Sunday 31 January 2021

The long line to Heaven

 

You're standing there in this long line of people stretching for miles and miles ahead of you, and similar longer distance behind you. All waiting to get into Heaven. You see the Pearly Gate in the horizon. It looks so tiny from this distance.

Ahead of you an Englishman murmurs to a Texan standing near him, "it's a long queue, don't you know? And it's moving slowly ... what?"

The Texan replies, "in America we call it a line, not a queue!"

"But we're not in America now, old boy," says the Englishman, "we're waiting to enter Heaven. Why is it taking so long?"

"Probably computer problems," informs his friend, "you know what it's like! New version of an old program. It was easier in the old days when St Peter had all our records in big tomes and a quill pen. The only way they can make this queue shorter is by asking people to stand closer to each other!"

You look again ahead and behind you. There are people of every race, every country and every religion it seems. People are speaking in different languages. You wonder whether St Peter at the Gate will understand them. He learned to speak every language at Pentecost. But now it's different. There are so many new languages and dialects and accents. Will he be able to understand that group from Glasgow over there? Not even the British can understand them.

Your mind wanders to your family. Your spouse, your children, siblings, parents, uncles and aunts and cousins. Where are they? you wonder. Ahead of you in the queue? Or behind you? Or are they in Heaven already? Or, God forbid, have they gone down without a parachute?

It would be awful if you are in Heaven and they are not.

Or, what if they are in Heaven and you are sent down to hotter climes?

You start thinking about your life. You were not exactly an angel were you? Remember that great argument you had with that family member? It wasn't your finest moment was it? If you think about it, you could have behaved better.

And your behaviour at work was not exemplary either, was it? Or your behaviour in life generally. With your spouse, your children, neighbours or colleagues. You may well have reasons, or excuses, to explain it all. But will St Peter see it this way? Or, more important, will God agree with your view of things?

You remember Christ's words, "‘Not everyone who calls me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do what my Father in Heaven wants them to do."

But what exactly did God want me to do? You ask yourself as you feel a cold seat on your brow.

Your mind starts to wander again about those homeless people you saw in the park regularly on your way home from work.

You remember that once some colleagues in the pub were joking about Christianity and mocking the very existence of God. And you stood there, saying nothing, sipping your beer quietly.

How about the way you dealt with your staff at work? Yes, there were targets to be met, and budgets and profits to be achieved. But did you need to behave that way towards your team? Was that leadership or what some would call tyranny? 

Were you always gentle and kind towards those lesser able that you? Did you care and love your neighbour as your Lord commanded? Did you live as an example to be emulated or avoided?

In other words - were you Christ to other people?

25 comments:

  1. Ouch! that's a good one. Makes me think. And as I'm a teacher I could not NOT notice this one: "You ask yourself as you feel a cold seat on your brow." I suppose sweat. Spellchecker is not infallible either ;)
    If you find mistakes in my writings, please take your revenge :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Charlotte,

      Great to see you here again. Thanx. What I meant to say is feeling "a cold sofa or armchair on your brow"; not a seat. I really do get annoyed when I check and double check, yet mistakes still get through. Also, I notice at the very end "Were you always gentle and kind towards those lesser able THAT you?" Why can't computers be intelligent and correct what we meant to say rather than what we say?

      I'm so glad you enjoined this article. Thanx again.

      God bless.

      Delete
  2. ...I think that the line to hell is longer these days, or should be.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So sad, isn't it? You are probably right, Tom. We need to pray more for all those lost souls.

      God bless you.

      Delete
  3. I hope that neither God nor the Saints use computers. How cold and calculating machines can be.
    Maybe that line was so long and moving slowly because each one was being given another chance to repent their sins.
    God has "the patience of a Saint".

    Thank you for a gentle reminder to be good if we want heaven to be our home for eternity.

    God's Blessings Victor ✝🌹

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder what happens on their computers when they press Alt Ctrl and Delete? Have you ever tried it on your machine?

      God bless, Jan.

      Delete
  4. Dearest Victor,
    No doubt you mean a cold sweat on your brow... not seat.
    A very well written, thought provoking post! More people ought to start pondering about that final 'entrance' or rejection for that matter.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it was a chaise-longue, Mariette. They don't have comfortable seats in Heaven.

      God bless you always.

      Delete
  5. This is the question we should ask ourselves every day, long before we're standing in line for heaven, Victor. Are we doing what Jesus would have us do?
    Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, Martha. And are we doing enough? That's what often concerns me.

      God bless you and yours.

      Delete
  6. Ouch, indeed! Great questions, all. Somedays it's harder than others to face myself in the mirror. Thank you for these necessary nudges. 🙏

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess we all need these nudges every now and then, Mevely. Me especially.

      God bless you and your family.

      Delete
  7. Thought provoking, thank you.

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  8. I enjoyed this post very much. I like the way you start in a light tone. I like the "in America we call it a line, not a queue!" as if it were important when you’re standing in a line or in a queue before the gate to heaven. I’m a linguist and just love a bit of playing with words. And as I'm a teacher too I could not NOT notice this in your corrected version: "those lesser able " - or is it my deficient knowledge of English?

    On a more serious tone, I find the second part of your post very thought provoking. In fact, it could very well serve as an evening examen of consciousness.
    P.S. And as I wish to check which expression to use and type "examen of consciousness" in Google – what do I get? Consciousness Examen by George Aschenbrenner, SJ that I’d translated long ago from French into Slovenian, my mother language.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Ladka. I am really not sure whether "those lesser able" is grammatically correct or not. At the time I was standing in a queue or a line and had other things on my mind.

      I guess we all need to consider these questions every now and then. Before St Peter asks us in person.

      God bless always.

      Delete
  9. Dear Victor, excellent post --beautiful metaphoric vignette. I usually equate impossibly long lines of poor damned souls queued up for poet Virgil's boat to Dante's Inferno. However, in the 1970s, I found myself in a very long queue (with my 2 children) waiting to enter a theater showing "Star Wars". Management hired a guitarist-vocalist to stroll the line singing "Oh Lord, stuck in Star Wars line again!" after Credence Clearwater's song about nearby town of Lodi. I have since hoped the line to Heaven's door will be likewise entertained.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Geo for sharing your thoughts and experiences on this. Yes, I wonder whether the long line to Heaven will be likewise entertained; or serve as a moment to examine our conscience. My guess is that time will be spent arguing with each other as to who has jumped their place in the line. It is humanity's nature to argue for ever it seems. Even when expecting to enter Heaven.

      God bless you, Geo.

      Delete
  10. Questions to ask on this side, for certain. Praise Him for His grace that He paid the price for the times we didn't live up to what we should have, and for His grace to do better next time.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This was excellent Victor! It really felt like I was there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Manny. Great to see you here again. Thanx.

      God bless.

      Delete
  12. How will people ever get to heaven if they spent their lives being selfish. A life of ME will not work.
    Good post, Victor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so right here, Bill. I feel society (mostly) has become so self-centred with little care or compassion for others.

      God bless you.

      Delete

I PRAY FOR ALL WHO COMMENT HERE.

God bless you.