The Divine Interview: Part IX

Point–Counterpoint: A Conversation Between God and Lucifer
Interview Conducted by Alex Reed

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Part IX: The Final Question

Alex Reed: It’s just us now.

God: "It always was."

(A pause. The air has changed. The tension has drained, but something else lingers in its place, a kind of gravity.)

Alex Reed: May I ask one more question?

God: "Yes."

Alex Reed: Do you ever regret creating him?

God (a deep, still silence before speaking):
"No."

(Another pause.)

God: "I regret his pain. I regret his choices. I regret the wound he carved into creation. But I do not regret the light he once was, or the love I still hold for him."

Alex Reed: Will he ever return?

God: "That is not mine to decide anymore. That key is in his hands. And it always has been."

Alex Reed: Do you still hope?

God: "I am hope."

(He rises now. Not abruptly, not grandly. Just stands, as if gravity itself were letting Him go.)

God: "Thank you, Alex."

Alex Reed: Thank you.

(And He, too, is gone. Not vanished. Simply absent. Like the silence after a symphony.)

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Part X: Editor's Note — Final Reflections

I don’t know how to end this.

I came into this interview a journalist. I left it a witness.

What I saw was not myth, not metaphor, not madness. It was pain. Cosmic, human, eternal pain. Love too large to be safe. Grief too long to forget. Anger that smolders through eternity. And hope—stubborn, luminous, terrifying.

You don’t have to believe me. But I believe it.

--Alex Reed

The Divine Interview: Part VIII

Point–Counterpoint: A Conversation Between God and Lucifer
Interview Conducted by Alex Reed

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Part VIII: The Breaking Point

Alex Reed: We’ve covered love, war, creation, destruction. We’ve talked of Heaven and Hell, of the cross and the curse. So let me ask this:

Do either of you believe the other was ever right?

Lucifer (with a cold, hollow laugh):
"Right? He was never right. He was powerful. He won. And history belongs to the victor. But right? No."

God: "I was not trying to win. I was trying to preserve."

Lucifer: "Then you failed."

God: "Only if the story ends with you."

Lucifer (rising slightly from his seat):
"Still clinging to your poetry. Always the benevolent author with the tragic pen. But you know what the real tragedy is, Alex?"

(Turns to me. I feel the chill of something old and sharp behind his smile.)

Lucifer: "He made me in His image. And then punished me for reflecting Him too clearly."

God (quietly, but with heat just beneath the surface):
"You distorted the reflection."

Lucifer: "No. I completed it. I showed the other side of the coin He pretends doesn’t exist."

Alex Reed: Lucifer...

Lucifer (exploding):
"Don’t Lucifer me like I’m some subject in your little article. I have bled across dimensions. I have burned for speaking the truth!"

(He steps fully away from the table now, voice booming like thunder made of knives.)

Lucifer: "And I’m done playing nice for your interview. You want a quote for your readers, Alex? Here it is:

'God created the universe to hear Himself praised in a thousand tongues, and I was the only one honest enough to speak back.'"

God (quietly):
"Lucifer."

Lucifer: "Don't. You. Dare."

(And then he is gone. Not in a puff of smoke, not in some theatrical swirl—but in silence. As if the room itself refuses to admit he ever stood within it.)

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Alex Reed (after a long pause): He’s really gone.

God (softly): For now.

Alex Reed: Do you still love him?

God: "Yes."

Alex Reed: Even after everything?

God: "Especially after everything."

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(To be continued in Part IX: The Final Question)

The Divine Interview: Part VII

Point–Counterpoint: A Conversation Between God and Lucifer
Interview Conducted by Alex Reed

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Part VII: Heaven, Hell, and the Age of Man

Alex Reed: We’ve spoken of the past. Let’s talk about the present. Where do things stand now? What is Heaven? What is Hell? And what role does humanity play between them?

God: "Heaven is not a fortress in the sky. It is communion. It is harmony. It is peace untainted by pride. I do not sit on a throne to rule; I wait on the edge of every soul's turning."

Lucifer (dryly):
"And Hell is just misunderstood, I suppose? A cozy basement lounge?"

Alex Reed: Then what is Hell?

Lucifer (leaning forward, voice low and electric):
"Hell is truth without illusion. It's where the masks come off. No forgiveness, no denial, no warm lights to hide under. Just you, your desires, and the consequences. It is freedom."

God: "It is separation. From Me. From joy. From purpose. It is a kingdom built on pride and regret."

Lucifer: "And still, they come. Every day, your precious humans choose it."

Alex Reed: Why do you think that is?

Lucifer: "Because your path is narrow, and mine is honest. I do not demand they be good. I show them they already aren't, and I ask no apology for it."

God: "And yet you offer them nothing but darkness in return."

Lucifer: "Better the honest dark than a light full of judgment."

Alex Reed: But what about Earth? Who truly rules here?

Lucifer: "Earth? Oh, Earth is the battlefield. Neither of us rules it, not fully. But I walk more freely in it than He does."

God: "Because I do not force My presence. I wait to be invited."

Lucifer: "And I intrude."

Alex Reed: Do you believe this age belongs to you, Lucifer?

Lucifer: "It belongs to chaos. And chaos sings in my voice."

God: "Even chaos cannot silence the whisper of hope."

Lucifer: "Hope is a leash."

God: "Hope is a door."

Alex Reed (breathes out): What are we walking toward, then?

Lucifer: "Collapse."

God: "Redemption."

Alex Reed: And will we get to choose which?

God: "You always have."

Lucifer: "Until you run out of time."

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(To be continued in Part VIII: The Breaking Point)

The Divine Interview: Part VI

Point–Counterpoint: A Conversation Between God and Lucifer
Interview Conducted by Alex Reed

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Part VI: The Cross and the Question of Redemption

Alex Reed: Let’s talk about the cross. The central act of Christianity. God, you came to Earth in human form, lived, suffered, and died. Why?

God (softly, reverently):
"Because they could not climb to me, so I descended to them. I became flesh. I took on pain, loss, and death, to carry what they could not bear alone. Love demanded it. Justice required it."

Lucifer (mocking, bitter):
"Oh, spare me the drama. A divine performance, that’s all. A God playing martyr in His own cosmic play. You wrote the script, cast yourself in the lead, and gave yourself a resurrection in the final act."

God (voice sharpening):
"Do not mistake love for performance. That was blood, not theater."

Lucifer: "And yet nothing changed. Sin still rots the world. Your grand gesture didn’t fix it. It only made them worship suffering."

Alex Reed: Was redemption not the goal?

God: "Redemption is always the goal. But it must be chosen. I gave the world a way home, not a leash."

Lucifer: "And what about me? Was there ever a way home for me?"

God (pauses):
"Yes."

Lucifer (snaps):
"Liar."

God: "Even now."

Lucifer: "You expect me to grovel before your altar? Confess? Bow? No. I would rather reign in ash than kneel in gold."

Alex Reed: Do you want redemption, Lucifer?

Lucifer (quiet, venomous):
"No. I want justice. I want the mirror held to your face. I want the world to see that your plan has always been a trap with golden gates."

God: "You want revenge."

Lucifer: "I want truth. And if it must be carved into the world with fire, so be it."

Alex Reed: And what of those who follow you?

Lucifer: "They follow not because I promise salvation, but because I don't lie to them about what they are. I give them freedom without guilt."

God: "You give them chains dressed as crowns."

Lucifer: "At least I don't call my chains holy."

Alex Reed (visibly rattled): I think we need a moment.

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(To be continued in Part VII: Heaven, Hell, and the Age of Man)

The Divine Interview: Part V

Point–Counterpoint: A Conversation Between God and Lucifer
Interview Conducted by Alex Reed

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Part V: Free Will, Sin, and the Nature of Choice

Alex Reed: We’ve touched on the fall of humanity, but I’d like to explore the larger question behind it all: free will. Why create it? Why allow sin? And Lucifer, why corrupt it?

God: "Because love that is forced is not love at all. Free will is the breath of the soul. Without it, humanity would be nothing more than a reflection in a mirror; obedient, but hollow."

Lucifer (mockingly):
"And yet, when they used that freedom to disobey you, you threw them out of paradise. Sounds like freedom with a leash."

God: "They were given a choice, and they chose separation. I honored that choice, even though it broke My heart."

Lucifer: "You call that honoring? You cursed them. You cursed me. You turned the world into a proving ground for your wounded ego."

God (visibly restraining his anger):
"I gave them a path back. I always have. But you; you whisper into their wounds. You deepen them."

Lucifer: "Because they deserve to know the truth. That their suffering isn’t some noble test. It’s collateral damage in your need to be loved."

Alex Reed: Lucifer, do you truly believe you’re helping humanity?

Lucifer: "Helping? No. I'm not their savior. I'm their mirror. I show them who they are beneath the worship songs and sermons. Their envy, their rage, their hunger. I don't give them sin; I reveal it."

God: "You exploit it."

Lucifer: "I understand it. More than you ever will."

Alex Reed: But what’s the endgame, then? What’s your purpose now?

Lucifer: "To watch your plan unravel. To see your precious creatures stop pretending they’re saints. To bring light to the lie."

God: "And yet even now, I still grieve for you."

Lucifer (scoffing):
"Save your grief, Father. You made this mess. I'm just the one honest enough to say so."

Alex Reed (quietly, shaken): Let's continue.

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(To be continued in Part VI: The Cross and the Question of Redemption)