Imagine That (Short Stories) by Leon Rice (essential reading .txt) 📖

Heaven is so far away that it is safe from evil doing.

When we watch the sunrise, the darkness will slowly turn to light and we have a new day. This is what heaven is, a new day. This is what happens when a person passes from existence on this earth. Their spirit and soul (and their mind) travels through the darkness, escorted by the holly spirit. This is why the stars exist, to illuminate the path of the spirit and our soul on its journey to heaven. The stars themselves, of which there are billions and trillions, are spirits; not merely spirits, but angels that God has assigned the task of providing light. For their protection, God has made them searing hot to the touch; if one would stand in close proximity for a heart beat, they would be incinerated instantly, yet as they hang suspended in space, they feel the coolness of a spring time morning and are content with their task.

Each star shines for an indeterminate amount of time, known only to God. He has allowed the stars to feel great joy in there existence and their job of providing light. The brighter a star shines, the happier it is. What we call the sun actually is a star, perhaps the happiest of all stars, because it illuminates his creation, the earth. If you have ever seen a shooting star, you have witnessed the spirit of a star passing into the kingdom of heaven, into eternity, into eternal bliss. I can tell you that it is a magnificent event.

There are two words that I want to tell you about, infinity and eternity. Infinity becomes eternity. Heaven exists in eternity; it continues forever into the future, thus in that sense, considering the dove that I spoke of earlier, infinity isn’t infinity at all as many believe but ends in heaven; the doves journey would end in heaven and from there eternity begins and truly never ends. The holy spirit makes the journey from darkness, into the light of heaven, God’s magnificent light, over and over again, guiding the spirits and souls of men women and children into eternity and into the glorious presence of God.”

“And so, I query thee this: Doest thee grow weary of my soliloquy, young Zealand,” said Stellar, “Or shall I continue?”

“Pray thee, fair Stellar, tell me more.”

“Let us walk, lest we become weary of our surroundings, and I will enlighten thee further,.” said Stellar, with great pleasantry. She picked up a small stone the size of a coin and held it in her hand as they walked. She placed the stone in Zealand’s hand and continued:

“The person you see before you is not a women in the truest sense. What I am, is a spirit. I am the spirit of a star that shown brightly in the night sky when Jesus was born. You know me as Stellar, but I am known in heaven as the Star of Bethlehem. This is all I will tell thee about myself. What I want to tell thee about now is hell.

Stellar reached over and pinched Zealand on the arm quite severely.

“Good lord in heaven fair women, why hast thou inflicted such debauchery. That was painful!”

“I have done this so that the memory of pain would be fresh in your mind. This is what hell is. Hell is pain. Not only is it pain, but sorrow; it is also regret, regret of deeds done in your life for which you have not been forgiven.

There is only darkness in hell. Close your eyes and tell me what you see.

“I see nothing, only darkness.”

“This is what hell looks like, only blackness. The magnificent light of God does not exist in hell, thus, he has no presence there. When you are in hell, you are forever separated from God. Someone in hell has no sense of another being. Each soul is forever alone. There is no one to comfort you. You are forever forbidden the touch of another being. As time passes into eternity, the pain, with each second, increases beyond which you have not comprehension. The pain doubles with each passing minute for all eternity. There is sound in hell. People in hell hear the screams of other tortured souls, the gnashing of teeth and the breaking of bones. People cry out to God, but he hears them not. Hell is the antithesis of heaven. Hell is insanity.
What think thee of hell young Zealand?”

“I am taken aback, for thee hast described something for which no man could endure.”

“There is great truth in what you say. No man could, but some men will, despite themselves; that is the point of it. Only a fool would risk going to hell.

“Do you know what sins are dear Zealand?“

“Indeed I do know what sins are fair woman. I have spoken to God myself about them.”

“And what did God say?”

“He said nothing. God did not speak to me.”

“God is speaking to you now, through me.”

“God said that if you wish to enter into his light, into the light of heaven, simply confess to him your sins, accept Jesus as your savior and when the time comes, thee will be taken from the darkness of space and be accepted into his holy light.”

They sat on a decaying log and Stellar continued:

“Close your eyes and speak to him silently now as I have indicated.”

There was a wisp of a wind, the leaves rustled gently, and as Zealand spoke to God, a dove fluttered into the air and flew away into the morning sun. Zealand opened his eyes.

“Did you do as I requested?”

“Yes, emphatically yes, I did.”

A tear formed in the corner of his eye and rolled down his cheek.

“What did God say?”

“I did not hear a voice, but a thought came to me as though it were spoken; the thought was simply, ‘You are forgiven my son.‘”

“And so it shall be from this day forward. God has always been with you, but now you will know for certain that God is with you. You are destined for heaven and when the time comes, will spend eternity in the presence of God, experience joy the likes of which you have never known, and live in the magnificence of His holiness . . . Now, say Amen and we shall walk further.”

Zealand did as Stellar requested and as they walked, Stellar said, “Doest thou feel distracted or can thee continue to focus on what I say?”

“Continue fair woman; pray, tell me more.”

“I shall speak to thee briefly of sleep. God allows that we put our heads on the pillow each night so that we might rest and to not grow weary of our endeavors during the day. When we sleep, God allows us to dream. Doest thou have pleasant dreams dear Zealand?”

“Indeed, I do have pleasant dreams; on occasion though, my dreams are of a terrible nature and I awaken in the dead of night with terror in my mind. My body is in a cold sweat and chills run up and down my spine; I am terrified and fear fills me up,” said Zealand.

“Yes, that is horrid; we shall speak of it later but the pleasant dreams are a preview of what heaven is like. Will thee tell me of them, the pleasant dreams I mean to say.“

“Oh, my fair woman, they are magnificent indeed! There are vast mountain ranges, with snow capped peaks that continue to the horizon, with beautiful valleys filled with flowers of every color imaginable. The temperature in the valleys is warm, never hot, and high in the mountains, there is snow, but it is never cold, only cool. In many of my dreams, I can fly like a bird and I soar above the vistas below and before me. It is a majesty of which I almost cannot grasp.

Then it occurs to Zealand what is being imparted to him and he says:
“I have realization of what thee speak! I am awestruck! I beseech thee, is this what heaven is really like, fair woman,” said Zealand, with glee in his voice.”

“Tis so, fair one; also, peace, love, kindness, gentleness, and civility are eternal,” said Stellar, with a tender touch of her hand to his arm.

“People, in their heavenly bodies, play music and laugh and sing. They are never hungry, but may eat if they wish; eating brings them additional joy. We shall speak more of heaven later, but now I will speak of hell. The nightmares that we have are a preview of hell. Doest thou have the small stone that I gave thee?”

“Indeed,” said Zealand.

“Place the stone in the palm of your hand, rub it with your finger and contemplate the composition of it, the size of it, and the color of it. God has a stone like this that he keeps in the pocket of his robe. It is so hard that it cannot be broken. This is where hell is.

Keep this stone, the stone in your hand, in your possession from this day forward to remind thee where hell is. The people of heaven also know where hell is, that it is in Gods’ pocket, and they are certain that they are safe from it. The spirits and souls inside cannot escape, nor will anyone in heaven ever be placed there. The nightmares of which you have spoken, are like hell, sheer terror.”

“Firstly, fair lad, I will tell thee that you shall never again awaken in the night with terror and fear in your mind. Secondly, You will remember the fear and terror you have already experienced during your slumber and in your hours of awakening, without fear, will tell others of the horrors of hell.

This is the first thing I have spoken prophetically regarding your life; Take heed of it and remember it. I sense that thou doest grown weary and have as much knowledge as can be digested at this time. You, are a profit and the information I have imparted to thee is the beginning of all thee will know regarding God, Heaven, and Hell. I will leave thee straight away and allow you to contemplate the newly acquired knowledge. Do not linger long so that you worry your grandfather and grandmother.” With a look of kindness and caring on her face and a gentle smile, Stellar said, “I bid thee good morrow sir.”

With that, Stellar disappeared behind a thicket and Zealand sat alone.

I am truly awestruck, thought Zealand. “To think that these many years of my life, I have had the