It's Over

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

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As I mentioned earlier, a medical student at Presbyterian played a critical role – though it's hard to deny that he had Divine help. And that set in motion the plan that Fred had worked out.

The first steps were mine. I had to charter a bank. That took much more knowledge than my legal practice provided and I set out on a search for information, but it was available and it wasn't long before I knew the steps involved. It wasn't cheap though. Fortunately I had some “comfortable” friends who loved life and hated their kids. They were ready to take a chance on eternity while sticking it to their spawn. Fred chose the name “Bank of Heaven.” It set the right tone for the venture. He even opened his own account.

In a sense he was a real humanitarian. For him, at least as far as I could determine from what he told me, everyone was equal – rich and poor alike. And they were alike. Rich and poor were invited to open accounts under the following conditions: You had to deposit a certain percentage of your net worth in the bank and that was set arbitrarily at twenty percent, but you could deposit more if you chose. It didn't matter if that was in dollars, pesos, Euros, rupees, or whatever currency you used, and if you were broke the minimum amount was one dollar or its equivalent. And the money you deposited was not refundable under any circumstances while you were alive. In fact, it was given a status outside of your estate and continued as a separate entity in perpetuity. Undeposited money, of course, was part of your estate and went to your heirs.ⁱ

Withdrawals could come at either (or both) of two times – in Heaven so you could get new religious writings on the internet, or when the Messiah came and all earthly pleasures were available. You'd be sorely tempted in Heaven because of an overwhelming desire to learn and because it would speed your ascent to perfection. But whatever you withdrew during your time there would mean that much less to spend when you returned in the days of the Messiah – whenever that would come. As for the account size, it was either what you deposited or, for the poor, an unlimited amount in Heaven, and enough to live comfortably in Messianic times. Since that would last forever, those with ample accounts of their own – those who planned for their future – would seem to risk running out, while the poor would always live in comfort. But, as I said, they were alike. At least ultimately. And when someone's own money ran out he (or she) was on the same terms as the poor, perpetual comfort, but not profligacy.

So budgeting – for those who chose to establish accounts – was a balancing act. How much for the current stay on earth, how much for Heaven, and how much for the initial period of the Messianic times. It was comforting, however, to know that no matter what decisions you made, and no matter how poor you might be now, you would eventually live a comfortable life. Forever.

Anyway, I managed to charter the bank. It wasn't easy. The red tape and regulations were truly prodigious. I somehow suspect that there isn't nearly as much paperwork in Heaven, but I could be wrong. Money turned out to be less of a problem than I had feared. As I said, there were enough rich people who were willing to make the gamble. Of course those who provided the initial funding were promised the addition of their investments, with interest, to their accounts.

That was the next step. Getting people to set up accounts. But that was also easier than I expected. Those in the “middle class” were suspicious of the whole project and very few of them were willing to take the risk. But for the rich, the ones who didn't even know how much they had or how to use it, it was worth the risk. They wouldn't be greatly affected – if they were affected at all – by a twenty percent investment in an eternal future. (The fear of death proved to have much more power than any concerns they may have had about risk.) The poor could usually find a way to get a dollar, and the potential benefit was incalculable.

With each account we set up an internet account (a free one) which those without computers could access at the library. Fred arranged with Bernie for the issuance of OWWW addresses for all participants, and they'd be activated when account-holders died. He had made all the arrangements with his angel friend before he was resuscitated. He did it “just in case” he returned to life, and his work paid off.

And it seems to have paid off as well for some of the account holders. There are now over three million of them. The majority of the solicitation was through newspaper ads and Bernie's invasion of their computers. Most of the depositors are poor, but some of them are very wealthy. And after a few of them died and were in Heaven there were moderately large withdrawals from their accounts. I suspect they were getting books with modern insights.ⁱⁱ It's clear that they were benefiting from their advanced planning. And there's still plenty left for when they come back. Accounts of the poor, and of the living like me, of course, have not been affected. I'll have my chance. And I certainly have less anxiety about that day than I did a few years ago.

In the meantime, Fred's situation has also improved. He gets a small commission on the withdrawals. It's not a large amount,ⁱⁱⁱ but enough so that he can use the money both to pay off initial investors and cover ongoing expenses, including a small salary for his work, and he does well on it. He has an account himself – not, however, anything compared with some of the billionaires alive and dead who have participated. His account not only assures his future, but he uses it for demonstration to those considering the project.

And I'd be kidding you if I didn't let you know that I'm also going to get some income from the project. I didn't make anything on the chartering (in all honesty I didn't lose anything either) but I'll soon take Fred's position as manager of the enterprise – its CEO. There will be steady income from that and Fred has assured me that he'll review with me all of the detailed knowledge necessary to run the bank. He's beginning a new project soon in Dubai or Bhutan or some place like that,^iv and he'll have to take a leave of absence from the bank to devote his time to that. The longer the better as far as I'm concerned. The income I'm expecting will allow me to be comfortable, although I must admit that responsibility for so many billions is daunting. He'll certainly have to explain to me the mechanics of deposits, withdrawals, and fund management, but he assures me that it won't be a problem. And I'm a quick learner, if I do say so myself.

I should be able to live a good life. But the real reward will come when I die.

ADDENDUM:  Carl died a few days ago following a heart attack.  Unlike Fred he could not be resuscitated.  He has already removed most of the money from his account, so he must be adapting well to Heaven.

Next episode: “Nota Bene 7” – Back to business.

I        And the money of non-participants similarly would go to heirs and to the government, and would not be available to those who were returned to life in Messianic times.

ii        Obviously I don't know from personal experience, but I'll get the complete facts after I die.

iii      Though it's certainly more than adequate considering the billions that the deceased have withdrawn and that has been transferred to them.

iv       He said he'd send me his address as soon as he was settled.

Still More

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

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“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.