There could be no worse morning than the one I woke up to: Execution Day.
The dread had been building for a hideous blur of years but the darkness of this last week has been all consuming. I cannot close my eyes without unspeakable terrors invading my mind in helpless abandon.
So I've had to stay awake and bruised these last few days. The guards are taking glee in my demise, spitting on my food before they hand it to me. I once told a guard Jesus said, "What you do unto the least of you you do unto me." The guard said, "That's why we killed him. You better shut up too."
I'd been dropped into the deepest darkest hole in the universe: the heart of Man. But in less than an hour, none of that would matter and the Killing Machine will have spoken.
Then, like a bolt of lightning, word came down from the man. "We're not going to kill you -"
My nightmares flipped into dreams! The sun streaming through the bars was for me, after all! "Thank you! Thank you! After the dishonest life I've led, you've forgiven me?"
Then I hugged the guard who'd spat on me. He too was shocked.
"After the shitty things I've done, you forgive me?"
Welling with tears, unable to speak, I nodded my head. Then he too broke down.
As news of forgiveness spread, waves of joy spread throughout the prison. Crying and cheers joined together in a symphony of exhilaration. We'd been granted a reprieve.
Even the warden who'd made cruelty his life came down to see me, dropping to his knees in relief.
"You have no idea how many years I've lived without hope. I saw no way out."
Of course, I completely understood years without hope, and we shared more healing tears.
Knowing hope for the first time changed everyone's disposition. How different it is having a future! I wanted to live forever. The smiling faces around me felt the same.
We imagined this spreading around the world in a brotherhood of Man. Weapons of war discarded into a pile of uselessness. Every starving child fed in perpetuity. Dormant dreams sprang back to life.
"It's all so obvious now! What had we been thinking? Shine on the world! Shine on me! Love is the answer!"
The past was the past, a time to be forgotten. The future is the only concern. Brilliant colors flooded my mind, filled with a desire to build a new and lasting way. I could see everyone else walking on clouds and I couldn't wait to hear the dreams they would live. Nothing's going to stop us now.
Then a man showed up, covered in grease and machine envy. "It's fixed now. We got the killing machine back to working. You can off that son-of-a-bitch!"
The dread had been building for a hideous blur of years but the darkness of this last week has been all consuming. I cannot close my eyes without unspeakable terrors invading my mind in helpless abandon.
So I've had to stay awake and bruised these last few days. The guards are taking glee in my demise, spitting on my food before they hand it to me. I once told a guard Jesus said, "What you do unto the least of you you do unto me." The guard said, "That's why we killed him. You better shut up too."
I'd been dropped into the deepest darkest hole in the universe: the heart of Man. But in less than an hour, none of that would matter and the Killing Machine will have spoken.
Then, like a bolt of lightning, word came down from the man. "We're not going to kill you -"
My nightmares flipped into dreams! The sun streaming through the bars was for me, after all! "Thank you! Thank you! After the dishonest life I've led, you've forgiven me?"
Then I hugged the guard who'd spat on me. He too was shocked.
"After the shitty things I've done, you forgive me?"
Welling with tears, unable to speak, I nodded my head. Then he too broke down.
As news of forgiveness spread, waves of joy spread throughout the prison. Crying and cheers joined together in a symphony of exhilaration. We'd been granted a reprieve.
"You have no idea how many years I've lived without hope. I saw no way out."
Of course, I completely understood years without hope, and we shared more healing tears.
Knowing hope for the first time changed everyone's disposition. How different it is having a future! I wanted to live forever. The smiling faces around me felt the same.
We imagined this spreading around the world in a brotherhood of Man. Weapons of war discarded into a pile of uselessness. Every starving child fed in perpetuity. Dormant dreams sprang back to life.
"It's all so obvious now! What had we been thinking? Shine on the world! Shine on me! Love is the answer!"
The past was the past, a time to be forgotten. The future is the only concern. Brilliant colors flooded my mind, filled with a desire to build a new and lasting way. I could see everyone else walking on clouds and I couldn't wait to hear the dreams they would live. Nothing's going to stop us now.
Then a man showed up, covered in grease and machine envy. "It's fixed now. We got the killing machine back to working. You can off that son-of-a-bitch!"
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