The two tall shining ones were ushering their
newbies into the New Land. Ayzair’s charge, Sam, kept chattering away,
overjoyed.
“Hey, thanks for helping me…when do I get to see
Jesus? Oh, wow! Look at the size of those trees! Are those apples? Oh,
my gosh, can I eat one?”
“Of course,” said his giant helper. Sam jumped
maybe 20 feet in the air and landed holding an apple the size of a grapefruit.
“Oh, my gosh – that’s the best apple I’ve ever tasted,” he said, mouth full and
chin dripping juice.
“Sure, go for it. And it’s A-Zair.”
Sam instantly headed west, running exuberantly
and effortlessly and more swiftly than he had ever run before. “Oh, wow, you
wouldn’t believe it,” he yelled in the distance. Then faintly,“Oh, you probably
would. But…oh, wow, look at that!”
Ayzair smiled as he glanced over at Kahsed,
gently leading Bill forward. “He’s pretty stoked, isn’t he? Kahsed commented.
“Yeah. He’s been longing for this all his life,” Ayzair replied.
“How are you doing, Bill?”
Ayzair asked with a slightly raised voice and a smile. Bill looked up, happy
enough it seemed, but slightly bewildered. He saw two tall glowing figures
there, and he was no longer terrified, but he could barely understand them.
“Sorry, my name is Bill. This is heaven, right?”
“You bet!” said the angels in unison. Their voices sounded like a thunderclap
about two feet away, and Bill jumped. “Whoa. I’ll take that as a yes.” He
timidly continued walking, and spoke again, this time to himself: wonder
what happened to that other guy? Is there supposed to be so much light? I hope
I meet somebody I know…
Sam roared back, practically doing
cartwheels. “Did you see how fast I can RUN? Oh, wow! Hey, you guys have to
come see this! Hey, buddy, you too. By the way, I’m Sam.” “I’m Bill. Glad to
meet you. This is heaven, right?” “Yes, Yes, YES!” Sam
shouted. “And I have a hunch we’re just getting started.”
And looking up at Kahsed, Sam said quietly,
“Anything I can do for Bill there? He doesn’t seem to get it yet.”
“Just give him time.”
“‘Give him time!’ Hey, that’s funny. An angelic
joke!” And instantly Sam sang at the top of his lungs, “When the trumpet of the
Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more, and the morning
breaks, eternal, bright and fair…”
“Come on, everybody sing,” he shouted, though to
be fair the angels were singing, but it sounded more like
Niagara Falls, and Bill was faintly humming along.
Kahsed whispered to Ayzair, “How come your guy
is so into it, and he’s only been here 10 minutes, and my poor fellow is barely
awake?”
Ayzair replied, not as quietly, “Well, Sam has
been studying and praying and longing for heaven for the last 20 years. He
became a quadriplegic and a Christian the same year. So he was ready for
this day. Bill has actually been a Christian longer, but he never
spent much time thinking about or preparing for eternity.”
“‘Spent much time on eternity.’”
You guys kill me,” yelled Sam happily, as he launched into another enthusiastic
verse of “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder.”
“Oh, wow. Race you to the river!” And off he
went.
Note: The Hebrew word for helper is ay-zair, and kah-said is
the word for lovingkindness.
