How Glorious It Must Have Been

by Angela Byers

“Okay students, who can tell me what kind of items we can expect to find today?” Carl Jones addressed the excited children on the transport. They were making so much noise they didn’t hear him. Carl was a bright young man fresh out of school. His small stature didn’t help alleviate his discomfort teaching his 5th grade history class, but his excitement and energy more than made up for his “shortcomings”.

Carl attempted to get the children’s attention once again. “Who can tell me what era of history we are going to be studying today?”

“The Mystic Age.” Miranda answered and all the other children quieted down. Miranda was probably Carl’s favorite student. She was very intelligent and seemed to be a natural leader in the class.

“That’s right, Miranda. And why do we call it the Mystic Age?” Carl was pleased he finally had the class’ attention.

“Well, I think it was because during this time most of the world believed in magical beings. Most of the people didn’t like to learn about science.” Miranda replied.

“Very good,” said Carl. “There were even some people who rejected evolution and thought magical beings created everything.” The class giggled loudly, when they quieted down Carl continued. “As we explore the site today I want you all to keep in mind what we’ve been studying all week. Remember, this is a rare opportunity, most buildings of this sort were destroyed when the Age of Reasoning began.”

The transport came to a stop and the children gasped with excitement. The site was only recently discovered amongst the thick forest. When the new Age came about, the world population fell dramatically. Many small towns laid abandoned for centuries. All of this town’s buildings had been claimed during those centuries, yet this one still remained. Its marble and stone structure had helped preserve it. Most of its large, colored windows were shattered. Trees and vines had claimed any entryway they could find. A large rusted bell lay on its side next to what should have been a tall tower on the top of the building, but now was only rubble on the ground, having fallen many years ago. Carl thought to himself that in its time this must have been a magnificent place.

The class exited the transport and starred at the building for a few minutes. Carl finally broke the silence. “Who can tell me what they called this place?”

Most of the class replied in unison, “A church!”

“Right! And what sort of things did they do in these places?” Carl had their full attention now. Miranda eagerly replied. “They talked to their magical beings and did special ceremonies to try to make them happy.”

Another student broke in. “If they made them happy they thought the beings would do special things for them.”

“Or they thought that if they didn’t do special things the beings would be mad at them,” added a third student.

“That’s right,” said Carl. “They lived their lives always worrying what the magical invisible beings would do to them. That doesn’t sound like much fun, does it class?” The class all shook their heads.

“Alright,” Carl continued, “it’s time to explore! Keep a look out for the items we talked about and when you find something, share it with the rest of the class. Remember to stay on the paths that the archeologists have laid out for us.”

They all slowly entered the ancient building. The building was impressive — marble covered the interior walls and floors. Some of the archeologists had slabs of marble removed and were digging into the dirt below.

It wasn’t long before one of the students called out, “Mr. Jones! Come quick!”

Everyone gathered around. On the floor was what looked like a string of beads. At the end of it there was a small “t”. “It’s called a rosery.” Carl was energized with how alive history seemed. “People used this to talk to their magical beings. They would say a sort-of chant over and over again, hoping to gain the favor of the beings.” The students laughed at this notion.

They went back to exploring the old church. Some of the students pretended to chant to the magical beings. Others watched while a few of the remaining archeologists uncovered more of the structure. It wasn’t long before Miranda excitedly called for Mr. Jones.

She had found what appeared to be an ancient book, created back when people cut down the trees and made paper. “Mr. Jones! Look at this!” she shouted and all the children gathered around.

Carl examined the find. “This book was the centerpiece of the ancient religion called Christianity. They called it the Bible. The book was comprised of various fables and fairy tales from countless sources. People really lived their lives by what this book said. Let’s take a look at it.”

Carl carefully pealed back the pages of the book. The pages were tattered and aged, but many of the words could still be read. “This chapter is called Exodus and it says the magical beings told the people ‘Thou shalt not kill’. Now, that’s a good rule we all live by.” The children nodded in agreement.

“But if we turn back a few pages, you will see that the magical beings don’t follow their own rules. Here it says, ‘And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.’ Their books were full of such contradictions, and that’s one of the things that helped to bring about the Age of Reason. People began to think for themselves and stopped relying on old fables to direct their lives.”

The class spent the rest of the day exploring the church. Some read more from the ancient Bible, others found interesting gold and brass cups and plates. The children were again amused when Carl had to explain how a large tub at the front of the church was used to dunk people in water so the magical beings could bestow good favor on them.

In the late afternoon, Carl gathered the children and headed back to the school. It had been a long day and the hum of the transport lulled most of the children to sleep.

Carl found himself lost in thought. He had always been fascinated with ancient history, especially the Mystic Age. After a high technology buildup people became obsessed with their religions. Most historians think this Mystic Age was a response to the extreme rapid development of technology. After which, mankind regressed back in fear and ignorance.

It was only through an aggressive campaign from a small group of people, that mankind crawled out of this darkness. History called these people the early ‘Freethinkers’. People who refused to believe in magical beings, people who valued education, math and science. People who fought for a clean enviroment and a safe planet.

“How wonderful if would have been to be one of those early Freethinkers.” Carl thought to himself. “Standing beside them fighting back the tide of ignorance. Succeeding wherever they went. How glorious it must have been.”

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