Standing Before the Gate

I wrote this piece of poetry in response to the Christian view of the rapture where the good souls get into heaven and the bad souls are condemned to hell for all eternity. To my mind, it seems that if heaven is meant to be perfect nothing can be missing from it. Not you, not me, not even your "enemies".

Standing Before the Gate


I stood before the Eternal Gate
wondering about my uncertain fate.
Not a soul to be found, except this one,
sitting alone and shining like the sun.

So I asked this hopeful mentor:
“please tell me, why you do not enter?
You do not seem afraid of being at rest,
looking as though you have passed every test.”

“The truth is this,” he said with a tear
“while the world is full of guilt and fear
all of these things I shall not abide
until the very last soul rests inside.”

“For how can I truly be at peace
and expect to join the amazing feast
with so many who remain behind
harbouring feelings of every kind?”

So I said, “I would sit and wait if I might.”
And he smiled and there I saw a strange sight -
I recognized his face as my very own
And before me was another soul alone.

- June 10, 2004

And I think the true inspiration behind this poem came from Kahlil Gibran's poem titled: Knocking at the Gate. Gibran, the little Lebanese poet really understood the message of compassion and forgiveness.