Faithfuel

For those of you who are regulars to my blog, you have undoubtedly been wondering about a question I never fully explored in my first post.

Question: “Can a rocket be fueled by Faith alone?”

My answer: “Yes, but not for the reasons you think.”

Since the Space Pope blog went live, I’ve been fielding several guesses from amateur theologians/physicists/pastry chefs (there was this one guy in Ohio…). Most of them cite Hanukkah and the whole miracle oil thing, where one day’s oil lasted for eight. First off, I would remind you people that I’m a Pope, and as such I can’t really attest to the relationship between weapons grade accelerants and Judaism. That being said, I can pretty safely say that’s not it.

I’ve also heard a couple of people suggest that I’m talking about some kind of metaphorical rocket, in which the rocket stands for humanity and Faith is the driving force behind our propulsion towards salvation. Again, clever, but no.

Truth is, this puzzler may have been a bit too biased towards those among you whom are more traveled… particularly in the Scutum-Crux Arm of the Milky Way. If you’ve swung by the outermost tip, you’ve surely heard of the Bartzonians, a race of creatures whose daily emotions are manifested into physical form and excreted through various orifices. It sounds graphic, and it is. Still, almost all of these emotions serve a purpose in their society, and it just so happens that the substance produced by the Faithful is their rocket fuel of choice. In a pinch, you could also use “Lust,” though as a Pope, I would advise you to steer clear.

If you’re still feeling curious about the Bartzonians, I would suggest checking out their Periodic Table of the Elements. Better yet, fuel up your rocket and head out for a first-person account! Though I would probably stay away from “Smug.” They use it as a hair conditioner, but, at best, it would melt your skin.