A Story

It’s another beautiful day. Of course, it’s always a beautiful day here. You might even call it heavenly. I often enjoy just being still, like I am now, and drinking in the glory of the endless day. I’ve been here for quite some time now (not that there’s anything such as time here) and I never cease to be amazed at the light of this place. It’s as if everything is shining with a brilliance of a thousand of earth’s suns. Hmm, how strange it is to think of the sun. I haven’t - what’s that? It sounds like quite a commotion. I’ll go check it out. There’s always a party of some kind going on here, I wonder what it is this time? It looks like it’s the angels making all the noise- oh! Great joy of all joys! Another brother has been reborn! Praise the King, He’s brought in one more to join our ranks! It’s sounds like it’s a pretty young one. Ah, it’s a teenager. He’s got a tough life ahead of him from what I hear his family is like. But I’ve seen young ones with worse families than his make it to the end. It’ll be rough going for him, but it was rough for all of us and we made it here by the grace of the King. I look forward to meeting him in person here someday.

I like the look of him. He reminds me of how my son looked at that age. Ah, my son. It won’t be long now until he’ll be showing up here. He makes me so proud! I could spend days (if there was such a thing, of course) just watching him living his life. He’s doing far better than I ever did, let me tell you. Sometimes, when I’m watching my son, I’ll see that the King is watching him, too. If I thought I loved my boy it’s nothing to the love that’s on the King’s face when He’s looking at my son.

I wonder if I’ll ever understand that love of the King’s. When I first got here and first saw the King face to face I plumb near dropped through the floor- well if I’d been standing on a floor I would have dropped through it. There was the smile that I’d tried to imagine for so many years- nothing like I imagined it for no imagination can comprehend such a smile. And then His eyes hit me. It’s like when you stare at a fire on earth and you keep staring until everything else seems to disappear and you feel like you’re falling into the fire and when you look away everything else seems so mundane and bland. But imagine never having to look away. That caught me off guard, that’s for sure! I frankly don’t know if I’ll ever get used to those eyes even after I’ve been here for a few millennia.

Well, His eyes are nothing compared to the Love that shines from every pore of His body. It makes Him so bright. What do you think is lighting this place after all? Hey! Something else is happening! Didn’t I tell you there’s always a party of some kind happening here? A new arrival! Here she comes now. Just look at the expression on her face, will you? Ah, now she’s meeting the King. That’s always a private event. There she goes crying now. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone arrive here and not start crying as soon as they met the King for the first time. I know I was blubbering like a baby when I got here. Not that I was sad obviously. What a thought! Being sad here! There she goes meeting and greeting now. Oh, and look at that reunion. That must have been her husband on earth. Come to think of it I do recall that man telling me of his wife. I’ll let them enjoy the moment and I’ll come back later to introduce myself to the newcomer.

I was in the middle of a thought a moment ago... oh, yes- I was thinking about being sad here. While it’s true that there’s no such thing as pain or grief here, I do still see the agonies that are happening on earth. I see children being murdered and fathers abandoning their families and cruel men killing my beloved siblings of the faith. What torments men devise for one another! And besides that I see our enemies from Hell piercing, wounding, and killing many and dragging off new prisoners to their endless torture.

I know the King sees this, too. It won’t be long now. He’s going to put an end to it once and for all. I can hardly wait for it! What glories will shine then as the King rides in with all His powers and defeats the Enemy for good! If you think there are some great celebrations here just wait until then! No words can describe it. Just thinking about it is thrilling! I know that- Oh look! Another new arrival! Hey- that was my next door neighbor on earth! Praise the King, he made it! If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some celebrating to do.