Julius

Wake-up Pages Oct 2, 2014

J: I'm Julius. I want someone to help me.
Me: What kind of help?
J: I want The Big Book in the sky to have my name in it.
Me: The Big Book?
J: The one that says you can get into Heaven.
Me: Why do you think your name is not in the book? 
J: I'm not washed in the blood of the Lamb.
Me: I think that's a metaphor. 
J: I think it's the gospel truth. 
Me: Then why aren't you in the Book?
J: I was a faithless believer/unbeliever.
Me: Why? 
J: It didn't make sense-- all those silly stories about animals on an ark, a big fish that swallowed a prophet and barfed him out. And a virgin birth! It was so silly.
Me. It's not silly now?
J: It's still silly, but I guess it must be true because I'm not in heaven.
Me: What if there isn't a heaven?
J: I'm not going anyplace that isn't heaven.
Me:  Ben, want to talk to Julius?
B: Hi Julius.
J: I'm not in the Book.
B: Sure you are. Look. You're right here. 
J: Wow. I am. That's me. Photo ID and everything. Wait. It must be a forgery.
B: It is not. I wrote it there myself. 
J: Can you do that? You can't do that. It's The Lamb's Book of Life.
B: Ever see me after I had a perm? Woolly little lamb I was. 
J: Stop that. I'm talking about my eternal salvation and you are treating it like a joke. 
B: Okay. Listen. Do you remember when you thought girls were icky. 
J: Ha. Yeah. Silly kids. We boys said all girls had cooties even though we didn't know what a cootie was. 
B: Right. So you weren't talking about literal cooties, just something you and the other boys could rally around and shout at the girls.
J: "EW, Jessica has cooties!"
B: Do you remember when you discovered that girls offered greater possibilities than you dreamed of when you were in 4th grade?
J: Oh Yes!
B: Did you ever figure out that Jessica didn't have Cooties? 
J: I hope so. I married her.
B: So is it possible that there are other things that exceed what you were led to expect based on inaccurate reports?
J: Like what?
B: Like Heaven and Hell. Two extremes, neither very attractive to normal people. And neither very believable to people of normal intelligence. 
J: You got something better?
B: What do you think would be better? 
J: Well some place you can get together with your loved ones who have died and they wouldn't be dead any more. Maybe you could make up with people you had fights with if they weren't too jerky. Someplace where there's stuff to do, not just sitting on a cloud all day playing a harp. I want to play the saxophone. Always wanted to. But my parents didn't have money for lessons. And by the time I had a job I was too busy. But there should be all kinds of music. And places to go and things to explore. Heaven sounds boring in everything I've heard about it.
B: So you would rather have what you described?
J: Who wouldn't?
B: You can go there any time you want. 
J: So how come I'm not already there? 
B: Because you have been focused on getting to a heaven you really don't want any part of instead of what you really want. 
J: I didn't know that what I want is an option.
B: Always has been. In the Timeless Spaceless place.
J: What is that?
B: It's anywhere outside of the three-dimensional reality we experience in physical bodies. 
J: Then I must be there now. I'm outside of my body.
B: That's right.
J: Then why does everything look like the inside of a vacuum cleaner bag? 
B: Vacuum cleaner bag?! With dirt and dead bugs and stuff?
J: No. A new empty one. But you still don't want to be there. No future, you know?
B: Oh. Well it looks like that because you haven't been thinking about where you want to be. You have been torn between hating it here and not really wanting to go to heaven.
J: So are you going to tell me to go to the light?
B: Or you could just bring the light here.
J: Hey, there's light. I see things. 
B: What do you see? 
J: I see a Ferris wheel. A huge one like the one at the beginning of Sherlock on TV. 
B: The Eye in London. 
J: I've always wanted to ride on that. I wish my wife could ride on it with me.
R: Why don't you invite her?
J: Wow! There she is! Jessica! Hey Jess!