Osprey - 9-27-2015 at 11:08 AM
Life After Life
Gerald Francis was killed instantly. He had lived a full forty one years. His life ended suddenly, tragically when his small private plane hit the
ground at almost 300 MPH. Before you mourn for this stranger I will inform you that he had been a good Christian, a practicing Catholic and his soul
went right to heaven, as promised, the very instant his heart stopped pumping.
His mother, Bernice Francis, had died four months before Gerald’s sudden departure. She had been in poor health for a very long time and finally
succumbed to the cancer that had invaded her intestinal organs. Gerald was by her side when she passed away. It saddened him to see her wasting away
and he was somehow relieved to know she was on her way to the Great Reward Beyond.
When Gerald popped into heaven there were no pearly gates, just tree lined paths and a few pedestrians. He singled out a man near the side of the
path.
“Hi, I’m Gerald Francis. I just got here. I need to find my Mom. Do you know who might know, where I can ask?”
The tall, thin man said “Maybe I can help. What’s her full name? I need her age, her date of birth and when and where she died.”
After Gerald did the math on her birth date he gave the man the information he requested.
“She’s down that way. Just keep walking down this pathway in that direction. You’ll see lots of big buildings. Look for the hospital. She’s in
the hospital.”
“Hospital? There are hospitals here? Here in heaven? Why would there be hospitals?”
The thin one spoke “She was sick. She died of her sickness, she needs care.”
“When she died, when she got here, didn’t God make her whole again, make her young and healthy, like she was when she was just a girl?”
“God promised Everlasting Life. He didn’t promise that one could relive the life they had. What kind of menu would you supply for Eternity? Would
you like God to reform your mother to suit your picture of her as young, healthy and happy? How about her picture of that? Perhaps you would like
God to make her prettier, smarter than she was. Would you like her taller, straighter teeth perhaps? If a newborn baby dies, how would you like the
child to spend Eternity? As a teen, an old man or as a babe? Your mother will live forever. Is that not enough?”
An old man using a walker passed close to the two men and addressed himself to Gerald.
“You didn’t think it through did you? The heaven thing, the Everlasting Life thing, you didn’t give it a lot of thought did you? Well, neither did
I. Practically wore out my old knees trying to make sure I got here. Don’t know if I thought I’d be playing basketball or running or what but I
didn’t expect this. I just didn’t think it through.”
Gerald addressed the tall one “What about my soul, my Mom’s soul?”
“You are your soul. It’s your essence, your body is a home for, a storage place, a transport vehicle for your spiritual essence. Would you rather
not have a body? Would you rather spend eternity as an amorphous vapor of spiritual energy, drifting among the heavenly clouds, unseen and unseeing?
I think not. Life after death should mimic corporeal life.”
“Who are you? How do you know all this? What’s your name?”
The tall man speaks “I’m what you call an angel. My name is Gabe.”
“Were you ever alive?”
“I was, I am, in the hearts and minds of every believer.”
Gerald grows bolder “Well, this was not what I expected. A feel cheated, I....”
“Measure your words Gerald. I know you. I know your history, the depth and breadth of your religiosity, your spiritual successes and failures, your
immorality, your occasional inhumanity. Gerald, you are very lucky to be here. You are here because of your mother. Her love for you is complete,
almost Divine. Her reward is not complete without you by her side. The mechanic for your airplane, Bob Stoltz, Jr. was having a bad day and replaced
your gas lines with those having a larger diameter. Nothing remains of the lines to bring the FAA investigators back to him for questioning.
Think of it like this: it could have gone the other way.
Chalk it up to, your mother needs you.”
[Edited on 9-27-2015 by Osprey]
BajaBlanca - 9-27-2015 at 11:27 AM
awwwwwwwwwwwww