After several months of pleading, I was granted an audience. I don’t even know how I got there but all of sudden, I found myself before this large, rather ornate gate. As I looked around, the gate opened as if by remote control. The mansion that was revealed was breath-taking. It arose from the carefully manicured grounds like a symphony from an orchestra.
I walked along the only pathway visible. It was marble! As I walked, I marveled at the landscaping. How expensive it must be to keep that, I thought. The pathway brought me to a massive wooden door. Just as I was about to open it, it swung open. Standing in the doorway was an old man with flowing white hair and a white beard. He beckoned me in. He introduced himself as Peter and asked me to follow him.
Words cannot describe the beauty of the decorations, paintings and statues that graced the mansion. Soon we came to another door and this one opened by itself too. It revealed a large hall. At one end sat a throne.
Peter turned to me and said, “He will be out soon. Sit in that chair and wait. Once he appears, you have thirty minutes. Good luck.”
He turned and walked off even as the door swung shut behind him.
Then I heard a voice go, “Nanadadzie my son, how can I help you?”
I spun around to see an imposing figure sitting in the throne.
Somehow, around him was a certain glow. His face was lit by a broad smile that illuminated the lines of wisdom that gave his face such depth of character. His eyes were deep and seemed to hold a lot of something. I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“Nanadadzie, you have 30 minutes. Use that time well”, he continued.
“Are you God?”, I asked.
“The One and Only”, he answered.
“Where is Allah? I wanted to meet both of you”, I asked.
“I am One and the Same”, he pointed out.
“May I call you just God or Dear God”, I asked.
“Call me Father”, he said.
“Father, do you know the mess going on down there on Earth in your name?”, I asked.
“I know, Nana, I know. It’s OK to call you Nana, right? Most people call you that”, he said.
“Of course you can, Father”, I answered. “So you know there’s a lot of bad things being done in your name and you are fine with that?”, I continued, incredulous.
“Nana, they use my name in vain to do these bad things”, he answered.
“So why do you allow that?”, I asked.
“You humans have free will, you know that right?”, he asked me.
“Father, free will to use your name for the Crusades? The numerous European religious wars? Slavery? Apartheid? Al-Queda? ISIS?”, I asked.
“Nana, the human ultimately has to discover the Truth”, he said.
“But, but the carnage is great. Did you see Brussels? And Paris? Have you seen what Boko Haram is doing in Nigeria? The attacks in Mali, Bukina and Cote d’Ivoire? The beheadings in Syria? Syria? Iraq? 9-11? What truth do you find from such carnage? That religion leads to violence?”, I asked, my voice rising.
“Nana my son, I could with a stroke of my finger, wipe all out. What lesson would that teach mankind?”, he asked.
“That you cannot mess with God. You did that back in the day!”, I volunteered.
“I might have but did it teach mankind anything?”, he asked, looking at me sternly.
“So we have to go through all this pain to learn? To learn what?”, I asked.
“To learn to live together as one”, he replied.
“Father, call me cynical but that isn’t happening. The Church you left down there is in shambles. You heard of all those priests and the kids, right? That was a disaster. Islam has been hijacked. The races hate each other. There are wars everywhere. Large swaths of the population is starving or dying from diseases. And we are supposed to live together as one? I’m sorry but I have no faith that will ever happen”, I declared.
“Nana, do you believe in me?”, he asked.
“Father, to be honest, there are lots of times that I have my doubts”, I offered.
“Nana, you are bound by time and space. I see eternity. Good always overcomes evil. The right shall dominate the wrong”, he said.
“You sound like my late dad. By the way, is he around?”, I asked.
“Yes he is but he is not the reason you are here”, he replied then continued:
“There is always a dark side to light. A bitter side to the sweet. Those who use my name for evil are the dark side of light. Ultimately, the light shines so bright, the darkness is unseen and unheard. Believe and be strong”, he said.
Suddenly, I heard a sound behind me. I turned to see Peter in the doorway.
“It is time”, he said.
I swung around to ask God a last question but the throne was empty.
I sighed and walked out of the hall behind Peter. With each step, I heard a ringing sound. As we neared the main door, it got louder. The minute he opened the main door, the piercing scream of my alarm broke through, waking me up to another morning of life on this Earth with it’s violence, pain and hopelessness. Or is all that leading to a time of peace, love and hope?
That is when it hit me. What I had seen in his eyes. His eyes were full of certainty. Certainty that all will be well. That good will overcome evil. That the right will dominate the wrong. Certainty.
I sat at the edge of my bed and realized that I wasn’t so certain. That good will overcome evil. That the right will dominate. I wasn’t at all but wished I had faith. Wished I believed. I didn’t.
I sighed.