The God Files: Orroz's Story

Realization

I looked up in awe at the gargantuan size of the White Gates. They were made of a snow white crystal that rose far higher than a mountain. It was so humongous I couldn't even begin to try and see the top, which was covered in white-gold clouds. Semalia seemed to step through the Gates as though it was merely water and spoke to an unseen figure from the other side. Hushed conversation unfolded beyond earshot for a few moments. Semalia stepped back through the Gates, a disappointed look on his face.

                  "Unfortunately, Orroz, we cannot permit you to enter into Heaven," Semalia broke the news to me. I was certainly disappointed, but not at all angry. I knew the reason why they kept me out perfectly.

                  "However, I have been given permission to teach you all the knowledge we have gathered over countless millennia," Semalia added. My face brightened immediately at his words. Though I would not enter Heaven, I could still learn the ways of the angels. However, my brighten face dimmed when an important question slithered into my thoughts.

                  "How long will I have to stay here?" I asked. Semalia paused, contemplating such a matter. Time was trivial to immortal angels. The concept was almost foreign to him.

                  "At least centuries. But I feel you are already acquainted with life's heavy weight. Half a millennia should be no problem to you," Semalia said. Despite the substantial amount of time I would spend here, I couldn't think of a place better to spend it.

                   "I will stay," I said simply.

                   "Good. Because your training begins now."

My time spend near the White Gates was divided into three main lessons: Academics, Magic, and Combat Training. Academics was where I learned the written word of the angels, as well as their history, culture, and secrets. Semalia and I also liked to discuss philosophies in our spare time as we took our walks near the White Gates. There I asked him many questions. And he answered them. But one day (I never could tell how much time passed. It was always light so close to Heaven), Semalia and I were taking our walk when he shared with me perhaps one of the greatest wisdoms I ever could learn.

                  "Have you ever wondered why someone like God would let bad things happen if He only wanted the best for us?" Semalia asked me. I thought for a moment, trying to choose my words carefully.

                  "Yes, it has crossed my mind before," I admitted. "I always wondered why God would let me turn into a member of the Order when He knew I would never then be admitted to Heaven."

                  "What I am about to tell you few others truly understand or know," Semalia said. "God knows everything. The past. The present. And the future. So that means He also knows when and where bad things will happen. Your transformation, for example. In some of those situations, He lets them happen."

                  "But why would He let such a thing happen?" I asked Semalia. "If God cares for us so much, why would he let wars and murders and death plague our world?"

                  "If memory serves me correctly, humanity partially let that happen to themselves," Semalia said, referring to Adam and Eve. "But God knew as well that Adam and Eve would rebel. Naturally one might ask, 'If He knew, why didn't He stop it?' This is because God planned it from the beginning.

                  "At Creation, God made light and darkness, the sun and the moon and stars, the sky and the earth. What do those things have in common?" I thought for a long while, until a rather obvious answer came to me.

                  "They're opposites," I answered.

                  "Indeed they are. But they also need each other in order to exist." I was confused at the notion and told Semalia as such.

                  "There cannot be a sky without an earth. How would you tell which was which if it were otherwise? Same with darkness and light, the sun and the moon. And with good and evil. Without evil, or good, no one would be able to know what was good and what was evil. Humanity might consider murder a good thing, and generosity a bad thing!

                  "So you see Orroz. God lets bad things happen because you cannot have bad without good, good without evil. And also that fact that God is above such things like good and evil. What humanity and such believes is good and evil changes all the time. It's unreliable. Which, at the moment, is a bad thing," Semalia smiled at the joke, as did I.

                  "I think I understand now," I said hesitantly. 'Basically, everything happens for a reason. Good or bad."

                  "Now you're catching on," Semalia joked.