WAITING IN LINE Joseph Roy Sheppherd There were exactly twenty-four of them waiting in a line, each with a hovering angel that never left their side. Presently, the line moved up. Whenever a group ahead of them departed, all the others moved forward, toward the exit. Those in line had many questions about where they were going. Whenever they asked a question, their angels would whisper into the ear of their charges, the askers would then repeat what they heard to the others as if answering their own questions. “What kind of world is it, that nether realm?” asked the first one in the group, who listened and then repeated the answer. “...it is a realm divided in many ways.” “How’s that possible, we’re united here, didn’t everyone there, come from here?” asked the second. “...things are different when we get there.” “How are they different?” asked the third. ...here, we are aware that we share one soul, there, we are individual entities and forget.” “When we get to the exit, where do we go?” asked the fourth. ...we may all come from the same place but, we don’t all go to the same place. We disperse.” “Are the places in that world different from each other?” asked the fifth. ...for this group, we’re going to two similar places, which exist side by side, both places are prisons. “We are going to be prisoners, prisoners of whom? Who’s put us in these prisons? asked the sixth. “...we become the prisoners of each other. Why would we do this? asked seventh. ...because there we will fear each other and because of the fear, we will hate each other. How’s this possible? I love everyone,” asked eighth. ...we must learn to love each other in that world.” “If there are twenty-four of us here and two prisons there, how are we divided?” asked the ninth. ...one of us will be born into one prison and twenty-three into the other.” “Which of us is the one?” asked the tenth. ...we will not know until we get there.” “Why are we a group of twenty-four, there are other groups in the line to be born into that world and each group seems to have a different number?” asked the eleventh. ...we are grouped not by when we are born, but by when we leave that world.” “Do we all leave that world at the same time?” asked the twelfth. ...more or less, we all leave that world on the same day.” “How do we leave that world?” asked the thirteenth. ...we will be killed, murdered in the war of the prisons.” “What kind of prisons are they, are they different?” asked the fourteenth. “...one of the warring prisons is a prison of inconvenience, insecurity and fear. The other is a prison of terror, pain, hopelessness and homelessness. Both prisons are walled with hatred and resentment, mistrust and vengeance. “Why are we being sent to such a place, is it a punishment?” asked the fifteenth. ...no, each of us has the power to set everyone free, to remove the walls, to stop the cycle of vengeance.” “Will we be successful?” asked the sixteenth. ...it is possible for all of us to be successful, or some, or none. If we continue to love each other there as we do here, if we are united, we can do anything. However, regardless if we love or hate, we will all suffer and die, it is war.” “How long will we be in such a place of suffering?” asked the seventeenth. ...all of our lives.” “How long are our lives there?” asked the eighteenth. ...for some of us, just a few days, for others, many years, but we will all die in that nether realm on the same day.” “When it is over, will we all meet back here again?” asked the nineteenth. ...some of us might not be coming back.” “Do some of us stay in that world?” asked the twentieth. ...no one stays in that world, it is a temporary place, everyone dies.” “If some of us don’t come back, then were do we go, what happens to us?” asked the twenty-first. ...that nether realm is a world of choices, where volition is manifested in deeds, it is a place of free will. Because of this, regardless if we are innocent yet hateful victims, or vengeful perpetrators of murder, some of us may cease to be, we will bequeath to ourselves non-existence.” “What does ‘cease to be’ mean?” asked the twenty-second. ...in that world people will speak of the relative conditions of heaven and hell, not coming back is worse than hell, it is the worst thing that can happen. Non-existence means no existence anywhere. We are spiritual beings and not coming back is spiritual death, it is when that which was created by God chooses by our actions and attitudes to be uncreated.” “Is there anything we can do to make sure that this doesn’t happen, that we come back?” asked the twenty-third. ...the only thing that we bring back from the nether realm is the goodness we generate. We are spiritual creations and goodness is who we are. We must choose to accrue goodness, to forgive and love each other. We must not seek vengeance lest it turns and finds us. It would be good to remember that in those warring prisons, it is preferable to die than to kill. “Do these warring prisons have names?” asked the twenty-fourth and last one. ...yes, the prison of Israel and the prison of Gaza. With the last question asked and answered, the doors swung open and each of them moved through the exit and were born at their different places and times. For a fleeting moment each of them remembered waiting line and wailed for the loss of those who might not be coming back and would cease to be. These cries were the first sounds they made in that world in the nether realm. The next group moved forward to wait in front of the exit, there were two hundred ninety-eight in this group. 4 August 2014 Kilkenny, Ireland
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 20:40:18 +0000
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