Hereafter

Hereafter: Part I Crossing Over, Chapter 14

14

  

MY TYRAID GOT LYDIA GOING and now she was ready to follow up on my remarks. After receiving permission to speak, Lydia began ripping into Holden.

“You remember me, don’t you? I got here quite a few years before you did. Perhaps you recall what happened at the rave—you’re punk followers didn’t think twice about taking advantage of the fact that I was high and began sexting racy shots of me on the dance floor. You know what happened—the pics went viral, my reputation was trashed, and on the first day of classes my senior year, my life was over!” Lydia railed, finally venting literally centuries of pent-up hostility towards Holden.

Everyone waited quietly to see if and how Holden would react to Lydia’s tongue-lashing.

“What they did was inexcusable, and I’m terribly sorry for any role I might have played in your life ending long before it should have. Lydia, I’m going to say something and I don’t want you to take it the wrong way, but despite what you did, taking your own life, they let you in here, into heaven. Weren’t you just a bit surprised and perhaps a little grateful?”

Holden’s revealing remark cut to the core of what heaven and living by the Principles Christ taught were all about—Forgiveness and Understanding centered on Love. Lydia sat back in her chair while the hatred she was feeling for Holden drained from her agitated soul.

“You’re right . . . you’re right . . . I have no more business being here than you do. Your Honor, I would like to retract my remarks and let the record show that whatever this panel decides to do with Holden, I should share the same fate.”

Lydia slumped in her chair, dejected.

I caught the drift of Holden’s argument and though I wasn’t yet ready to forgive and forget, I took Lydia’s hand in a gesture of support. We were the two people on the panel who were most personally affected by Holden’s role as the leader of the Guardian’s rebellion. The other panel members asked questions to help establish whether a precedent should be set to alter the existing policies.

Yes, even in heaven, especially in heaven, the search for the Truth that serves the Greater Good is a constantly evolving process. The principles are written in the stone of God’s Will, but how they are applied is open to interpretation. Where mankind is concerned, God does not dictate, for that wouldn’t honor the principle of Free Will, so critical to the genuine relationships God values.

The Creator guides hoping we’ll choose to follow the Light. That process often takes time, more than one lifetime in the flesh, and a great deal of experience during which our choices are tested. Many follow the Light and many do not. This panel would be possibly setting a new standard as to what should be done with those souls who choose to rebel. The next question tried to address the issue of whether or not Holden was fully responsible for his actions.

“Holden, I’ve read the transcripts of your story. Take us back to that moment when you first learned your family had all died in that tragic accident. I understand you blamed God for allowing it to happen. Do you still feel that way, that God is ultimately responsible for everything that happens during our lives—good, bad, accidents, natural disasters . . . I’m sure you know what I’m getting at,” came a query from the panel member sitting next to Lydia.

Holden wasn’t expecting to have to relive such a painful memory. He paused to gather his thoughts and control the raw emotions raised by the question.

“Honestly, when that happened, my grief quickly turned to anger and I lashed out at God for letting such a terrible thing happen. Would I still feel that way if something like that happened today? I understand more now, but the question of why terrible tragedies can happen to completely innocent victims, like my family, is a mystery I hope will be revealed to me during my studies here,” Holden honestly, thoughtfully, and strategically replied.