Cristi sat staring at the star charts. Michael had dropped them off that morning. Cristi needed help, and he knew it.

Michael had poked his head into Cristi’s tent, then pushed his way in, letting the flap fall closed behind him.

“Hey, Tziri,” Michael rumbled. “These are for you. Raj was supposed to bring them, but got sent to Earth instead. So here I am.”

Cristi smiled at the old nickname. He and Michael had been friends before the rebellion drove a deep rift through the angelic ranks. He stood to receive the scrolls.

“Thanks, Michael.”

“Yahweh drew these up himself. He said to tell you that whatever help you want, you just need to ask.”

“What happened to my orderly?”

“I sent him away. I beamed ahead to let him know I wanted some time with you.”

Cristi grimaced. “Beaming ahead” was the practice of projecting thoughts and messages before arrival, giving others a clear picture of one’s intent. It saved time, since preparations could be made before anyone appeared. Lucifer had fiercely trained his angels to reject beaming, since the messages often radiated truth. As demons, they had refused to acknowledge that Michael or Gabriel or any of their soldiers bore the truth. Any attempt at beaming had been met with violent rejection. It was a rare soldier who attempted it anymore.

Of course, the peace treaty and Cristi’s new position had changed all that. Cristi shrugged. That wasn’t his problem. They could all beam their heads off for all he cared. He had deeper things to think about. He had to draw humans and angels together, and how he was supposed to do that was anyone’s guess. The two races had been enemies since man’s appearance in the world thousands of years ago.  He had no idea how to bridge the gap when communication between them was still so broken.

He looked at Michael appraisingly. “Whatever help I want, he said?”

“That is what he said.”

“Okay. I want Jesus’ help.”

Michael laughed. “Well, welcome back, stranger. Good choice. Do you want me to pass the message on, or do you intend to ask him yourself?”

“Would you mind, Michael? I appreciate the scrolls. Timothy is drawing up a map of our forces on Earth and in Hell. I will get that to you as soon as I can. But where I really need help is with humans.”

“They’re not so bad, Cristi. I have met many valiant people over time. Jesus is genuinely fond of them. He will help you.”

“Thanks. I just don’t want to botch my first assignment because I don’t know how to do it. Yahweh might think I haven’t sincerely returned or that I’m reluctant. I hardly think torturing people in Hell qualifies me as an ambassador. In fact, I’m pretty sure that he won’t think so either.”

“Well, you never know. The Creator tends to fit every experience into his plans for us. In fact, he told me to invite you and your staff to a party celebrating the reunion of his armies and the planned unification of Earth. He is planning a roast. There will be humans there too.”

“Roast?”

“Yes. A roast is a human custom. People gather to mock someone affectionately in public.”

“They are going to make fun of us?”

“No. This is going to be a roast of Yahweh. The master of ceremonies is a human named Don Rickles. Yahweh figured it would help put the Sons of God at ease. I heard Moses is preparing a very funny skit. I saw part of it where Moses was lying on his face, with tears flowing onto the ground, while Yahweh stood over him shouting, ‘Get up! Get up!’ They had Yahweh down to a tee. It was funny, and Moses was very good-humored about it.”

Cristi smiled at the image. He remembered well that when Yahweh wanted to get going, one had to scramble to keep up. 

He straightened his shoulders as he walked Michael out of his tent. He felt better after talking to his longtime friend. His mind returned to his troops, and he resumed sorting them into platoons and stations for the campaign of Earth’s Restoration. Then he felt the Holy Spirit’s presence, and he relaxed. He glanced at his approaching orderly, nodded, and turned back inside.

—–

“Hey, you look tired,” Cristi said. 

Raj nodded. He was tired. He had been running back and forth between his sister’s house and his own apartment for weeks.

“Oh, sorry. Just trying to get the hang of this social media campaign. I wish Jesus would just tell everyone at once.”

“Well, that’s what you are doing, isn’t it?” 

Raj straightened and looked the big angel full in the face. “Yes, of course. Good point.” 

He noticed Cristi’s wings starting to unfurl slightly, and he stood back courteously to let him pass. They were standing at the entrance to Raj’s rooms. Cristi came and went at odd times, frequently stopping in or sending a messenger to settle some point or another with Yahweh, who had set up a de facto court off to the side of Raj’s living room. Raj couldn’t always see him, but he knew he was there.

What amazed and humbled Raj was Cristi’s constant willingness to seek help. He would drop in to clarify a point with Yahweh, ask for advice, or request orders when a particular task was done. Cristi’s good-natured confidence that Yahweh was glad to see him, even in the middle of everything, encouraged Raj. Raj had accepted that Yahweh expected friendship with all his creation, but it was still hard to shake the feeling that he didn’t want to be a bother. He knew he tended to struggle with problems longer than he should, when he ought simply to ask.

“Did you really ask Yahweh for Jesus as a helper?” he blurted before the angel launched himself away on his powerful wings.

Cristi paused and folded his wings as he settled to reply. 

“Yes. Michael told me Yahweh had said I could have whatever help I needed, and I thought what I needed most was Jesus’ help.”

“Why did you want Jesus’ help in particular?” Raj wanted the spiritual being’s point of view.

“Because of the task of helping you unite angels and humans. I know humans are afraid of us. I remembered hearing Jesus say, ‘Kindness makes a man strong.’”

“When did he say that?”

“Years ago. He was moving in Mexico. One of my spies overheard him telling a believer that kindness is the element that makes a man strongest. She questioned him, and Jesus said it was because of fear. He said that if a man is powerful, his wife and children might benefit from his strength, yet fear him at the same time. But if the man is always kind to his wife and children, they will love him and trust him in spite of his strength. Then he will be supported by their strength, which will stand fully behind his own. In that way, his strength is increased. The same is true of powerful women, and Jesus said it applies to soldiers and police as well. Kindness to others builds strength.”

Raj pondered that for a moment. “So, why did that make you want Jesus as your helper?”

“Well, I anticipated fear. Anger too, of course. I thought that might be the response from humans. I wanted help and advice from Jesus. He is known for his kindness to everyone. I thought he might help us begin to interact with humans while you were getting the word out that most of us are no longer hostile.”

“What did Jesus do when he heard about your request?”

“Oh, he was good-natured. He and Lucifer came and spent a few weeks teaching us.”

“Lucifer!”

“Yes, Lucifer. I am occupying the position he once held, you know. He was supposed to be commander-in-chief of Jesus’ armies, just as Michael is commander-in-chief of the Holy Spirit’s and Gabriel of Yahweh’s in Heaven. Jesus calls Lucifer the B-I-C at times. It stands for Backstabber-in-Chief.”

“How does Lucifer respond to being called that?”

“When he is talking to Jesus and Michael’s angels, he says it means, ‘Back off, I’m Commander.’ But when he is talking to my forces, he jokes that it means, ‘Bitch, I’m Commander.’ That harks back to the demons’ old fear that they were considered nothing more than dogs. Of course, Lucifer wasn’t the originator of that lie. That came from Satan himself, when he lured the demons away. He told them that humans had been unworthily elevated, while they had been made to be slaves, no better than dogs.”

Raj stared at him.

Cristi sighed. “It’s… an old joke. Among them.”

Cristi went on. “Lucifer has a charismatic and forceful personality. He is following Jesus everywhere for a season, learning how to make up for the wrongs he did. He also assists him wherever he can.”

“What did they teach you?”

“Jesus taught us to look into people and see where they are coming from. He said that our lack of love was partly because of our blindness. We had lived too long in jealousy and anger. Our hatred and self-absorption kept us from really seeing humans clearly. We blamed them for things they could not possibly have been involved in, and we opposed and oppressed them from their beginning. He said we had never seen what was actually present in their spirits and hearts, nor understood how we were created to interact with them.”

Raj stared at him. “How… what?” he sputtered.

Cristi laughed at the look on Raj’s face.

“It took us a while to understand it too,” he said.

“Then Lucifer piped up about being friendly all the time. The lesson from Lucifer that had the most impact was not to feel guilty. He said guilt is a waste of time. It does not accomplish anything. It is over. You did it. Now man up, if you’ll excuse the expression, and make it right. Don’t waste time on a debilitating emotion.”

“Didn’t they care about what they had done, and the harm and pain they had caused?”

“Yes, they did. When the Sons started to see what the Trinity meant at creation, and how mankind truly bears his image just as we bear him in our spirits, many began to weep with genuine sorrow. Jesus reminded us that we sang for joy at creation, but we hadn’t trusted him at all when it came to mankind. Our foolishness and lack of faith have caused untold harm.”

He reached out and touched Raj’s arm. Raj saw a tear on Cristi’s cheek.

“We truly are sorry,” he said.

The two stood in silence for a moment, and then Cristi said, “But we will make up for it now.”

“Well…” Raj began.

“We will talk later,” Cristi blurted. His wings snapped open. With a powerful thrust, he launched himself into the air and disappeared.

Raj stared after him, wondering what had caused the big being to leave so abruptly. He turned to go into Jovi’s house. A thought crossed his mind: Would I be able to accompany him as I had Jesus?