The gates are beautiful, composed of what appears to be solid gold and platinum and topped with magnificent priceless pearls. The ground appears to be in the form of a typical sidewalk, but also composed entirely from gold.
After walking around using the clouds and golden pavements as my ground, I get a detailed tour of all the neighborhoods while my guide explains to me "these people have houses whose sizes are directly proportional to all the good they have done in their entire lives..." I cannot help but think how small mine must be if I am in the right place and belong in Heaven.
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| Approaching Heaven, Source |
I finally get to the God himself. The person I have followed this whole turns around to show me their face just before meeting God. I cannot see anything but a great beam of light coming from where a face should be. Their robes appear to be hanging in mid air as I finally see I have been following an entity with no physical body this entire time.
I am not scared, but curiously interested in the being I have been following. Before I can say anything, the being is gone and I stand alone in front of God trembling. I am at a lost for words the God first speaks and says "Hello my son, what has brought you here?" I respond hastily, "I cannot remember, but I must be dead to have traveled this far into the afterlife." I am so curious and cannot hold back my first question, "Are you really God and is this truly Heaven?"
He does not respond to this question of mine but responds saying "My dear son, it is not your time just yet. Be happy you have seen what you have, for no one else has before their time." I can never look directly at God, for there is another great beam of light at least ten times more intense than the person I have followed here. It is as if God was everything all at once, my mind still cannot comprehend it all. My words have to settle as a valid description. God was a entity I could feel; his presence was warming all around and brought sudden peace and comfort over me. I felt as if I was one with my mind, body, and soul. God allowed me to sense these feelings.
After God's last sentence, my guide appeared once again and lead me back out towards the gate where I had come from. The being said one last thing to me before pushing me off the clouds to fall gently back into reality, "Your wait will all be worth it, cherish life on Earth while you can..."
Author's Note
After reading stories from Dante's Inferno (Limbo and Satan), I have been inspired to put my own twist on visualizing the afterlife. Instead of focusing on the "Inferno" or Hell, I wanted to envision my own adaptation of Heaven. After reading the vivid description of Satan, I thought about what God would look like if it were placed in Heaven rather than Hell.
Bibliography
This story was inspired by reading the two section of Dante's Inferno entitled, Canto 4: Limbo and Canto 34: Satan, both written by Tony Kline in 2002.
Hey Alex!
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting take on your own interpretation of the afterlife! I loved the imagery you used to describe God and his appearance in Heaven. The dialogue in your story was very surreal! I can’t image going to Heaven and being told that it is not yet my time. I also love the way you described feeling as one with your body, mind and soul. This seems like a crazy sensation.
Hello Alex! I really like this story how you took something dark and changed it to make it happier. I couldn't imagine what Heaven would be like other than what I read or if I could even speak if I was in front of God himself! Its nice how you added you were curious, but not scared. And that God just told him it was not his time and sent him back into reality. That would be an insane experience! Good job!
ReplyDeleteHey again Alex!
ReplyDeleteI read our story and enjoyed it so much I read the original! I liked all of the changes you made and also the similarities as well. Your description of things was my favorite, especially how you described feeling as one with your body, mind and soul. Great job again! Enjoy the summer!
Hey Alex,
ReplyDeleteThis was such an awesome story to sit down and read. I really enjoyed it. It was very well written and developed through your storytelling strategy. All of the changes you made from the original source to your version of the story were very well done! The description you used was phenomenal! You did a great job, enjoy the summer, and good luck on your Finals!
Hey Alex! This is a great personal interpretation of the afterlife. Growing up in a church I have thought a lot about what my afterlife or heaven would look like. I really enjoyed the image you gave of the gates made of gold and pearls. It was cool how you said that you weren't scared but curious. I feel like that is how many people feel about their God. We are all curious of things we can't see. Overall great read!
ReplyDeleteSarah Trapp
I loved all of the imagery you included with your story! You obviously took a lot of time to reflect on what you thought Heaven would look like and how people would interact there. I especially liked your description of the gates. I've also always really enjoyed reading about Dante, so I enjoyed your interpretation of the story and the elements you added. Great work!
ReplyDelete