[ Setting: An orchid hothouse with light coming through the glass ceiling. ]
EMMA: Ooh! orchids, always so exotic. And you, an angel – how extraordinary. You said that you appear to all of us a little differently, why would that be?
ALLEGENTIA: I appear as close as I can to who I am, although I do have to modify my appearance somewhat because people can only see reality to the extent of their personal acceptability. And I do tap into your intrinsic sense of wonder and present myself as a figure who is willing to give you answers. Humans have well developed fears about the afterlife. But since there is nothing to fear, it is only right to alleviate those misconceptions as soon as possible.
EMMA: Well I am delighted to meet you. I left my life with a lot of questions.
ALLEGENTIA: What comes to mind? I will give you some of the information you need to begin your quest. Because, of course, this is only the beginning of what you will learn in the coming years.
EMMA: Okay then, there were several big arguments on Earth we were debating. I am hoping you can clear up some things for me. One of the worst was between the Creationists and the Evolutionists. Who was correct?
ALLEGENTIA: Both. God the Father activated all forms of creation including finite reality long ago. He created the space-time universe with certain fundamental laws and then set it all in motion. You call this unfolding ‘evolution.’ Evolution is creation through time and everyone and everything is a part of his plan. Of course, he is not only a creator but also an upholder, thus the wonderful spiritual, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”
EMMA: I don’t think I ever thought of evolution in that way. I suppose God can do it any way he wants. I’m just glad to hear you confirm God is the Creator. However it began, I heard it will all end. Is the Apocalypse coming soon?
ALLEGENTIA: The current meaning of “Apocalypse” is associated with Armageddon when, it is said, a great cataclysm will end one phase of life on earth and begin another, or simply end life altogether. The word Apocalypse comes from the Greek; its literal translation is to uncover or to reveal.
But no, there will be no violent transition from one age to the next. Humankind usually does learn great lessons after natural or man-made disaster, and these may coincide with the end of an age; or, as was the case with Jesus of Nazareth, the beginning of an age. Change is usually very gradual. Most growth moves along apace, quietly and steadily.
The prophecy concerns the triumph of good over evil. The primary event ascribed to these prophesies was the direct meeting between Jesus and Satan. Therefore the triumph of good over evil has already taken place. Belief in an end-time is simply a vestige of the long wait for the Lucifer rebellion to be concluded, not the end of an age or the end of the world. The Lucifer rebellion was terminated by the Son of Man while he was on Earth. Your home planet has a glorious future. The final triumph of good over evil will eventually culminate in the wonderful ages of light and life.
EMMA: So Jesus was the good which triumphed over evil. That makes sense. Then we were worrying about something which had already happened. But the human race is still moving forward to these ages of light and life as you call them?
ALLEGENTIA: All eyes are on the World of the Cross. There is no question the promise of glory will someday be evident for the people of your unique planet. The love of the Father is taking hold in one soul at a time as they seek his light. He reveals as much truth in each heart and mind as that person allows. And we all work to move things along so those peaceful days will come to fruition sooner rather than later.
It may help if you imagine a future idyllic Earth. Someday wars will be over. Nations will merge in mutual cooperation. People will be self-governing. The truths of many religions will be amicably fused under the banner of the Universal Sovereign. One language will become dominant. This will take quite awhile, but you will eventually see your planet in this later stage of development from heaven and you will certainly call it a New Earth.
EMMA: Won’t that be wonderful to behold. You mentioned the Lucifer rebellion, that was another of my questions. What are the good angels like you doing to deal with the fallen angels, demons, who were working to thwart our spiritual growth?
ALLEGENTIA: Blaming demons for errors or sins is gross imaginative self-deceit. No power on Earth or in heaven can, or will, block your freewill. There are no longer unseen evil spirits who are able to invade the willing mind; again, they were removed from the planet during the time of Jesus. Human imagination is remarkable. If the actual reason for an unexplained phenomenon is unavailable, humans are compelled to devise an alternate scenario. Struggles and temptations are real but demons are not and could never have been the cause.
Humans feel many types of conflict: the needs of the self versus the needs of others, the natural tensions between your lower and your higher natures, and any of the numerous stressing agents in life. If you do not live up to your expectations then guilt is the result. These internal clashes can sometimes feel like different beings fighting for control. Humans are at an early stage of development and are in the process of maturing their souls.
EMMA: There are no devils still causing problems? We all thought, were told, they were the source of all evil on Earth.
ALLEGENTIA: Some people still mistakenly blame forces outside of themselves because it always seems preferable, and certainly easier, to point away from the rightful owner of poor decisions. Even if someone was influenced by others, each person must take responsibility for their own actions.
You do yourselves no service to give evil such power by believing in it so strongly. The only reason humans continue to believe they are under the power of the Evil One is because they lack the faith to hold on to the light of the higher truth they have at hand. God versus Lucifer was no match. The outcome was inevitable.
EMMA: If the outcome was inevitable, why was it such a big deal?
ALLEGENTIA: The war in heaven was real, and it was more deadly than any physical war because soul survival was at stake. It was no less than a test of Objective Reality itself. Decisions had to be made and everyone was given all sides of the arguments to study and ample time to come to their own conclusion. God would not deprive anyone of an opportunity to gain insight in the trenches of experience. The rebellion is over now because everyone has decided what was right and what was wrong. And, of course, as I said earlier, Jesus finished it.
EMMA: It must have been a mess during the rebellion. Were you around when it was going on?
ALLEGENTIA: I was. But I was not serving as a Transport then. I was, what you might call, a secretary to Gabriel. He was appointed by Christ Michael as the head of the loyal faction in direct contention with Lucifer. It was he who we all listened to. He understood the sophistries proclaimed in Lucifer’s Freedom Manifesto.
We were all exposed to Lucifer’s clever deception. The basic decision was one of choosing between true and false liberty, individual liberty over loyalty to the unseen Absolute. Lucifer denied the very existence of God and taught there was no reason to put oneself under the thumb of a “fictitious ruler.” It was a true test and his twisted logic did fool some – at least for awhile. I am still saddened by the loss of some of my friends.
We all had a full, free, and deliberate choice to make before commitment. The free will to decide is sacred. God gives everyone the gift of as much time as they need to get it right. Those who turned away from the truth, and continued to do so, were no longer deceived by the cunning of the initial arguments.
EMMA: If they are not on Earth, then what happened to those who sided with Lucifer?
ALLEGENTIA: Most have now seen the error in their thinking and have sincerely repented their mistakes. But one decision, even an egregious one, does not seal a person’s final fate. Even now those who did some of the most damage during the Lucifer rebellion are being rehabilitated. They have been assigned duties other than working with humans until their hearts are pure again. Life is a continuous gift. We are all given every opportunity to grow in grace toward the Father’s infinite love.
Evil, even sinful, choices can be corrected. Infinite compassion is always available. The hand of mercy is ever extended to those who have made a succession of sinful choices but have seen how their path leads only to destruction, and have not made the final self-annihilation decision. The universe is very big and very old. There are stories of horribly iniquitous beings, in previous rebellions, on the brink of extinction who have brought themselves back from the edge of oblivion.
EMMA: But what about, “The wages of sin is death?”
ALLEGENTIA: There is a long way from the finite to the infinite. We all get a chance to change and make progress. Justice is sure but it does not come until mercy has had a chance to patiently work on our minds and souls. Only deliberately nourished evil eventually results in annihilation. Remember the second half of your quote, “But the gift of God is eternal life.” God does not give up on his children.
There is truth in the human saying, “God loves the sinner and hates the sin.” The love of God saves the sinner; the law of God destroys the sin. His forgiveness is unconditionally available. God’s initial decision was to give us all of us freewill – and he will not take away anything he has given us. He does not second-guess himself.
EMMA: That is good to hear. We all could use more chances. Now, what did you mean when you said, “previous rebellions?” I thought there was only one rebellion.
ALLEGENTIA: Lucifer’s rebellion was the only one in this local system, but we are only one of millions of systems in the inhabited universe. There have been other rebellions but they were far away and long ago. They did not affect your world in the least. And even with the Lucifer rebellion most worlds did not fall; they were infected by the subtleties of the brilliance of such a high spirit being but they were quickly able to see there was no merit in Lucifer’s pronouncements.
EMMA: I would think it would have been fairly obvious.
ALLEGENTIA: For those with enough spiritual insight and a strong connection with God it was and is. The whole affair was more complex than has been revealed to humans. Lucifer was intelligent enough to frame his deceit in the most logical and glowing terms.
Your curiosity about his rebellion is very important. History of the rebellion will be one of the key pieces of your early education on the first Progress World. You will be enlightened about those tumultuous times. The issues are obvious once the truth is clearly presented. I know this was not necessarily true on your planet, but we will take the time to teach you and, as you will see, your mind will be better equipped to grasp larger issues.
EMMA: I’m glad to hear that. So, what “glowing terms” did he use?
ALLEGENTIA: One can place any of the virtues at the top of their personal list and call it the best. Lucifer preached a gospel of personal liberty. But in order for liberty to stay at the top he had to sacrifice, misplace, downgrade, and de-emphasize the proper place of other deserving qualities. He decided to jump over patience, for he would have had everything he wanted, and more, in due course. He decide to displace humility and upgrade pride, for he elevated himself beyond his already lofty estate. But time and experience always let us know what deserves to be revered. Unfortunately, once he knew he was wrong, he decided to stay the course of his misplaced loyalty to liberty because his pride convinced him he had already gone too far, thus distrusting Absolute Mercy which is still his if he just admits, and turns away from, the grievous errors he already knows he made.
EMMA: So it all came tumbling down.
ALLEGENTIA: Yes, it did. Things are back to normal – even better than normal because we learned such valuable lessons. That is to say they are running smoothly on the Progress Worlds but most of the fallen worlds, including Earth, are still working out how they will overcome this miscarriage of justice.
EMMA: You mentioned some of the angels are being rehabilitated and Lucifer and the rest of the demons are no longer on Earth to tempt us, so they are all in hell where they cannot hurt us anymore, right?
ALLEGENTIA: You are correct, they cannot hurt you. After adjudication, he, and all of the unrepentant rebels, were confined to a prison world. Even though Lucifer and his minions are confined they are not being tortured, except with their own self-torment by deciding to separate themselves from God’s love.
EMMA: Adjudication sounds like government. Are you saying there is government in heaven?
ALLEGENTIA: Yes, we do have a government on the Progress Worlds, and it is now solid and dependable. Even before you have a chance to see the underlying workings of the administration, you will describe your whereabouts as heaven.
A wise earth saying was, “He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.” The word government can mean either authoritative control or moral conduct. In this quote it is more the latter because of the use of the word virtue.
The author was speaking of the highest virtue as a stable force. Lucifer was the System Sovereign under Christ Michael. He was our bright north star for so long it was very difficult for many to believe he could be so wrong about how things really work. We had to refocus our bearings on the True North Star, the highest reality, which will never fail.
EMMA: I cannot imagine any government based on true virtue.
ALLEGENTIA: Human society, in its disjointed and slowly evolving way, has had a long struggle designing a good working government. And, as we have both seen, individuals can disrupt even the best attempts at fair governance. But we angels will not interfere in the freewill choices of either an individual or a planet. On Earth our influence is strictly spiritual. Only when individuals heed their better natures will the situation, small or large, improve.
However in heaven angels take a more direct administrative role. We have been honing the ideal system for millions of years and you will be astonished at how efficiently and fairly we can deal with all manner of problems. If you ever feel something could be worked out a bit better there are clear ways for your input to be considered. And we will take the time to involve you in how your suggestion is handled.
EMMA: Government listening to the individual; that will be interesting to see. I am glad to hear things have settled down where we are going. I remember it was called the war in heaven, but what happened on Earth?
ALLEGENTIA: The humans on three dozen rebellion planets, including Earth, were left in various stages of confusion. But no one is ever denied the help they need. You may argue you should have been better served but you have been and will continue to be compensated. It is impossible to see the bigger picture when all you know is an earth-bound frame. Your circumscribed perspective decides things are a certain way until you are able to see a larger view. You are now traveling to where that larger view is available.
The rebellion began about two hundred thousand years ago. You can imagine most people on Earth so long ago were still spending their time searching for food and, when food was available, fighting to keep themselves secure.
Earth had begun to develop the rudiments of a more advanced social civilization with angelic and other help. The angels and other spirit beings on Earth were told of the choice Lucifer had laid before them and many fell into rebellion. This threw the whole scheme of normal planetary advancement into chaos. Your early culture fell into disarray; selfishness and animal instincts returned to the fore.
Civilization depends on basic values holding it up and running through its structure. It is no coincidence the base meaning for civilization is derived from the personal quality of civility. Civilization, at minimum, requires some level of rational order and self-restraint. Civilization gets more civilized as it increasingly includes the rights of others as counterpoints to the needs of the self. Your early ancestors were deprived of the aid of benign directors; thus the higher path was not as well lit as it could have been. Because of the rebellion a different course to world and individual enlightenment became your destiny.
EMMA: And what was that path?
ALLEGENTIA: Humans were left to fend for themselves for the most part, which, as you can imagine was a lot less organized than is normal. But this provided many unique opportunities. Your cultural, intellectual, and emotional evolution were given every chance to develop naturally. However, you were not left totally alone. Spiritual help was and is always available, no matter the situation on the ground. The fallen angels were quickly replaced – and, of course, God is always a direct personal conduit.
The ladder of planetary progress is well known. As stated earlier it starts out with food and fighting. Once there is enough food for a settled population, inventiveness, especially in agriculture and the military, occupy the mind. Then begins, for some, an opportunity for leisure and pleasure. Each period is layered on top of the last. On a normal planet the earlier stages phase out world-wide as an advanced stage comes into play. But on your planet almost the whole range of human consciousness from the savage to the civilized is still evident.
Some still think the pursuit of pleasure is as far as it goes, but the mind is forever seeking wisdom. This leads to knowledge and culture which leads to a higher standard of living for a larger and more stable population. The natural need to protect and love children (with the obvious realization one’s own life is short) points to the desire to help the young hold on to any progress attained and to give them something more to work with. Therefore education and experiential learning become important standards. In due time familial love extends beyond kin and community to encompass humanity.
The age of reason and science eventually takes center stage. In combination with moral and ethical struggles the golden rule begins to flower. But there is nothing dictated. War, greed, and selfish motives have torn down many cultural advances. But the ability to profit from both negative and positive experience does inevitably yield the better way. And there are always those enlightened souls who share their spiritual momentum and cosmic understandings.
The universally peaceful days we spoke of earlier are in the future on your troubled world but they will come. Not long from now you will meet amazing people from just such advanced planets who will be glad to share with you how a civilization based on unselfish service operates. And they will be amazed with your stories of how you were able to survive on Earth.
EMMA: I look forward to that, but I am still curious about the Rebellion. Why did God let it happen in the first place?
ALLEGENTIA: The nature of Divine purpose is a big question. Let me begin by saying all things, good and ill, work together in God’s plan. The simplest answer to your specific question is: freewill. When he gave freewill to men and angels, he knew some would invent less than perfect realities. Knowing this he took the necessary steps to deal with them even before there were any men or angels. Whenever a person is presented with a difficulty, they have the opportunity to rise to the occasion, that is to say, choose to behave in a more divine manner. That is to say, more moral, ethical, or simply more honest and upright. In this way many qualities are born, and growing qualities is what it is ultimately all about.
On the Progress Worlds you will go over your entire life and see where these opportunities were available and how you decided to perform in the face of each of them. You will see how you earned your qualities from both your good choices and your mistakes. With this objective assessment you will be able to see where you succeeded, where you failed, and how the lessons you learned served you in later circumstances. And all of your experiences are still yours to use and enjoy. They are part of you forever. Everything that can survive, has survived.
EMMA: I’m not sure I want all of my experiences to remain but I believe I made up for some of my poor judgments with later reversals and then went in the right direction. Will I be able to trade good deeds for bad?
ALLEGENTIA: The life review I just mentioned will give you a very good overall picture of how these decisions flowed through your life. But the specific hurts you caused, if not already taken care of, will still have to be dealt with on an individual basis. You cannot simply add up the good and the bad and trade out one for the other. You must compensate for and actively re-adjust the balances put out of kilter.
I can see in your soul several pivotal decisions you made which then blossomed to effect the rest of your life. Each good decision changed how you saw reality from that point forward. Your decisions were based on what you thought was correct. Then and there is where you did some significant soul building, and your future self benefited from the actions you took each day.
That is why on the other side your schooling will be focused first on how to think – discovery and recognition; then on right thinking (interpretive thinking which leads to the best results) and then on carrying out those thoughts with the highest choice you can muster. You learn best when you put your thoughts into action and see the consequences worked out in your real life. Experience is the great teacher. You will not be fooling around up in heaven. Real work (and real play) will be accomplished.
EMMA: Thank you. This discussion has been very enlightening. I am sure I will have many more questions when I get there.
ALLEGENTIA: Your curiosity will be amply rewarded. Angels are always available to help. So few humans have a vision of heaven which includes its true wonder. Remember God is infinitely generous and his plans encompass untold adventure and endless discovery.