As I sit in my room, it is late afternoon and the dwindling sunlight is still casting a faint glow on my desk and I can hear a scream from my open window. The scream is one that starts high and falls low in pitch and I know that, because of this scream that I hear, someone is hurting. An ambulance has just told me.
Come, travel back in time with me to two days ago; to a world that from now on, from October 21 to the present- is perfect. My friend has not just told me that her grandfather is dead, and there is no pain on her face. She is smiling and laughing with me as we climb into a van full of girls headed to Portland for a fun weekend. My view from the front seat of the car is filled with lush, green fields sprinkled with wild flowers-the sunlight glistens off of the Columbia River and sends sparkles of light into the air. Although it is currently fall, the trees stay the same orange, red, and golden colors all year round. I look over at my roommate who is in the driver’s seat and flash a smile. She smiles back and I am content, because in this perfect world where the trees are always colorful and the grass is always green, I know that our friendship will last.
I am home now in Vancouver and my mom smiles and gives me a big hug when she sees me. I walk inside my house and find it to be immaculately clean; free of clutter. It is good to be home. Outside my bedroom window there is no longer a neighbor’s backyard to look into for my view, but a field spotted with colorful trees to dot its landscape.
As I drive to church the next morning, the car passes by the corner where a man used to sell fruit every Saturday, but now the corner is empty, because no one on earth now has to sell things on the street just to keep food on the table for their family. Everyone is well fed and knows not what hunger is anymore. You might ask how people get this food and how previously famine wrought countries have solved this problem, and the explanation is that the United States and Europe have solved this by reducing their consumption of food products in grocery stores. That night my mom takes me to the grocery store and gives me a personalized list of grocery items and amounts that are made specifically for me and my diet. My doctor has issued me this list based on my personal food preferences, weight, and height. The list gives me the amounts of particular items that I am allowed to buy for that week. The amounts are just enough to satisfy my nutritional needs. Each person in that grocery store had a list that was like mine, except that is personalized for them, that way no extra food is wasted by our society just because we can afford to buy more.
Later that night, my family and I are walking down the lighted streets of downtown Portland headed for one of my favorite stores: Powell’s Books. Usually this store is filled with all kinds of books and people. Tonight as I browse the shelves, there are no titles that I am embarrassed to read and there are no homeless people walking through the store with their backpacks on trying to keep warm by appearing to browse the shelves. You see, homeless people have been sent to work as missionaries or pioneers to the most remote jungles in South America. Each has been given a notebook, pen, and a small camera to record and research what and who they find. I predict that Powell’s Books will someday be filled with books documenting these people’s findings. I look forward to that day when I can read about their adventures, but until then I will continue to enjoy reading classic literature about worlds that are not perfect.
Returning home from our Portland escapade, I reach for my cell phone and dial my friend’s phone number. She answers the phone and I can tell that she is happy, because the laughter that she shares with me during our conversation tells of her happiness. Never was she sad because of a family death. Never did she have to grieve the loss of a loved one this weekend, because death is no longer a part of the cycle of life. So, you may ask, people live forever? As of two days ago, yes. Until Jesus makes His grand entrance back to earth to save us, then we humans do not need to fear death anymore, because the air and our bodies have been purified from all toxic and potentially harmful bacteria.
Hanging up the phone, I smile to myself as I realize how wonderful it is to hear a smile in my friend’s voice and to know that, from here on out, is how it will remain. Happiness is evident in all things. The whole world, it's people and it's landscape, seems to be a place of joy. And now, as I sit at my desk in my room in College Place with the faint glow of the late afternoon sunlight playing on my desk, I know that I won’t hear a scream from my open window, for there is no one hurting. There is no ambulance.
*This was an assignment that I did for my college writing class this quarter. I originally wrote this on October 23, 2011.
