The Other Side of Heaven

by Stan Mason

  ‘How can Heaven come to an end?’ intervened the spirit with no name. ‘It don’t make no sense.’

  ‘Well,’ I advanced. ‘If we’re not in Heaven, where are we?’

  ‘That’s a good question, man,’ retorted the spirit. ‘Maybe this is Purgatory where we’re s’posed to have remorse for our past sins.’

  ‘To expiate our sins,’ I added.

  ‘There ya go again with the big words. Expiate.’ He paused for a moment. ‘Why are you here, man?’

  I mused at my predicament before replying. ‘I was given a mission,’ I explained calmly. ‘It was to unite all the religions on Earth and create a world of peace and harmony. I’m afraid I messed up.’

  ‘Man,’ he said, blowing out his cheeks. ‘That’s some mission. I guess it would take about five thousand years to get right.’

  ‘Yes,’ I responded seriously. ‘Five millennium would be about right.’

  He roared with laughter at my comment. ‘Millennium!’ he guffawed. ‘You really are a word-master. Ah’d a never thought of that word. Not in a million years!’

  ‘What are you in here for?’ I asked casually.

  ‘Me? Huh!’ he spat angrily. ‘Ah was one of a gang of people in New York. We were the bad guys... robbin’ stores... doin’ bad things. Ah’ve never followed rules, so when ah got here I gave ‘em Hell. They said they’d lock me up an’ throw away the key. That’s why ah’m here.’

  ‘I was a school teacher,’ I told him. ‘I led a simple life. I committed a couple of errors but nothing as bad as you.’

  ‘It’s karma,’ he went on miserably.

  ‘Yes, karma,’ I repeated slowly. ‘The sum of a person’s actions during the successive phase of his existence which determine his destiny in future reincarnations.’

  ‘Man,’ he exploded. ‘Have you got a way with words! You’re too good to be caged in here like a criminal. They ought to make use of your brain. That’s for sure!’

  ‘I’ve already revised the Great Chain of Being,’ I told him, flattered by his remark.

  ‘An’ you still ended up in here with me,’ he said, shaking his head slowly. ‘There ain’t no justice, I tell yuh. No justice at all.’

  We glanced at the other two spirits who remained silent as they sat on their chairs.

  ‘Maybe they can throw some light on the situation,’ I advanced following his gaze.

  He shook his head slowly. ‘Not a chance,’ he explained. ‘Ah tried to communicate with them many times but they don’t seem to hear me. I told you before. They’re dumb asses.’

  ‘So I suppose we wait here until someone frees us... or not,’ I continued pointlessly. ‘It’s not any kind of punishment really. We’re simply trapped inside this cell.’

  ‘Maybe it’s okay for you,’ he challenged, ‘but ah like mah freedom.’

  The sound of thunder could be heard to rumble feebly in the far distance. It was the first kind of noise that had reached my ears, other than the peal of bells when a spirit broke the rules, since I had been in Heaven... or Purgatory.

  ‘What the hell’s that?’ I exclaimed, with deep concern showing on my face.

  ‘Sounds like there’s a storm cumin’,’ predicted my fellow spirit wistfully.

  ‘There are no storms in Heaven,’ I uttered loudly. ‘None that I know of. How could there be? This place is supposed to be way above the clouds.’

  ‘That’s what ah reckon too,’ he retorted easily. ‘Way above the clouds. It aint possible.’

  ‘Then how come we can hear thunder?’ I continued sharply.

  It came to mind that something worse was about to happen to us in that miserable cell. I had no idea at the time what it could be but I perceived that it wasn’t going to be pleasant. I couldn’t believe that the angelic hierarchy would insist on punishing me by simply leave me in a cage for the rest of eternity. There had to be something more... and I knew now that it was on its way. At that moment, my fellow spirit with no name came up with an answer.

  ‘Ah guess we’re not in Purgatory after all but in Hell. Satan’s cumin’ ta take us somewhere bad.’ No sooner had he spoken the Devil’s name than his eyes lit up with amusement. ‘Ah don’t s’pose you’ve heard this one,’ he went on with a smile touching his face. ‘An old guy’s sittin’ on a rockin’ chair on his porch in a small village when Satan arrives without warnin’. People run for cover in terror but the old guy’s as cool as ice. This makes Satan real mad an’ he goes up to him an’ says: ‘You realise I’ve put the fear of Hell into every person in this village!’ ‘Yep!’ says the old guy rockin’ easily on his chair. At that, Satan gets even madder. ‘You know I can destroy this village with one stroke of my arm!’ he shouts angrily. ‘Yep!’ returned the old guy as cool as can be. ‘You do know who I am!’ charged the Devil in fury. ‘Yep!’ retorted the old guy. ‘Married yer sister forty-five years ago!’

  He burst out laughing at his own joke but I was less amused considering the situation that seemed to be arising. His euphoria was interrupted by the sound of the thunder which could be heard much closer and we both looked at each other with an element of despair.

  ‘You may be right,’ I conceded. ‘This could be Hell.’

  ‘With all the punishment that’s goin’ on, ah guess it’s so,’ he concurred sombrely. ‘Ah tell yuh one thing for sure... this definitely aint no Heaven.’

  The thunder boomed still louder as it appeared that the storm was cutting in quickly. I stared through the bars at the darkness before me trying to anticipate the arrival of something really awful. Then, in my spirit form, I hovered to one side of the cell peering again into the darkness ahead trying to discern what might be there. Something was coming and it was getting quite close. The thunder boomed again but this time it was so loud as to be uncomfortable to the ears, heralding an apparition which appeared without further warning inside the cage. It was a spirit form about twelve feet high and quite broad, covered in a black material all over its shape with the exception of its face which was extremely ugly, staring out like a skeleton skull. It was a monster seeking prey and it moved swiftly to the other side of the cell where the two other spirits sat on chairs. Its arms stretched out and seemed to absorb one of them taking the spirit form swiftly into its own body. The victim screamed at the top of his voice as it vanished quickly inside the predator. I hovered opposite wondering whether it was going to turn and devour all of us but, in that instant, it left the cell and disappeared into the darkness. I knew instinctively that we had been visited by the Soul Gatherer who had taken the vacant spirit in the cage. One soul at a time appeared to be sufficient for it to digest and I dreaded ever facing the monster again. It was as people on Earth considered the Grim Reaper, carrying his long scythe to cut the thread of life from them. In this case, the Soul Gatherer created a dead soul which he took with him.

  ‘What in hell’s name was that?’ demanded my fellow spirit with no name.

  ‘The Soul Gatherer,’ I explained briefly. ‘That’s the one the Cosmic Joker mentioned to me when I was trapped in the Desert of Ice. He takes the souls of spirits and presumably carries them to Hell.’

  ‘Then we may not be in Hell,’ he muttered as the thunder sounded much quieter in the distance before it eventually disappeared. ‘This may be Purgatory after all.’

  ‘I don’t deserve this,’ I bleated miserably. ‘I did nothing seriously wrong in life to be caged in a place like this with my soul in dire danger.’ I looked up at the ceiling which was so high as to be indistinguishable. ‘I tell you, I don’t deserve this!’

  A voice sounded in my head which I recognised to be that of the Angel of Determination.

  ‘Jeremiah,’ it said in sonorous tones. ‘You will be redeemed if you agree to follow the rules.’

  ‘I agree!’ I shouted at the top of my voice. ‘Just get me out of here!’<
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  My fellow spirit with no name turned towards me, wondering why I had made such an outburst and I could only imagine the surprise on his face when I vanished from his sight. I found myself instantly transported to a small room to face an entirely different angel with great white wings tucked behind him.

  ‘Who are you?’ I demanded uncertainly.

  ‘I am the Angel of Consolation,’ he uttered curtly. ‘Don’t think you’ve escaped punishment for your misguided attempt of the mission given to you.’

  ‘I should be credited with the fact that I helped to create peace on Earth,’ I savaged angrily. ‘No one has ever achieved that before. Yet, despite that, I’m bullied and punished, thrown into jail, and only escaped the Soul Gatherer by sheer good fortune. It’s not good enough. I’m keeping my part of the bargain... you’re failing on your side.’

  ‘Keep calm, Jeremiah,’ retorted the angel calmly not wishing to enter into polemics.

  ‘Keep calm, you say,’ I challenged. ‘I know very well that I’m not in Heaven. That much is evident by the fact that I met the Cosmic Joker, the Soul Gatherer, and came to a high black wall at the end of what I thought was Heaven. So why can’t I get a glimpse of what Heaven is really like? Why can’t you allow me that? I think I’ve earned it.’

  He dwelt on my comments for a short while and silence prevailed in the room. Then he came to a decision on his own account and faced me directly.

  ‘You’re very perceptive, Jeremiah,’ he exclaimed brightly, ‘and I think that you do deserve one chance to see Heaven. But do not fool yourself for a single moment. It’s only what you might call a sightseeing tour. You have not received permission to enter that realm for any particular reason and certainly not for eternity. Despite the fact that you disobey the rules, one of the problems is that you show no remorse for your evil deeds when you were alive, therefore you cannot expiate your sins. As a result of that, you cannot gain entry into Heaven. However, I recognise some of the work that you have tried to do and I shall give you an insight of what you might face if you are eventually accepted into the great realm.’

  I nodded with a great degree of interest. At last I was to see what the real Heaven was like. Perhaps there might even be the chance to meet God or a Supreme Power if one happened to exist. However, there was one feature that pleased me. It appeared that the angelic hierarchy was weakening in my favour although I didn’t want to press my luck too hard.

  ‘Close your eyes,’ ordered the Angel of Consolation, to which I obeyed readily. Without any delay whatsoever, a vision of Heaven appeared in my mind’s eye. The sight that I beheld was absolutely astonishing. A citadel stretched out before me in great magnificent splendour reaching far out into the distance. The buildings identified a dreamline landscape carved brilliantly in stone in many beautiful colours that had to be seen to be believed. The main square ahead of me was graced by many enormous buildings, which seemed to be cathedrals with large bells hanging within their spires. They reflected the rich religious and artistic feature of Heaven backed by, what seemed to be, hundreds of large buildings each of which had crenellated walls all around them. Some of them had very broad entrances with a series of very wide steps, reminiscent of the style of famous Roman buildings, each of which led to a portico emblazoned in gold. A large square was set neatly in the centre of the city embellished with a group of eight pillar-like structures surrounding a great central one, each of which had bulging domes that capped them. It was a marvellous sight to behold and had I possessed any breath I am certain it would have taken it away in awe. The different shapes and many colours created a myriad of beauty which was indeed a sight to be gazed at in wonderment.

  ‘Hold fast!’ I exclaimed, keeping my eyes tightly shut for fear of losing the vision. ‘I’ve bee here before. I remember seeing it very vividly. I was there!’

  ‘You may have seen it in your mind’s eye as a telepathic thought from one of the angels,’ replied the Angel of Consolation, ‘but I assure you, irrespective of your memory of the scene, you’ve noit yet been in Heaven.’

  ‘Then tell me frankly,’ I enquired calmly, still keeping my eyes shut. ‘Am I in Purgatory or in Hell?’

  ‘You cannot ask me that question,’ he replied smoothly, ‘because I I have no way of answering it.’

  ‘Then how is it possible for me to get into Heaven?’ I asked him point-blank.

  ‘You may do that by simply expiating your sins. All you have to do is to show remorse for the evil things you did on Earth during your lifetime,’ he responded candidly.

  ‘I can’t do that,’ I told him irately. ‘You obviously don’t believe me but I don’t believe I’ve done anything wrong.’ I hesitated noting that my words made no impact on him therefore it was up to me to elucidate and explain my position more clearly. ‘Let me clarify the situation,’ I went on respectfully but regardless of my attitude towards the issue. ‘In olden times on Earth people led low-level very simplistic lives. Science was in its infancy. There was little of any real value being invented. During the time of my life on Earth, science began to accelerate at a terrific rate. For example, most kitchens boasted a refrigerator, a cooker, a washing-machine, a microwave, a coffee-making appliance, and often a washing-up machine. Lounges sported televisions, hi-fis, home entertainment kits, computers, radios, while practically everyone used mobile telephones. Nearly all families owned at least one motor car, trains and buses proliferated, while aeroplanes flew people all over the globe. The world became a raging consumer society which meant that everyone needed money to buy the goods and services that seemed to become so important in their lives. A consumer society means that there is a multitude of goods in the shops and stores ready waiting for people to buy them. There was a steady flow of people purchasing houses, borrowing by mortgage from banks and building societies to pay for them. They spent their money on boats, caravans, holidays abroad, and clothed themselves with different suits and dresses far more often than was necessary. Most of it came from borrowing on credit cards issued by the banks and other financial institutions. There seemed to be no limit and everyone wanted goods and services on demand. Therefore, instead of them being free to be able to enjoy themselves as a result of all the equipment and appliances available, people had to work harder to repay all the loans, some of them being employed in two or three different jobs, just to make the money required to live a reasonable life. Because of that, they found themselves in an extremely complex and vicious spiral. All too often their attitude became careless. Then tended to over-indulge. As a result, some became alcoholics, others were addicted to drugs while everything began to accelerate at a terrific rate of advance with people influenced daily by advertising and personal greed. I had to live in that carnival, trying to walk a long and narrow path. The pressure became enormous and it was practically impossible not to be drawn along with everyone else.’

  ‘I can understand your dilemma,’ intervened the Angel of Consolation mildly, indicating by the tone of his voice that he was less than interested in my diatribe.

  ‘You judge me for having an affair with my fellow teacher, Jeannette Dubois, don’t you,’ I went on, ‘but let me say that I consider that to be an error on my part and not an evil deed. You have no right to judge me badly because of it.’

  ‘What does all this have to do with the need for you to show remorse and for you to expiate your sins?’ he asked bemusedly.

  ‘It’s not for me to do that,’ I countered angrily. ‘It’s for you to let me into Heaven so that my spirit can rest in peace.’

  ‘Believe what you see and then believe nothing of it,’ he returned enigmatically. ‘For seeing is believing and anything you believe in you can see.’

  I had to admit that his philosophy was rather beyond me. I had no idea what he meant by his statement nor did I wish to go into detail.

  ‘I suggest you return to the scrolls relating to the physical attracti
ons of the whole universe,’ he uttered broadly. ‘You were there once before but discontinued the process of learning very quickly. Go back there, Jeremiah, and learn all the facts.’

  I felt an strong urge of dismay pass through my form at the thought. I recalled with horror of the hundreds of thousands of scrolls relating to the subject to which he referred. I hadn’t wanted to absorb the information written on them earlier and I certainly didn’t relish to do so now.

  ‘What’s the point?’ I challenged. ‘If I’m not in Heaven, what’s the point of learning all that guff. It serves no good purpose whatsoever. No... I’m not prepared to do that without being certain that I’m actually in Heaven!’

  ‘You dare to disobey an order!’ he rattled, smarting at my disobedience.

  ‘I’m sorry, ‘ I countered, ‘but it wasn’t an order. You merely made a suggestion. You said you suggested that I return to the scrolls. Isn’t there something different that I could do? I’ve already revised the Great Chain of Being. Surely that counts for something!’

  ‘It was an exercise you carried out but you did not do that in Heaven,’ he related, causing me a great deal of concern. ‘The text in Heaven on that subject was revised long ago and remains standard procedure.’

  If I had been alive on Earth, my blood-pressure would have soared into infinity at his comment. Although I had not been deeply involved with the subject matter, I was furious that it had been pointless. ‘Are you saying that the work carried out by me and my team was simply a waste of time?’

  ‘Those are your words, Jeremiah, not mine,’ he replied sagely, staring into my eyes directly.

  ‘This meeting too is a complete waste of my time,’ I savaged angrily as silence prevailed in the room. I thought about his earlier philosophy trying to make sense of it. ‘Believe what you see and then believe nothing of it,’ he had told me enigmatically. ‘For seeing is believing and anything you believe in you can see.’ What did he really mean by that? And then, following my analysis of his comment about the Great Chain of Being, a sudden thought entered my mind. At first I considered it to be an idiotic idea but then I thought better of it. What if I hadn’t died? What if this was all simply a horrid nightmare? Believe what you see and then believe nothing of it! The words were so poignant. Maybe I had been laying in bed dreaming that I had passed away. I had assumed that I had watched my burial in the churchyard and my imagination had carried me away to dream of all that I thought had happened to me. After all, it made sense to consider that line of thought. After all, as a mere Seraph, why would anyone send me back to Earth as an Accompanying Angel to witness scenes that would concern me... even horrify me... as with the young boy on the bicycle being struck by the enormous lorry? Why would I be sent to Earth as a Correcting Angel to save the life of Jethro Huntley so that he could sire a son who would create a new world peace organisation? None of it made sense... unless it was a dream or a nightmare. And why allow me to return to assist young Huntley to create a world peace movement? It was hardly possible that vigilante groups would roam at large in England fighting crime day and night in the streets on their own. The mind wa known to played unusual tricks and there was the probability that none of it was real... as the Angel of Consolation had indicated.