Sarah, one of my Facebook contacts posted something on
social media the other night. A good friend of hers has just died. Now Sarah is
almost the same age as me, only a couple of days older in fact. She’s like me
in lots of ways, we share many world-views. Except for one thing: Sarah is a
practicing Catholic and attends church regularly and I’m not and don’t.
Sarah’s post said the usual things about the passing of a
close friend but then she said something that I’ve heard a few times from the
recently bereaved. She said that she hopes the dead friend can put in a good
word for her “up there,” the implication being that when you die, you get to
attend a de-briefing session with God or maybe some lesser heavenly official. Maybe
cover off the highs and lows, the things you’re proud of and the things where
you think you could have done better. Sarah hopes that her deceased friend will
include some kind words about Sarah at the de-brief.
Now if Sarah thought about this, she could realise it’s a
classic case of “careful what you wish for,” and it could in fact impact on her
chances of passing through the pearly gates.
For a start, Sarah is assuming that her dead friend will
qualify for heaven. Heaven’s entry requirements are pretty stringent from what
I hear. What if the dead friend is headed for hell and tells the devil about
Sarah? Nobody wants to be on Satan’s radar screen.
And even if the dead friend qualifies for heaven, will God accept
that she knows Sarah better than He does? Will He place more emphasis on Sarah’s
friend’s testimony than on His own opinion of Sarah? I think not. After all,
God knows us very well by all reports, can even read our minds and identify
thought crimes. That is something even good friends don’t do very well.
Moreover, even assuming God is interested, how does Sarah
know that her friend will say positive things? Her friend could be holding some
hidden grudge and tell God for example, that Sarah is very bad at returning
borrowed books, has in fact lost more than one novel that the deceased
treasured.
So if I were my friend, I would be hoping that the deceased
just keeps her trap firmly shut if God tries to get any information on me out
of her.
