Two of the children and I were talking about the afterlife on our way to faith formation Sunday morning. I’m not sure how the topic came up, but we started to imagine what it would be like if you got to heaven, and you were faced with the number of times you missed an opportunity.
I suggested that it sounded a little bit more like purgatory and then the ideas started flowing.
What if there was a department that told you all the times you actually had a lottery ticket that was a winner?
What if there was a department that kept track of all the times you have been unkind to someone?
What about a department where they kept track of all the money you wasted throughout your lifetime?
What about a guy at the counter who had tracked all the times you missed a chance to be kind (and his assistant that indicated which of those times was intentional)?
Then, down the hallway, there was a department that let you review the footage of all the times you were faced with a choice for good and evil and you had to reflect upon the choice you made.
It was a fun conversation, though some of those departments sound like they belong in hell, and it got me thinking about that voice in our head we call a conscience. I couldn’t help but think about the example I set for others, the missed opportunities, the wasted time, and the chances lost to selfishness.
Perhaps this week, I can keep those fictional purgatorial departments in mind and strive to be a better role model and friend.