Wrong Turn

Somewhere between the explosion and his new location definitely ended in a wrong turn. He made his way through a green, hazy landscape where it opened up into a garden of untold beauty. It obviously wasn’t Iraq anymore leading him to quickly realize things had gone wrong. If only he could knew how grand of a scale “things” went wrong.

Scott Clayton had been on patrol; same as the day before but this day was the conclusion to his life. Today he had stopped for a quick soccer match with the local kids in a safe neighborhood. Out of nowhere a young Iraqi quickly rounded the corner, and before anyone could get him in their crosshairs, he yelled “Allah Akbar,” and detonated his vest. The explosion killed a mix of Americans and Iraqis totaling twenty-seven. The confusion of the left over mess sent believers and non-believers heading to the skies regardless if they had prepared or not. The afterlife was their next stop, good or bad. For Scott, it was going to be one messed up day.

Scott was a believer. He had been brought up in a relaxed Catholic family that was just guilty enough to always be wrong but not enough to need 10 Hail Mary’s on a monthly basis. Red hair and a temper exposed his Irish ancestry and his sense of being right all the time, his American identity. His family was close knit and always came first. You can say Scott was typical of a country that put out typically good sons. His views of what he thought he was would be put to the test.

The explosion had ripped his body to shreds. He awoke never knowing this as he appeared as he thought he looked earlier in the day. The only difference was the clothing he was now wearing. He was dressed in fine robes, typical clothing in Muslim afterlife and his tattoo on his left forearm was now gone. This got his blood boiling, the dress was one thing but his tat had been erased as though it was never there in the first place. The questions now started.

Where in the hell am I? Why am I dressed like this and where is my tat?

All these were legitimate questions for someone in his situation.

As he made his way into the clearing he started seeing more people dressed as he was walking in the same direction. Most of them had a look of excitement as if they had won something. One thing did stand out, everyone was apparently Muslim. He on the other hand stood out like, well like a Catholic in a Mosque. Slowly the other men, as that was all he could see was other men, started walking in groups and staring at him. The hushed tones turned into the anti-American tune he had become familiar with. Yet with the unease of the situation nobody made a move, not that anyone was armed. With all the attention now on Scott nobody noticed that they made their way to some sort of reception area.

Slowly everyone starting easing up a bit as they realized they had arrived to wherever they were walking towards. The reception area had a feel of customs at any major airport. There were ten lines of people twenty deep all waiting to move forward. Scott entered the line furthest away as to not attract any more attention. Little did he know, the attention had just started. After about thirty minutes, not that time mattered, Scott was now at the front of the line. The man behind the counter quickly realized something had gone wrong.

His look was one of “this is going to be a long day.” He shuffled through some papers and looked up at Scott and spoke in Arabic. As he did this Scott made it known he didn’t speak it. This of course went on for about fifteen minutes when finally the man said in broken English “One moment please.” He disappeared momentarily and returned with another man. The same look came across the new man but instead of speaking in Arabic he spoke perfect English.

You apparently are not Yusef Hasem are you sir?

Scott, with a look of drawn out frustration asked “Where am I?”

“You are in Jannah, did you not know this?”

Scott’s look drew even more confusion. “Where in the hell is Jannah?” This of course was an oxy-moron. The man behind the counter came to the conclusion something went wrong down in divinity distribution.

“Sir, before I answer your questions I need to know your name.”

“Scott, Scott Clayton.”

“Thank you sir, give me one moment and I will be back to answer your questions.” The man made a 360 and spoke one more thing. “Jannah is heaven, at least for Muslims it is.” Quickly he disappeared to the back.

Scott, having an idea that he was already dead still suffered from the shock of someone telling him he was dead. The pain in his stomach paralleled that of the Yankee’s beating his Red Sox’s in the 2002 playoffs upon hearing the news. He started questioning how this happened. What is divinity distribution and if his family going to be all right. There was one question that hit him hard. Is he going to be a Muslim for the rest of his afterlife? This was what he had been fighting, or at least what he felt he had been fighting. He obviously was going to need a miracle to get out of this. Suddenly the man returned with a look of bad news.

“Mr. Clayton, please follow me.”

Scott gathered himself the best he could and made his way with apparently, his only friend. They walked down a stone path lined with Jasmine to a quiet outdoor office that was beyond any other Scott had been in. Slowly they take their seats at a table, which of course was topped with a bowl of fruit from the surrounding garden. The man began the conversation with an unsettling introduction.

“My name is Gabriel, the Archangel of Revelation.”

The look of blood draining Scott’s face was obvious as he had to do a double take.

“You said your name was what?”

“My name is Gabriel; you may know me as Gabriel, the Messenger of God.”

So far this was more than Scott could handle. Just hours ago he was on the streets doing his job and now he is talking to an Archangel in another religions heaven. Scott fell back into his chair as this was a shock to most normal people; only the crazy ones expect something like this to actually happen. After a few moments Scott pulled himself back into the conversation.

“How is it I ended up here talking to you” was the first thing out.

“Well Scott, we are not actually sure ourselves, there seems to have been a typo somewhere back in the process.” Scott thought to himself “a typo? How does a typo happen in Heaven?” Of course Gabriel being an Archangel was quick to respond to Scott’s thoughts which as you could imagine, freaked Scott out that much more.

“You need to understand that we have been busy in the last few years sorting souls out and well, we never saw this coming. Frankly speaking, if what we think happened there is a Muslim man talking to Michael right now over in your system.”

“What is my system Gabriel?”

Scott was trying not to believe everything he was brought up to think was wrong. It is not that he wasn’t happy that his belief in an afterlife turned out to be true but that apparently there was more than one. “How is this to be” Scott questioned? Even though an Archangel, Gabriel was as frustrated as Scott but needed to control the conversation.

“Scott, I am going to need you to listen to me for an explanation.” Normally Gabriel had things to do, being an Archangel was the “lord’s work,” no pun intended but he owed Scott an explanation of the situation.

“You are here by a mistake. Not for being a believer in Islam but you were recognized as being pious and well versed but honestly the explosion that sent you here caused a glitch in the system. There were apparently numerous religions represented and two of you got mixed up in the sorting out.”

Scott was confused. He had done everything right previously and now the path he believed in betrayed him, or so he thought. Gabriel knew he was going to be in this for the rest of the day. He called in his assistant and told him to clear his appointments until tomorrow. He then turned to Scott and asked if he was ready for a history lesson. Scott nodded his head and sat back.

“Back in the early ages, before there had been separation in the afterlife, everyone had coexisted regardless of their religion. The Angels would explain to the new arrivals that all religions were founded on the same principles but it was up to man to interpret the scripture. As you can imagine this caused many theological problems and people questioned everything before this point. Once they saw what others beliefs were actually founded on, it made it easier for them to accept them as brothers and sisters.” Gabriel continued with how the afterlife was void of religion but was founded on strong beliefs. Scott was dumfounded. He asked Gabriel how it could be religion didn’t exist in what he believed in.

“I will answer that, but first I need to continue.”

Scott was visibly frustrated as Gabriel expected. He understood it was like a child finding out that his step parents wasn’t actually his birth parents. It was a breakdown of trust that had to be built up again and this was no different. Gabriel continued to explain the purpose the afterlife once Scott was able to calm back down.

“The afterlife became a place where souls could gather without hatred. It wasn’t so much based on a reward for a well lived life as it was a place for those that made it better to live on Earth.” Scott took it in fairly well and asked if he could pose some questions. Gabriel, having got long winded was more than happy to let Scott take over for a minute.

“So you’re telling me at one point heaven was for all?”

“It still is” replied Gabriel.

Scott scratched his head unsure what Gabriel meant. “Well if it is for all, then why are there only Muslims here in Jannah?”

“That is because Jannah is what Muslims believe in.” Scott was starting to see that his beliefs didn’t fail him; he just made a wrong turn.

“So I thought you said it used to be for all?”

“It did, but before you continue let me continue with some more of the lesson; they may answer your other questions.”

“The reason you see nothing but Muslims is because of the fault that happened to you. Had things gone right you would have been in heaven none the wiser to what could have happened.” This is where Gabriel started to explain why things came to be. “You apparently are familiar with the Bible are you not?” Scott replied yes he was with a brief snapshot of his religious upbringing. Gabriel was put at ease knowing he wasn’t going to have to explain the basics to Scott. Now he was able to tell Scott the story of the separation of Heaven. Scott leaned forward in total anticipation of what he was about to learn.

“The separation began just over two-thousand years ago. At first we thought it had been random hatred that made it through the gates of heaven. There had been isolated cases of violence which we were able to deal with on our level. Just because you arrive here doesn’t mean you will stay. Souls that resort to violence find a far greater hell than those who go straight there.” Scott threw in a question to try and help out his understanding.

“I thought you said only the good are allowed in?”

“They are” responded Gabriel. “But the soul is still left with the same capabilities they had on earth.” “It was when most souls found out their religion mirrored other religions they were able to adjust. Heaven was what they had been praying too or what their image of it was and most figured why mess up a good thing.” Scott probably had a harder time accepting this simple reasoning even though it made sense. Gabriel then steered the conversation back in the direction it had been going in.

“Like I was saying, there had been some isolated cases of violence which we dealt with. It was when the battles between Islam and Christianity began that it really took hold. Souls made their way to heaven but their hatred followed causing major battles that the Angels were able to keep in check but grew larger and larger.” In order to prevent what had happened like the battle with Satan, Michael and I decided to separate heaven.” This of course took the blessing of God. It had been widely frowned upon but for the time being was the only choice. Scott was more in disbelief that there had needed to be a separation of heaven but quickly grew to understand this due to his previous existence in a war zone.

“So did this have to do with the lack of religion in heaven” Scott asked.

Gabriel seeing he was speaking to a reasonable man answered yes. “The need for a heaven with religion never made sense to us long before the any of this current trouble took place. We knew if it existed in heaven we would have the same trouble that periled humanity. We didn’t deny the need to believe in something, this is not only of human nature but the right of the soul.”

“So is there ever going back to the way it was?”

Gabriel paused knowing even as an angel he had started to lose hope in the return to one heaven. “Scott, you may be the first to ask this in a long time including Michael and I.” Scott started to think he may never see those he loved ever again. He stood up and slowly circled the garden silently asking how he was going to get where he wanted to be. Gabriel left him to his thoughts this time.

How could he believe in heaven only to be denied the rewards of it? Would he be one of those that resorted to violence only to escape from where he didn’t want to be? He turned to Gabriel and asked what his options were.

“Well, you could stay here in Jannah where chances are you would more than likely exist peacefully but obviously with your pain of never seeing your loved ones again. Second we could grant you a return to earth but this would be a problem. The problem in this is for every day you spend here equals one-thousand days on earth. Before you tell me that you are willing to do this please understand that even in heaven angels have paperwork so it would actually be years before you saw family. You would have total remembrance of what happened to you and be burdened not to tell anyone as you would be taken as crazy.”

Scott was perplexed. How could heaven not be flexible even towards their mistake? Scott couldn’t face the other souls in Jannah knowing what sent him there in the first place. He would be alright at first but the guilt would be his downfall. Gabriel also knew that some other soul would begin to have issue with Scott’s existence in Jannah. Scott knowing his next question must have a simple answer that it was not even posed to him.

“What if you sent me to my heaven?”

Gabriel expected it and it even pained him to tell Scott the answer.

“This is not possible due to the fact if you talked we would have to take action upon you. Your very words would cause riot among the very people who had fought as humans to try and continue their war and we are not willing to take that chance.”

Scott quipped back “what would stop me from doing that here?”

Gabriel stood up to let Scott know he would not leave this garden alive if he even entertained the notion. Gabriel knew that Scott would not talk but had to make a show of force to get his point across.

Scott felt the power of Gabriel and even though he would not have talked he still had to step back from the fear of the afterlife death that had been presented to him. He continued to circle the garden wondering about the one thing that he could not get out of his mind that might actually be an option.

“What about rejoining the heavens? I would be able to return that way couldn’t I?”

Gabriel knew this to be an option but from the years separation had been in place that right now it wouldn’t work out. Scott called on Gabriel to explain why he had obviously lost faith in humanity. Gabriel took great exception to this. His appearance took that of rage.

“Who are you to question me? You are a mere human and couldn’t possibly understand what will go wrong!”

Calmly Scott explained that it had been because of humans that heaven was created. He continued to explain that because humans had erred causing the separation that maybe they deserved a chance for redemption. Gabriel questioned what made Scott believe humans needed a chance to bring down the wall.

“We are tired” quietly spoke Scott. “I may only be speaking for myself but we are tired. We are tired of our wars that no one seems to remember why we are fighting. These wars started thousands of years ago and we can’t possibly fathom why, yet we still fight them.”

Gabriel was taken aback. He couldn’t remember the last time the Messenger of God had been at a loss for words. “Why does being tired make you think you would get along” retorted Gabriel.

“It is because none of us actually are given a chance to start from square one. We are brought up to take caution with others because this is how it was before us. Why shouldn’t we be able to make our own opinion of others?” Scott was now on one knee from the strength it took to voice his truth. “You claim heaven is for peace yet you divide us because you lost faith in humanity.”

Gabriel lowered his head knowing their long standing edict was beginning to crumble. He excused himself to Scott and made his way out of the garden. Scott dropped to both knees, spent mentally and spiritually. He made a silent prayer, to who it was unknown. Where would it go and who could possibly be listening. Gabriel returned, followed by another imposing figure.

“This is Michael, the Archangel.”

Scott slowly looked up to both of the figures and made his way to his feet. As he stood, Michael greeted him and Scott returned the honor.

Michael quickly began, “You have made an interesting case for change. It has been so long that we grew comfortable with the forced peace we imposed.” Scott livened up to the conversation as Michael continued. “I have been in heaven talking to someone who happens to be in your shoes and our talk has apparently matched the one between Gabriel and yourself.”

This took Scott for a loss as he forgot that he had been asked if he was a Yousef Hasem. Scott then inquired what is going to happen.

“We are going to make the heavens one again” spoke Michael. Scott slowly smiled knowing he might again see his family one day.

“What is going to happen when we join the heavens” Scott queried.

“What is going to happen?” Gabriel replied. “What happens next entirely depends what you and the souls from all sides decide to do.”

Scott questioned the decision once more, “How do we let humanity know that there is one heaven?”

“You don’t” replied Michael. “It is their responsibility to grow past their conflicts and beliefs.” Scott quickly understood Michaels reasoning, humans as he used to be need to apply their beliefs without retribution when disagreeing with others. As easy as it sounded, Scott knew the impossibility of the task.

Quietly, Scott said his goodbyes to Gabriel and Michael with one more question. “What do I do now?”

“This is for you to figure out; you got here so the rest should be easy.”

With that, Scott made his way out of the garden into a scene that didn’t exist before. This scene was somehow more comfortable to Scott. He didn’t recognize anything but it had that feeling of someplace he felt he should be. The faces had a familiarity to them even though he didn’t recognize them. He realized now that his beliefs didn’t fail him but the foundation on which they were built upon got him here.