The Ark by J.T. Taylor (story reading .txt) 📖

The world has been destroyed by man's unending desire to conquer and destroy. Its mighty mountains have been subdued to pitiful piles of rocks. Its luscious forests now piles of ash and soot. Its water is radioactive death that could melt the flesh off your bones in a matter of seconds. You couldn’t tell the difference between a mouse and a man because they had both been reduced to nothing, meaningless dust blown around by nuclear winds. All of mankind's' great accomplishments reduced to nothing more than grime, stains on the earth, a memory of a better time.

But who will remember them? The earth is in the aftermath of nuclear war, burned by the evil in the hearts of men. I now carry the last hope of man and animal kind.

I am drifting through space with DNA of every plant and animal on earth and the technology to reconstruct them, hoping I will find a planet suitable to sustain plant and animal life. Though my effort will probably be in vain, I will try nonetheless.

I stare into a black expanse with no end; there are only pinholes of light, the stars; my companions. I wonder if there are other people in the universe, another planet just like Earth, with cities and countries. Maybe there won’t be wars on this new planet; maybe they will welcome me with open arms. Or what if there’s nobody on it? What if it’s just me? What will I pass on to the descendants of mankind? What language shall we speak? What forms of government, or will we even have a government? Shall I introduce religion? Man needs something to believe in, something above us. Even in space I feel the presence of God, pulsing, like a wave.

And here I wonder of Him. If there is a "Him" like the men of the past have said. I often heard of the god most commonly accepted, most believed in and prayed to. He was told to be powerful, working in supernatural ways not known to man. It was told He created the universe not with a scientific method or formula, but with words; a verse passionately metered, carefully and wonderfully sung.

But I am a man of science. There was never room for a god in my mind. There is no DNA for divinity, no formula for the supernatural. I saw nothing that could not be studied, that could not be proven. God existed only in mythology, in the ranks of what could not be proven. I trusted no god but myself; my act of worship was science and I felt its glory.

Yet here I am with God. His presence is unmistakable, more real than my own. Like music, a soft hum, heard not by my ears but by the deepest parts of my soul. Peace envelops me, and hope sings me carry on. I have no words for the joy I feel, for I have made the greatest discovery of my career.

I begin to wonder, could all things have been destroyed for this moment between creation and Creator? Could He have desired this so much that He gave everything for it? Certainly I am not worth everything, I am not worth knowing. But, this music, the faint hum tells me otherwise.

I’ve listened to it for days now, maybe months, maybe even years; so now I am sure. My doubts have been cleared; the facts have been deduced. This song sings only three words, but they are of all importance. It is the source of life, yet so simple.

It sings: : “You are mine.”

Publication Date: 09-05-2010

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