OR

Arema and Jarenc, two very young gods, hovered in the stratosphere, and contemplated the universe.  It. was complete.  They had nothing to do.

Arema was suddenly inspired.

"Let us create a new world to place in the universe, a world totally different from all others we have created.  Let us infuse this world with irony, contradictions, antithesis, perversity, paradox and ambiguity. It will be fun.

"I shall begin by creating little bits of life...people, I shall call them...millions of them, to inhabit and rule this new world."

"Let us give them great intelligence, like ours," said Jarenc, "but keep from them the answer to what will be their most perplexing question: What is the purpose of  life?  It will frustrate them not to know, though the answer be close at hand.  It is, of course, as it is ours:  to be exhilarated by being alive and  to rejoice."

"Let us give them more of our god-like powers.  I give them the power of choice."

"And I," said Jarenc, "shall include the seemingly pleasurable choice  to choose not to choose.  Ha ha."

"Jarenc, you are a devil.  I give them endless desire to enrich their lives."

"And I offer them laziness."

"They will have our power to create."

"And, of course, to destroy."

"To love."

"And to hate."

"To be good."

"To be evil."

"It will be fun to see how their life unfolds, what they choose or fail to choose..  We must not interfere. Should we let them come to know, Jarenc, that it is but a game?"

"No, the fun is in their thinking otherwise, they must think everything is important or they may choose not to play our game, and how then shall we spend our eternal time, Arema?"

And so it came to pass that Earth was formed, and People came to be, with the unrecognized powers of gods...and the choice not to use them..

And Arema and Jarenc saw all they had made and behold it was very good.