ART+ PASSION= PHOENIX

   According to scripture, King Herod had sent the wisemen to seek out the location of the newly born infant named Jesus. King Herod didn't have plans of bearing gifts to the prophesied messiah but he had plans of eliminating this child who would to become the savior of mankind. That whole concept frightened King Herod and he thereby ordered the killings of newborn infants in Jerusalem in order to kill the baby Jesus. His plans were thrwarted when the wisemen began to adore and worship the infant messiah and they did not return with the exact location of the child. Many innocent babies perished during Herod's search of baby Jesus but destiny had to be fulfilled; he had to be born, he had to die on the cross and he had to raise from the grave 3 days later. But.....how would our world and history turned out if the infant Jesus went missing during that deadly time? Everything would be turned upside down due to the abscence of the child.

   Present day: There are only 39 books of the bible and it is called the ONLY testament. These 39 books chronicle the beginning of mankind and the supposedly creator of not only our world but of the universe. There are stories of Adam, Eve, Moses, Abraham, King David, Ezekiel, Daniel and the legendary fall of an angel named Lucifer who is behind all evil on our world. There is no sign of hope in our world. The presence of good and evil is evident, but the prospects of a better life is not. Father Mully has been a priest for over 39 years of his life. He started in the ministry very young and he has kept that same desire and faith going for those 39 years. At the age of 68 he still goes strong and was expecting to keep going strong until he made a trip to the doctor. A routine checkup uncovered a cancer spot on his liver and lung. The diagnostics would have been good if only one had the spot, but two having it was not a good outcome.

   Like all priests, pastors, bishops, evangelists and clergymen, Father Mully taught and spoke from those 39 books of the bible. There was nothing else. There really wasn't any sign of hope or everlasting life. The display of a powerful being called God was on display in those testaments but did this being cared about mankind and if it did, did it have plans to rescue mankind from the eternal dark bliss that has come to existence? Without the sign of hope, philosphers, academics and educators turned to science for answers. The people of earth wanted to know who was this God and what was the end-purpose it had for mankind. This inquiry was tackled by all scientists and the ones that came up with a somewhat plausible explanation were looked upon as demi-gods. Of course these scientists reveled in that status and with that status came corruption and false explanations. Eventually, science became its own religion with its devoted followers and hard-core fanatics and they became PROPHET SCIENCE or 'PROHIENCE' and they were charged with spreading the gospel of science throughout the world. The religious sector was against the Prophience and their teachings and wanted an end to it. They tried to pass laws against the teachings of science and evolution but the governments held up the equal-rights laws that granted certain rights and liberties to both sides. Without the knowledge of an everlasting afterlife, life as we know it was a free-for-all with everybody doing anything they want and to anybody they wanted.

   Hell, damnation, Heaven, eternal peace were not relatable and were seen as tools of control. Control from the religious sector. Anarchy, chaos, mutiny, individuality belief were seen as tools of science. Not everyone subscribed to either doctrine. Some had beliefs in both teachings while others choose to have no faith and hope in anything. The decision to not believe in anything was viewed as gutsy because at any given moment people were dropping dead or being randomnly struck by lightning. This was not out of the ordinary. The Prophience and the believers of science attributed it to the cause of nature and natural selection. The believers of religion attributed it to an angry God's wrath that was undenied, unparallel and unfiltered and both views made Father Mully extremely curious.

   Maybe there was a natural selection that determined certain individuals fate and at the same time there could be a judgement as well. But, where would this judgement send people; to a Hell or a Heaven? Since everyone vaguely knew of the 10 commandments, what would immediately happen if someone violated one of those commandments and more importantly; was there a way someone could repent and ask forgiveness from this angy God? These questions is what made Father Mully stay up late at night pouring and dwelling into the books and scriptures of the 39 books of the bible. He was trying to formulate that if this God did have a longterm plan for humanity and if there was a way for forgiveness, what would it be and in what form what this plan take? There are stories of sacrifice throughout the testaments of the bible. A sacrificial lamb is in the story of Abraham. So, what or who would this sacrificial lamb be for mankind? For Father Mully this was not just a matter of fulfilling a curiousity need but wanting the justification of knowing that there was a place where his children would spend eternity and was there a way to be redeemed.

   Redemption to Father Mully was extremely important. He had 5 children. 2 died at birth; 2 lived the street life and the one other child was seen as an oddball. Named after his father, Mickey, Mickey Muller was more interested in intellectual learning than learning the ways of the streets. Religion interested him but he didn't want to follow his father's footsteps and become a priest. In a way, he felt religion restricted the different ways to think outside the box. He respected the God in the bible and his father's passion but he wanted to know for himself and this set him at odds with others including his siblings. His siblings thought that if God could strike down anybody at anytime for anything then why would it be beneficial to try and live a decent, moral and spiritual life. This was a prevailing thought and it fueled many topics and debates and was the primarily reason people did what they wanted to do.

   Mickey Muller was nearing the age of 38 and had never been married. Everyone in his family thought he was gay, except his father. His father knew Mickey was a particular fellow who respected and appreciated intellectual stimulation. His 2 surviving siblings were either doing drugs or having multiple sex partners and Mickey wanted nothing to do with that. Father Mully constantly tried talking to his children about the dangers of the streets and he knew there would come a time when they would be responsible for their own actions, but how and when this time would happen.....he did not know.

   To support and further his education, Mickey Mully moonlighted as an emergency dispatcher. One evening his department was shorthanded so another group of dispatchers were called in from a neighboring county to help with the influx of calls. They were grouped in to teams and on Mickey's team was a woman named Maryann. Maryann received employee of the year for the past 3 years. She handled and executed the most calls on a consistent level that surpassed everyone else. Working as an emergency operator was not just a high paying job for her, for her motivation came from somewhere else. She did it because she witnessed her two parents die in a car crash while the 911 operator kept putting the call on hold. She believes her parents would still be alive today had the 911 operator followed through and release the call so the ambulance would've arrived on time. She didn't want to see that happen to anyone else so she made it her mission to execute those calls in a timely and professional manner. Her and Mickey immediately formed an intellectual bond and that bond grew.

  6 months has passed and that intellectual bond grew into a loving bond. They were seeing each other on a regular basis that didn't include sexual relations. Besides pursuing knowledge, Maryann and Mickey had another common foundation - no sex of any kind until they became man and wife. For Maryann this took on an added importance, for she was still a virgin at the age of 31. Mickey did not know that and it wasn't her intent to tell him. Besides, what mattered to the both of them was that they respected each other's values and sex was an important value.

  3a.m. and Maryann can't sleep. She is constantly having dreams or nightmares about a priest dying in a desert and there is a huge cloud over this priest. She wakes up, makes coffee and tries to rest but she can't. A few hours later she is at work. Mickey notices something about her and asks what's going on. She tells Mickey her vivid dream and it bothers her that it's a constant dream. Another emergency operator is a devote Prophience and overhears Maryann's converstion to Mickey. The Prophience suggests it's not a dream but a chemical inbalance in her brain. As the Prophience reaches to get scientific material for them to read, Maryann suddenly fates. At the same time across the city, Father Mully has a fatal stroke and is rushed to the hospital.

   As Mickey is at another hospital with Maryann, he receives a call informing him that his father suffered a severe stroke and may not make it through the night. As he enters Maryann's room to see how she is doing, Maryann is wide awake and tells him that the doctors discovered she is pregnant. Shock and awe fill the room because if Maryann was not having sex then how is it that she is pregnant? And more so, she is a virgin. At no point did Mickey doubt her devotion to him but when she informs him that she is a virgin, he really can't believe it. Still in a daze on the news, he tells her what happened to his father and she insists on going with him to the other hospital to see his father.

   When they arrive to Father Mully's room, Maryann stops cold. She tells Mickey that the priest in her dreams is his father. As Mickey walks closer to his bed, Father Mully opens his eyes to look at his son. He then looks over at Maryann and smiles as he stares at her stomach. Even though they have been dating for 6 months, Mickey didn't see the need to bring Maryann to meet his parents because the relationship was just a casual relationship, but at this moment an very unusual occurence is happening. Maryann is having dreams about a man whom she has never met before and this man turns out to be Father Mully the father of her boyfriend and Father Mully has never set eyes on Maryann but yet he feels he already knows her and more importantly that she is a pregnant virgin. He tells his son Mickey that he is dying and that he knows that Maryann is carrying a miracle inside of her. Mickey asks how does he know this and his father tells him that he has been praying earnestly for the past 3 months for God to show and provide a way for mankind to live better. He now knows this is the way. A baby born of a virgin. Just what this baby will represent or do is unclear but he knows it will lead a path for men to follow.

    As his vital signs deteriote, he asks may he touch Maryann's womb. A little reluctant, she lets him and as soon as he touches her womb the both of them feel a rush and have visions. Maryann falls back onto a chair while Father Mully closes his eyes and is immediately seeing clouds and space. A faint smile comes across his face. Mickey calls out to him as his voice turns into an echo. Father Mully is transported to a desert and that desert dissolves into space with a cloud coming towards him. He stretches out his hand as a form takes shape from the cloud. The form is of a humanoid form and it also stretches out its arms as if to embrace Father Mully. There is no fear in Father Mully at all. Within the form a blinding light comes from it and within that blinding light another humaoid shape emerges. This humanoid form is of a babies form. He hears cries of a baby as this form comes closer to him. At this point, Father Mully kneels down because he now knows this is the sign of the savior of mankind. It is what mankind needs. He can now be at rest.

   Two doctors are in the room with each one trying to revive both Maryann and Father Mully. Maryann is awaken and taken to another room. For Father Mully, nothing can be done,...he is pronounced dead. Mickey holds onto his hand tightly while crying. While holding his father's hand Mickey quickly sees an image of a baby in the clouds and of his father looking up at a man being crucified on a cross and crying out "My Lord, my Lord,....my Lord". He doesn't understand the image or what just happened but he senses that these two events that just occured means something. Something profound. He looks up at his father's face and sees a slight smile. This is assurance that his father finally found what he was looking for and he can't help but think that a child being born to a virgin has something to do with it. In one night a man of faith has died while a virgin pregnancy has occured. Was this a sign to Mickey? To mankind? His father always felt there was an abscence missing from mankind's lineage. His father kept the faith and believed.....now it was not only Mickey's turn to believe but for all of mankind to believe.

                                                                     THE END

                      COPYRIGHT 2012 PHOENIX PRODUCTIONS/JAMES D. WATKINS