So the topic of religion is always something I'm up for discussing, but I'm even more enthusiastic when it is the context of writing. There isn't a point in denying that I am sucker for deep and hidden meanings or turning things around on their heads.
So I was tumbling ideas around in my head weighing different pieces of ideological fluff and came across something I thought was worth sharing.
The short story version narrative in my head goes a bit like this:
When Olivia, age 8, finds herself in heaven she sees that her mother and father, auntie and nana are there and her brother too! Of course she had passed before any of them, but heaven is timeless and so the family is reunited. Except, where is grandpa? Perhaps he swore a little too often and drank too much, or skipped service one to many times; or maybe he never did apologize to the heavens after his brother died in that damn war. To Olivia her heaven is not complete and she turns and runs down the end of the hallway to throw open that big gnarled gate marked "Do Not Open." A roaring gust sweeps up and looks as if it might swing the gate shut once more, but no it pushes through the gap and forces it to widen further. It is then that a gentle voice which comes from every direction says calmly, "Finally."
But ok, my mediocre storytelling skills aside, I hope it illustrates what I am thinking about. Many of our thoughts on the afterlife are incomplete. Heaven isn't heaven unless the sinners are there too. The next logical thought is "they don't deserve it" or "they rejected it," and this is exactly the point that makes me sit and ponder. According to the rules they literally don't deserve it, but according to the rules we also need to show mercy, forgiveness and love.
How can an entire people who are standing beside their deity refuse to look downward? Is it a sense of pride in their accomplishment, a life without sin? Do they feel guilty for making it to safety while others suffer not just a moment, but an eternity? Is acknowledging that their relationship with the divine had less turbulence than those who suffered disease or the loss of a loved one a hard truth to face? How can the outcast find grace when there is only suffering and torture all around and not even his fellow man is willing to send him a drop of water?
So we have here a situation where heaven is not fully realized because for one reason or another each person has a rational excuse to not open the gate and bring in those cast out. People ought to be mangling their hands trying to wrench open the gate or their lungs exhausted from petitioning the throne. Meanwhile He is just watching and waiting for someone truly brave to do just that.
So keep going with this train of thought. How DO you reconcile the damned with the merciful? The gates are open, but how do we guide towards salvation? The innocent are hopefully many and the damned live amongst them, hopefully learning and turning around.
I wonder then if the gate is open or just how many hands in unison it'd take to budge it.
