Faith

“You all know why you are here.” Zeus rose from his massive white-marble chair to stand on a floor of puffy clouds. A subtle squall whooshed around him like an aura, causing his gray beard and white robes to flow in waves as his olive wreath rustled ever so slightly. “You all know the challenge we face.”

The eyes of the Greek god crackled with pure white electricity, making it hard to tell at whom he was looking as they drifted ’round the circle of six floating thrones.

“Our existence is being questioned.” Odin, sitting cross-legged in the seat next to Zeus, nodded slowly. His black cloak covered his body, but his brown beard hung down over it. “It is hard to ignore such sacrilege, but I can’t help but understand where the mortals are coming from.”

“I agree with you, Wanderer.” Zeus sighed as he sat back down, resting his arms on the armrests and leaning back. “But we cannot just show ourselves.”

“Why not?” Chaac ‒ who sat next to Odin ‒ banged the pummel of his jade axe onto the floor, emitting a deafening echo. The many intricate tattoos on his bare torso glowed light purple, along with his eyes, until he took a deep breath. After controlling his temper, the tattoos returned to black and his eyes showed their pupils once again.

“Faith is not faith if proven true.” Anubis’ pointy ears twitched as he turned his head towards the Mayan rain-god that sat next to him. “That, is why.”

Chaac peered at the jackal’s golden neck collar, scrutinizing its patterned ruby and sapphire design. He then raised an eyebrow as he locked eyes with the god. “Why you have the head of a dog, I’ll never know.”

“Jackal.” Anubis corrected him. “And it is not our place to understand humanity’s depictions of us. It is merely our place to give them what they need while acting out of sight.”

“Boys, if we could keep the insults to a minimum.” Minerva, wearing her chiton and silver hemet, had her shield and spear resting on either side of her chair. “This is a serious matter. I’d hate to raise arms in such a… ‘diplomatic’ setting.”

“Yes, if we may.” Nüwa smirked at Minerva. She sat next to the Roman goddess, though her serpentine lower body coiled around the chair’s base. The dark orange scales contrasted starkly against the white marble. “This spontaneous gathering has put quite a dent in my schedule. I promised Guan Yu I would speak with him today.”

“You couldn’t have come dressed at least a little differently?” Zeus eyed Minerva. “You look so much like Ath‒”

“Don’t say it.” The Roman brought her hand up in a ‘stop’ gesture, her glittering silver nails peeking out just above her fingertips. “Just be glad I came in Jupiter’s stead. You can blame the Etruscaens for their inspiration later.”

“You’re right.” Zeus inclined his head, a spark of lightning weaving its way through his beard. “Now how are we supposed to solve this whole ‘we don’t know if our gods exist so why should we keep believing in them’ issue?”

“It is a tough circumstance.” Odin stroked his beard, then adjusted his eyepatch. “Humans have grown brazen. Perhaps too brazen.”

“Do you truly believe it is audacity that drives them to seek knowledge?” Nüwa shrugged.

“They are not seeking knowledge in this situation.” Anubis brushed the backs of his claws on the ankh-head of his staff, emitting a soft screeching sound. “They are seeking proof of faith. Proof of the unknown.”

“And faith is not knowledge?” Minerva countered.

“In this scenario it is.” Zeus boomed. “Knowledge is something that must be proven, and the mortals seek to prove faith, thus making it knowledge. But, I agree with Anubis. Faith should not be knowledge; it should be blind. We cannot just go revealing ourselves to humanity.”

“As I asked before.” Chaac slammed his fist on the armrest of his chair. “Why not?”

“Because if we do.” Odin cleared his throat. “Then what makes us any different from mortal kings and queens?”

“Our power.” Chaac growled. “Ordinary rulers cannot so much as touch us.”

“Indeed.” The Wanderer sighed. “But once we prove to them our existence, we become tangible; we become knowable.”

“I see where he’s going with this.” Minerva crossed her legs, adjusting her chiton over them. “Yes, we are physically more powerful than the mortal kings and queens, but our true power lies in our mystery.”

“They pray to us with uncertainty.” Nüwa added. “It is that uncertainty ‒ their inability to conclude whether or not we can truly hear them ‒ that drives the prayer forward. Without that element of blind faith, the faith falls flat.”

“Then we strike fear into their hearts.” Chaac pounded his chest with his fist twice. “We bring our weapons to their throats.”

“We are already feared through the acts of nature we perform.” Zeus opened his palm and a spark of lightning flickered within it. “When a thunderstorm rages across the islands of the Aegean, the Greeks know I am displeased. Or so they should.”

“Odin.” Nüwa spoke up. “You sacrificed your eye for wisdom, so perhaps you know something we don’t.”

The Wanderer said nothing as he stared at the Chinese goddess. He simply stroked his beard while squinting his single eye.

“This seems like a lose-lose situation for us as gods.” Anubis scratched his snout, then pointed at me as I levitated at the center of the circle of thrones. “Which is why I brought with me this human soul before sending him into Duat ‒ our underworld ‒ and under the oversight of Osiris.

Even with no corporeal body, I became warm; tense. My ethereal figure flickered in response to the anxiety that seized me.

“Clever dog.” Chaac chuckled.

“Jackal.” Anubis corrected him again.

“Whatever.”

“Child.” Nüwa looked down at me. “When did you die?”

“Um…” I gulped. “Two days ago? I think?”

“And when you were alive.” She continued. “Did you believe in your gods?”

“Of course.” I shook my head up and down. “My faith has been tested many times by my family and friends, but I remained true until the end.”

“So when you laid your eyes upon your jackal-headed god. Were you surprised to see him personally?”

“Well, now that you ask.” I gulped again. “Yes. A little bit.”

“Would you be able to share with us why?”

“I grew up learning about the history of Egypt and her gods, but I suppose part of me always felt a little bit unsure that, when I died, I’d actually be coming face to face with Anubis. I had faith that I would see him, of course.”

“And there you have it.” Minerva clapped her hands once, then looked around at the circle of gods. “This man held onto his faith, even though the unknown intimidated him.”

“And apparently this ‘unknown’ is now intimidating mortals a bit too much.” Zeus rubbed his forehead with both hands. “They are abandoning faith in search of proof. How are we supposed to keep them on the path that the individual before us has followed.”

“Um…” I raised my hand. “I have an idea, if I may?”

The gods exchanged glances.

“Speak.” Odin’s voice was lined with a calm tone. “Please.”

“Thank you.” I smiled at him. “I think that you all should do nothing.”

“You what?” Minerva burst to her feet. “How dare you even suggest such a solution!”

“The warrior goddess is correct.” Chaac guffawed. “This is inconceivable.”

“Silence.” Zeus’ voice thundered across the room. “Hear the human out.”

“Faith, in my humble opinion, is meant for the strong.” My throat had tensed a bit as my voice quivered. “For only the strong can be brave enough to believe in the unknown until his or her dying breath.”

I scanned the circle to see scowls on the faces of the gods. Except Odin. He grinned.

“I must say…” Zeus’ voice trailed off as he followed my gaze to Odin. “Wanderer. You are amused by this mortal’s suggestion?”

“Intrigued.” The Norse god responded. “I believe him to be quite correct.”

“How?” Anubis’ pitch black eyes widened.

“It is not our place to make mortals believe.” The Wanderer rose to his feet, letting his cloak shag down to its full length. “Only they can choose to do so. It is in their right as free-willed beings. I cannot and will not do anything to prevent them from wishing proof of our existence in order to keep believing. But, that being said, I will happily do nothing to sway their belief. A human too weak to have faith in the unknown is not a human I want as a worshiper.”

Odin’s spear coalesced into his open hand. He hit the floor once with it, and vanished. The rest of the gods glanced around at each other, until Zeus broke the silence.

“Well.” The Greek god said. “It seems our solution to the problem has been found.”

All the divinities muttered in agreement, then vanished. All but Anubis, who remained seated, still holding on to his staff. The Jackal’s eyes gazed at me. He seemed to be bearing his teeth in a grin. That facial expression would terrify anyone living, but to the dead such as myself, it caused serenity to saturate my soul.

“For a mortal.” He smiled. “You are quite wise.”

“Th-thank you, great one.” I bowed.

“Come.” He stood up and extended his paw-hand to me. “Let us weigh your heart against Ma’at upon the scale of judgment. Though, if I’m being honest, I believe I already know the verdict we are about to see. ”