Astonished, I said,“And Master, how long is this to go on?”He said, “Until the cities are emptied out,not a soul left in the cities—Houses empty of people,countryside empty of people.Until I, God, get rid of everyone, sending them off,the land totally empty.And even if some should survive, say a tenth,the devastation will start up again.The country will look like pine and oak forestwith every tree cut down—Every tree a stump, a huge field of stumps.But there’s a holy seed in those stumps.”