A TRAVELER AT THE PEARLY GATES
“A man had come to the end of his life. He found himself in the other worlds. He was walking along a road. Alongside him was his trusted, loyal companion, his dog, who had passed on years before.
“They walked a long while, until on one side of the road they found this beautiful white wall. It seemed to be made of the finest marble. The road led up a long hill, and this wall ran along beside it.
“The man and his dog walked up the hill, came to the gates and looked at them. They were of mother-of -pearl—beautiful. And the street leading up to the gate was of pure gold.
“There was a man seated near the gates, at a table off to one side. The traveler asked him, ‘Where am I?’
“The man said, ‘This is heaven.’
“‘Boy that’s good,’ the traveler said. ‘Say, my dog and I have come a long way, and we’re very thirsty. Do you suppose we could have a drink of water?’
“The man said, ‘If you come in, I’ll bring you some ice water. But I’m sorry, pets are not allowed.’
“The man’s thinking to himself, What a raw deal. Here’s my dog, faithful, loyal all those years. Am I just going to turn my back on my dog and leave him out here? So the man turned his back on the pearly gates and the golden street, and he continued down the road.
“After a while he came to a dirt road. He followed it, and it came to what looked like the entrance to a farm. There was a gate in front, but it seemed as if it had never been shut. There were no fences alongside. Off to one side, there was a man leaning against a tree, reading a book.
“The traveler called out to the man. ‘Where am I?’
“‘This is heaven,’ the man said.
“‘Well, the traveler said, ‘this is confusing. I just stopped up the road at the pearly gates, and the guy at the desk said that was heaven.’
“The man leaning against the tree said, ‘Nope, that’s hell.’
“The traveler said, ‘We’ve traveled a long way. Do you suppose I could get some water?’
“The man said, ‘Sure. There’s a pump right over there.’
“It didn’t show from the entrance, but off to one side there was an old fashioned pump—the kind where you pour a little water in to get the thing working, then you pump, and water comes out.’
“‘By the way,’ the traveler said, ‘my dog is thirsty too. What about my friend here?’
“The man said, ‘There should be a dish right at the base of the pump there somewhere. He’s welcome to share with you.’
“The traveler’s thinking, This is pretty good. So he said to the man at the gate, ‘Does it make you kind of mad that up the road they’re claiming to be heaven, and you’re heaven here?’
“The man leaning against the tree said, ‘No. We’re just glad that they screen out the folks who give up their friends for a bit of material goods.”
—Excerpted from The Road to Spiritual Freedom by Harold Klemp
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