Still More

This is part three of a five-part account.  For the full reading please wait until July 13th.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Slow down. You've lost me.”

Besides the underlying doubts, I really didn't understand what he was saying. It was clear that he had a well-formed picture of what he was describing, but it was a little difficult for me to swallow in undigested form.

“Sorry. It's all so vivid for me. Anyway, I was struck by the fact that the Pharaoh had possessions but no one else did. But the reason turned out to be obvious, if not intuitive. He was better prepared. All the things he thought he'd need were buried with him. So he had them. Of course he learned quickly that nothing he had was of any value, but he had all of it. Even the servants that were buried with him were of no use to him. They were now his equals. Everyone was equal wherever it is that we were.”

“Men and women?”

“There were no men. There were no women. There were only souls – souls that were pure, and there was no difference in their nature. And they weren't at all corporeal. There were no bodies. So there were no physical defects. None was young or old.

“The only difference was that some of them had been evil during their lives. But that was a correctable defect.”

He continued.

“Well, it's not completely accurate that they were all equal. There was kind of a hierarchy and it was based on a couple of things. The Pharaoh did have an advantage over many of the others because he had been rich and highly positioned in life. (You don't specifically get recognition for that but it's a better starting point than poverty.) And there was an advantage to having been religiously observant. It doesn't matter what the religion was. The Pharaoh earned credit for his belief, even though it was misplaced. There everyone is brought around to the one true religion. And when they reach that level they seem to be completely happy; completely at peace. That takes longer for some than others – for those who were distant from their heritages – especially atheists – it may take centuries. But eventually they're happy.

“And sooner or later so are the wicked, although it takes a lot more time if you flouted the rules of the society in which you lived – especially if you oppressed others. The basic premise is that those who were evil chose not to fight the unworthy instincts with which we were all born. Their happiness was delayed not because they were evil – we all have that potential – but because they accepted that condition without an adequate fight.”

It made a lot of sense to me. And I certainly wanted to believe it. I'm reasonably well-off, and if not that much of a community leader, at least I'm relatively honest and respectful of all around me. It's reassuring to know that at least there's a possibility that I'll enjoy an afterlife in which I'll be happy. But I didn't know where Fred was leading. All that he had said seemed to be the preamble to something, even though it wasn't clear what the upshot was.

So I pressed him.

“Where is this all leading?”

He went on. I'm not even sure that he heard me. I had the feeling that he was simply continuing his story.

“Later that day – or was it the next day? – ”

This time I didn't bother to make any attempt to bring him back to reality, yet I was impressed, or maybe amused, by the amount that he claimed to have experienced. And he seemed to believe it.

“I spoke to Bernie again. Told him all about my conversation with the Pharaoh. He smiled and told me that Tut was getting there, but he had a long time to go – at least a millennium or two – and that the scenario he related was only part of the story. It's good for now, but sooner or later the Messiah will come. That's no myth. Of course we don't know when that will be. Interestingly, Bernie didn't know, although he didn't seem to lack any other information.

“'Yes. Someday the Messiah will come.' I had always considered that a good thing, but Bernie disabused me of that idea.

“'In many ways it will be a continuation of this life, but there will also be differences.' I asked him to tell me what he meant and he told me that the good life we'd been enjoying would continue in 'Heaven' (that was his word) and all those on then earth would come and join us. But they could bring their money and purchase all the temptations that they'd learned to love during their time on earth. Anything they desired would be available on the OWWW and we'd get an eternal supply for the initial price. Only those already in Heaven would lose out since they'd have no money to spend.

Next episode: “It's Almost Over” – It's almost over.