I imagined myself standing on my front porch when the people walking along the street began to scatter into the adjacent yards or run as fast as they could down the street as if to escape something terrifying. People in the nearby houses came to their windows and doors staring in alarm at something up the street, an unusual occurrence for this quiet neighborhood. Looking in the direction the others were looking I saw a lion meandering in typical big cat fashion toward me down the middle of the street.
For some reason I felt no fear of this lion as she turned her head and looked directly at me. Aware of the anxiety for my safety among the people watching from their houses, I walked down my porch steps and up the middle of the street toward the lion. The Spirit of God spoke to me, in the proverbial still small voice, communicating that it was God who had sent the lion, for the dual purpose of setting things right among humans and teaching us on how to live full lives with one another. Then the lion spoke to me, in the same spiritual way God did, informing me that she had a task and that I was to observe it.
God then informed me that I was to record the actions of both the lion and the humans the lion interacted with, and then publish my recordings together with my further descriptive observations for the instruction of humanity. I felt like John about to write the Revelation, and immediately chastised myself for such a presumptuous feeling. God then rebuked me for both the chastisement and the feeling that provoked it, saying neither of those feelings was beneficial in God’s kingdom. With a feeling of whole repentance, I obediently reached for my phone and began to video the lion and whoever interacted with her.
A group of brave young men with assault rifles gathered across the street and pointed their weapons at the lion. The lion looked at them, and sensing their hostility roared a frightful lion’s roar. The men began to shoot at the lion and, while accurately aiming at the heart, they emptied their clips into her. I watched the bullets enter the lion and then disappear; in amazement I observed that there was no evidence of the bullet entry points anywhere on the lion’s fur. The lion then opened her mouth and shot all of the bullets back at the young men; and each of them was killed with the bullets he himself had fired.
The people watching were utterly terrified; I’d never before seen such expressions of horror on human faces. An animal control unit that had been dispatched to the scene retreated to their truck, re-stowing the net they had brought to capture the big cat. By now a perimeter of streets was cordoned off by police, as they guided as many people as they could out of the area to presumptive relative safety elsewhere. I wondered why no one ordered me out of the area; it was as if they didn’t see me or even know I was there.
A staff of experts on big cats arrived by helicopter, and the armored SUV that transported them from the landing site stopped in the street just in front of the lion. One of the experts poked his head through the sunroof of the armored vehicle, and studied the lion with knowledgeable intensity. A look of astonishment came over his face as he locked eyes with the lion, and he began to speak to her as if in a conversation with a being at least as intelligent as he. Then the lion began to speak with her physical voice, forming recognizable consonants with the anatomical parts of a normal big cat’s throat and mouth. Her speech was clear and understandable to a surprising degree, even as it was punctuated with the guttural timbre of a lion’s growl.
“All of the zoos have confirmed that their lions are all secured,” the lion expert said to the lion, “and lions are not native in this part of the world. So where have you come from?”
“You are correct that I am not from any of those places,” the lion confirmed. “I have been sent from God as a chosen vehicle to help you humans live fairly with each other. However, I suspect that what I have been assigned to do will not be seen that way by you. Unfortunately, you will fail to see the benefit in the arrangements I will make among you, because I am not assigned to change the very part of you that needs the most correction.”
“You are truly the first evidence of any God that this scientist has ever encountered.” The expert appeared to struggle in retaining his composure and sense of dignity. “You’re certainly more intelligent than all those idiot religionists put together. But am I going to have to believe in God, or you’ll eat me or something?”
“What people believe about God is a different matter from why I’m here,” the lion explained.” My task here is to eliminate poverty and starvation among humans by enforcing rules of behavior between them. When I have completed my task, humans the world over will live in optimal relationships of equity. In such conditions, humans may then turn their attention to higher concerns—for which you may find yourselves woefully unprepared.”
“Are you going to destroy science?” the expert sniffed.
“Hardly,” the lion replied. “You’ll have much more science when I am done.”
“Perhaps we’ll have even more science when I am done,” the expert declared, as he reached into the SUV for someone to hand him a tranquilizer gun. The expert aimed and fired the tranquilizer gun as the lion watched. “You’ll be a fascinating specimen to study,” the expert said, as the tranquilizer charge disappeared into the lion’s shoulder.
“I don’t think you understand,” the lion growled with disappointment. The lion then opened her mouth very wide and shot the intact tranquilizer charge back at the expert.
The tranquilizer struck the expert just below the collar bone—he sank back and disappeared into the sunroof. The SUV’s driver turned the vehicle around and headed to the open field where their helicopter was. In a few minutes, a medivac helicopter arrived to rush the sedated expert to the hospital for treatment.
A police officer who was trained in hostage negotiation had been watching the events develop. The officer walked over toward the lion, and sat down in the street in front of her. “You can see that I’m unarmed,” the officer said. “Can we have a talk?”
The lion went over and sat on her haunches facing the officer. “Sure, I’m happy to talk.”
“I heard you mention that your task here is to eliminate poverty and starvation among humans by enforcing rules of behavior between them,” the officer began, “exactly what did you mean by that, and how do you intend to accomplish it?”
“I meant by that,” the lion explained, “that those who have more than they need shall share with those who are in need. I intend to enforce that by confronting those who have more than they need with the requirement to share with those who don’t. Furthermore, I intend to stop anyone of any station in life from oppressing any of their fellow humans, regardless of the place of either in society.”
“Those are noble goals,” the officer acknowledged, “sort of like a Robin Hood approach. However, many humans have been longing for a society like that for ages, and the problem is that those who have more than they need are not willing to part with their unneeded possessions. Why do you think you can enforce what many powerful humans could not bring about up to now?”
“I shall terrorize them into compliance,” the lion replied.
“Really?” The officer raise an eyebrow. “Having observed you I’m sure you can accomplish bringing about such compliance, but that sidesteps the matter of willingness. Wouldn’t that aspect be problematic?”
“Yes,” the lion confirmed, “the issue of willingness is indeed problematic. And I intend to show why that is a root problem. But to do that the initial problem of what your economists call inequality must first be removed from the equation. Doing so then lays bare the matter of willingness.”
“I think that tangibly removing inequality might actually mask the issue of willingness,” the officer countered. “If there is equity in prosperity, then the impetus to dominate others might be driven into irrelevance.”
“I intend to show that such impetus is embedded in the human psyche, and that equity in and of itself has limited effect on countering that.”
“I agree with your goals,” the officer replied, also standing up. “But I disapprove of your methodology.”
“It is not yours to approve or disapprove,” the lion asserted. “However, what I am about to impose will involve demonstrable equity, verified by a blockchain framework anchored in cryptographically based tokens distributed worldwide. Such a system will prevent cheating by any party, great or small.”
“Fair enough,” the officer acknowledged. “I understand blockchain, but your problem will be in implementation and execution. Even though blockchain is emerging in some cities around the world, how are you going to establish and enforce such a system in a way that will provide for uniform worldwide use? And did I mention enforcement? Everything would have to be inside a coherent blockchain framework for your plan to succeed. You must know that the criminal mind operates both within and without legitimate frameworks.”
“The cryptographic verification inherent in blockchain ensures a degree of truth in transactions among humans,” the lion explained. “As for enforcement of arrangements, that’s why I am here.”
“When I speak of enforcement, I am referring to human behavior.” The officer looked directly at the lion. “Human behavior has a mind of its own, and it seems some people, in all stations of life, are just born for mischief. So the question is how are you going to effect enforcement among humans of this system of equity you imagine?”
“This way.” The lion let loose a terrifying roar that caused the onlookers to step back a few paces. Standing up, the lion looked peaceably at the officer. “I’m off to my task now. You will see that, without further intervention at the higher orders of human existence, humans have involuntary urges to oppress others. Remove the terror, and they’d be back to their old hostile ways.” The lion turned to go. “Thank you for the talk.”
The officer stood up in place, silent, knowing that negotiations had concluded.
“I shall start in this city,” the lion declared as she bounded toward downtown.
I felt myself transported with the lion wherever she went—there were no G-forces from the movement, but I was still physically present in every way. My phone’s battery level and storage capacity remained unchanged, and I seemed to have uninterrupted connectivity regardless of where I was. The phone did not overheat, even with the constant demands on its processor from the continuous video streaming and recording. I felt some commonality with the miracle of the cruse of oil from the Maccabean Revolt, and with Jesus celebrating Chanukah in the Gospel of John. I started to feel guilty for another such presumptuous association of myself with Biblical events, but trying to avoid another rebuke from God, I corrected myself on the spot. I pressed on with my task, focusing on the lion and her actions.
A whirlwind of confrontations followed, as the lion tracked down all persons who had excess wealth, starting with the richest oligarchs in the world. Entering their most confidential and secure sanctuaries, the lion presented the wealthy persons the choice of giving their wealth to public uses and to stop influencing governments for unjust gain. The alternative was to mauled by her, the lion.
Most of those confronted at first marveled at a talking lion, and then they or their body guards shot at the lion. The results of such resistance were the same as before, and those who used their weapons on the lion were killed by the very same weapons. Others who simply refused verbally to acquiesce to the lion’s demands found themselves brutally mauled by the lion.
In all cases after the lion demonstrated her power, the principle wealthy person, or the next survivor remaining in the line of succession, granted the lion’s demands. They arranged an international blockchain system for verifying that the lion’s demands were met by all, and that no one was holding back any of their wealth.
As the lion worked her way through from the richest to the poorest, the individual situations changed but the underlying character of the lion’s demands did not. Among those for whom money was not as important as influence or respect, the lion demanded that they treat their fellow humans as equals in their humanity. This seemed trivial and irrelevant to some people—until the lion mauled them for noncompliance. After being so disciplined by the lion, they too understood and complied with the lion’s demands.
A strange tranquility came over the world. People got along together, and were demonstrably polite with each other. No one complained that anyone else had more than they deserved—it was easy to show objectively that indeed no one had more than they deserved, or less than they needed. As long as the lion was around, it was clear it would remain so. Cooperation among disparate groups was commonplace. The number of new inventions multiplied, making life easier, safer, healthier, and more productive. People seemed to be genuinely happy, satisfied, content, and full of good purpose. The lower levels of human needs were all met; no one went hungry, without adequate shelter, or any of the necessities of a comfortable life.
People freely shared not just their material possessions, but also their knowledge as that was tracked by the blockchain system as well. As a result, everyone was functioning up to their optimum potential.
“Why are you so kind to me?” I heard someone ask another.
“It’s simple,” the other person replied. “The lion.”
“But don’t you enjoy being kind to me?”
“Of course I enjoy being kind to you. I have a much more rewarding life, and I have no fear of anyone cheating me or taking away my livelihood, or otherwise oppressing me, or demeaning me in any way.”
“I still sense from within you,” the original questioner persisted, “a feeling of dissatisfaction, with something. Is there something that you are dissatisfied with?”
“To be candid, yes there is.” The second person sighed. “Everyone is so good to each other, but you know it’s not really their true desire to be so. Some perhaps are truly happy to be kind, but many are being kind simply because they are terrified of the lion. That repressed unhappiness might break loose, and they may try to make up for lost time if it happens.”
“The lion will maul them if they do that.”
“That’s why they’re so miserable inside. When you can’t be yourself, it’s a sort of personal hell.”
I was still with the lion, and I saw that she was listening to the conversation too. “I think you knew this would happen,” I said to the lion. “It came out in your talk with the police officer before you started your work. Some people just aren’t willing, or maybe able, to care about anything other than themselves.”
“Yes, of course I knew,” the lion acknowledged. “And I also fully know that this state of tranquility and peace among humans is not sustainable—unless I perpetually stay here and constantly enforce their compliance, which I’m not going to do.”
“Even the blockchain system won’t prevent collapse of this peacefulness, because evil people will force others to accept deviations, and the world will eventually be right back where it was.” I sighed with a deep sadness. “What can we do?”
“We move to the second phase of my task,” the lion replied. “I shall discuss with those who are unhappy the cause of their unhappiness, and thus get to the root of their discomfort—for them to confront their motivations and decide what kind of humans they want to be.”
“I suspect that some of them, in being candid with themselves, will realize that they are naturally evil. And for some of those, they will decide that they like themselves being evil. What then?”
“In those cases, I leave such people to their candid realization,” the lion answered. “I’m not executing the Final Judgement—it’s not time and, infinitely more important, that’s solely for God to discern what to do about the evil people.” The lion put her large paw on my arm to console me. “But it is proper to show them the best ways of living, and to help them understand their position regarding their fellow humans.”
“You might not be able to have such candid conversations.” I placed my other hand over the lion’s paw on my arm. “No one will admit to you that they have reservations about the new tranquil order. Certainly not to you, especially after the terror you used in establishing this tranquility.”
“Very true.” The lion managed a convincing emphatic smile with her facial muscles. “I shall do so by being a different kind of cat.”
I watched in astonishment as the lion went through a metamorphosis, and turned into a domestic short hair cat in a mere instant.
“I’m still me,” the newly formed cat-from-lion assured me. She leapt from the ground and into my arms, settling herself across my shoulder. “Keep your video recording and live streaming going, because we are going to have some conversations with people.”
The cat transported us to near what seemed to me just a random person. This particular individual didn’t seem to be in any personal hell over being unwilling but forced to be kind to people.
Jumping off of my shoulder, the cat placed herself directly in front of the person at eye level. “How do you like how everyone is getting along so nicely?”
The person looked up, noticed me to the side but then looked around for who had just spoken.
“I’m the one who asked the question,” the cat said, looking at the person with an inquisitive intensity.
“A talking cat!” The person looked over at me for confirmation of this unexpected observation.
“Yes, and I’d like to talk with you,” the cat continued.
The person now appeared a little unnerved. “Okay, I’m listening. What do you have to say?” The look of doubt about there being a talking cat remained on the person’s face.
“How close to your fellow humans do you feel, now that everyone the world over is considerate of everyone else?”
Looking around as if to ensure no one else could hear, the person turned back to the cat. “This tranquility that you see everywhere is a complete farce. Everyone is afraid the lion will appear again at any moment and brutally punish anyone who doesn’t behave nicely to everyone else.”
“But isn’t is great,” the cat challenged, “to be able to not worry about having enough to eat, and a place to sleep, and to be able to go out onto the street and not be concerned about crime or injustice of any sort?”
“That part is wonderful,” the person acknowledged.
“Then what part is not wonderful?” the cat persisted.
“The lack of genuineness.”
“What’s not genuine about something so good?” The cat was digging hard at a deep dissatisfaction that she seemed to know was there.
“Everyone is acting so kindly,” the person explained, “because they are terrified not to. It’s not love of fellow humans, as it seems you’ve tried to imply, but merely pure survival instinct.”
“You seem to be surviving quite tranquilly,” the cat countered, “and prospering more than you’ve ever experienced. Couldn’t you find within yourself any affection that is genuine?”
“To be candid, no, not I. And this tranquility merely amplifies that point, because there is no external provocation to dislike anyone. All those who expressed any of that have been mauled into submission by the lion—or are dead.”
“I appreciate your candor,” the cat replied, as the tip of her tail began to twitch in irritation. “What is it that you would do were it not for fear of the lion?”
“You really want to know? The person glared at the cat. “I’ve come to realize that deep down inside I really don’t want things to be fair and on the up and up. I want to feel superior to other humans, and I’ve admitted to myself that until I can feel that again I’ll be unsatisfied.” The person came almost nose to nose with the cat. “And not even a lion can change that!”
The cat’s eyes seemed to burn through the person as her tail now whipped audibly from side to side, slapping her body with each oscillation. “None of this goodness and tranquility has caused any affection to grow within you?”
“No,” the person confirmed, “and I’m sorry that’s so distressing to you. It’s why I and so many others dare not speak of it. I don’t even know why I confessed it to you, especially with him there obviously video recording this,” the person added gesturing toward me.
“Suppose the lion never came back,” the cat posited. “The blockchain could be ignored and things could go back the way they were before the lion appeared.”
“I’m not sure I like that idea either, though. It’s great to have everyone treating each other fairly.” The person sighed with extreme sadness. “I only wish there were a way to make it all genuine instead of forced.”
“There must be a higher way of living,” the cat suggested. “Suppose you sought that as a way out of your dilemma?”
“That’s the problem,” the person replied. “I’m not sure most humans have it within ourselves to reach whatever higher level of living you might be alluding to. We can’t wait to evolve to become better—all of us would be dead way long before that.”
“What if you have it within you already, just the way you are now?”
“I don’t see that.”
“There are real things you don’t see now, but use anyway,” the cat countered. “You don’t see radio waves, but you use them. You don’t see the air, but you breathe it. You don’t understand how different machinery works, but you still use the machines and don’t question the results. You would have to agree that many humans have love for their fellow humans—if one human can achieve that, then there’s no reason why ever human could not achieve that were they to resolve to do so.”
“Ah ha!” A gotcha expression came over the person’s face. “The resolve is what’s missing!”
“What would provide the resolve?” The cat cocked her head as if expecting an obvious answer.
“You have to want it.”
“Don’t you want it?”
“Actually I think I do.” The person nodded affirmatively. “Yes, I actually do want to have affection for my fellow humans.”
“So why don’t you resolve to be what you want?”
The person stared into space in contemplation. “No reason not to. I think I shall.”
The cat gave a head butt on the person’s arm. “I think you can to it!”
“I certainly shall resolve to do so!”
As the cat hopped back onto my shoulder I found myself back at my front porch. The cat gave a head butt to my cheek, and hopped down to the porch floor. I stopped my phone’s video recording.
“My mission is done here,” the cat declared. “Some humans will understand and some won’t. It’s sort of like the parable of the wheat and the tares: it’s almost impossible for humans to tell which other humans truly love their fellow humans. So you must resolve to love your fellow humans regardless of anything else.”
“You’ve convinced me!” I replied.
“Bye for now.” The cat bounded to the bottom of the porch stairs. She turned and looked back at me. “You know what to do.”
I smiled back at her. “Yes, I think I do.”
The cat moved up the street in the same direction that the lion had come in what seemed a long time ago. After the cat was no longer visible, I turned and went inside. There was so much to think about.