A New Heaven And New Earth (By Committee)

"A New Heaven And New Earth (By Committee)"
Revelation 21:1-6


God was thinking the Long Range Planning Committee should get together.  God’s administrative assistant immediately began making the arrangements.  The archangel Michael was the first to show up.  He was always the first to show up for everything, overly punctual that he was.  As the head of God’s angelic armies he felt it his duty to not only be prompt, but be prompt early.

The archangel Gabriel (pronounce Ga bree el), or Gabby as most of the other angels called her, was another story.  She took being in charge of God’s postal service almost too seriously.  So serious, in fact, that she wouldn’t let any of the other messenger angels do their job.  Gabriel had to do it for them.  She was always worried that something would get messed up.  So, the best way to make sure it was done right was to do it all herself.  And to do something “right” was to do it her way, even if someone had a better idea.  At the end of the day she would collapse on her cloud exhausted.  “But at least there were no screw-ups,” she would always say to herself as she fell asleep.

Gabriel always told the story of when she let one of the trainee messenger angels take the message to Mary that she was supposed to give birth to the Savior.  Somehow the trainee got the destination wrong and headed off to tell some woman named Helga in Iceland that she was to be the mother of the Messiah.  Gabriel got a hold of the angel just before the fateful announcement was proclaimed, and saved the day.  Then she went to Nazareth and delivered the message herself.

Gabriel was supposed to be at the Long Range Planning Committee meeting, just in case there were any messages that needed to be coordinated.  But she was so scared to leave heaven’s central message office, or, because she was so busy delivering messages herself, she rarely showed up for the meetings.  At best, she’d be late.  Michael’s battle scarred halo brightened considerably when he saw Gabriel show up on time.

This Planning committee of God’s was quite a cross section.  God hand-picked them, which was the way God did everything.  There were angels of all ages and wing spans.  Even a couple of infant angels.  It was always disconcerting to the archangel Michael to hear these infants talking like adults.

But the strangest twist of all was that God had a couple of real, live human beings transported to heaven to sit in on the Long Range Planning Committee.  God seemed to think this was kind of fun and quite ingenious.  When the humans got taken back to earth they would tell everyone they were abducted by angels.  No one would believe them, of course, and God’s special plans would remain inviolate.  In this way, God used the human’s inclination of unbelief against themselves to keep secure the sacred plans.  The humans brought to heaven this time were named Floyd and Mabel.  These two were treated with great respect by the angels on the committee.

Suddenly, God appeared and called the meeting to order.  “Let us pray,” God said.  Some of the newer angels found this a bit disconcerting with God praying.  “If we are supposed to pray to God,” they thought, “then who does God pray to?”  The question was filling their spirits with unnecessary anxiety, when a sudden calm overwhelmed them, and they heard the Voice speak to their spirits, “Be still.”  All of heaven became hushed.  It seemed like just a moment and it seemed like an eternity.  Peace and calm reigned in the silence.

Then God spoke.  “It’s been a long time since I created the heavens and the earth,” God said.  “I’ve had a lot to deal with since that day.  It certainly hasn’t turned out as I hoped.”  The sadness in God’s Voice was not lost on any of the committee members.  “I keep thinking to myself, ‘If I did it over, how would I do it?’  I think it’s time to create a new heaven and new earth.”  Archangel Michael smiled.  “I am going to make the heavens and the earth disappear, and then I’m going to start all over again.  I have some ideas, but I thought I’d gather this committee together and see what your ideas might be for a new heaven and a new earth.”

Michael jumped right in.  Everyone else expected him to.  They were all staring at him, anyway, waiting for him to speak first.  It was his nature.  “Can we have an end to evil once and for all?” he asked wearily.  It was more of a statement than a question.  “I’m getting a little fatigued at constantly fighting the forces of wickedness.  I need a break.  Like for an eternity.”
God smiled, and said, “You have been the most valiant warrior against the darkness, Michael.  You will be happy to know your request is at the top of my plans.”  Then Michael smiled with relief.

“Does that mean there will be no more pain, no more crying, or suffering?” one of the baby angels asked, fluttering his tiny wings.
“That’s right, little one,” God said reassuringly.  Everyone applauded.

Everyone except Mabel, one of the humans.  She raised her hand meekly, and said, “Does that mean there will be no more joy, no more thrill, or happiness, or exhilaration either?  Does that mean no more tears of exhausted peace and anticipation when a mother gives birth to a new child?”  And here she looked over at the baby angel.  Mabel continued, “Will laughter really be fulfilling if it isn’t contrasted with times of sadness and crying anymore?  Won’t delight become meaningless at the same time you eliminate pain?”  Mabel asked her question honestly, sincerely, humbly.  No one really had an answer for her.

One of the angels on the committee finally broke the long silence.  “I’ve been watching the history of the world unfold, and I would suggest that if you recreate humans, you leave out feelings and just give them pure intelligence,” he said.
“I don’t agree with that,” said another.  “Feelings are what give people their humanity and personality.  Otherwise they would just be flat, unemotional creatures, as humorless as a rhinoceros.”
“But...” broke in the previous angel, “...it’s just that all the problems, and a lot of the hurt that humans experience seems to have to do with their feelings.  If people could just think instead of feel, it seems to me they would be a lot happier.”
The other angel shook her head in disagreement.  “There certainly has been a lot of human misery caused by intellectual egg-heads who had no heart,” she said.

“I have another idea,” a younger angel said, raising her hand and speaking at the same time.
“What’s that?” God asked with interest.
“I’d say, no more work.”
“Here, here,” a couple of others agreed.
“And why would you have me eliminate work?” God asked.
“Well, it seems to me work stunts human potential.  People get stuck in menial jobs just doing mostly the same thing day after day.  They don’t, or won’t take risks branching out.  Doing different things.  They end up using just a little bit of the brains and potential you gave them.  They stop seeing the big picture of what life is supposed to be.  They think their little area is the whole world.  They aren’t challenged to use their full creativity.  They think work is all there is and they get so tired from doing it, they forget how to play.  How to really enjoy the world you have given them.”  The angel paused, and then said, “Does that make sense?”  The rest of the committee members all nodded.
“It makes perfect sense,” God replied.  It sounds like you’ve been doing a lot of thinking about it.”
“Yes, I have,” the angel said shyly.

“I just have a simple request,” said one of the bigger angels.  “How about if you have no more locks or keys in the new world.”
Some of the other angels snickered.
“Well, I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” the big angel said, a little too loudly.  “I mean, think about it.  Think about what all the locks and keys in the world represent:  distrust; lack of respect; fear.  Why can’t the new world be made secure with the keys of trust and respect?”
“Sounds good to me,” God said.

“Uh, God?” Floyd, the other human at the meeting, spoke bashfully.
“What is it, Floyd?” God asked.
Getting down on his knees, because that is how Floyd was used to talking with God, Floyd said in a quiet voice, “I just had a question about something you said at the start.”
“Yes, go ahead,” God said reassuringly.
“Well, I don’t mean to pry, but didn’t you say you were going to make the heavens and the earth disappear?”
“Yes, that’s what I said,” God replied.
“Well, uh, does that mean, everything?”
“Yes.”
“But what will happen to all the beautiful places?”
“They will be gone.”
“Niagara Falls?”
“Gone.”
“Yosemite National Park?”
“Gone.”
“The giant redwoods and sequoias?”
“Gone.”
“Tropical rain forests, with the amazing array of plants and animals of every imaginable color?”
“Gone.”
“The Sahara Desert?”
“Gone.”
“Mt. Rainier, like when it makes it’s appearance from behind the cloud cover and takes your breath away?”
“Gone.”
“The Great Barrier Reef, it’s clown fish, sea horses, the green, tender anemone, sea stars, and manta rays?”
“Gone.”
“The frozen Tundra, with masses of caribou and moose?”
“Gone.”
“The African plains?”
“Gone.”
“The Swiss Alps?”
“Gone.”
“The bamboo forests of southeast Asia?”
“Gone.”
“The Oregon coast?”
“Gone.”
“The Grand Canyon?”
“Gone.”
“The Mediterranean Sea?”
“Gone.”
“Dirt?”
“Gone.”
“The stars, the moon, shooting stars?”
“Gone.”
“Blue sky, clouds, sunsets and sunrises?”
“Gone.”
“Hmmmmm,” Floyd paused with a deep breath.  “What about other stuff?”
“Like what?” God asked.”
“Like art, you know, like all the stuff in the Louvre?” Floyd said.
“Gone.”
“The Eiffel Tower?”
“Gone.”
“Castles on the Danube?”
“Gone.”
“The Great Pyramids?”
“Gone.”
“Cathedrals and stained glass windows?”
 “Gone.”
“Roses?”
“Gone.”
“The scent of carnations?”
“Gone.  Now just a minute, Floyd,” God motioned for him to stop his listing.  “You seem to be getting at something by asking about all these things.  Why are you asking about all this?  Are you trying to tell me you would miss all this stuff if I just suddenly whisked it away?”
“Well, uh, please excuse my boldness, I don’t mean any disrespect, my Lord,” Floyd said, still on his knees.  “But, umm, yes; yes I would.  I would miss it all.  I may be talking out of turn here. I know I don’t fit in with the rest of you, except Mabel here.  But I just think you have made an amazingly beautiful, diverse, wondrous world.  It seems a shame to think it will all be gone some day.  And sad.  Very sad.”

Archangel Michael spoke up.  “Do you mean to tell me, human, that you’d rather have this old world--this dirt bag full of corruption and filth?”
“I don’t mean, like I said to the Lord, to say this with any disrespect, Mr. Archangel, but, yes, I think I would.  I know there is a lot of bad things about the world.  But at the same time there is so much beauty.  Kind of like what Mabel, here, said a little while ago.  Sometimes, maybe most of the time, the beauty stands out because of the contrast with all the bad stuff.
“I’m an old man,” Floyd said after a pause.  “I haven’t even seen a speck of all the beauty there is to see.  And I wish there was some way I could get the chance to see every inch of it, from up in the stars to all the way down to the bottom of the ocean.
“Something you angels may not understand, and again I mean no disrespect, but we live so shortly, we humans.  We see so little.  We experience so little in those lifetimes.  I’ve gotten to see the Grand Canyon, and that when I was 82.  I’ve seen the Mississippi River.  I’ve seen Kansas and the western side of Missouri when I go visit my son.  But that’s about it.  The rest I see in pictures in the National Geographic.”  Floyd looked down at his knees.  “I’m talking too much,” Floyd said.  “I think I’ve said enough.  I’ll just sit back in my chair.”  Floyd got up off his knees and was heard to mutter something.

“What was that?” God asked.
“Huh?” Floyd said.
“I thought I heard you mutter something.”
“Oh, I just, uh, said, I guess it depends on what you replace the world with.”  Everyone turned and looked at God.

“Well,” God began, “I was thinking about a city.  Like a New Jerusalem.  A holy city that I would bring down out of heaven, whole and clean.  Spotless and pure.”  God beamed.  Everyone else beamed back.
Now it was Mabel’s turn.  She was not as humble as Floyd, and bit more outspoken.  “A city!?” she blurted out.
“Not just any city, Mabel,” Archangel Michael said.  “A city designed by God!”
“Hmmm; I never much liked cities,” Mabel muttered.
“What was that?” asked God.
“I just said I never much liked cities,” Mabel said more firmly.  “I grew up in the country.  I always like natural places.  Places with dirt and growing things; and pure, unpolluted water.  I guess I thought if you were going to make a new world it would be like, you know, a garden, or a prairie, or a forest.  With rolling hills, and awesome mountains.  Or a mountain valley.”
“Not a city?” God asked.
“Nope,” Mabel said quietly shaking her head back and forth.  “A bad idea.”  A couple of the younger angels gasped.  Nobody in heaven had ever told God he had a bad idea.  “I mean, you are God, after all,” Mabel continued.  “I will always love and obey you.  What ever you say, goes, with me.”  God knew that that was true, because Mabel had been that way her whole life.  That’s why she was sitting at the place she was.

God finally said, “I think that will be all for the moment.  I’ll get you together again some time soon.  I have much to think about.  Thank you for your good thoughts and ideas.”  And with that God disappeared.

In the amount of time shorter than a moment, God had become part of the wind blowing upon the face of the earth.  Now God was part of a gust blown hard against a Pacific coast cypress.  Then moved, and was a gentle breeze tousling a little girl’s hair on a school playground.  And then God was in a gale whipping up white caps on the Mediterranean Sea.  God moved in the wind, blowing and going to and fro upon the earth, looking at all that he had created, pondering the beauty and goodness of it all as he moved.