“Theresa, what do you think about all this?”, Juan made an indeterminate hand movement.

She looked at him, trying to understand which of the many possible weird things he meant.

“Strangeness of it all is in fact something I got over rather quickly. After all, I became an expert in strange even down there, with all those spiritual experiences I couldn’t properly explain to anyone. Here, everything is of that nature, and that makes me happy. Also, everybody instantly understands what I mean, so there are no communication barriers, which used to cause many problems”.

“I expected things to be simpler – in a sense that Heaven would exactly reflect our Catholic teaching. That was also a big thing in Spain – orthodoxy was taken quite seriously, and any minor disagreement with the official teaching of the Church could land you in trouble with the Inquisition, especially if you already have enemies, as we did. Here, there is incredible tolerance not only for various Christian interpretations, but other religions as well, and they don’t even see them as religions; they see them as ways to explain reality, or solve problems. I talked to the Buddhist lady in the orchard, and not only is she very kind, she’s also friendly with Christ – in fact, he sent me to her, which shocked me initially, but I obeyed him since he knows best. The lady spoke to me in completely Christian terms, only switching to Buddhist concepts when we talked about ecstasy and breathing, and they have a whole vocabulary and philosophy about things that we are quite incoherent about. Various systems seem to have specialities, things they studied in great detail, and those are often things like mystical experiences, where I didn’t think one can even have any clear idea about it, let alone make a whole theory. So, that was surprising – the fact that there are non-Christian people who know more about important things than Christianity. But I guess it is not proper to call the lady non-Christian, since Christ himself referred me to her. They are obviously good friends, and how can a friend of Christ be non-Christian? Were Christ and his holy Mother even Christian? Those terms don’t seem to apply here. They are all friends and family, and I’ve seen them interact with each other; they do it with such love and depth of understanding, that their simplest greeting feels like the deepest mystical vision”.

“They don’t care about things like heresy, but they care very much about truth and accuracy of what they are saying. They also avoid all evil at all times, and that is the greatest wonder: everything they do is completely free of evil. Everybody helps each other in every way, and when someone is tired from too much work, their friends and family come to cheer them up, bring them coffee, talk to them and make them feel better, and nobody counts favours or does anything with a desire to be reciprocated. It is as if they practice the purest teaching of Christ, but without even noticing or caring about it. They are also innocent like small children, playing in the grass and reading books together, or talking about all sorts of important matters. I’ve joined a few conversations and they were always kind and welcoming, and the things they talked about were never frivolous or shallow; they comment someone’s good deeds, praise their friends, think of how they could improve their devotion to God, or look how to help someone who works too much. Everything that is said about someone behind their back is always highest praise, and would make them blush if they heard it. As I said, there is not the slightest hint of evil or sin in anything they do, and it is completely natural to them; they don’t look like they are trying at all. Sinless deeds come from their pure souls the way sweet smell comes from a good flower”.

“You would expect the elders to be on some high throne and inaccessible, but I have seen the oldest, wisest Gods mix with others without any care for distinction or status, the way humans would. Everybody treats them with a combination of highest respect, and the kind of innocent trust and familiarity that children have for their parents. I once talked to Christ, and a young Goddess ran to his holy Mother, embraced her and talked to her excitedly about something, and it was with such intimacy, trust and love that I just stood there and looked at them in amazement, completely forgetting about Christ, who laughed and told me I’ll probably never get used to it properly, because he never did. The Church would have you think in terms of dignity and so on, and it’s not that they don’t act in a dignified manner. There is incredible dignity about them, but what I wasn’t prepared for is the casual intimacy of their interactions. I’ve seen a Goddess come to Mary in tears because she saw a horrible woman who killed hundreds of innocent children. Mary held her, comforted her, made her feel better and then they proceeded to talk about what’s happening in the world, and how their husbands are doing. Each of them radiated such incredible spiritual power and presence of God, that it is the deepest mystical experience to merely feel them in passing, and you would expect them to be dignified and distant – but no, they are dignified and yet intimate. Everything about them is deep, there is no small talk; but the intimacy of the spiritual contact is the most incredible and shocking thing about it all, there is directness and deep trust that small children have with their good parents”.

“Maybe the most shocking thing is that they are all married couples, and when they are together, I wanted to look the other way, because they felt so intimate together, and yet I couldn’t look away, because of how wonderful they are to each other. A husband brings his wife coffee, and she accepts it in such way that you just feel the depth of their familiarity and love, their energies coming together in a special presence of God that I have never felt before. The most casual things they do together feels like their form of Holy Communion, where the presence of God is felt more strongly and deeply, which is a wonder in itself, knowing how strongly it normally feels. To be honest, when I saw them, I felt a strong desire to feel like that with someone, because of how right and proper it feels”.

“I felt something like that with you”, Juan nodded. “When we talk about God together, it is as if the presence of God is alive between us and creates an ecstatic joy, which made me want to talk about God more and be in your presence more”.

“That is true. And about that, I wondered about something. What are we even to each other?”

“I honestly don’t know. I only know that we gravitate towards each other, we are always in each other’s company, and we enjoy it. On Earth, I was always afraid to put a label on our relationship, as not to spoil it, but now that you mention it, I think we should ask Christ or Mary for advice, the way we used to ask a confessor on Earth, to avoid anything inappropriate”.

“Did someone call me?”, Lakshmi smiled behind them as they jerked back, as if caught with hands in a candy jar.

“We wanted to ask You or Christ to tell us what is the nature of our relationship, and what is appropriate”, Theresa blushed and fumbled.

“Is that something you need to ask?”, Lakshmi wondered. “I expected you knew. After all, you are inseparable”.

She looked at the couple, and they didn’t look any more clued in.

“You feel like husband and wife who were taught by the Church that they should avoid even thinking about anything of the sort, because you were supposed to be celibate monks, both of you. Relax a bit, will you? You are no longer in your respective monasteries, and you’re talking to the woman who gave birth to Christ, so be honest. How do you feel about it? Honestly, when you relax?”

“I feel you are right about us, but I am terribly afraid of admitting it”, Theresa said, blushing crimson.

“I think this as well”, John was trying to look somewhere else. “My Lady, do you think it is appropriate for us to feel that way?”

“I think it is the most appropriate thing in the world. The only weird thing about it is how tightly you both seem to restrain yourselves in order to avoid doing anything inappropriate. So, I’m going to make it very simple for both of you. Theresa, do you want Juan to be your husband forever?”

“Yes”, the woman whispered.

“Juan, do you want Theresa to be your wife forever?”

“Yes”, the word escaped his mouth.

“Then I solemnly pronounce you husband and wife”, the Goddess smiled. “Problem solved”.

The couple looked at each other as if someone suddenly removed shackles from their minds. “Theresa, we were just married by the Mother of God”, Juan smiled.

“May God help me, I feel as if I just got permission to feel literally everything I had to suppress before I even felt it”, Theresa smiled back. “The things I could only allow myself to feel for Christ”.

“Is this appropriate for us to feel, my Lady?”, Juan turned to Lakshmi.

“You are husband and wife. Every intimate, deeply spiritual feeling that you feel for God, is perfectly appropriate to feel for each other. That’s how a marriage works here. We are God to each other, and we are an instrument God uses to love our partner”, she smiled blissfully. “Now, if I may make a recommendation?”, she looked as if asking for permission. They nodded in unison.

“Go to the orchard, find one of the Buddhists, whoever feels most comfortable to talk to. All three are wonderful if you ask me. Ask them to teach you how to meditate as a couple. They are incredibly knowledgeable about this, and they will know how to put you at ease and teach you how to overcome all those inhibitions you feel due to your monastic celibate past, because I see things that need to be released, for your great benefit. And when they are done with you, go somewhere and do as they taught you – meditate together on God and love each other without any holding back or restraint. How about that?”, she smiled.

“Yes, Holy Mother”, they both bowed, glowing with happiness.

“Have a most blessed and happy marriage”, she concluded.