My Angel, J

Wishing for Wings

"Hey J. The Almighty is looking for you." a pink-winged cherub popped up from the cloud next to where he was sitting. It's only been a few years since he managed to get that much free time. He's been learning a lot while he was up here. And his "training" has been harder than some but very fulfilling. He had to let some of the darkness from his soul.

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Unlike what he's been taught, in Heaven you are granted passage even if you think you don't deserve to go there. That's the first thing he learned when he got there. That God's mercy and love was that huge that it doesn't matter what you did on earth. If you believe in God or not, you get in. Just as long as you have loved and loved well while you were on earth. If you didn't, then asking for forgiveness is the key. He smiled thinking that he was so worried about it when he was still down there that it ate him up.

But coming here was like coming home to a home you never thought you had. Like a vacation that never stops being interesting. He's talked to so many musicians, believers and scholars up here that he feels like eternity would not be enough to learn everything they can share to him.

He did hear about something unbelievable, he could come home and see his family and friends until he gets his next chance to be reborn. But he had to apply to be a messenger if he wanted to do that. "You need to earn wings." one of the scholars told him. He asked why that scholar never tried to get wings. To which the scholar said, "I've been dead for centuries. Who would I visit? Going back would just tempt me to stay. I am too wordly a soul not to beg to be allowed to stay. That's how angels fall." Jonghyun looked confused. "They are souls that became angels who chose to stay on earth, refusing to come back. They stay and wander. Some get to come back but only through a painful mission."

"What painful mission?" Jonghyun asked.

"You, of all souls, would not want to hear about that mission. So just leave it for now." Although he was really curious, Jonghyun figured the scholar would tell him within eternity what he was talking about.

"So how do I ask for wings?" The scholar shook his head.

"You are granted wings if the Almighty believes you are fit to be sent back to be a messenger. But if you can't get rid of the darkness in your soul, you can't go back. It's like sending a soldier to war without the right kind of armor. And the world, as you very well know, chips at a soul faster than a soul can hope to heal on their own."

"How can I be granted wings?" He asked again.

"Each prayer that is given to you by any human on earth, becomes a feather in that wing. But the wings of an angel is made of light. So those tiny bits of light come from the heart of the people who will be praying for you. If enough of them are put together, a pair of wings will come to be and will be granted to you by Him who grants all prayers."

"Wow. That might take a while."

"Sure does. People don't know about this either. They just think prayers are for wishing for things for themselves. And sometimes they pray for the dead to go to Heaven. They don't know that we can always come here as long as our soul is granted passage. And those with darkness in their soul, they can't come in not because they are not welcome but because the darkness in their soul is pulling them down."

"What about the darkness you said I have in my soul?"

"Yours was borne out of pain of living. But prayers heal those too." The scholar looks at Jonghyun. "Soon all of it will be cleansed away by those prayers. I heard you touched many lives when you were alive. That should help."

Jonghyun smiled. He remembered his 40 days journey. It was both eye-opening and healing. He felt so much energy come to him from people gathering to pray for him that it was sad that he was no longer among them to dry their tears.