Revelation

We all sat in front of the big screen T.V watching the battle. Battle? It was
more like an annihilation. Our side was slaughtering the enemy right, left, up
and down. We didn't miss a stroke. Our fearless leader was in front of his
troops in the valley doing the most damage. He was in charge. His breast plate
had LOL, KOK inscribed on it large red letters. The dead were piling up on
the ground starting to float in blood that hadn't soaked into the earth but was
rising higher than the horse's chests making it harder for the foe to maneuver.

Large birds of prey were accumulating, picking the flesh off of the losers. As
the battle wound down, four winged generals went to the side lines on higher
ground to sort out the prisoners at a makeshift court where our King was
questioning them.
The reporter got up close with her microphone and we
heard, "Sir, do you remember when I was flooded out of my home and my family
and I were starving. You sat down at your dinner table and ignored my needs for
weeks."
"I have never laid my eyes on you before! You've mistaken me for
someone else. Please, have mercy!" was the indignant and angry response.
"No, sir. It was you and I was in the face of every Katrina victim that was posted
on T.V and bulletins everywhere. You sir are guilty of showing no mercy!", our
King roared.
The hapless man was hauled off to a giant barbeque pit (not to be
fed!). His attorney was already there being grilled, literally.
Then a lady came up humbly before the King. "M'am, step to my right side, you will be well taken care of. You were kind to me at the infirmary in jail every time you
visited."
"Sir, I appreciate your kindness, but I think someone else deserves
this place of honor, I've never met you before."
"Yes, m'am, you have. I was on death row when you and your Sunday school class came to offer bible studies. I was in the heart of every convicted criminal you helped see the truth."

I didn't have the stomach to watch any more, but I was in a hypnotic trance.
I'm so glad I'm not over there! Years earlier I had been in the middle of a
sentence at work when a loud noise erupted from some unseen place. I saw the
look of amazement in my co-worker's face for just a split second before I was
sucked up into some huge whirl wind, completely naked and unashamed! Millions
of us were spiraling upward towards a huge figure with a trumpet in his hands.
We passed the sun, (every sun), planets, and galaxies till we were deposited in
this land, on the other side of the rainbow,(sorry, no wizards here to take us
back home, for that matter no wicked witches either). We were far away from the
war zone in front of us now. Seven years of hard times fell on those we left at
home waiting for the proper time for our worthy commander to intervene in world
affairs. Now those that hadn't listened to us while we were in hearing distance
were being convicted or released. A shout went up from all of us when we
recognized a new convert and winner and we toasted each other with our wine
glasses. We cried one last time for all those that got thrown into the large pit. I had to cover my ears, the screeching, pleading, cursing and howling that escaped the pit every time the lid was opened was demonic, for all the demons had been incarcerated first. What a waste, they had all been there at the beginning, how could they let one little
guy with a red tail talk them into an insurrection? What dopes. Lucifer had not
created a singe thing out of nothing, but chaos out of everything.

At last, business completed, the army returned home, white horses prancing,
nares flaring with victory. The troops were complete, we hadn't lost one! All
the soldiers were full of energy and excitement. While most of us had watched
the engagement down below, the natives of this land had been busy preparing a
feast. The King was ready to take his bride, to the victor go the spoils, and
boy, were we a spoiled lot, none of us deserved what we were going to receive.
He wouldn't wed her till everything was unblemished. We were all headed to the
best and last wedding we'd ever attend. His bride was dressed in the finest
silk and gold that blood could buy. The table was laden with the purest wine
and food available and slowly, slowly, we began to forget our past lives, loves
and losses. We had new future, different goals, we had eternity. This was one
marriage that would never see the divorce courts.(After all, there weren't any
lawyers here, get over it, there's no need, you lawyers have enough time to
learn a new trade!)

After the reception and festivities we all approached a great white throne
where a huge ball of light rested. On the right side of the royal seat stood a
man that had earned the privilege of that position. We all stood before the
throne of grace by ourselves, we only were responsible for our lives’ deeds.
Each of us were read to from a huge book and all that was credited to our
defense was the "blood". This was sufficient, because after the reading every
word against us vanished from the pages. I never thought red blood could bleach
out my black past!. After we were judged eligible we were assigned cities to
rule. Some of us received ten, five and one. I got one and was totally pleased.
No one argued with the results of the book. We were too elated with our rewards
after having seen "the pit". We returned to the globe where all life had
started. The birds and wild animals had cleaned up the combat zone and there
remained no sign of conflict. We would now start the reconstruction of what
should have taken place from the garden of Eden. From Genesis to Revelation,
years of detouring, we were back at the beginning.

postscript: LOL and KOK mean- Lord of Lords and King of Kings

Too Late

I sat at the back of the chapel because I might get called away any minute.
Not to mention, I was still mad at her. I recalled our last argument too well.
So I stayed at the back watching the mourners enter and walk down the aisle
to view her body. So many exclamations of disbelief,no one had seen this
coming. If only she were here to see the crowd asimilating,maybe she'd have
stayed, maybe not. If only I could summon her back, point my finger at her and
say,"I told you so. See people really did care." Her spirit was willing to
stay but her flesh was weak. Only I had any influence on her and I lost. She
wouldn't listen to me. Her arguments were stronger. She was convinced God
would forgive her even if he didn't approve of her tactics. It wasn't the
absence of God in her life that caused her do to this, it was the failure to
continue with the meds that God had provided. It was user error, not the
manufacturer's.

Her "true" friends held each other for comfort. She should have
spoken to them earlier but people get uncomfortable with those kinds of
conversations, and it would have embarrassed her. There wasn't enough
experience in dealing with these topics despite the literature out there. I
hope now they will seek out that literature, she sure should have.

I was amazed at some of the faces I saw come in. I wanted to yell,"hypocrite",
and "murderer". They hadn't actually manually killed her body but they
masacered her spirit. They laughed at her. They teased her. They belittled her.
They made her feel invisible, unimportant. She had responded with good humor,
her mask a perfect fit to hide the pain and doubts and hurts. She had them
convinced she couldn't be bruised. She was tough, fun, outgoing. She did enjoy
a good laugh and applauded good retorts, but it was the sincere insults hidden
in humor that got to her. She had used humor as a coat of armor. If she had
just taken the mask off occasionally and tried honesty with some of these
people maybe she'd still be here. She had God on her side and followed the
rule of turning the other cheek but being only human this got old. Kids can be
cruel on the playground and it doesn't stop there. Cruel kids grow into cruel
adults. They weren't completely responsible for destroying her, because she had
a big part in it. She had to constantly fight her body's responses to low
hormones. She finally had discovered anti-depressants. As the body ages it
produces less and less of desirabe mood chemicals and needs a boost much like a
diabetic needs outside insulin, or someone needs thyroid hormone. It's not
shameful to be on pills. These pills gave her a boost but like anything they
can only do so much. She would feel better and lighten up on her meds, then
swing down to the pit of despair again. Why should one take meds just to feel
good around people? She would get to feeling blue and let the insults injure
her. But her mask did a good job. She would retaliate with a joke, good humor.
She wouldn't let the aggressor know they scored a point, that their blade had
found the target. Boy that was a fantastic mask, it was waterproof and
concealed the tears. It made people think she was invulnerable. "Oh, if we
didn't like you, we wouldn't tease you," or, "It's just her, it's okay." were
regular rejoinders. They took a pebble size hunk out of her soul with every
recital. "That's just her," when she wanted to be taken seriously, "That's just
her," when she blundered, "That's just her," when she tried to correct an
error. She was eaten in small bites. If she had seen this crowd maybe she would
have stayed.

They kept coming, friends (and foes) from church and from work. However, these
misty eyed people have short memories. In time this will be forgotten. Though
there is no one else like her someone else will be teased mercilessly and end
up the same way. Cruel kids, cruel adults. I could hear someone asking
questions, Why? How? What on earth for? The questions were useless because if
they could be answered it wouldn't reverse a thing. She would still be dead.
This was it the grand finale, the results of cruel kids grown up. She hadn't
left a note. It wouldn't have solved anything. Why did they deserve any
answers? It would have been like throwing pearls before swine.

The eulogy was nice, flowery, vaguely generic. It hit the good points. Gave
the family hope of seeing her again. Tried to educate the attendees on the
subject of her method of death. Created sobbing. Said good bye. Left the body
just as dead. The words should have been spoken when she could hear them. She
might not have believed them, though. Actions speak louder than words.
I watched as the figures filed past the coffin. They said good bye. Some
cried. Oh, give me a break, you didn't even like her, I thought. Maybe they had
repented. There is hope for the next victim of depression. Some lingered, and
were genuinely respectful. Some just went to follow the crowd. It really was
her, they all thought." If we didn't like you we wouldn't tease you,"
became, "We liked you, why didn't you let us help you?" It was incredibly
touching.

The family went last. I couldn't bear watching them so I closed my eyes. They
were closest to her and they still had not noticed her broken spirit as they
were caught up in their own problems. I didn't feel real sorrow for them. As
the guests exited I could hear plans being made for lunch, tennis, movies.
Already forgotten. Other plans being made. Life goes on...for some.

I had been able to stay for the whole affair and then some. This surprized
me. I had really expected to get called away. The lights were being turned off
so I evenutally got up, walked to the pulpit where ushers were getting ready
to close the lid (they paid no attention to me) and I looked down at the
tranquil face. They had not done her justice. No matter what they say, a
corpse doesn't look good. A dead face just looks like it's caked in make-up.
Her spirit was definitely gone, I was one hundred percent certain. "Good bye
old friend, I can't wait to be reunited with you in heaven." I kissed my
forehead and turned to the last, brightest light and went home.