Byrin considered Lily's question. Could there be a God out there trying to get his attention. "I suppose it's possible," he conceded, not sounding happy. "It would be foolish to completely rule out the idea of a higher power."
"Why do you sound unhappy?" Lily asked. "Does the idea bother you that much?
He shrugged. "What I know about religion is very limited. There's very little on Earth anymore. My idea of Christianity is that it's a kill-joy. Your God has all these rules that have to be obeyed...like the sex outside of marriage one...and if you don't obey it, you're screwed. Going to hell and all that."
Lily nodded. "It does seem that way, doesn't it. Both about Earth and rules. Religion is still very present on Earth, it's just quieter since the government has all these rules. We still celebrate all the major holidays, even Halloween. Of course, you have to be part of that faith group to actually get the day off as a holiday, otherwise nobody would get anything done." She laughed lightly. "As for the rules, we obey because of love. Not because we have to. God came to Earth, in the form of Jesus, and sacrificed Himself for us so that we could be spared the punishment for rebelling against Him. To disobey is to spit in the face of that. But, it's also about relationship."
"A relationship with a dead god?"
"He didn't stay dead. Have you ever heard any of the Easter story? How He was resurrected?"
"A little," Byrin admitted.
"Some time after that, He left. He ascended into heaven, and sent His Holy Spirit to be with us. That is how we can have a relationship with Him."
"Sounds like an alien abduction to me," he joked.
"I think we would have run into Him out here by now," she answered, sensing the closing of the door. "Look, I'm not trying to pressure you, so don't take it that way."
"I know," he sighed. He looked across the room at the sleeping Miri. "It's just, that I have more questions than I have answers for. Like this virus."
"Some things don't have answers," Lily admitted. "Some things we take by faith, because of other answers. We may never have all the answers/ But you know enough to have found the cure for this virus, even though you don't have all the answers. That doesn't mean it's wrong to keep searching."
"Definitely something I would want to revisit," Byrin admitted somewhat reluctantly.
"Good. If you don't want to talk to me about it, or even Miri, Marcus is also a Christian."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"I wondered."
Lily nodded, pleased she'd thought of this. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind talking to you about it."
"I'll keep that in mind," Byrin reassured her. "For now, good night."
"Good night, Byrin."
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