Mentally Unsound


Tom: I think I'm a bit nuts.

God: You are.

Tom: It runs in my family. You don't judge me for it though.

God: I told you, you've got to throw out any notion of God as an omnipotent cop who lives in the clouds. If that's how you conceive of God, that's what God will be to you.

Tom: That's part of my disease, I think. I have ups and downs. The downs can last a long time. My writing suffers. I go nuts. I believe that I should strive to do any serious work with an open mind and heart. But sometimes the mind eats itself and this just doesn't seem possible. Are you saying that it's not my fault when I can't produce anything of which I feel proud? That when I cant' write, I should just wait it out?

God: I can tell you that mentally difficult times are not your fault. But you're a human, and you're going to make cause and effect associations no matter what state your mind is in. It's a way for your human brain to make sense of the world, but it doesn't give you the whole picture. Sometimes, like when your brain is ill and torturing itself, it can even makes things worse.

Tom: What do I do?

God: You might trying reminding yourself that the human brain truly is finite. You don't have to accept that (I know you won't), but try to think of it like getting tired after you run: your body has physical limits, your mind has cognitive limits.

Tom: But... someone always has to pay.

God: What?

Tom: Someone has to be shamed or ridiculed for my shitty day. It's only fair.

God: Oh lordy...

Tom: Lordy? Isn't that you? Did you just take your own name in vain?

God: Look, didn't I just tell you that you've got to... hey wait, are you fucking with me?

Tom: Yes.