Bellinda couldn’t sit. She possessed the ability but not the will. She looked at the figures on her desk. A raging bar graph shot up from the webpage. By analyzing the data over and over again, she still wanted to know why October had been such an outstanding month. With her ideas swirling in her head like pools of oil in standing water, she wanted to know how she could possibly recapture this same momentum for the months to come.

When she observed the click-through rate on the orders for her learned machines, she noticed that mostly women bought them. Her eyebrow raised. The analytics provided her even more data than she could hope to gain. 

“Mrs. Gummer, Simon announced. “There is a visitor at your waiting area.”

“Who is it?” Bellinda queried the smart service.

“It’s a man in a gray flannel jacket with a Bible in his hand.”

“This should be good,” Bellinda told herself. “Tell Agatha to send him in, now. Thanks.”

The door swung open in just a few moments. A man standing about six feet three inches tall strode over the threshold to Bellinda’s office. He had a slight face and pleasantly grim features. It was like a cracked rock had taken over where a face once remained.

“Good morning, Mrs. Gummer. I know I’ve come unannounced previous to today. But I thought I could be of some assistance.”

“Please, call me Bellinda. What have you got for me?” She said it with an even tone and as if she didn’t want to rush this. 

“I’m president and CEO of SuperFaith Ministries, Reverend Dr. Livingston Valley. I know that you’re a strong nonbeliever in the theory of God. Or I would like to put it the Father of us all.”

“So, I would like to tell you why you saw such growth last quarter.”

“I have knowledge that a few of the parishioners around the country have been using the learned machines to help them light candles, read scriptures, and even sing hymns.”

“C’mon. It’s almost lunch time. I’ll take you downstairs to our eatery.”

“As you can surmise, I’ve been baptised since I was nine. I became an ordained minister at thirteen, and was head pastor of my church at age twenty.”

“I see,” Bellinda mentioned this with genuine curiosity.

“I earned my doctorate in divinity from New Sweden University at age twenty four. I started my business and then it floundered.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Bellinda seemed rather concerned.

“But by the grace of God, I was able to see a way to better understand my position. I started with six employees. We now have fifty six hundred employees on payroll.”

They reached the cafeteria. It was well lit like a vigil. Burning lights thanks to fossil fuels showed them the way to get to victuals. Valley already had in mind the prime rib with shrimp. Bellinda chose an açai bowl. Thanks to the profits, everything was free for employees and even unexpected visitors.

“Mr. Valley, I hope you take this the right way….I’m in this for the money, yes, and I take any customer despite their background. I applaud your success. I will say that you present a compelling case for my increase in sales. I, however, think you might be focusing too much on Christ and not enough on cash, respectfully.”

“I get it. That’s why I’m here. I want to partner with you to ensure that you continue to see those sales and therefore profits rise.”

“I would like to see SmartSynth become even bigger. As you know, there are more professed believers in the world. In this country-state, we have a population that is returning to God.”

“What you’re saying is that I change my whole raison d'etre which is to advance science and technology to accommodate the faithful?”

“I say emphatically, No. Like I said, my product is open to multiple faiths and people without faith in a deity. This changes nothing about my business and why I do what I do.”

“I understand that. If you would just listen to reason….”

The irony swept over Bellinda as she worked on a blueberry swirled in the purple concoction.

“I see we definitely have a difference of ideals,” he noted. “What we can do is work out those differences and carry on in the real world with real world solutions.”

“I only dwell in the real world. What you purport is the idea of some super world, another dimension beyond the bounds of nature. Whenever you or someone in your camp observes a 

  cause. That is an affront against any functioning brain on the planet, respectfully.”

Valley cleared his throat. “I get it. I get it. If you incorporate an explicit faith-based brand into your company, you will lose a great deal of business. But think of all the opportunities you’ll have by partnering with me. Outside of Smartystan, there is a raging fire of devotion to God. Here, however, your Third Declaration of Independence has gone noticed by the populace. Your colleague Dr. Covey Strong articulated that there is no Creator or other being that has given rights to man. They come inherent when one is individuated from the mother.”

“No, I’m just citing the wording of the Declaration Dr. Strong wrote.”

“So you think you can come to my business and not approve of abortion and think that I’ll just let you traipse in here and make a deal. I cannot go for that.”

“You have to see the entirety of the picture, even the frame. Look at all the details. The world is bigger than this place. More people means more money. Isn’t that what you want?”

“Yes, it is, but not on these terms. I will never sell out and say I’m an atheist but the company I partner with is full of theists. Now, I have many companies that use my products and they count themselves as believers. But I also know that there is a way of doing business without ever having to deal with personal matters such as belief in God.”

Dr. Valley looked down at his plate. He’d finished off his meal and now rubbed a napkin between his hands. 

“What I’m presenting to you is endless growth. If you enjoyed what happened in the last quarter, just think of all the dollars you will receive on behalf of SuperFaith Ministries. You already have an empire. What you and Dr. Frampton have done is nothing short of a miracle.”

“See, right there. I don’t believe in miracles. A miracle is if a dolphin gives birth to a hippo. That would be a miracle. They don’t exist in my world. I know that you’re thumping that Bible in your hand. How old is that thing, by the way.”

“This Bible is close to two centuries old. It was passed down from my great-great grandfather to my great-grandfather to my grandfather to my father to me.”

“Why do you carry it around?” Bellinda questioned a slight bit of wonder crept into her voice.

“I do so to keep the notion of the past always seeping into the present and informing the future. It is my one and only source of power in this world.”

“I can’t approve of that but like we said in the Declaration, men are free to use their minds in any way except in the premeditation of the initiation of physical force against someone else.”

“That’s right. I had to study parts of the document in the midst of the bloodless rebellion that arose in the state of Delaware.”

“I know, I know. But you see where I’m going with all of this, right?”

“I realize that you’re a Bible-thumper, maybe not a huxter. You’re too honest for that and that would be easy. You’re more of a sincere man of the cloth who has been focused on the Word of the Lord for most if not all of your life. You’re needing. You want me to give you something you don’t have to build into something we both can enjoy. But I can’t enjoy it. It would be lopsided. If there is further business you’d like to transact, we can do so back upstairs.”

“There actually is. I wanted to continue this conversation concerning the advent of believers taking interest in your machines.”

They got up and disposed of their waste in the receptacles and journeyed back to Bellinda’s office. The door closed automatically.

“Now, what is it you wished to discuss?” she asked.

“I wanted to know if we cannot team up as an affiliate, maybe we could at least work out some way where my employees could possibly be the reason for being the charitable source for your company.”

Bellinda peered at Dr. Valley. She looked at him as if melting clocks covered his face.

“I will not let this private company be overrun by charities or conspiracisms. In one, I recognize that there is a definite need for them to aid the needy. That’s proper if done privately. It would be a conspiracism to incorporate your business into mine. I totally reject the notion of faith oozing itself into the crevices of my company. I hope you have something better to say.”

They had been seated. Dr. Valley rose up from his chair. The Bible swung wildly into the air. He was a man afire.

“You say all of this, but you don’t know the word of the Lord yourself. Your God and his Son Jesus have blessed you with this entire business. You should be bowing and scraping, pulling out your hair to reveal yourself to Him. The One True God is the only thing and the singular power over this world. He has given you the opportunity to reap the benefits of his holy writ. When it is time to collect souls, will you be there on Judgment Day? Will you have the stamina, the very essence to believe the beautiful and shun sin? Will it be too late for you since you never showed interest in his Word?” He breathed heavily and little beads of sweat formed at his temple like a congregation.

He jumped on Bellinda’s desk and started shoving the Bible in her direction.

“You must repent. You have gone against God for far too long. You are on your way to hell if you do not sign the documents guaranteeing that SuperFaith Ministries will aid you in your pathway. You ate a super fruit at lunch…try a SuperFaith. Know that Jesus loves you and that you continue to go down a road of destruction. But only He can save you. Only He has the might to bring you out of darkness and into the radiant light. This is a one time only deal for me. But he has opened the doors to his heart to help you get to the promised land! We say ‘Glory, hallelujah’ and mark down this time as the moment where you go on with your iniquities or you rise up above all that and go with God the choice is yours.”

Bellinda breathed. A small smile cracked her face as Dr. Valley removed himself from her desk. She looked her square in the eyes.

“I wouldn’t give up my atheism if I had to endure weapons that send heatwaves towards my body. I am not about to go to a place of bewilderment and confusion when I know that there is no God, Jesus was just a man, and that all faiths deny the reality of existence. Sure you use reason when it's convenient. But that’s it. There are some believers who don’t even address that machines are wonderful tools. I stand against that. And you. Good day sir.”

Dr. Valley Chuckled, brushed off his suit and walked out of the office almost slumped. Bellinda looked at the graph again. She said to herself she could do better with her team intact.

Chintan Jani

Smartystan

Private Company

Bellinda couldn’t sit. She possessed the ability but not the will. She looked at the figures on her desk. A raging bar graph shot up from the webpage. By analyzing the data over and over again, she still wanted to know why October had been such an outstanding month. With her ideas swirling in her head like pools of oil in standing water, she wanted to know how she could possibly recapture this same momentum for the months to come.



Smartystan

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Businesswoman Chapter 37

Smartystan

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Businesswoman Chapter 37

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