Oh God - Part Twenty - Five

Oh God – Part Twenty – Five

            “Schwartz mulled that over for a bit.”So there’s really no Heaven or Hell?” he pondered.

            “Of course there is. It’s just not where you thought it was,” answered God.

                   “Aw crap!” complained Schwartz, “Where is it then?” He heard dishes rattling in the kitchen.

                   “It’s everywhere, especially within your own spirit. In fact, your spirit is also within us. We are inextricably connected, so heaven and hell are all around you and even within you. You and your spirit are essentially an extension of ourselves and have nothing to do with your dad blamed churches, religions or cults. Basically, we are all one.”

                   “In other words,” Schwartz summed up, “our whole time on earth is nothing more than an exercise in futility, a total waste of time.”

                   “In one sense I suppose you’d be right Schwartz,” replied God, “if it was about you, but it’s not. The only meaning the things you do on earth have are as a test of your character, the strength of your spirit. After that, they are of no value at all. They are merely a means to an end.”

                   “Well that’s kind of depressing, isn’t it?  I mean, you work and toil all your life for something and then when you die, you have to throw it all away as though it never existed in the first place? That doesn’t seem fair.”

                   “You didn’t think you could bring it all with you did you?” asked God.

                   “No, but at least I’d like to have credit for it. After all, I’m the guy who did all these things. At least I was able to toot my own horn when I was living in hell.”

                   “And who was listening to you?”

                   “Nobody I guess.” Schwartz slumped listlessly at the thought.

                   “And did you also crow about the ways in which you cheated people out of what was rightfully theirs?”

                   “No.”

                   “Why not?”

                   “Guilt, I imagine.”

                   “Do you see the futility in all that? Is that what you want for all eternity?”

                   “No, of course I don’t. I just can’t deal with it anymore. I suppose that’s why I keep on about my achievements so much, to drown out my guilt.”

                   “Well, you seem to have a grasp of your miserable situation, but you haven’t cottoned on to the solution yet have you?”

                   “That’s what’s holding me down. Until I do, I’ll have no peace.”

                   “It’s complicated, yet it’s so simple. It’s called ‘forgiveness’.”

                   “FORGIVENESS?” shouted Schwartz. “Who in blazes am I gonna forgive – myself?”

                   “Exactly,” said the Lord.