Monday, June 8, 2020

I Want to be Ready

              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.
              “Hey, is it okay if I run over there to look at that valley? What did you say your name is – Grazer?”
“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 dayBill 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.