Desolation
09-27-2009, 12:39 PM
(Note: Anyone here will recognize the themes borrowed from 'The Brother Karamazov')
Apparently, there is an abundance of souls to be judged these days, so it might take a few weeks, or even months to see you. The Big Guy is a busy man, with so many meetings to attend with the newly deceased. I've been here for a while now, but I'm not complaining...They set you up in a nice personalized room with all of your favorite things, excepting any companions, of course. If this is purgatory, I wonder what paradise is like. When the day finally came for me to face my judgment, I was even a little sad to leave my room behind. But, unfortunately, we all have to face our maker eventually, and my time had come.
I didn't really know what to expect going in. I was understandably nervous, being a devout atheist all my life. Well, I guess I was wrong, but I had my reasons straight, which was enough for me. I still wasn't sure who was really right at that point anyways.
I walked into a white room, and there He was, more or less just like I thought he'd be...Middle Eastern, long dark hair, a beard, a white robe, only with a halo rather than a crown of thorns. His presence immediately comforted me. He beckoned me, "Sit down, my son." And so there I was, sitting at a table across from Jesus Christ, looking him straight in the eye. I never thought that I would be there.
"Hello, sir. I've never been all that good with small talk, and you have quite a busy schedule, I under stand, so shall we get right down to business?" I greeted Him.
"Yes, my son. You have been a good man, but you have much to answer for."
"Do I really?"
"Yes, indeed. You have committed the greatest sin of all, you have denied me in life."
"Is that really the greatest sin of all, sir?" I asked, perplexed.
"It is," he answered drily.
"I have a hard time understanding such a thing. Are you really telling me that it is not worse to murder or rape?"
"If a man has done such things, but seeks my forgiveness, I shall grant it."
"So, if Charlie Manson were to ask your forgiveness, you would grant it, and he would be welcomed into your paradise?"
"Indeed."
Things suddenly took a dark turn in my eyes. This kind and amiable being sitting before me suddenly took on a new light. "That doesn't make any sense, sir," I responded.
"That is just the way things are, my son. But fear not, it is not too late to save your soul. Even the non-believer, should he be righteous, deserves a chance at repentance. Will you apologize for your denial of My divinity?"
"I certainly will not. You tell me such things, and expect me to kneel down and beg your forgiveness? To grovel at your feet and forever sing your praises? No, I will not. You tell me that I have much to answer for, well what about you?"
"My child, I am shocked by your sudden insubordination. What must I answer for?"
"How could you even ask such a thing? Look at your world, Jesus. It is filled with unfair and undeserved suffering."
"I cannot constantly intervene, my child, then people would grow far too dependent. I help those who help themselves."
"Fine then, but why children? Tell me that, Jesus. All over the world, there are children starving and suffering. Adults, fine, we must help ourselves. But, children? On the news, we frequently hear stories of little girls taken from their homes to be raped and murdered. Little girls, Jesus! Yes, it's their fault, isn't it? They should be able to fend off the attackers on their own. You only help those who help themselves? How very convenient of an excuse for you to sit up here and do nothing. You could do something, you could make it stop. Maybe put a police officer right there, or give the girl a chance to scream loud enough so that a caring person may come to their aid, but you do nothing and let the child bear more suffering than any person, let alone child, should have to bear. And then you tell me that if the men who attack these children believe in you, if they ask your forgiveness while still alive, you grant it to them? You're a monster."
"All deserve a chance at redemption, my son."
"Unless of course they don't believe in you."
"My son, I gave them life, I went down to the world and suffered with them and died for them. Is it not too much to ask that they believe in me, after all that I have done for them?"
"You created a life filled with suffering. You throw a few twigs at people and expect them to build a house. And then you died for them once, and use that as an excuse for the suffering of children. Furthermore, if You're so obsessed with people believing in you, then why do you never give them anything? All anyone has to go on is a book from thousands of years ago, and a few coincidental circumstances that can be easily explained logically and without any supernatural guidance. It hardly seems fair that whether or not someone believes in You should be the deciding factor in the fate of their soul. Just how egotistical are You?"
"If one knows Me, then it is too easy to live a righteous life. All would simply follow, and there would be no way to test the sincerity of their deeds. That is why faith is the highest virtue."
"That doesn't make any sense, Jesus. On Earth, they always say that the ways of God are beyond our understanding, and now I see why. Your ways are simply incomprehensible to a logical mind."
"Even now, sitting before me, you would place more faith in your logic than in Me?"
"Yes."
"Then, my son, you have done an amazing thing. You have faced me, and courageously stuck to your values even when they were opposed to Mine. For your courage, I will allow you to enter My paradise."
"Was everything that you said before true?"
"Indeed, it was."
"Then I must decline. I do not want in to Your paradise. Take me back to my room."
Apparently, there is an abundance of souls to be judged these days, so it might take a few weeks, or even months to see you. The Big Guy is a busy man, with so many meetings to attend with the newly deceased. I've been here for a while now, but I'm not complaining...They set you up in a nice personalized room with all of your favorite things, excepting any companions, of course. If this is purgatory, I wonder what paradise is like. When the day finally came for me to face my judgment, I was even a little sad to leave my room behind. But, unfortunately, we all have to face our maker eventually, and my time had come.
I didn't really know what to expect going in. I was understandably nervous, being a devout atheist all my life. Well, I guess I was wrong, but I had my reasons straight, which was enough for me. I still wasn't sure who was really right at that point anyways.
I walked into a white room, and there He was, more or less just like I thought he'd be...Middle Eastern, long dark hair, a beard, a white robe, only with a halo rather than a crown of thorns. His presence immediately comforted me. He beckoned me, "Sit down, my son." And so there I was, sitting at a table across from Jesus Christ, looking him straight in the eye. I never thought that I would be there.
"Hello, sir. I've never been all that good with small talk, and you have quite a busy schedule, I under stand, so shall we get right down to business?" I greeted Him.
"Yes, my son. You have been a good man, but you have much to answer for."
"Do I really?"
"Yes, indeed. You have committed the greatest sin of all, you have denied me in life."
"Is that really the greatest sin of all, sir?" I asked, perplexed.
"It is," he answered drily.
"I have a hard time understanding such a thing. Are you really telling me that it is not worse to murder or rape?"
"If a man has done such things, but seeks my forgiveness, I shall grant it."
"So, if Charlie Manson were to ask your forgiveness, you would grant it, and he would be welcomed into your paradise?"
"Indeed."
Things suddenly took a dark turn in my eyes. This kind and amiable being sitting before me suddenly took on a new light. "That doesn't make any sense, sir," I responded.
"That is just the way things are, my son. But fear not, it is not too late to save your soul. Even the non-believer, should he be righteous, deserves a chance at repentance. Will you apologize for your denial of My divinity?"
"I certainly will not. You tell me such things, and expect me to kneel down and beg your forgiveness? To grovel at your feet and forever sing your praises? No, I will not. You tell me that I have much to answer for, well what about you?"
"My child, I am shocked by your sudden insubordination. What must I answer for?"
"How could you even ask such a thing? Look at your world, Jesus. It is filled with unfair and undeserved suffering."
"I cannot constantly intervene, my child, then people would grow far too dependent. I help those who help themselves."
"Fine then, but why children? Tell me that, Jesus. All over the world, there are children starving and suffering. Adults, fine, we must help ourselves. But, children? On the news, we frequently hear stories of little girls taken from their homes to be raped and murdered. Little girls, Jesus! Yes, it's their fault, isn't it? They should be able to fend off the attackers on their own. You only help those who help themselves? How very convenient of an excuse for you to sit up here and do nothing. You could do something, you could make it stop. Maybe put a police officer right there, or give the girl a chance to scream loud enough so that a caring person may come to their aid, but you do nothing and let the child bear more suffering than any person, let alone child, should have to bear. And then you tell me that if the men who attack these children believe in you, if they ask your forgiveness while still alive, you grant it to them? You're a monster."
"All deserve a chance at redemption, my son."
"Unless of course they don't believe in you."
"My son, I gave them life, I went down to the world and suffered with them and died for them. Is it not too much to ask that they believe in me, after all that I have done for them?"
"You created a life filled with suffering. You throw a few twigs at people and expect them to build a house. And then you died for them once, and use that as an excuse for the suffering of children. Furthermore, if You're so obsessed with people believing in you, then why do you never give them anything? All anyone has to go on is a book from thousands of years ago, and a few coincidental circumstances that can be easily explained logically and without any supernatural guidance. It hardly seems fair that whether or not someone believes in You should be the deciding factor in the fate of their soul. Just how egotistical are You?"
"If one knows Me, then it is too easy to live a righteous life. All would simply follow, and there would be no way to test the sincerity of their deeds. That is why faith is the highest virtue."
"That doesn't make any sense, Jesus. On Earth, they always say that the ways of God are beyond our understanding, and now I see why. Your ways are simply incomprehensible to a logical mind."
"Even now, sitting before me, you would place more faith in your logic than in Me?"
"Yes."
"Then, my son, you have done an amazing thing. You have faced me, and courageously stuck to your values even when they were opposed to Mine. For your courage, I will allow you to enter My paradise."
"Was everything that you said before true?"
"Indeed, it was."
"Then I must decline. I do not want in to Your paradise. Take me back to my room."