Ground zero. There was nothing created yet.
Of course, the Lord God was there, since He is existence itself, but there wasn't someone to know Him, receive His love, and love Him back.
And the Lord God created a man from the earth. He made them to be both man and woman, so that they could complete one another in love. God commanded them to walk in His truth, but they decided they knew better. "We are humans," they said, and they went wandering in human ways. Eventually, they became a father and a mother, and quite a few generations went by until I arrived.
Being a child, I always thought of myself as number one, the most important. Care surrounded me. The whole world around me was singing a chorus: "We love you!"
Growing up, I found out that everyone cares for himself most of the time; some people that assured me of their love before now didn't care. I had to seek love on my own. And I started on the journey to find the true love that does not change with time.
Years went by. I've heard I love you many times, which activated my existence, but only for a short time. Though my journey was arduous, it indeed had high points. Some were treasures, like happiness, approval, and greatness. I touched the wealth this world had to offer and felt loved, but those experiences evaporated so fast for some reason!
I wish and conclude that I need to find the location of all those treasures. Once I see it, I will not wrestle with life anymore or strain myself daily to make ends meet. That wealth would make my life worth living! Caught up in my imagination, I didn't notice a big stone in the middle of the road where I walked and fell right upon it.
My body was hurting all over. I laid there miserable, sighing from pain. It was getting late, and I couldn't recognize where I was. Who would locate me here now? I tried to make some signals for help but could only come up with more groaning. I had to hurry to figure out something on the spot. Suddenly, the surrounding darkness was illuminated by an approaching flashlight, and I heard a voice right above my head:
"Oh! Another one. Those poor travelers."
I understood that I wasn't the first to get into this incident.
"Why wouldn't you remove this stone out of the way," I shouted with all my leftover strength.
The stranger was neither surprised nor offended by my anger.
"Believe me, we tried," he responded calmly. "And not just one. In fact, in every generation, at least one champion travels to this place and attempts to lift this stone, but none of them can do it. They all get exhausted trying.
Anyway, let me take care of you," he continued, “sympathizing with me. How do you estimate your hurt? Do you need to be hospitalized? We have a regional hospital nearby."
It didn't sound to me like a good idea. I imagined myself in a hospital room hermetically sealed from the rest of the world: homogenous beds, sheets, dishes, clothing, nothing personal. What would a personality like me do there? And besides that, meals in a regional hospital are intended to fatten patients like animals. There will be moaning and sorrow on each face. I will never be able to get used to such an atmosphere!
"No, no. I don't want to be hospitalized!" I announced my decision.
"All right," continued the man patiently. "Another option for you would be to visit our hostel. It's a humble lodging with simple food, but we would be happy for you to be our guest. In the past, we hosted many noble personalities simply because of the proximity of this famous stone."
"Okay, sure," I agreed. It sounded to me like my best option.
He helped me get up, and we slowly went to the hostel. It happened to be nearby. Entering, I saw the name on the door: "Human Inn."
"What a strange name," I thought to myself as I read it very slowly, as I was just learning the letters.
"Come, dinner is ready," called the man. "You are the guest of honor tonight."
I was starving, but trying not to appear a glutton, I started a conversation:
"So, this hostel is your job?"
"Oh, no! I only volunteer here to help hurt travelers like you. I work in a bakery that belongs to a Human storehouse around the corner."
My dream was coming true in front of my eyes. I got speechless for a few minutes, then asked, "Can you show me this storehouse?"
"You really want to see it?"
"Yes!"
"Okay," he agreed. "But only once."
I quickly swallowed my food, and we went out the door into the dark of the night. Suddenly he said:
"You are right there, inside the Storehouse."
"But I can't see anything!"
"Wait, I will turn on the light. Here we are."
I looked around. It looked like a storage place that I've seen many times in different places, nothing special. It even looked familiar to me. There were packages all over.
"It's not that hard to understand, but it might appear confusing when you see everything at once," started the man. "Everything here belongs to mankind. There are different departments, and each of them has its unique characteristics. You can find anything you wish in abundance: noblesse, glorification, happiness, and approval. Here is a chance to become a general. There are plenty of lusts and cravings like gluttony, fist fighting, ambush, battles, enforcement, rape, and violence." And we went from shelf to shelf.
"Come, see over here," he continued. "There are many different associations and organizations you can join. You may become certified and either confirm the ideas of others or forbid them to do things they want. You may collect items, run to meetings, or lead an assembly.
There are a lot of gray colors available, enough for every human. By the way, in attempts to extend their beauty, some people put on bright makeup. We got plenty of that stuff. Here is your citizenship, character, personality, lexicon, and so on."
Everything in that place illustrated the life I knew, the life that was so familiar. I couldn't restrain myself any longer, so I asked, "What about the losses and sorrows, disappointments, threats, offenses, guilt, and misery?"
He shook his head. "They are also here, right over there." And he pointed to a shelf in a corner. I looked closer. They were not single packages like the rest of them. They were encircling something else.
"Those don't come alone," the man continued. "They come in pairs. For example, every disappointment contains a challenge within it. Or courage: Why would you need it if you are not facing a threatening situation? Or inner stability: To learn it, you have to experience offenses, which rock your boat, then you would see the difference and make your choices.
Because you need to know the one in context to the other, they come wrapped together. All those occur interwoven with lots of strengthening and recovery."
For a minute, he forgot that I was standing next to him. He closed his eyes and started to cite an old piece of poetry:
"A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn and a time to dance,
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
A time to embrace and a time to refrain."
"You see," he said, "everything in human life has its match. This one, for example: 'To lose and to gain package' humans use it the most. Every time they decide between any two options, they lose the one to gain the other." He started to walk away but suddenly stopped, pointing at one of the packages: "Look over here!" he said. "This is a funny one: 'A fast and slow package.' As humans run through life, there are always those who run faster in front of them and those who are behind them. People advise each other to slow down but individually continue to hasten forward, envying those in front of them, fearing getting lost."
Puzzled, I stopped at the Human Storehouse door and suddenly remembered my journey's purpose.
"What about THE true love," I asked the man. "I didn't see it here."
"It's not here," he responded. "It's in a different location, in the domain of the Creator Himself. The true love wasn't created, since it's the essence of God."
How can I reach it then? I wondered.
"Faith is the only match for the true love. Your faith in His word will bring you into a different domain, called God's kingdom. There you will know the true love: its unlimited power, its grandeur, its glorious beauty.
All you saw in the Human Storehouse will one day cease to exist. It will burn in the fire and become dust and ashes. Time will stop. The world we know today will come to ground zero again, and only that found in God's domain will remain. It's a glorious location - a place of honor, filled with marvelous light!"
"Only the noble people are allowed there, then?" I uttered and looked down.
"Not at all! He assured me. "You don't have to be special in any way. Just believe that God is true and that he really meant what He said. Faith is such a simple path that even a little child will walk on it without getting lost. Look! It's straight ahead of you!"
He smiled and added, "At this point, you have seen everything offered to men.
Now, you continue your journey, and I must hurry to open my bakery, for every traveler that stops in our 'Human Inn' wants to enjoy a fresh piece of pastry for breakfast."