What, or As If

What if something were so terrible, so beautiful, so real and true, it simply could not go away? What if, through destructions of temples, crucifixions and martyrdoms, and the wars and revolutions and new political systems which sought to extinguish it, showing what life was like without it, what if this something wouldn't go away? What if, the science you offer me is just as, if not more uncertain, than the truths I already held to be true? What if devotion, grace, love, brotherhood and equanimity were hallmarks of my truth, while the destruction of the spirit, the individual, the poetry and music of said individual were the hallmarks of your truth? What if I were provided not with an mainly empty cosmos, dead and meaningless and devoid of anything ultimate, but rather a universe charged with life and meaning and the hope of redemption for everyone? What if something were informed by magic, supported by dreams, promulgated by parables and made manifest in the Incarnation of God Himself, to the point history was divided by His death? What if an era were christian rather than common? I know, dear brother, this kingdom has been taken by force, that the church has been led by humans, and everything that that humanity entails, and that living in a fallen world, everything, including the church, is imperfect. But what if this were the most meaningful, most preferrable truth? The end of science can be sterility, mechanical, impersonal, soulless, and at the very least, destructiveness. So can, that be, of the church. But what if, the message had survived through the centuries, untarnished and revealed to all, despite the church's failings? What if love was now beginning to be preferred over strife? And the tide were turning?

Then, what if?