"What on earth is possessing your mind? You want to give up now?"
"I'm not giving up," I put a strong emphasis on 'not', "Sometimes, I think life is useless and meaningless."
He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table.
"It depends," he gazed away then gazed down. It was now him struggling to avoid looking at the thug, "Outside religion life is useless and meaning. I disclaim that is in the context of us, believers."
"If not for religion life would have been useless and with no purpose," I muttered. Perhaps, that sounded like a question but i meant it otherwise.
"That is right. We born..." he trails and said, "Without being given a chance to choose whether we want to born or not."
I interjected with a chuckle, "I guess only you and I might have chosen not to."
He nodded. I gulped. He was the first person ever I met to possess such insane views like me. Whenever I share a bit of my views with someone, their view of me would change henceforth deeming me as a freak.
"I have always preferred a package of no suffering and no joy rather than that of little joy and more suffering," he laughed.
"Me too."
"We born and suffering begins. We continually get sick and hurt and all that sort of thing. We suffer to get food, we get food to live and we live to suffer. At last we return to the earth leaving behind everything we have suffered for. The life is too short and full of miseries. Even greatest inventors and founders do not live long enough to enjoy the fruits of their hard work. Their legacy remains, their names live forever but what for? When it cannot benefit them personally? they are honoured and sometimes statues are made for them but none of it makes them less extinct."
"It is useless and meaningless," I added, "Your work benefits your family and sometimes, the world but what's the point if it cannot benefit you? Life is useless and meaningful."
"What makes it useful and meaningful is God and religion," he remarked, "If one is living by God, one's work and its positive impact gets one's a new, perfect and eternal life."
His words conferred upon me enormous pleasure. It compelled me to comment immediately, "Let's put it in this way, it is God who give life a purpose. If one is not living according to God's purpose, one's life is useless and meaningless. Worldly legacy is useless without God."
Mah nodded from the beginning of my speech to the end.
"Speaking of God's purpose..." He trails off.
I took from there, "According to the Bible, which I—as a Christian—believe is a divine letter from Jehovah to us, His purpose is for us to live an abundant, perfect and wonderful life on Earth."
"Right. First stated on Genesis 1:28," he said.
"Exactly," I agreed, "but this life we are living is definitely not the abundant, perfect and wonderful described on Genesis chapter 1 verses 28 through 31. This is not the life God wanted humans have."
"This make some people think that God's purpose changed. That it is no longer to live a wonderful life on Earth as stated on Genesis 1:28. Such thinking, is contradictory to Jehovah's definite nature. He does change."
"Right," I nodded, "One proof is on Isaiah 55:11."
"So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent," Mah rushed to recite it and added, "When Jehovah says it, it gets accomplished. He told us to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over living thing that moves on the earth."
"While this life we are living on Earth is clearly not what Jehovah meant, Psalms 37 verses 10 and 11 tells us that in the future God shall accomplish his purpose by expelling the wicked." After I said that, we looked at each other for a while.
It feels great to be with someone of like-minded.
"Okay," The thug sounded, his voice indicated that he was chewing, "It is eleven in the evening. Congratulations."
For a moment I thought he was going to announce the end of the game.
"Fellow diners, it occurred to me that this restaurant is a restaurant like any other restaurant. Let us make it feel like a normal restaurant. Therefore, I am setting a new rule; You shall strictly follow restaurant norms."
The new rule was the most unclear and difficult of all the rules. Restaurant norms are different in different societies. What is a norm in a Samoan restaurant may be an anomaly in a Dutch restaurant.
"This rule is special and very important. It is going to come in effect in ten seconds from now," After saying that he went silent.
Distress was written all over Mah's face. This time it was me who seemed unaffected.
I looked away for a few seconds before I glanced at Fajrah's face. Sleeping beauty. I reached out and touched her cheek. With my index finger I slowly caressed her cheek. And again and again.
Then I raised my head and looked at Mah.
"I wish I could hear a recitation of John chapter five verses 28 and 29," I said.
Mah contemplated my words for a moment. His face darkened.