe the creation of nature, and hence the world, to God. For the Highest of the High, or that which appertains to eternal bliss in transcendent spirit, would be most unlikely to create, or to have created, the Lowest of the Low, or that which appertains to cosmic agony in solar energy. This being the case, one can only conclude that the Lowest of the Low, being most primal, created itself and, having done so, proceeded to create or give rise to the world and nature - in short, to create the natural world. So the lowest absolute - and stars are, after all, a kind of absolute or cosmically independent existence - gave rise to that which, in its most evolved manifestation, namely man, aspires towards the highest absolute, which, as the Holy Spirit, is eternal and perfect. Therefore evolution is a journey, so to speak, from the one to the other, from the Diabolic Alpha to the Divine Omega, which realizes itself through man and, in all probability, man-equivalent life forms elsewhere in the Universe. Now, obviously, when you are less than half-way along that journey, you're disposed to grant more importance to the lowest absolute, which created the world. That is perfectly logical because you aren't really in an evolutionary position to aspire towards the highest absolute, which is dependent on the precondition of a great deal more civilization. So one worships the Creator which, being cosmic, is actually diabolical, contrary to one's beliefs. One uses the word 'god', but what one is really referring to is the Devil. And so one is an unconscious diabolist."

"Charming!" cried Wendy, making a most uncharming spectacle of her plump red face.

"Absolutely!" concurred Paula, who briefly turned towards her colleague. "But quite fascinating all the same. After all, if the Creator is a euphemism for the Devil, then the Devil must surely exist."

"To be sure," Forde confirmed, nodding gravely. "The Devil most certainly does exist, and the Universe is largely a diabolic phenomenon. Thus Christians are to a certain extent right when they say that God exists. For what they often mean, despite a professed adherence to Christ, is the Creator, the Father, the Almighty, and other such variations on an alpha theme. But if the Creator is to be equated with the Diabolic Alpha, then it should be apparent that what they really mean by God is, unbeknown to them, the Devil, which is hardly compatible with the Holy Spirit. For you can't have two gods, let alone three. There can only be one Supreme Being, one God that's divinely supreme, because what it signifies is the highest, most blissful mode of life. Whatever is not as high isn't supreme but inferior. Thus if what they generally mean by 'God' is really the Devil, then it should be obvious that God doesn't exist in the sense of the Creator, or Almighty or whatever, but only as the culmination of evolution, which, as adequately demonstrated by the world around us, has yet to come about. Consequently it should be apparent that God doesn't exist, since dependent on our evolutionary progress for its ultimate manifestation as transcendent spirit. Willy-nilly, it is our destiny to create God and, as such, it's in our interests to avoid worshipping the Devil - which, alas, is precisely what, to greater or lesser extents, the greater part of humanity has been doing since it first acquired a religious sense, way back in the dark days of our pagan ancestors!"

At that moment Daniel Forde recalled to mind the gist of a conversation he had once had with a certain Pat Hanley, a former acquaintance of his, who had voiced the ludicrous notion that God was the sun! Unbeknown to himself, Hanley had been a devil-worshipper and, like many such people, confounded the Lowest of the Low, the most agonized of the agonized, with the Highest of the High, the most blissful of the blissful. His God was simply the Father, not the Holy Spirit. And it was manifold, as befitting the Diabolic Alpha, not unified, like the Divine Omega would be. It embraced a polytheism or, more correctly, polydiabolism of the stars in toto. Clearly, Hanley's concept of God was far from being the most truthful of concepts! It was one which Daniel Forde could only be offended by these days, not vaguely amused by, as he had been at the time of conversation, a couple of years ago.

But to some extent Paula Hynde had been offended by what Forde said, and now she inquired of him, in a slightly sceptical tone-of-voice, how he expected us to create God in due course.

"Yes," Wendy seconded, offering her fellow-female some moral support. "Just what d'you mean?"

The philosopher smiled understandingly, then replied: "Well, we're creating God at this very moment. Ever since civilization got properly under way an effort has been made to create God, to aspire towards the Divine Omega, no matter how feebly or paradoxically. Insofar as civilization is a man-made phenomenon which aims to overcome and exploit nature, we civilized peoples have endeavoured to create God. The higher the civilization, or the further removed it is from nature's sensuous influence, the closer do we grow to God. At present, we're still a long way off, as a glance at the street before you will indicate. But, fortunately, we're heading in the right direction, and so long as the city continues to develop, to gain further victories over nature, we'll eventually attain to our goal. And we'll attain to it via transcendental meditation and technology, not just the former. For the direct cultivation of spirit without technological assistance is defeating its own ends, as has been demonstrated by the greater part of Asia during the past several centuries, if not millennia."

"In what way?" Paula wanted to know, becoming slightly angry. For she had long been a keen student of Oriental religion, particularly Buddhism, and felt personally slighted by Forde's remarks.

"Principally by endeavouring to ignore nature rather than overcome it through science and industrial progress," he replied. "The Asians had many right ideas about cultivating the spirit but, unfortunately, their efforts to cultivate it only led to their ignoring the body to a point where starvation, disease, deformity, and poverty were rife among them, causing millions of people unspeakable suffering and even death. They wished to attain to a heavenly Beyond alright, but their concentration upon spiritual transcendence led to them putting ends before means, which, in a world where the Devil has so much influence, can only prove fatal. Rather than attaining to Nirvana, they remained, with comparatively few exceptions, the unfortunate victims of poverty and physical suffering. The Devil overcame them. Consequently it's imperative that we learn from Asia's mistakes and adopt a more down-to-earth approach in attaining to the millennial Beyond, which is mostly what we have done anyway, though often at the expense of our spiritual well-being. For the greater part of achieving that heavenly objective lies in overcoming the Devil and the Devil's creations, which are natural. One must have large cities in order to push nature back and keep its influence at a safe remove. Otherwise one becomes complacent in nature and, before long, an unconscious diabolist, a worshipper of the natural world. But to have large cities it follows that one must have large populations, for the size of the one is directly proportional to the density of the other, and no significant progress can be made in the face of nature unless there's cause to build additional houses or buildings to cater for the growing numbers. Each additional house or building is a further weapon for civilization in its battle against nature, and reflects civilized progress."

"Oh, but aren't there enough buildings in London already?" Wendy objected, making an objectionable spectacle of her face. "And isn't the population too high anyway?"

The philosopher deliberated awhile before attempting to answer her questions. They were frightfully difficult ones and he wasn't sure they afforded an objective response. So at length he replied: "Whether or not there are too many buildings in London is a matter you must decide for yourself, as, to some extent, is your question relating to population. Such questions are relative. I mean, if it can be proved that there are too many buildings and that the population is too large, then we would have a right to feel sorry for ourselves and to hope some kind of remedial action could be taken before matters got completely out-of-hand. But populations are only too large, it seems to me, when there are insufficient resources to sustain them and an unacceptable percentage of people either starve to death or succumb to other, less lethal afflictions. They're relative to the technological capacities existing at the time, which is to say, to the degree of civilization manifesting in the world. There's no reason for one to suppose that large populations are a bad thing per se, as though birth control should be carried out for its own sake rather than to combat or respond to a technological shortcoming in the system. On the contrary, it's to be hoped that civilized progress will subsequently make the support of still greater numbers of people possible, especially in the towns and villages, where nature is at an insufficiently far remove to allow for the development of a truly advanced spirituality. For with the greater numbers should come the growth of villages into towns and of towns into cities, and the consequent adoption of less-natural lifestyles by their inhabitants."

"But one can't just make war on nature as though we could manage without it!" protested Paula, screwing up her brows in evident perplexity. "After all, we depend on it for so many things, including food."

"Naturally, and I wasn't for one moment suggesting that we could or should make war on it under false pretences," Forde countered ironically, by way of exonerating himself. "Nature has to be treated with a certain amount of objective respect whilst one is still dependent upon it to any appreciable extent. But, you know, evolution is concerned with the gradual overcoming of nature, with its supersession by a spiritual world, and so, while we are under obligation as living organisms to treat it sensibly, we're also obligated, as men, to rebel against it and aspire towards our ultimate salvation in transcendent spirit, we're 'born under one law but to another bound', as Huxley, quoting the poet Greville, was forever reminding us. Now, in this latter regard, it's to be hoped that we'll gradually reduce our dependence on nature through the further development of technology, which, as already remarked, is an indispensable tool in our struggle to attain to the Beyond ... of millennial futurity."

"Yes, but the growth of villages into towns or of towns into cities, not to mention the continuous growth of already-existent cities, won't exactly make it unnecessary for us to eat or drink, will it?" Paula retorted.

"Indeed not!" Forde admitted. "But the gradual replacement of the natural body by mechanical or synthetically autonomous parts could well do so, and to the extent of making it unnecessary for us to waste valuable time in sensual matters, as we're currently obliged to do."

"You mean to suggest that the overcoming of nature should also lead to our overcoming the body?" Wendy Callot exclaimed, with an astonished look in her dark eyes.

"I most certainly do," the philosopher calmly assured her. "For the body is an aspect of the natural world and, as such, it should also be revolted against, as is to some extent already happening now, what with our growing dependence on motorized transportation and mounting penchant for contraception and abortion, not to mention pornography and sterilization. By replacing the natural body with an artificial one, we'll be in a position to dedicate more time to spiritual concerns, including meditation, and also have far less opposition from nature with which to contend. Of course, such a replacement can only happen by degrees, a little at a time, in accordance with the extent of our technological expertise. But it's precisely this technological progress which will make spiritual progress possible, as each succeeding generation becomes a little less dependent on and victimized by nature than its immediate predecessor. By itself, meditation wouldn't be enough. There is scant reason to suppose that one generation would have much advantage over another. For it's unlikely that a later generation would inherit much in the way of 'acquired characteristics' from an earlier one. Machines might do most of the work, and therefore make it possible for a later generation to meditate longer and more consistently than an earlier one did, but people would still be subject to the flesh, still be obliged to eat, drink, sleep, urinate, defecate, copulate, etc., to a degree which would prohibit any significant spiritual advancement. One can't serve two masters at once, least of all two such diametrically-antithetical masters as the Devil and God. Either one strives to completely overcome the Devil, or one remains forever its victim. Thus, in the interests of evolution, it's inevitable that the body should fall victim to technology, which is on the side, if indirectly, of God. For the more artificial we become, the less hold nature will have on us. Eventually we'll be entirely independent of it - in a word, supernatural."

"Whew! All this is more than my poor head can take!" Paula confessed, casting her female companion a baffled look. "I cannot even begin to conceive of what life will be like in the distant future, when this transformation to which Daniel alludes finally comes to pass. As yet, we're still too close to nature to be able to understand the consequences of what such an existence would entail. Personally, I'm quite resigned to things remaining as they are at present!"

"Me too," Wendy declared, lifting the glass of orange squash to her pale lips. For she hadn't quite finished her soft drink and now that she proceeded to do so its taste seemed more deliciously refreshing than formerly - that is, before Daniel Forde had got his lecture on spiritual progress under way.

"Yes, well, I suppose we all have to be resigned to the way things are at present, insofar as we have to live with them and aren't really in a position to do very much about anything," the said-philosopher commented, offering both women an ironic smile. "Yet that doesn't mean to say that we should take things for granted, as though this were the best of all possible worlds, with no prospect of being improved upon. No-one who has his mind fixed on the millennial Beyond will ever run the risk of falling into the barbarous mistake of imagining that life should be lived for its own sake, without any reference to spiritual progress. The fact of the matter is that life is a perpetual battleground where the sensual and the spiritual meet in open warfare, a tug-of-war, if you like, between that which stems, as nature, from the Diabolic Alpha, and that which aspires, as civilization, towards the Divine Omega. The latter is ultimately destined to triumph, but not without the long, hard struggle which is the world around us, a world which, even at this relatively advanced juncture in time, is a long way from God - from the creation of the Holy Spirit. Just take a look at the scene in front of you."

Obediently the two women turned their attention on the busy street beyond their table. They were glad, in a way, for the opportunity of looking rather than listening for a change, and soon became passively absorbed in the passing spectacle. The pavements on both sides of the road were crowded with pedestrians, and between the two crowds of walking humanity two streams of traffic sped past or, as was often the case, ground to a halt in traffic jams. It was now the heart of the rush-hour, a time when the vast majority of London's work-force was engaged in the arduous and even oppressive task of returning home. Here and there a sight-seeing tourist appeared in the rush, the representative of a different and more leisurely order of things, and occasionally someone who might have been unemployed if not unemployable could be seen strolling along, seemingly oblivious of everyone else. For the most part, however, the street seethed with bustling workers and employers escaping from the narrow confines of their offices and office routines. This, at any rate, was what Paula and Wendy beheld as they sat facing the confused scene, a few yards in front of their noses. Nothing out-of-the-ordinary so far as they were concerned, but plenty to become engrossed by, not least the handsome appearances of the numerous expensively-attired young men who passed with an occasional friendly glance in their direction. To be sure, it was good to see and to be seen at such times!

But what of Daniel Forde, what did he see there? Superficially he saw what the others did - a crowded street, fruit of the London rush-hour. But he also saw something that they weren't, perhaps, as well-qualified to see. Removing his shades, he saw distinctions and separateness, saw the multitude of individual factors which reflected the Devil's influence, and was decidedly depressed by it. Of course, the women also saw distinctions, but not with moral eyes. They became absorbed in the differences for their own sake, and were apt to take them for granted. He, by contrast, was conscious of the extent to which such distinctions came between the world and the millennial Beyond. Merely to have a different colour skin, to be taller or shorter, fatter or thinner, older or younger, male or female, handsome or ugly, pretty or plain, rich or poor, wearing bright colours or dark colours, jeans or trousers, a skirt or a dress, a T-shirt or a collar-and-tie, to be carrying a briefcase or an attaché case, a handbag or a shoulder bag, to be wearing shoes or sandals, high heels or sneakers, etc. etc., ad infinitum.

Oh, this multitude of individual factors - what an obstacle it was to the attainment of the millennial Beyond! How it reflected the influence of the Diabolic Alpha! And what frictions it gave rise to - 'Ugh, how I detest his ugly face!' (Thoughts of a handsome young man.) 'Damn it, how I envy him his good-looks!' (Thoughts of an ugly man.) 'Ugh, how I despise people with long hair!' (Thoughts of a short-haired man.) "Damn it, if only I hadn't gone bald so early!' (Thoughts of a bald man.) 'Ugh, how I loathe red stockings!' (Thoughts of a woman wearing dark-blue stockings.) 'Damn it, how I envy her those attractive legs!' (Thoughts of a fat-legged woman.) 'Ugh, how I despise fat people!' (Thoughts of a thin man.) 'Damn it, to think that she should prefer him because he's thin!' (Thoughts of a fat man.) 'Ugh, how I loathe big noses!' (Thoughts of a small-nosed man.) 'Damn it, why couldn't I have been given a smaller nose, like him!' (Thoughts of a big-nosed man.) And so on, ad nauseam.

Yes, how far such thoughts and appearances were from the envisaged spiritual unity of the millennial Beyond! And what an obstacle they were to greater unity on earth, to the formation of a brotherhood of man! So long as distinctions and inequalities existed, there would be no end to the divisive frictions between human beings. People would continue to envy or despise one another, to hate or belittle. It was all too obvious to Daniel Forde, as he noted numerous distinctions characterizing the separate, that humanity had to aspire towards greater unity, to inventions and strategies for reducing the number of divisive realities between man and man. It would be a long hard struggle, but, eventually, society would surely attain to a stage where the great majority of such distinctions ceased to exist, and the amount of friction in the world was correspondingly reduced. This would be a stage just prior to the transcendental Beyond, to the ending of all distinctions, when the individual's spirit merged into a common axis of transcendent unity and thus became one with all spirit, became universal. It would probably result from man's having, in the meantime, abandoned the flesh for an artificial support-and-sustain system for the brain, a system or mechanical apparatus which, being the same for everyone, would prevent any particular mind from regarding its 'body' as either superior or inferior to another's, and thus remove the source of so much friction. With uniform appearance and uniform occupation, centred in transcendental meditation, a truly classless society would emerge which would reflect the highest possible stage of civilization, a stage immediately preceding the end of all civilization. But, at present, such a stage was rather a long way off, as this busy West End street more than adequately indicated.

Looking at the scene before him from a more positive angle, however, there were certain encouraging factors for Daniel Forde to note, which augured well for the future. There was the factor, for example, that so many people were gathered together in one place and behaving, on the whole, relatively well to one another, not fighting or cursing or raping or murdering or pushing, but behaving as well as circumstances permitted. A little jostling and bad temper there of course was from time to time, what with so many people striving to get home or whatever at once. But proceedings were, for the most part, commendably civilized, with indications aplenty of respect, courtesy, patience, even generosity, as when a car or other vehicle gave way to pedestrians crossing the road without being under any specific obligation to do so, pulling-up in order to let them across or slowing down to allow them sufficient time to continue on their way. The crowd, too, was in itself a promising sign, an indication of the age's tendency away from personal selectivity towards impersonal collectivity. One could get lost in it, swallowed up, just as one's spirit would ultimately be swallowed up in the divine unity of the Holy Spirit.

Another factor one could note with a certain satisfaction was the wide variety of races and peoples gathered together in the street, the different-coloured skins and numerous accents or languages which, while testifying to diversity, and hence to the influence of the Devil on life, provided further evidence of the world's growing unity, a unity which could be equated with a converging universe to the Omega Point, or transcendental culmination of all evolution. Not only Englishmen, but Europeans of virtually every nationality, Americans, Canadians, Africans, Asians, West Indians, and Australians could be seen sharing the same pavement in mutually-respectful fashion. This was a comparatively new phenomenon in the world, one which, as yet, only pertained to the greatest cities, those places where evolutionary progress was most advanced for the time and which were consequently closer to the millennial Beyond than their less-urbanized neighbours - the rural and suburban towns. It was both an honour and a privilege to be living in a multiracial society which functioned smoothly, with a minimum of tension or discrimination. At least there wasn't much evidence of racial tension or discrimination in the crowded street before him today, and Forde noted this fact with evident pleasure. It was good, too, to see so many of the coloured people wearing Western-style clothes, not emphasizing cultural differences between peoples but blending-in with the costumes of the more indigenous people on whose street they walked. There was certainly more indications of the trend towards divine unity than evidence of diabolic separateness about that factor!

As also about another factor which now appealed to Forde's attention, as he allowed his gaze to extend beyond the nearby pedestrians to the passing traffic, noting, with further satisfaction, the numerous cars, buses, taxis, vans, etc., which attested to man's growing dependence on the machine. Here, it seemed to him, the future mechanization of the human body was incipient, was in embryo, as it were, in the guise of the numerous vehicles which filled the road, taking-up more space than both throngs of pedestrians put together. Man was outdoing nature in these vehicles and displaying an urge towards bodily transcendence, proving his dissatisfaction with walking. And whether or not he realized it, the driver of or passenger in any given vehicle was a little closer to the millennial Beyond than the streams of pedestrians he passed on either pavement. He was effectively their superior, a being with a preference for artificial over natural methods of conveyance, and accordingly reflected a higher level of civilization. One could take comfort in this thought, for it seemed to confirm the tendency of evolution away from nature. Although traffic congestion was something of a drawback, it was encouraging to note that so many people did use motor vehicles of one kind or another, and thereby identified themselves with mechanical progress. The way things stood, there would soon be more vehicles on the road than pedestrians on the pavement, or so it seemed! The future was on the side of the former or, at any rate, of increased mechanization of the human body. Eventually pedestrians would cease to exist. And so too, in all probability, would motorized transport as we currently understood it.

But what else was there to be grateful for, to take a certain satisfaction in, as one noted the contents of this particular street? Undoubtedly its buildings, which were relatively modern and bore witness to a utilitarian simplicity of design aptly appropriate to their commercial functions. It was encouraging to note the fact that they were adjoined, not separate or distinct, but crudely representative of a higher unity. They formed a community of the man-made, having come to supplant nature, to keep the natural world at a distance, and thus permit the pursuit of artificial matters - matters with a bearing, even if obliquely, on the spirit. They were symptomatic, despite their philistine functionalism, of civilized man's urge towards divinity, and at least in this street their general appearance was such as to suggest the greater importance which modern man attached to the spirit at the expense of the body. There was more glass and window space in them than concrete or walls, and if one wished to associate glass with the spirit, as symbolized by its translucence, then they were arguably of a higher order of civilization, not to mention architecture, than those buildings which betrayed a greater material opacity, as did so many of the older ones, being rather more aligned, it seemed, with the flesh.

Be that as it may, it was pleasant, too, for Daniel Forde to take additional satisfaction from this particular street with regard to the fact that nature had been entirely eclipsed by the artificial. There wasn't a single tree or flower or bush to be seen in it, not even a weed! Whatever may once have pertained to the plant world had been removed in the interests of the man-made. Here was another reason for one to say to oneself: 'This is a superior street. It has completely transcended the plant world, the lowest offspring of the Devil. It is highly civilized.' Yes, one could, if one was of a sufficiently progressive turn-of-mind, think like that, and Daniel Forde certainly did. The great transcendental painter, Piet Mondrian, would probably have thought something similar in the context of such a street, though not everyone would have done so! There were undoubtedly many people who would have been horrified to note the absence of trees from it, people who had more sympathy for nature and were not quite so spiritually advanced or progressive.

Daniel Forde thought of one such person at that very moment, an attractive young woman he had once known quite intimately by name of Heather Thomas, who had been married, at the time, to a reactionary professor of literature at the University. No doubt, the professor's opinions and beliefs had to some extent influenced her, making her less enlightened than she might otherwise have been. For there was a dream, he recalled, in which her husband had apparently come face-to-face with the Devil and been instructed, via the medium of a film projection, on the apparent extent of the Evil One's power over the contemporary world. She had told him about this shortly after her husband had related the entire contents of his dream to her, and it had amused him no end, largely because what the Devil had said was completely the reverse, in the main, of what was really the case, i.e. the growth of the divine element in life at the expense of the diabolic one. Perhaps, however, that was generally the way with dreams; one entered a world that was upside down, so to speak, rather than the right way up; a world where everything was the reverse of what it would be in waking life. Certainly the case, at any rate, as far as this strange dream of the professor's was concerned! Still, Heather needn't have taken it all so much to heart, especially where her alleged adultery was concerned. Her husband didn't profit very much from his dreams anyway, not even when he attempted to analyse them. For that only succeeded in confusing him the more!

Yet there were a lot of people in a similar position to Professor Thomas, people who confounded the Devil with God and mistook progress for regress. Daniel Forde had met a fair number of them over the years, not the least memorable of whom was a certain Clinton McDuff, a critic by profession and member of the once-famed 'Aesthetica Club', who professed extremely Lawrentian sentiments concerning the nature of contemporary life. A real enemy of the spirit, if ever there was one! A man for whom nature, and nature alone, manifested God's influence and will! A devil-worshipper with nothing encouraging to say to people, but a fatal tendency, as with all evil men, to depress and oppress his audience! A man who, if he ever got real power into his hands, could set the clock back hundreds if not thousands of years! However, the chances of a man like him getting such power were, fortunately to say, extremely remote. But he would doubtless continue to depress and oppress people with his pessimistic lectures for some time to come! One day, perhaps, such fools would be silenced. In the meantime, it was to be hoped that they wouldn't be able to do too much reactionary mischief in the world.

But what of Paula Hynde and Wendy Callot? What were they doing there? Forde ceased to think about the hidebound reactionaries he had been confronted by, in the past, and cast a brief glance back over his shoulder at the two young women seated behind him. They still appeared to be absorbed in the passing show, though, in all probability, they were daydreaming or sunbathing, or both. He couldn't quite tell, now that he had put on his shades again and reduced the world to a uniform tint. But his slight movement was enough to attract the attention of Paula, who smiled and edged forward in her seat, the better to talk to him.

"So you've come back to us again, have you?" she teasingly observed. "We thought you'd gone to sleep."

"I never do that in public," the philosopher averred, turning around in order to face her. "I was thinking, actually."

"Which is something you do too much of!" Paula averred, light-heartedly reproving him with a slap on the wrist.

Forde blushed slightly. "You might think so," he retorted, "but I am a thinker, after all. Indeed, one of the few progressive, independent thinkers in the modern world, and, as such, it's my business to think as often and as well as possible. By now it's second nature to me, a part of my very being. I couldn't live without it."

"I see," Paula sighed. "So, presumably, you were thinking about how far contemporary life, as manifested in this street, is from the divine culmination of evolution, were you?"

"Initially I was," Forde replied, gently nodding his head, "though not only that. I also began to consider the indications of progress to be found here, and there are a number of them, believe me! Yet the signs are that civilization, as we currently understand it, will become a good deal more civilized in the future, once we make a consciously-determined and concerted effort to attain to the millennial Beyond. We needn't be unduly pessimistic about the general drift of things."

"So, presumably, we should be conscious atheists rather than unconscious devil-worshippers," Wendy remarked, taking over the reins of inquiry from her colleague.

"That's what I am," Forde admitted, smiling. "And that's what I'd like to see others become as well! Atheists who, whilst acknowledging the existence of the Diabolic Alpha, are primarily dedicated to creating the Divine Omega. Men of good conscience who wish to rid the world of illusions and superstitions. Builders of a society which is beyond the half-way stage of evolution, and which no longer looks back to the diabolic creative force with quite the same deferential respect. Men who can tell the difference between the Devil and God, and strive to bring the world closer to the latter. But, above all, men who don't confound profane spirit with holy spirit, or put ends before means. Men, in sum, out of whose descendants the Holy Spirit will eventually emerge, bringing the Universe to divine perfection. Yes, we must struggle towards perfection. That is our goal."

LONDON 1980–81 (Revised 2011)

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