Your Will Be Done

One day while on her way home, a highly successful businesswoman was hit-and-run by a passenger bus.  She died right there and then.  At that impulse, her soul ascended into heaven.  St. Peter meets her at the Pearly Gates and welcomes her. 

St. Peter says, “Welcome to Heaven.  Strange! We never once had a filthy rich made it this far. We can’t really figure out what should we do with you.”  The businesswoman replied, “No problem, just let me in.”

The Gatekeeper gently speaks, “I’m more than willing to, but I have orders.  Before we finally let you in, we’ll send you to spend a day in Hell and a day in Heaven.  You can make a choice of eternity after which.

“Actually I’ve already made up my decision...I desire to inhabit Heaven, the rich woman says.

“Sorry, we have rules,” the saint responded. Then he placed the woman in an elevator which goes all the way down to hell.  In a minute or two, the doors stopped and opened in a country club where golfers are her friends, to her surprise, whom she had dealt with when she was still alive.  They’re all wearing a shimmering gown and cheer as they notice her.  From a distance, they approach her, exchange cheeks to cheeks and converse for old time sake. 

They enjoy the get together with so much enjoyment on golfing and a sumptuous dinner served with first-rate steak and a lobster.  She meets the Devil who is actually a pleasant guy and cute, whom she enjoys telling some jokes and dances with. She had a pleasure mingling with them and before she knew it, the one day is already over.

Her friends hug and kissed her as she entered the elevator, which goes back to the Pearly Gates, as agreed on.  As she approaches, St. Peter says, “Now is the time to spend a day in Heaven.” 

Spending the 24-hour offer, she relaxes in an abode of clouds, plays the harp and sings her favorite hymns.  She has a great excitement and before she knew it, the day is already up.  St. Peter arrives and takes her.

“Now, the days spending in Heaven and hell are gone.  You can already make your choicest eternity,” he said.

The woman exhaled and inhaled for a while then responded, “Well, I never thought I would say this.  Heaven has been really excellent and all that, but I think I had a better spending in Hell.”

Without any further ado, St. Peter accompanies her to the elevator which goes down again to the pit.  When it stopped and opened, she was shocked as she found herself erecting in a barren wilderness enclosed with rancid rubbish and mud.  She notices her friends who are clothed with rags while picking the garbage. The Devil draws near towards her and taps her shoulder. 

“I don’t understand. I was enjoying here golfing, eating with costly seafood, dancing and had fun yesterday,” the woman grumbles.  But now, everything is rubbish and all my friends look wretched and pitiable.”

The devil smiled at her and stared at her from head to toe, “We were recruiting you yesterday; today you’re a staff!”

Sounds familiar? 

Regardless of one’s gender, we could actually associate ourselves to the character of the woman, wherein, no matter how many reminders we have heard from generation to generation alarming us that sinning is tantamount to putting ourselves in a compromising situation brought by its destructive domino effects, it seems that everyone doesn’t want to listen but rather bartered with the devil for a temporary pleasure than a lifetime peace of mind.  There are times that the pleasure of sin blinds one’s mind up to the point that he/she could hardly be released from its grip because of its addictive gratification: excessive nightlife which compromises health, alcoholism which eats up the brain cells resulting the person to be neurotic, immoderate personal expenses which puts one into desolation, isolation of oneself from the crowd than conquering shyness gradually and breaking the comfort zone which is self-deprivation of a maximized enjoyment of this life and a social/communal satisfaction, etc.

In different aspects of our lives, the irony of it is we even end up in prayers to be freed from that imprisonment but one's prayers are not connected to the contents of the pleading. In fact, everyone could articulate the Lord's Prayer which we've been familiarized since elementary years up to this time. But as believers, would it substantiate one's faith by just being good at recitation? Does the essence of faith depend on how we're well-versed on the prayers? Of course prayer is powerful but it's powerless when we don't act what we pray.

On other occasion, we can find some woman who prays "Lord, please give me the ideal man whom I could be with until death. But how can this prayer works out its power if a woman just remain either in the four corners of her workplace where no one could spot her exotic beauty, or just remain in her rocking chair while talking to the lizards which are flirting on the ceiling, which does not appreciate a woman’s charm. My goodness! If you would like to be noticed, go to the crowd, engage in a community like Friends of the Dvine Mercy, organization, where you can parade your vital statistics. If nothing happens on reason that you're really exotic, then ask referrals from your good friends abroad where you can find real man who likes real exotic beauty. I'm not saying you volunteer yourself to somebody else to be his future partner. What I'm trying to imply here is that, we're created in the image of God and therefore we can create 101 ways to win over the situation.

In many instances, our prayers do not materialize because we're asking beyond the will of the Father. For example a prayer of a gay to have a boyfriend or lesbian to have a girlfriend is not surely the will of the Father because homosexuality is abominable in the sight of God; an abomination not simply because of gratifying God’s word but because of its long-term injurious consequences in the process  . Although being a gay or lesbian per se is not a sin, what makes it wrong is its lifestyle on same sex relationship and wearing of apparel unfit to their gender which can be the source of ridicule from the bystanders, which will be a source of a strife later on because of mismanaged emotions.

What we can do is to have a check and balance on our prayers by asking ourselves, "Is this the one that God wants me to be? Am I doing the will of the Father?" Because oftentimes, what we ask usually is for our passion, to compete with others, to destroy others, to retaliate, to be in with peer pressures which basically derail us upside down until we broke with God.

As we continue to move on, let's be sensitive in all our actions and motives. If all of these are for the glory of God, then, everything shall be possible in an appointed time. Doing God's will is doing well. Doing well is living well.

John 6:39-40 And this is the will of the One who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what He gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.

Romans 12:1-2 I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourself to the age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.