The Great Divide
Between the realms of hell and those of purgatory, there is a tremendous wall of stone and fire. It is called The Great Divide, towering many meters high. It serves as both a
means to restrain the fallen wicked from entering the higher planes, as well as stopping the good but naïve from entering such dangerous places before the necessary training.
Strikingly, each side of its ramparts is decorated in sharp contrasts. On the hell side, animated faces of evil and hatred
leer frightfully at all who might think of escaping. On the heavenly side, angelic faces of kindness and cheerfulness are depicted.
On all sides of the stone fortification, flames of fire burn. One side is beautifying, with many vivid colors of flame brilliantly lit against the darkness. This heavenly fire purifies and is without pain unless one is burdened with many mortal sins.
On the hell side, the fire is terrifying, bringing excruciating pain to all who come near.
Before the great wall, I hold my hands outward in supplication to The Creator of the Universe. By the power of my unfolding spirit, I rise slowly to stand on the narrow parapet atop The Great Divide. I raise my hands clasped together as high as I can reach.
I turn my sight to the dark side, sights and sounds of anguish, crying, and cursing. And then to the other, prayers and sermons based on forgiveness, attonement, and salvation.
I feel an immediate affinity with the residents praying and so I did too:
“
O Almighty God, can we aspire to some nobility and yet some humility also? Can we learn to forgive those who trespass against us, as we would also like be forgiven? And into my mind appear the images of the many times others have wronged me. Some are as a child, others as a teen, as a full-grown man.
Even now feelings of rejection, sorrow and even a bit hatred have reappeared in my heart. I can hear cruel laughter and see cruel smiIes of those seeking to harm me.
“Shall I seek vengeance? But to what end?”
To NO END, comes the answer, for I would be drawn down into HELL myself. There I would be trapped so long as I
answered hate with hate unable to live my life, unable to continue The Path Upward.
BETTER TO FORGIVE comes the next realization. BETTER TO LET IT ALL GO AND LIVE IN HAPPINESS is next. For it is God’s Will to redeem and to rise above our own negativity.
I take a deep breath, raise my hands over those in hell by whom I have been persecuted. It takes some effort but I struggle to tap into my innate love for all persons. Deep inside I can forgive and love others no matter what. And so I bless them with all the love of my heart.
Each of us is being empowered with a True Faith in the Eternal Goodness that is Each of Us.
You can sense a palpable change of heart in those I have feared or hated in the dark. Now my new resolution has fashioned Golden Ladders to rise above these walls to escape hell. Beyond these walls exist purgatory realms which lead in turn to the higher heavens.
My time here is up. I begin to drift upward to my mortal life, enheartened with the sight and sudden joy of the Golden Ladders and all the good they may yet help achieve.
