Azrael\u2019s life significantly improved since he became a God. The reason for that wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
The reason why his life improved was the smiling, dignified woman at his side.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy Lord and husband, I think it might be advised that I stay away from the Christians as they arrive. I\u2019m 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\u201d, she mused as she leaned into his side.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean, you wish for them to see you here in charge of their fates and you\u2019re feeling justice and empowerment, and then you\u2019re 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?\u201d, he smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are absolutely correct, my Lord\u201d, she whined, ashamed of herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t you think it\u2019s exactly what they need for their spiritual growth, if any is to take place at all?\u201d, he pressed. \u201cThey 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\u201d, he explained as he held her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou 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\u201d, Zina told them.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have a bedroom\u201d, noted Azrael.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can make one\u201d, Zina grinned mischievously, as the Piercing Insight blushed. She was relieved, tough.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, you are telling me to trust my first instinct, although it might look petty?\u201d, she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, 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\u201d, he reminded her. \u201cYou 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\u2019t 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\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, you\u2019re saying I can just be myself?\u201d, she prompted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why you are here. The Lord appointed you to be here because he trusts you. He trusts you<\/i>. He doesn\u2019t 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\u201d, he bowed and kissed her brow, as she blushed from his praise and melted into him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess I will have to live with that\u201d, she sighed and smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cIncoming\u201d, warned the Love of God, smiling at them, but pointing at the shimmer before them.<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cGreetings, 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\u201d, the man bowed.<\/p>\n
Hypatia was impressed. \u201cGreetings, Bishop. I am Hypatia of Alexandria, a Judge of karma\u201d, she curtsied. \u201cI will be happy to answer any of your questions and be your guide in your post-Earth experience\u201d.<\/p>\n
The man was shocked. \u201cIf 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\u201d, he was thinking out loud. \u201cAnd 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\u2019t find peace until you explain how all of this is possible\u201d, he bowed to her, completely distraught.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease, 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\u201d, she smiled, to his utter consternation.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you were a neoplatonist pagan who argued with the Christian bishop of Alexandria constantly!\u201d, he exclaimed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u201d, she laughed. \u201cHowever, 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\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut how is it possible that you didn\u2019t accept Christianity in life, then?\u201d, he inquired, still completely confused and upset.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere 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 \u2018accepting Christ\u2019 or \u2018accepting Christianity\u2019 are incredibly shallow for a man of your intellect. Did Christ himself not say: \u201cNot everyone who says to me, \u2018Lord, Lord,\u2019 will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTruly, he did\u201d, affirmed Augustine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will now ask my holy husband, Lord Azrael, to testify as to who put me here and why\u201d, she turned to her man.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe 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\u201d, Azrael confirmed solemnly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI fully accept her holy authority, and it is also in abundant evidence\u201d, nodded Augustine. \u201cBut how have I misunderstood the concept of redemption and salvation?\u201d, he wondered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou accepted the mistaken Jewish concept that salvation is about sin, and obedience to law. It isn\u2019t. It is about the light of transcendence, about the ability to see it, and decision to follow it always\u201d, she nodded seriously. \u201cThe 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\u201d, she continued. \u201cThe problem isn\u2019t 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\u201d, she finished, glowing with the wisdom of God.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you and I have both chosen it and followed it; it\u2019s just that we had different labels on the jars with the same honey\u201d, Augustine mused. \u201cYou would have made a wonderful Bishop, my Lady, had you openly embraced Christianity, and if the Church allowed for female priests\u201d, he smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cChrist agrees\u201d, Azrael nodded. \u201cHe said she would have been one of his best disciples were she alive at his time\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen 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\u201d, Augustine bowed deeply, glowing blue with the light of God.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou would have been a great guest lecturer at my academy, holy Bishop\u201d, smiled Hypatia. \u201cI would have greatly appreciated if you had given lectures on Christianity there. Alas, it wasn\u2019t destined to be\u201d, she smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome\u201d, she invited him. \u201cLet\u2019s talk more\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this infamy?\u201d, yelled Bishop Cyril of Alexandria. \u201cA 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!\u201d, he growled and cursed menacingly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for your wishes and recommendations, Bishop, but I am needed elsewhere\u201d, she smiled; she turned her sight inwards, made a hand motion and he was gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat one requires some cooldown, I would say\u201d, she turned to her husband.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed\u201d, he confirmed. \u201cBut I\u2019m afraid they made him the doctor of the church down there, so there\u2019s more where that one came from\u201d, he waved his head disapprovingly.<\/p>\n
\u201cSatan is working his deeds within the Church\u201d, Zina added, bringing coffee. \u201cThat is unfortunate, but not surprising. The dividing line between good and evil, between transcendence and the satanic, doesn\u2019t go between nations, and between religions. It goes within them and through them, and within every soul\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed\u201d, nodded Lord Azrael. \u201cThe only way to be certain that you\u2019re on the right side is to be in God\u2019s holy presence, and of it. If you\u2019re not, what salvation and \u2018right side\u2019 are we even talking about?\u201d, he nodded, and sipped from his cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not actual coffee, you know that, right?\u201d, Hypatia raised an eyebrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know\u201d, Zina smiled a conspiratorial smile. \u201cBut unlike the actual coffee, this actually tastes great, so let\u2019s not give them ideas\u201d, she winked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Azrael\u2019s life significantly improved since he became a God. The reason for that wasn\u2019t 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 … Continue reading