by Christine G.

Created on: November 15, 2009

BEYOND 2012

When the earthly history of mankind came to an end, all the faithful gathered for a great celebration.

They hugged, murmured words of love and reconciliation, and wiped the tears from each other's eyes. They sang joyful hymns in praise of the Lamb and his marriage. They feasted on the sights and sounds of heaven, and tasted food more delectable than they had ever dreamed possible.

By unanimous acclaim, Jesus Himself was the keynote speaker of the Great Banquet. As the sated guests toyed with their desserts, Jesus spoke of love, and victory, and joy eternal. Everyone cheered. Then He dropped a fly into the ointment of self-congratulatory basking.

"There are still six million galaxies whose stories have not yet reached their triumphant finale. With your help, the work will progress much more quickly."

The sound of the four-letter word WORK was greeted with a gasp of consternation. Wasn't this supposed to be the realm of eternal leisure? Maybe a shift or two on Praise Patrol in the throne room every millennium or so, but you could hardly call that work.

After a century or two or however long an eternal minute is an optimist piped up. "Yes! If we all work together, we can get this done."

The cheers were a little lame at first, but the crowd soon warmed up into a triumphant roar, a couple of waves, and a chorus of "Onward Christian Soldiers." They had made it to eternity. What difference would a few millennia make? Most of them signed up as case-workers, messengers, and crisis intervention specialists. Others chose the role of prayer warriors. A small minority declined to get involved. They were assigned bureaucratic roles and maintenance chores in the heavenly headquarters, freeing up hosts of angels to go into combat.

It took longer than anyone but God expected, but all the stars and planets eventually played out their sagas, and Jesus was declared Lord of the Total Universe. Needless to say, this was cause for another celebratory banquet, with billions upon billions of additional guests.

Everyone agreed that Jesus had been working much harder than could reasonably be expected, and He deserved a rest. They decided to ask the archangel Michael, the general of the heavenly armies, to be the guest speaker for the evening.

"We have achieved great things," Michael declaimed, "but we cannot stop here. We are warriors by nature, and warriors we must remain, or eternal bliss will become dull and repetitive. I say we invade hell. There must be billions of

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