After studying for many years and searching through meditation, asking, praying, and much more he discovered a guru who revealed a way for him to go inside and know his own deepest self and so he talked to his soul and his soul told him his life mission and from that moment on his life was dedicated to helping the less fortunate who blessed him for every good deed he did. His family disowned him of course.
Then one day after a very long life a strong wind came and blew him all the way up to Heaven and he was banging on the Pearly Gates with a sense of Deja Vu.
Saint Peter answered the call and stood there looking at the man and picking his teeth because he had been eating his dinner.
“Hello,” said the man.
“What do you want?” asked Saint Peter.
“I want to come in,” said the man.
“I can’t let you in, only god can do that,” said Saint Peter.
“Why is God not here to let me in then?” said the man.
“God’s on holiday and until he comes back we’re not letting anyone in,” said Saint Peter glancing behind him at his dinner.
“What am I going to do now?” said the man, a touch of impatience creeping into his tone.
“Go wait in purgatory until we send for you,” said Saint Peter and closed the pearly gates in the man’s face.
“Well I never,” said the man exasperated and put out by such rudeness.
The man looked around to see if he could see where purgatory was but there was no sign of it anywhere, so he sat down on the grass to wait. His hand rested on a note lying there in the grass so he picked it up and read it: ‘Me and the gang have decided not to wait any longer and have gone in search of coffee,’ signed: Zen.
“How intriguing,” said the man. “I wonder who Zen is and this gang and which way did they go?”
The number 57 bus came along then and stopped at the pearly gates. The man jumped up and ran to the bus and said to the conductor: “Where’s this bus going?”
“Why to the next stop of course,” said the conductor.
“You’re not going down there are you?” asked the man trying to decide to get on the bus.
“No, we don’t go down there, you want the number 66 if want to go down there,” said the bus conductor.
It was an English double-decker red bus full of people and all staring out of the windows at the man who was holding up the bus from driving on.
“Got any room?” asked the man.
“There’s one seat left upstairs, so hop on now,” said the conductor and rang the bell for the driver to start going.
The man took his seat and they were off.
As the pearly gates receded behind, the man wondered where he was going.
Down below in the up above two of the devil’s henchmen were digging their way out and chewing rocks with their bare teeth, but they have a long way to go so not much news there yet.
Maybe in a thousand years.
‘Brighton Pier next stop’ called out the conductor of the bus.
The man, who so far in this story has not been named, looked up from his reverie and daydreaming and stared out of the window and sure enough it was Brighton Pier by the seaside.
The bus stopped and the man got off and went for a paddle in the sea.
An old geezer with long white hair was paddling in the sea too and they happened to find themselves together staring out at the distance, children’s shouts and seagulls cries all around.
“It’s nice here,” said the man.
“Isn’t it,” said God.
“I kept my appointment to meet you at the pearly gates but you weren’t there, they said you’d gone on holiday,” said the man.
“And now we meet beside the sea on such a beautiful day,” said God.
“What happens now? asked the man.
“I’ve got a job for you,” said God pulling his long white robe up higher so it wouldn’t be soaked by the waves.
“Oh?” said the man thinking of Jesus and what happened to him.
“I want you to clean up the world,” said God.
“What, with a dust pan and brush?” said the man smiling at God.
“I want you to take beautiful pictures to show people how to appreciate the beauty in all things, and write to let them know there’s hope and that it is a beautiful world and that darkness is only a shadow of the light, and that if they move out of the darkness into the light everything will be OK again,” said God enthusiastically.
“That’s a tall order,” said the man splashing his feet in the sea.
“You can do it, I know you can and I’ll send help,” said God stepping back as a large wave almost got his robes wet.
“And money.”
“As much as you need.”
“Do I get to travel?”
“Of course, as far as you can go.”
“I’ll need a good camera and a lap top for typing.”
“No problem,” said God feeling generous.
“Any commandments written in stone that I should follow?” said the man.
“The only commandment you’ll need is to follow your own heart,” said God bringing the interview to an end.
“Where will I begin?” asked the man to God.
“Go find Zen and tell her to put the gang back together and then start spreading the word,” said God moving backwards because the tide was coming in and wetting his robes.
“What word would that be?” said the man.
“You remember that guru who showed you how to go inside and know yourself?” said God.
“Sure, he was really kind and I liked him a lot,” said the man wondering what the guru had to do with it all.
“Well he’s the one who is spreading the message and he needs help.
Buddha, Jesus, Krishna to name a few, they all had helpers; so tell Zen to get the gang to help him,” said God.
“Okay,” said the man. “I’ll start there then. Any idea where she is?”
“She’s living in a caravan at the end of this beach,” said God.
“Okay, I’m off then, see you,” said the man to God.
“See you,” said God.
Images from Pixabay
My writing is about magical realism in burlesque with allegorical metaphor and black comedy, satire and parody wrapped up in surrealism and creative existentialism with parabolic spontaneity, kind of zany in the fabulation or avant garde if you like, but also it is about spirituality, wisdom, consciousness, ascension and inspiration to put it simply...