The Testimony of Taliesin Jones Read Online Free PDF

iumphantly, sa tisfied th at h is i s th e m ajority view .
    The new teac her w rites
th e s tatistics up o n
th e b oard. ' If I w as ask ing
thi s s ame question
to a clas s of c hildren a hundr ed years a go, mos t o f yo u w ould h ave sa id
that yo u di d b elieve. A nd pe rh aps in a hundred ye ars tim e fr om now yo u w ould a ll say yo u d idn't believe.
It would b e f ascinating
to see.'
    ' I th ink I g ave th e wron g a nswer,
Mis s,' Will iam J ones say s . ' Ca n I c hange?'
    'T h ere i s n o ri ght and wr ong an swer,' th e n ew teac her s ays . ' Y o u ca n v ote " not s ure"
if y ou w ant.'
    T a lie s in finds
it disconcerting that he is in the minority. Th e e x istence of God is not something he has
questioned. God has always been there since the beginning of the spiral in hi s atlas, long before people were around to vote as
to whether God existed or not. Even now as he thinks about it he ha s a sense of God watching . He sees a pair of hands c oming out of
clouds; protecting, reprimanding, encompa s sing.
The hands are mighty but strangely specific and human , with lines and marks. They are parting clouds and letting beams of light
through. Don't the others see the same? He thought they did.
    Co nfident th at s he
h as wo n the cl ass over, th e n ew t eacher co ntinues to pu sh th e c hildren int o thinkin g a bout w hy t hey vo ted th e way th ey vote d.
    'You
could say that RE is finding out wh e re our
beli e fs come from. Why, for instance, did
some of you say you b elieved in Go d a nd o thers n ot?'
s he says .
    T hey o nly b elieve b ecause th eir parent s d o,' H ooper says .
    'Rubbi sh. I m ade up m y ow n mind , t werp ; ' Jul ie D yer g lowers.
    Lu c D aniel h as hi s h and up . ' My par ents do n't b el ieve i n Go d . Th ey say h e ' s m ade up ,' h e says.
    'They
might be right,' the teacher says .
    'Why
don't you believe?' she asks Hooper, 'is it because of your parents?'
    'I'm
not believing in something I can't see,' Hooper says . When it comes to Taliesin to answer his thoughts blur and he is unable
to a rticulate his feelings. He cannot
account for his belief and its ori gi ns.
    ' I ju st do ,' i s a ll h e can mu ster. Th is dr aws a r ippin g , d erisory l augh f rom H ooper.
    'T hat's n o a nswer! ' h e r oar s .
    Taliesin
knows that it is no answer but his mind fail s him,
offering only vague suggestions which even in his h e ad
sound feeble. He feels protective towards the God he believes in and yet he doesn't
know why. His loyalty certainly doesn't come from his parents. His mother used
to go to chapel and sing. She liked to sing . But
that was years ago . His father has always
said he didn't need to believe. He believed what he wanted to believe . It was an aunt who gave him the Illu st rated Bible, not his parents . He still says the same prayer that he said in
primary school: Lord keep us safe this night secure from all our fears, may
angels guard us while we s leep 'til morning light
appears, Amen. He's continued to whisper the prayer to himself every evening,
believing it to be received and acknowledged.
    Julie
Dyer and Hooper have started to argue. There is a great power struggle going on
between them. Neither of them wants to concede anything to the other; too much
is at s take .
    Th e r est of t he
cl ass a ll want to s ay wh y t hey d o
o r d on't b elieve
a nd thi s c auses th e noise l evel to ri se furth er. M ean whil e , T aliesin c ontemplates a n ew qu estion. Hi s mind is a m aelstrom
of divin e polemi c and it hu rts hi s h ead . In m o m ents of un certainty he
u sually r etreats t o th e sa fe
h aven o f hi s im agination, a pl ace wh ere he i s m aster of hi s th oughts a nd beli efs; a r ealm wh ere h e is e mperor o f eloqu ence. Bu t e ven th ere h e ca nnot e scape
th e v ast curlin g of a qu estion th at h e n ever th ought h e'd hav e to a sk.
    During
lunch break Taliesin takes his satchel to The Tall Tree in the corner of the
playing field . The tree is an