The Other Side of Heaven

by Stan Mason

  ‘That’s rather severe, isn’t it?’ I challenged smartly. ‘Why should I have to undergo a trial when I haven’t done anything? Why should I have to face a verdict at the end by judges who are heavily influenced against me? What happens if I’m found innocent and, more importantly, what’s my fate if I’m found guilty?’

  The Angel of Retribution shrugged his shoulders causing his wings to flutter slightly. ‘If you’re found guilty, it will depends on the sentence handed out to you by the judges.’

  ‘Taking the worst case scenario, what could that be?’ I asked fearful at his reply.

  ‘I cannot answer tht,’ he professed bleakly. ‘It will depend entirely on the judges and the severity of the case.’

  ‘And if I’m declared innocent?’ I pressed despondently.

  ‘It’s not my field of operation,’ he responded dolefully. ‘You’ll have to ask the Angel of Circumstance.’

  ‘And where do I find him or her?’

  Before I received an answer, the Angel of Retribution flew out of the room leaving me completely alone.. I found myself in a very strange and difficult situation. Either I was forced to return to the team revising the Great Chain of Being which bored me to distraction or I was to face being tried by the Angelic Court. There was really no option. I made an immediate decision to return to the team. However, events had moved on very quickly in my absence for, when I returned to the room where the Great Chain of Being was being revised, I was faced by Duke, the team leader, who was hopping up and down with delight.

  ‘We’re practically there,’ he announced triumphantly. ‘We’re just completing the end part relating to inanimate objects such as rocks, sand, etc. The final product is three times longer that the previous text and it includes a great deal more. You guided us really well, Jeremiah. We’re all proud of you.’

  I stared at him in dismay. Although I had not wanted to return to the project, learning that it had come to an end stunned me. It was the choice I made to come back and now it was finished there was nowhere else to go.

  As I stood there thinking about my fate, I was suddenly transported to another place where I faced the Centurion again.

  ‘Your presence is no longer required at the revision of the Great Chain of Being,’ he told me point-blank. ‘There is no alternative but to face the judges in Angelic Court.’

  ‘Why?’ I demanded angrily, feeling my temper rising within me. ‘Why should I have to defend myself in Court? It’s not right and it’s not reasonable!’

  ‘You will do as the angelic hierarchy orders you,’ he retorted sharply, ‘otherwise you will be found to break the rules.’

  ‘Rules!’ I snapped. ‘That’s all you angels think about! Why don’t you cut me off some slack?’

  ‘I am simply a messenger relating to you the decisions of the angelic hierarchy,’ he explained briefly. ‘There’s no point in showering your anger on me.’

  He was right. He was simply an emissary of the angels but he was the only one to whom I could complain to at the time.

  ‘Where and when?’ I asked him curtly. ‘Where will the Court be held and what time do I have to prepare my case... albeit I don’t think there’s a case to defend.’

  ‘It’s happening now,’ he replied calmly.

  Without delay, I found myself standing in the dock in a great hall before a raised rostrum behind which sat three judges wearing pure white robes. An audience of spirits sat at the far end of the hall watching the proceedings as the central judge shuffled the scrolls in front of him before speaking to me directly. On my right stood the Prosecuting Counsel with a sheaf of scrolls on a desk in front of him. On my left stood a spirit I had never seen before who leaned across to me to whisper a remake.

  ‘I’m your Defence Counsel,’ he told me before the central judge rapped a gavel on the desk to estanblish silence in the hall.

  ‘You are accused of breaking the rules by means of using your consciousness and resentment,’ he accused adamantly. ‘Do you plead guilty or not guilty?’

  ‘Not guilty,’ I returned with an element of anger in my voice. ‘As I’m innocent of the charge, I plead not guilty!’

  The central judge wrote my comments on a scroll before him and then nodded to the Prosecuting Angel who stood up to begin his opening speech.

  ‘This man,’ he began in a high-pitched voice that verged on the edge of grating, ‘is accused of breaking the rules. The Prosecution intends to prove his guilt. I reserve all the details for later.’

  The central judge stared at me directly. ‘If you are found guilty,’ he intervened unnecessarily, ‘you will be punished accordingly.’ He looked towards my Defence Counsel and nodded.

  ‘The Defence intends to prove that Jeremiah is innocent of the charges put before him in this Court.’

  ‘Hold on!’ I challenged my Counsel vociferously. ‘I know you’re trying to defend me but we’ve never met and never spoken. You know nothing about me, or my case, or my defence.’

  The Defence Counsel turned to the judges and bowed slightly. ‘Forgive me, senior angels. Perhaps you’ll consider adjourning this case so that I may talk with my client.’

  ‘That’s not possible,’ commented the central judge. ‘The Court is already in session. It is being tried and for that reason it has to continue.’

  ‘Then I’ll defend myself,’ I cut in angrily. ‘I don’t need a Defence Counsel who failed to communicate with me prior to this hearing.’

  ‘I strongly advise against it,’ muttered the central judge sharply. ‘You have no idea how to conduct a case in Angelic Court.’

  ‘I don’t care!’ I ranted without respect. ‘I insist that you allow me to defend myself.’

  There was a moment of silence as the three judges stared at each other.

  ‘Very well,’ returned the central judge casually. ‘Be it on your own head. May we hear your opening speech.’

  ‘The only thing I have to say at this point is that I’m innocent. Completely innocent!’

  ‘You do realise you have to prove that to be the case,’ returned one of the other judges solemnly.

  ‘I do,’ I responded although I had no notion how to do so.

  The judge nodded once again at the Prosecuting Counsel who was a high-ranking angel with large white wings and clearly had taken on many cases in this Court.

  ‘My first witness is the Defendant’s wife. She calls herself Maria and she was married to the Defendant when he lived on Earth.’

  In an instant, my wife appeared on the stand at the side of the Angelic Court.

  ‘Just a minute!’ I complained bitterly. ‘What has she got to do with this case?’

  The Prosecuting counsel stared at me in surprise. ‘I intend to show this Court the irrational behaviour you displayed in your past life on Earth,’ he explained blandly.

  ‘You can’t do that!’ I exclaimed in fury. ‘That has nothing to do with the charge of me breaking the rules.’

  ‘I intend to show this Court that you are consistently breaking rules of one kind or another. Your past is indicative to show your poor behaviour.’

  ‘But that was during my life on Earth. You can’t hold it against me now. What if I’d really been a villain? What if I’d murdered half a dozen people? It’s all in the past!’

  ‘You must remain silent while the Prosecuting Counsel presents his case,’ intervened the central judge in annoyance. ‘Your turn will come later.’

  I sat down on a chair in the dock as he examined my wife in her spirit form. I could hardly believe that she would testify against me but clearly she had no choice.

  ‘Were you aware that your past husband made a false statement against his teacher colleague about an incident in which tha ta teacher was involved?’ he asked her directly.

  ‘I was,’ declared my wife. ‘His
hatred for the man grew so much that he told the Headmaster of the teacher’s alleged infidelity with another male teacher at the school. The false statement caused him to be dismissed and, when it destroyed his marriage, he took his own life.’

  ‘I see,’ responded the Prosecuting counsel. ‘And what of the affair your husband had with another woman? How did that affect your marriage?’

  ‘This is utter rubbish!’ I intruded wildly. ‘You’re simply raking up things that happened when I was alive!’

  ‘I will not tell you to remain silent again, Jeremiah,’ stated the central judge with irritation in his voice. ‘I advised you before that you’ll have your turn later!’

  ‘He had an affair with a fellow teacher,’ continued my wife. ‘I don’t know whether she was married or not. When I found out about his infidelity, I lost all feeling for him. It ended our relationship... our marriage... there and then.’

  ‘And what about the night when he ran over a pedestrian on his way home from his liaison with the other woman?’ continued the Prosecuting Counsel. ‘What did he tell you?’

  My wife hesitated for a moment. I realised that until then she had not looked at me the whole time she had been in Court but now she stared directly at me.

  ‘He told me he had knocked down a man in his vehicle on the way home but he had left the scene of the crime. He was concerned that he might have killed him or maybe seriously injured him. However, he didn’t stop to find out the man’s condition, nor did he call the police or an ambulance to assist the victim.’

  ‘The victim,’ repeated the Prosecuting Counsel with vigour to impress the judges. ‘Is there anything else you wish to tell us, Maria?’

  My wife paused for a moment and I thought that she was going to reveal something which might incriminate me further but she shook her head failing to say anything more.

  ‘Do you wish to cross-examine the witness?’ asked the central judge.

  I shook my had sadly. There was nothing I could say or do that would make any difference. She had told the truth about the incidents that occurred in my past life. All that she had told the Court was factually correct.

  The Prosecuting Counsel dismissed my wife who vanished in an instant and he turned his attention to the judges.

  ‘Please note the character of the spirit in the dock. His record when he lived on Earth is less than spotless to say the least. He willingly falsely informed against a fellow teacher, the result of which the man took his own life. He revoked the vows of his marriage by having an affair with another woman, destroying his relationship with his wife, and he left a man to die after knocking him down in his motor vehicle without informing the police or the ambulance service of the event which might have save the victim a great deal of suffering or even death. These acts are those of a disreputable person who stands before you in this Court claiming his innocence. I suggest that even before we proceed he is guilty.

  ‘Maybe so,’ I interjected sharply, ‘but not of the charge issued against me in this Court. You can say what you like about my past life but the accusation that I broke the rules of Heaven relate to this case now. The rest is totally irrelevant.’

  ‘Indeed,’ continued the Prosecuting counsel calmly. ‘I think the Court will decide what is relevant and what is not. You may ignore your past misdemeanours, however, I do not think the judges will do so.’ He paused for a moment and then called out at the top of his high-pitched voice. ‘I call the Centurion Angel as my next witness.’ The Centurion Angel appeared as if by magic, to stand in the witness box. ‘You have been in the company of the Defendant a great deal,’ continued the Prosecuting Counsel firmly. ‘How do you find his attitude?’

  ‘Somewhat overbearing in that he keeps asking questions,’ replied the Centurion Angel. ‘He has been told to curb his enthusiasm but he seems unwilling to do so.’

  ‘Unwilling to do so,’ repeated the Prosecuting Council to try to impress the judges. ‘Has he been punished for his zealousness to find out information to which he is not entitled?’

  ‘He has been sent to the Pit of Desolation, the Desert of Ice and also in the Revolving-and-Twisting machine,’ came the reply.

  ‘And what was the result?’

  ‘He remained exactly the same afterwards as he had done before despite promising in the Desert of Ice that he would conform.’

  ‘Does he not recognise the rule that a Seraph must not ask questions of a higher-ranking angel?’ pressed the Prosecuting Counsel waving his arms about wildly.

  ‘It doesn’t seem to matter to him,’ returned the Centurion Angel bleakly. ‘He still keeps asking questions. He was given an interview with the Angel of Innocence... ’

  The Prosecuting Counsel held up his hand to stop the flow. ‘That angel is here as one of the witnesses. You need say no more.’

  ‘There is just one more thing I’d like to say,’ related the Centurion Angel freely. ‘He was an original birth and was then reincarnated five times after that.’

  ‘So it’s probable that he showed the same disrespect in his past lives,’ commented the Prosecuting Council readily.

  ‘In his recent arrival here,’ continued the Centurion Angel, ‘he was returned to Earth twice. Once as an Accompanying Angel and once as a Correcting Angel. He proved to be successful on both occasions.’

  The Prosecuting Counsel showed his annoyance at the last remark. He waved his hand tiredly and sat down.

  ‘Do you wish to cross examine the witness?’ asked the central judge with a miserable expression on his face.

  ‘Yes,’ I responded, turning to face the Centurion Angel. ‘Are you saying that I broke rules?’ I demanded vociferously.

  ‘You continued to ask questions of a higher authority. Questions which no Seraph should ask.’

  ‘So you’re saying that I broke the rules,’ I suggested strongly. ‘Is that the case?’

  ‘Yes I am,’ he responded meekly allowing me to notice his discomfort in actually saying the words.

  ‘Where are the rules?’ I demanded furiously. ‘Before we go any further I want to see them. Show them to me in writing!’ A hush fell over the audience as silence prevailed. ‘Well... if you want to try me you’ll have to produce them.’

  The central judge intervened at that point. ‘You must realise,’ he explained curtly, ‘that not everything has to be written down. I refer to the country where you lived, Great Britain, which does not have a written constitution like that of the one followed in the United States of America. As in Great Britain, we have no need to write down the rules.’

  ‘They can then be altered, changed, varied and modified according to the circumstances in which they’re imposed.’

  ‘That’s not the case at all,’ cut in one of the judges. ‘The rules are fixed and have to be obeyed.’

  ‘As far as I’m concerned, the only rule you think I’ve broken is that of asking questions of a higher-ranking angel,’ I challenged. ‘Is that the case?’

  The three judges glanced at each other for guidance and then the central judge turned his attention towards me.

  ‘That is correct,’ he admitted candidly. ‘Have you finished with this witness?’

  I shrugged my shoulders aimlessly and nodded. Without hesitation, the Prosecuting Council called for the Angel of Innocence who took the stand.

  ‘Tell the Court the essence of the meeting with the Defendant,’ he ordered gently.

  For a moment, the great white wings of the angel fluttered behind him as he settled down.

  ‘He asked me questions far beyond those that a Seraph needs to know. They related to the Supreme Power, Jesus Christ, the way Heaven works, his past reincarnations, why people on Earth follow so many religions, and so on.’

  ‘And you answered them all to his satisfaction,’ the Prosecuting Counsel went on.

  ‘As far a
s it was possible,’ returned the witness.

  ‘No further questions,’ came the response.

  I stared at the Angel of Innocence for quite some time before starting the cross-examination. There was little I could ask him for his statements were completely true. However there was the one single question he had answered that triggered my thinking and I was determined not to let him off the hook.

  ‘You mentioned during our session that I might not fit into Heaven. Is that not so?’

  He seemed a little discomforted. ‘I’m not aware of any comment of that nature,’ he replied awkwardly.

  I ignored his answer and pressed on regardless. ‘If that is the case, this is a kangaroo Court. It has no power because I am not in Heaven. Therefore it’s impossible for me to break Heaven’s rules. All this is a sham! So I ask you to answer my question truthfully. Am I or am I not in Heaven?’

  ‘You are a Seraph,’ accused the central judge, intervening quickly. ‘You cannot ask a question of that nature.’

  ‘Hold on!’ I challenged sharply. ‘I’m the one being accused of breaking rules. My grounds are that if I’m not in Heaven I haven’t broken Heaven’s rules. You’ve got to give me that!’

  To my surprise, the audience at the back of the Court erupted. Somehow I had touched a nerve to set them off. Some of them came forward to protest, others left the Courtroom with disgust. I had found the Achilles heel and exposed the angelic hierarchy. The central judge banged his gavel on the desk in front of him but it made no difference to the uproar in the Courtroom.

  It was now quite clear that I was not in Heaven but in some other location in the spirit world. I had always considered Purgatory to be a place or condition of expiation where dead souls showed remorse for their sins in their past life. Was this where I had to expiate my sins? Certainly the punishments I had suffered and the rules I had been forced to obey would be fitting for such a place.

  The audience left in the Courtroom calmed down as the central judge restored order. He looked at me directly, his face as black as thunder.