An Old Man Went Before Heaven

An Old Man Went Before Heaven 

(a fairytale for moderns)

An Old Man went before heaven. Saint Anthony, the Saint of Lost Things, was waiting for him. 

“I cannot allow you to pass through the gates until you tell me one good thing you have accomplished in your life.” 

The Old Man thought hard for a long time and said, “I held a job for thirty seven years. I always obeyed the company.”
Somewhere in his subconscious the Old Man could hear Heaven’s bulwark peeling with layers of hilarity. 

“The job you did never brought any good to anyone, not even yourself.” retorted Saint Anthony 

The Old Man began to sweat a little. That little sick feeling that had filled the bottom of his stomach for so many years began to grow into a blaze of discomfort. 

“What do you mean? I worked night and day! I worked every holiday, to the disappointment of those around me, until one day I looked up and no one was around me! I cut corners whenever the company asked me to. Don’t you think it was difficult to watch others suffer for my efficiency? Efficiency! Oh how I wish I had never heard that word. How I wish mankind had never brought it into existence! But, I never bucked my responsibility! I held fast to it! I filled my life with it!” 

“Tell me about the dreams you gave up.”