Azrael’s life significantly improved since he became a God. The reason for that wasn’t that the Gods treated him any better. In fact, he thought, they treated him as if he were a God before, and continued treating him the same now, which is to say, they loved him and showered him with every form of kindness. He smiled. They are the best people in all of Creation. Literally. Having them as friends and family was an incredible joy.
The reason why his life improved was the smiling, dignified woman at his side.
“My Lord and husband, I think it might be advised that I stay away from the Christians as they arrive. I’m not sure I will be completely impartial, and in any case, if they see me and start cursing me as a godless Pagan witch, like they did in Alexandria, their odds at achieving spiritual recovery after Earth might be diminished. Also, I might become angry at them”, she mused as she leaned into his side.
“You mean, you wish for them to see you here in charge of their fates and you’re feeling justice and empowerment, and then you’re feeling guilty over it, and your feeling of equanimity and justice advises you against taking advantage of your position and implementing what might be a petty revenge?”, he smiled.
“You are absolutely correct, my Lord”, she whined, ashamed of herself.
“Don’t you think it’s exactly what they need for their spiritual growth, if any is to take place at all?”, he pressed. “They expect your place to be occupied by Simon Kefa, whom they call Saint Peter, and expect him to hold the keys to the heavenly kingdom. They are self-righteous, even if they commit vile crimes, as they think they have been washed clean in the blood of their saviour, and our job is merely that of a concierge in a hotel, showing them their rooms and meal schedule. They think themselves absolutely righteous by virtue of belonging to the right cult and espousing the right beliefs. A clear demonstration that it is not so is in fact paramount if anything is to become of them. In fact, I would recommend non-Christian Judges to greet Christians, and vice versa, because there are many non-Christians who are arrogant in their belief that Christians are stupid, inferior and wrong”, he explained as he held her.
“You guys are so cute, I wish I could take your picture and put it on my bedroom wall, so that I can always look at you and smile”, Zina told them.
“You don’t have a bedroom”, noted Azrael.
“I can make one”, Zina grinned mischievously, as the Piercing Insight blushed. She was relieved, tough.
“So, you are telling me to trust my first instinct, although it might look petty?”, she asked.
“Yes, because your feeling of justice is advising you correctly, and your first instinct was correct. They truly need to see you here, in your full glory, power and authority of God behind you, because remember, you got your authority directly from Lord Vishnu, the Father of their Lord Jesus”, he reminded her. “You are fully in your right to be here. They, however, need to tread lightly, and they absolutely need that experience in their lives, so that they would truly learn the humility they keep talking about, and yet it remains elusive whenever they talk to someone who doesn’t share their beliefs to the letter. They already had multiple internecine fights over orthodoxy, and more are sure to follow. Allowing them to take their prejudice to Heaven would be counterproductive and ill-advised”.
“So, you’re saying I can just be myself?”, she prompted.
“That’s why you are here. The Lord appointed you to be here because he trusts you. He trusts you. He doesn’t want you to become someone else, or to censor yourself. You are valued, worshipped and loved for what you are. We need you as you truly are, and the souls you have been put in charge of need you as you are”, he bowed and kissed her brow, as she blushed from his praise and melted into him.
“I guess I will have to live with that”, she sighed and smiled.
“Incoming”, warned the Love of God, smiling at them, but pointing at the shimmer before them.
…
“Greetings, angels of the Lord. My name is Aurelius Augustinus, servant of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is in his name that I greet you, and surrender myself to your justice and mercy”, the man bowed.
Hypatia was impressed. “Greetings, Bishop. I am Hypatia of Alexandria, a Judge of karma”, she curtsied. “I will be happy to answer any of your questions and be your guide in your post-Earth experience”.
The man was shocked. “If I am not mistaken, you were not Christian in life. You rejected our Lord and Saviour, and salvation is possible only if one accepts his redemptory sacrifice on the cross, where he washed away our original sin, as well as other sins of our former lives, so that we may enter into the glory of God”, he was thinking out loud. “And yet, the Glory of God is immediately obvious from your holy presence, Lady Hypatia. It is clear and undeniable. The blessing and authority of God is obvious from your presence, which means something is clearly wrong with my thinking, and this makes me anxious and disturbed, and I can’t find peace until you explain how all of this is possible”, he bowed to her, completely distraught.
“Please, calm down, revered Bishop. Let me first tell you that I am well aware of your person and writing. You are highly esteemed in learned circles, and I have read some of your works. Second, you are wrong to think that I rejected Christ. In fact, I was in his holy presence just moments ago, where I bowed before him and kissed his hand. Rejecting him would be a terrible thing, as he is a family member and a friend”, she smiled, to his utter consternation.
“But you were a neoplatonist pagan who argued with the Christian bishop of Alexandria constantly!”, he exclaimed.
“I did. The bishop is a villainous fool, and to argue with him and reject his foolishness is a sign of virtue, which everybody should exercise, if only for the sake of moral and mental hygiene”, she laughed. “However, I have read your holy scriptures, and there is not a single thing your Lord said or did, that I disagree with or disapprove of”.
“But how is it possible that you didn’t accept Christianity in life, then?”, he inquired, still completely confused and upset.
“There are multiple reasons for that, the first and foremost being that I already had my own philosophical framework, which in my humble opinion works much better than the disjointed and often chaotic and contradictory Christian ideas, and I find further evidence for that in the fact that your Christian scholars are increasingly adopting neoplatonist ideas and framework themselves. Also, your ideas about ‘accepting Christ’ or ‘accepting Christianity’ are incredibly shallow for a man of your intellect. Did Christ himself not say: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven?”
“Truly, he did”, affirmed Augustine.
“I will now ask my holy husband, Lord Azrael, to testify as to who put me here and why”, she turned to her man.
“She was appointed to be the Judge to the dead by the Father of your Lord Jesus, and the Lord expressed his full faith in her and gave her the authority”, Azrael confirmed solemnly.
“I fully accept her holy authority, and it is also in abundant evidence”, nodded Augustine. “But how have I misunderstood the concept of redemption and salvation?”, he wondered.
“You accepted the mistaken Jewish concept that salvation is about sin, and obedience to law. It isn’t. It is about the light of transcendence, about the ability to see it, and decision to follow it always”, she nodded seriously. “The entire process in which Father broke the ceiling of the earthly hell, blasted the pure light of Christ through it, and sealed the cracks open, so that the light would always shine through them and point the way out of darkness; that is salvation and redemption”, she continued. “The problem isn’t that you have sin. The problem is that your souls are immersed in the darkness of Satan, and wallow in despair, finding stupid and sinful things to amuse themselves with. But now that Christ shows the way, and the light keeps being visible, salvation is an option for all who choose it”, she finished, glowing with the wisdom of God.
“And you and I have both chosen it and followed it; it’s just that we had different labels on the jars with the same honey”, Augustine mused. “You would have made a wonderful Bishop, my Lady, had you openly embraced Christianity, and if the Church allowed for female priests”, he smiled.
“Christ agrees”, Azrael nodded. “He said she would have been one of his best disciples were she alive at his time”.
“Then I am honoured to have been put at your mercy, Lady of God, for one who is praised by our Lord himself, and appointed a Judge to the dead by the Father, must be the holiest person of a character most pleasing to the Lord, and I feel greatly blessed to be in your holy presence”, Augustine bowed deeply, glowing blue with the light of God.
“You would have been a great guest lecturer at my academy, holy Bishop”, smiled Hypatia. “I would have greatly appreciated if you had given lectures on Christianity there. Alas, it wasn’t destined to be”, she smiled.
“Come”, she invited him. “Let’s talk more”.
…
“What is this infamy?”, yelled Bishop Cyril of Alexandria. “A heathen whore of Satan to greet me here? May Lord Jesus Christ judge you for your sins and cast you to the eternal darkness, you witch!”, he growled and cursed menacingly.
“Thank you for your wishes and recommendations, Bishop, but I am needed elsewhere”, she smiled; she turned her sight inwards, made a hand motion and he was gone.
“That one requires some cooldown, I would say”, she turned to her husband.
“Indeed”, he confirmed. “But I’m afraid they made him the doctor of the church down there, so there’s more where that one came from”, he waved his head disapprovingly.
“Satan is working his deeds within the Church”, Zina added, bringing coffee. “That is unfortunate, but not surprising. The dividing line between good and evil, between transcendence and the satanic, doesn’t go between nations, and between religions. It goes within them and through them, and within every soul”.
“Indeed”, nodded Lord Azrael. “The only way to be certain that you’re on the right side is to be in God’s holy presence, and of it. If you’re not, what salvation and ‘right side’ are we even talking about?”, he nodded, and sipped from his cup.
“This is not actual coffee, you know that, right?”, Hypathia raised an eyebrow.
“I know”, Zina smiled a conspiratorial smile. “But unlike the actual coffee, this actually tastes great, so let’s not give them ideas”, she winked.