I’ve painted the town red, a saint I ain’t.
I read the commandments and started to faint.
“Let’s do this, Self,” I said to myself and I tried.
Then up from a nap I got up. Have I died?
And gone to Heaven to a glorious mansion?
“Hello and welcome. My name is Dead InSin.”
Silver cups of toffee-flavored yogurt and toffee coffees,
Then I surveyed the rest of the room, all grey, a dull office.
“Your stomach is rumbling? I’ve got a ham sandwich
Which that hobo over there will be on like a ham sandwich.”
Dead threw back his head and chuckled and snorted.
There are good jokes, but this was none of that sort.
He continued to mock as I just shook my head.
Dead took it too far, so I stopped him and said,
“That poor homeless man is locked out and shivering.
Give me the sandwich and I can deliver it.”
“No, he’s forked, ha ha ha. Don’t you see, that’s the punchline.
A fork in his hand with no food to eat, for all time.”
I tried to find humor in unimaginable tragedy.
To make light of this poor fellow’s plight, No, I couldn’t bear to see.
“Wait, is this Heaven or Hell?” I inquired.
“It’s the Good Works Place. You can tell, there’s no fire.
Take this work of Dante, truly page-turning
Sometimes there’s freezing, for others there’s burning.
But you ended up here since it’s what you deserve.
And I am your architect, ready to serve.”
“Great. I could use a ham sandwich.” I wasn’t lying.
But I grabbed it and went to the door flying.
“No, you cannot cross to the outside just yet.”
My plan to feed the hungry was met with regret. “Just yet?”
“See, this is the place where your tasks have been measured.
Good tasks score positive points and earn pleasure.
But it seems you have a morality disfunction.
Haha! Your bad tasks have earned a huge deduction.
Still, you’ve done better than many, worthy of praise.
Your good works have earned you ninety-nine days.”
“And then what? Will I be locked out as well?
Scraping for scraps in that desolate hell?”
“I can only build with the goods that you offer me.
Wood, hay, and stubble don’t last for eternity.”
Then a man with pierced hands entered the room.
“Hello, Dead InSin. Can you paint in a color other than gloom?
An external approach to keeping the rules
Through treats and corrections is obedience school.”
As Dead washed a ham sandwich down with coffee,
The man with pierced hands and fiery eyes looked at me.
“If you know me, you know my objection
This display of good works is just a projection
It doesn’t come from deep in the heart,
And so the projection surely falls apart.
This circus show fails to deliver because it neglects
The true life-giver whom you chose to reject
Who also gave me to stand in your place,
In death bearing the sin of the human race.
Give me your brokenness, I’ll make you whole
For I am the architect of the soul.
In Heaven I wipe away tears from eyes,
Then restore fallen Earth to a real paradise.
A grand waterfall to feed the lawn,
A tiger whispering to a fawn.”
Truly I had mocked and rejected this man
I played a part in those nail-pierced hands.
If He was the author of everything good
Then I had said no to this, I understood.
The law schooled me to fly, so I had learned
But the wings of self-will made me crash and burn.
The thought of my destiny caused me to scream
From my nap I awoke and so from a dream.
On my side table, toffee coffee gone cold,
While lingered the visions and words I’d been told
I opened my Bible, meditating through pages
Of Romans, written by Paul, a true sage.
Truth and I drew close, face to face,
Not by works it is done but by grace.
My morality a filthy shirt compared
To Christ’s work by which I am spared
I fell to my knees as I knew I fell short
Of the perfect law required by the Lord.
I accepted the Divine gift and
From death to life I was lifted.
A living morality flowed from inside out
By the Divine Architect no doubt
So if He has the power to recreate me,
Try to imagine how awesome Heaven will be.
My new wings gave flight in spite of Earth’s strife
As I began my Heavenly new life
I stretched and lumbered to the fridge,
Suddenly craving a ham and swiss sandwich.
See also https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/secular-heaven-nbcs-good-place/
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