To say that he was surprised by his demise is irrelevant. He died, felled by the unexpected heart attack, all in the middle of posting a story.
Still able to stand over his cooling body, he realized that the story, his last work, was queued up and that Denny or one of the other moderators would likely post it as soon as they saw it.
He'd been doubtful of the existence of ghosts yet it seemed he was one. An after-life had concerned him on-and-off since he wrote erotic stories. Now he was likely, as some posters to alt.sex.stories had claimed, to burn in hell.
And he hadn't really believed in hell. Now that he was dead it was no longer an abstract concept, but a far more likely place.
He was startled out of this anxious reverie by a hand landing on his shoulder, so he turned and faced ... himself.
As if God himself would choose to look like him. He shrugged, his ethereal body mimicking his remembered actions.
His soul knew Him, there could be no doubt. He stammered out an apology, telling Him of his own unimportance.
A laugh, a sigh, and His voice proclaimed "I greet all who are mine, as you most certainly are."
He had his own doubts at times of being "good enough". While he didn't want to burn for his many reputed sins, this sudden breath of salvation struck him as odd. Why was God choosing to spare him the experience of hell?
Before another word could be said, he pointed at the monitor in front of his expired form, following it up with "...But?"
His Lord looked at him and smirked, then smiled, before deigning to answer his implied question: "Well, you didn't do anything that violated that one key principle, did you? You didn't judge others, did you? You didn't expect better treatment from others than you gave them, did you?"
He had to shake his head; he'd been pretty well-behaved with other people. He'd been taught consideration, to love those around him, and to treat people as he wished to be treated himself. Still he doubted. "But what I wrote... I had people telling me that I would burn in hell for it."
Jesus laughed.
"I understand your self-doubt, but, no, My Father is the true judge. And He doesn't like people telling Him what is right. Yes, I know you got upset with those self- righteous people, but I never came to your world for them. Remember, those would-be judges were also warned often enough to 'Judge not, lest ye be judged'. Their own sin of usurping My Father's throne won't sit well with him. Your sins are, well, nothing, when measured like that. And you were never comfortable in your sins, I've heard you pray to Me for forgiveness."
He was starting to accept his own personal salvation and expressed his gratitude with "Thank you, Lord."
"Good, that's settled. Is there anything you want me to do about those who decided they should be your judge?"
The normal human things ran through his head, like placing them under condemnation, but he realized that he'd be as wrong as they to press for such a thing. It would be so much better to just leave them be. If those who'd hurt him learned of their errors and found forgiveness, then fine. If not, it was their problem. "No, Lord, it is not for me to judge. Let them choose."
His Deity nodded beatifically, holding out a hand. He took it and found himself lifted away from the world, a sense of true joy suffusing through his soul.
He had lived a good life, caring for his neighbors as he would care for himself, being careful to show respect in the way he wanted to receive it and, most importantly, not taking on God's role as the judge of good and evil for others.
It wasn't his works that had gained him his reward, nor could his works alone condemn him, but rather the condition of his soul.
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Author: Jack C Lipton Title: That Burning Sensation Part: Universe: Departures Summary: You're all going to burn... uh... aren't you? Keywords: nosex Revision: $Revision: 1.5 $ Archive: http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/CupaSoup/www/ Mailing List: FAQ: RCS: $Id: burning.x,v 1.5 2004/10/29 01:55:37 jcl Exp $