“A coffin doesn’t appear to be much, does it?”

“A vessel of sorts.”

“Pieced together by a craftsman, it’s planks of wood, cut to shape. That may be an oversimplification, albeit apt. You see, these planks of wood aren’t specifically chosen. There’s no method to the madness of creation. The wood is picked, cut and prepared irrespective of its intended design.”

“Once the craftsman has procured his wood, he begins nailing and gluing the planks together. When the box has been created, painted and prepared, it just needs to be filled.”

“That’s often where men like you come in, Ezekiel.”

“Your God looms over humanity as their creator. He’s cut each and every human being to shape, with no rhyme or reason as to why they’ve been created. There’s no method to his madness. You’re glued together and filled with a soul that I come to reap when the time is right.”

“The parallels between the craftsman and your creator are apt.”

“Just like this coffin, Ezekiel, you have been built by someone else. You are the coffin. The vessel.”

“But man doesn’t praise the craftsman, does he? No-one thanks the man who designed the vessel that carries the body to its end. They don’t pray to him or service him. The craftsman is a creator in his own right, only what he creates is unwanted. No-one wants a coffin until they need one. Nobody desires to be in one. It isn’t gratitude the craftsman receives, it’s nothingness.”

“Yet men like you will stand at your altars and preach in servitude of your creator, as if he and the craftsman are different. You’ll service his will, belong to his hand and do his bidding, all whilst believing yourself superior and almighty in his stead.”

“You foolishly believe yourselves to be untouchable and invaluable – a master amongst men. A Shepherd among the sheep. But irrespective of your belief, your servitude or your God, everything meets the same fate. Everything exists to cease existing. That’s the way of it.”

“What you don’t understand, Graves, is very simple.”

“He created the vessel that ferries your body to the end. Your creator always desired it to be that way.”

“Because there is an end.”

“Just like the coffin, you too will be lowered into the ground. You too will find your final destination. Just like that vessel, you were created to be a means to an end. The craftsman created this coffin just like your Lord Almighty created you and both of your purposes are finally served when you reside in the ground.”

“That is an end that men like you fear, Ezekiel. You should never fear that end. Never.”

“That end is where we meet.”

“And I will send you on your way.”