September 7, 2018

My Journey to God

Jesus of the Cross

Abed and asleep I found myself walking across fields of green.
Up ahead there was a white picket fence,
stretching left to right as far as I could see.
On the other side of the fence everything was golden,
and I understood it to be Heaven.
On this side of the fence there were at least a dozen Jesuses,
all of whom had people listening to them.
The first one appeared solemn and judgmental, like a record keeper.
The second one seemed quite angry and spoke of hellfire.
The next one seemed like an insurance salesman: nice suit, big smile,
and spoke of the benefits of his plan.
On and on it went, until I got to the last one. He had no one in his line.
There were crosses of different sizes and shapes
lying all around Him on the ground.
“How do I get to Heaven?” I asked this Jesus.
“Pick up a cross,” He answered back.
I found the smallest one and tried to heft it,
but it was overwhelmingly heavy.
“I can’t pick this up,” I exclaimed.
“I think you can,” He answered back.
It took all my strength, but I somehow got the cross to my shoulder.
“Ok, now can I enter in?” and pointed to Heaven.
“Now you go back,” He said. “The way to Heaven is back on Earth,
carrying your cross and helping others with theirs.”

By Sonny Shanks
 

(Sonny Shanks is a member of St. Joseph Parish in Corydon.)

Local site Links: