A Message for Hell’s Gatekeeper

You tell me this is what I deserve,

and I say,

You’re right. But--

You tell me I’m a worthless sinner,

the blackness of my heart is dripping over the edges.

And I say,

Maybe. But--

You tell me that heaven doesn’t want me;

I’m a shameful reject that God forgot about.

And I say,

Vilify me all you want. But--

My head bows, tears glitter.

Then my fingers stretch out, resting on the keys that will decide my fate.

And I write,

I may be unworthy, a pitiful shell of existence. But--

God knew all this and more

and still chose

me.

God knew all this and more

and yet,

his love reaches out

to me

like a tender voice calling

over the rush and roar of angry waves.

Come to me, Dear One.

I know you’re scared, anxious, hopeless.

Weary of the world, weary of your own existence,

your own dark soul.

You feel cursed, doomed to a fiery eternity.

But I am here to tell you--

Before you were conceived, I knew you.

Before you were a thought in the universe,

I saw you.

I reached into the womb of the future

and broke the chains that bind you.

I foresaw the pattern of your soul

and I erased its mark of death.

I knew the plan of the evil one

that would seek to suppress you

and I set you free.

I see your wounds and

the depths of your suffering

and I offer you healing.

You are restored, renewed,

liberated from all that Hell would use

to enslave you.

It has no claim on you.

You are a citizen of Heaven.

It is by My Name I declare this.

***

So tell me now, gatekeeper of Hell.

Would you claim the right to my soul,

when Heaven has laid claim before I was even born?

Would you struggle to own me,

when the deed to my heart is even now

residing in the celestial realm?

Would you venture to snatch at my soul,

when your clutches are powerless over my

liberated spirit?

Your claim is futile.

I am a token of a long-past war.

Your fight lies not with me,

but with angel armies.

Your realm only knows hate and fear and terror.

Heaven’s only language is Love.

And don’t you know?

Love triumphs over fear every time.

So tell me.

Do you dare to press your claim of ownership over me?

Are you now so eager to take it up with the forces above?

Do you still seek to damn my soul and in so doing defy Love?

Tell me, if you dare.