THIS DAY IN PARADISE by Cedric Marc Klein (c)1995      We were robbers, Samuel and I.  Then we knifed a Roman, and it was all over.  So here we hang, nailed up in Skull Hill's little grove of death, as decreed by the honora- ble Pontius Pilate, protector of Judea and enforcer of Roman justice.  But this man between us doesn't belong here.  We've seen him before, this wandering rabbi, this healer, now hanging with us, condemned for heresy and sedition.  His title posted on his tree- Joshua the Nazarene King of the Jews  I have to laugh.  It's so sadly funny.  A man who only tried to help people, who got swept up with his dreams of God, ending his life with us.  We knew the risk we ran.  Surely, he had no idea this might happen to him.  How can I not laugh?  But you go to far, Samuel, abusing and cursing this poor man, taunting, "If you're Messiah, save yourself and us!"  Yes, I laughed.  It's so absurd, this crucified king.  But to curse him and then dare him to save us- let the poor madman die in peace.  Don't you fear God at all?  You're as doomed as he is, but we're getting what we deserve.  He's done nothing to earn this!  My lord, think of me when you get to your kingdom.  "Truly, truly, I tell you," he forces a smile, "today you will join me in Paradise."  For all his agony, all his lunacy, he is so calm.  He forgives his killers, entrusts his mother to a friend's care, and now this.  It gets colder, darker- maybe I'm driftng to Paradise now.  But no, the sun blackens as he screams, "My God, my God, why have You deserted me?"  No, God.  Don't let him feel abandoned.  His own misguided trust in You put him here. Just let him go out in peace.  You owe him that much, God.  The rest is hazy.  Some time later, he cried, or laughs, "It is completed!  Father, into Your hands, I commit my spirit."  And dies.  In peace.  Like I prayed.  Some time later, time for me to die, I suppose.  The poor tired Romans want to get it over with.  They break my legs, and Samuel's.  Joshua's long dead, but they spear him to make sure.  And it all goes black.  Grey?  Dazzling,  sparkling,  White?  The mists break with rainbow shafts of light.  Groaning ghosts stir into singing spirits. I'd always heard the Deathlands were pale, muted; a shadowy repose for the faithful, a perpetual nightmare for the doomed.  Instead, song and laughter, substance and light increase and quicken.  In the wake of Joshua's arrival.  And I recall what Grandma told me when I was small; that even the world of the dead would arise to greet Messiah.  Like long-lost children, shades encircle Him to partake of His substance.  You know who they are at sight.  Abraham, Sarah, Adam, Eve, Moses, Miriam- all the famous people of the Holy Books, multitudes that no one's ever heard of, yet He calls them all by name.  And He summons me to join Him.  Do I deserve this?  No!  I didn't believe You!  It was just pity on a dying, deluded rabbi, a king of fools, fools like me.  "You comfort a broken down madman," He smiles.  "Then you complain when you find that madman can give all that he promised.  So, well done, you good and faithful servant.  Enter the joy of My Kingdom.  You deserve it just as much as those who have served me faithfully, knowing who I am and what I give."  He pulls me to His side, as a son of His family.  Joshua forges Paradise from the Valley of the Shadow of Death.  But now He goes further, deeper, across the gloom of the Abyss.  He proclaims His victory to the doomed, even inviting them to come.  Only one approaches, to challenge, not accept.  The Rebel Seraph, His first adversary.  "You're in my realm, Godman," it spits.  "I thought I had broken You.  I was wrong. Take Your groveling dogs and go home."  "All places are home to me, even this.  I've set My camp here to let your subjects know they can come back, even as you once could."  "Come back if they crawl back!  You never could understand that we prefer the freedom of the Exile to the bondage of Your Kingdom.  Now get out!"  It lunges.  Joshua grabs it, pressing its claw to His gashed side.  It tears screaming away, down into the Abyss.  Joshua again invites those in the Wastelands.  But none dare approach.  Too self- absorbed.  Too proud for Grace.  Too accustomed to their doom to risk deliverance.  Almost three days- He readies us to enter the Fullness.  A cry tears from the Darkside, "I'm stained by innocent blood, His blood!  Take the silver and just let me die!"  Joshua has one more to try to rescue.  "Judah Iscariot, friend and betrayer, My blood does nothing but offer you hope.  Even as your crime results in My triumph."  "Torment me no longer, Rabbi!  If you ever loved me, leave me alone!"  "I'm ready to leave, to take up My life.  Be the first of the Twelve to enter Eternity with Me."  "Eternity- with you?  When I finally couldn't stand you on Earth?  Eternal Night is better than your unflinching Light!"  Joshua corners Judah.  The Abyss is his only way around Joshua.  Judah chooses.  His laughter soon fades in the Void.  Joshua shrugs, rejoins us.  None of us can speak, knowing what that one confrontation meant to Him.  He smiles, "Sabbath night is over.  Dawn breaks.  I am Yahweh-Savior, the Resurrection and the Life.  Those dead who trust Me shall live.  Those living who trust Me shall never die. Time to arise- back to Earth, back to Life, back to the arms of the Father."                  ***