A story for you...
Beeswax Candles and Incense

It was around noon on Sunday and the sun still has not managed to break
through the fall clouds. Andrij pulled his old coat a little tighter and
bent down to dig up some more potatos.

- 'Andrij! Andrij! A voice called from the road.

It was Ivan, Andrij's neighbor running across the moist field, jumping
awkwardly over the furrows and stumbling every so often when he missed a
crest.

'You will not believe what I had just seen. I want to that Christian church
this morning. Ah!. . . that God of theirs is powerful!'

- 'Puss on the new God, I say. Our Gods are much more powerful', replied
Andrij.

- ' Well, my old friend, did you know that this new God can throw you in
hell, where they will gouge out your eyes, for all eternity'

- ' Gouge out my eyes?' - Andrij asked startled, reflexively looking in the
direction of the new church.

- 'Yes!. . . But! . . . if you go to church and pray this new God will put
you in heaven and they have some wondrous things there. Aaaaand. . And great
riches!'

- 'Riches you say? Says Andrij speculatively, 'What kind of riches?, looking
with interest this time, in the direction of the new church.

- 'Well. . . let me tell you then' says Ivan, satisfied that he finally has
Andrij's full attention - 'They have these beeswax candles, as thick as my
wrist, my oh my how many hives it took to make those. Aaaaand. You know how
foggy it was this morning and how the fire is hard to light on the damp
earth and they just put up an ember and those candles lighted up bright and
quick and with hardly any smoke and then later there was this little pot the
priest brought out and there was this wondrous smell that came out of it,
nothing like the herbs and leaves the old Olga burns. And the priest said
that it was only a small piece of what awaits us in heaven. Sooooo. I think
Andrij, my dear friend, you better come to this new church too.'

Andrij thought about all of that he heard and replied, even as his friend
shifted nervously from foot to foot, waiting for the response.

- 'Ivan, my dear friend, I think that this new church is trying to seduce us
with tales of heaven and frighten us with tales of hell, away from our old
traditions. The candles and incense are only props, part of the seduction.
The most important thing about them is that we can not have them ourselves,
we can only experience them through this church. Also, I can't help but
notice that the reward and punishment are much further away - and so much
harder to verify. If we follow this new religion, we will abandon our
individual connection to the Earth, which sustains us. Frankly, I think that
our difficulties lie not with the Earth, but with the feudal system, that
centralizes power in the aristocracy, which in turn promises protection in
exchange for out toil. The priests will become like this also,
intermediaries between us and our power, our spirit world and will require
ever higher fees to intercede on our behalf, gathering power to themselves,
even as we bankrupt ourselves spiritually, supporting their vision and their
expansion. Ultimately we will have no power, working only for others, while
this new church establishes a worldwide burocracy. '
-
Now it was Ivan's turn to be startled as he unconsciously started backing
away from his friend.

- 'Andrij. . . you sound different. . . like something has come over you. .
. are you. . . are you possessed?. . .well. . . are you? - Ivan tried to
think quickly of the new sign of the cross the priest taught them, but he
could only remember the old signs, so hi clutched the talisman he had
surreptitiously put in his pocket in the churn, and tried to spit over his
left shoulder three times as he stumbled, running down the field missing the
crests of the furrows and getting stuck in the damp, moist Earth.