Key to Heaven

I wrote this when I was still in college. Again, just a spur of the moment. :-)

There was a time when a priest, a blacksmith and a mother met in front of the gates of heaven, awaiting their Eternal Reward. Because of the goodness they did while still on earth, they were given the Keys that would open the Heavenly Gates; Saint Peter stood nearby.

“You may enter Paradise one by one,” he ushered the three, “you must quickly step inside once you use your Key…”

The priest decided to go first. Because he did good by serving Mass and praying for the good of all people, his chalice served as his Key. Upon raising it in midair, as though enacting the Consecration, the Gates were opened. He slowly stepped inside and was engulfed in light.

The blacksmith went next. While he still lived, he used his hammer not to tamper metal into weapons, but to forge pots, horseshoes and nails which he sold at a cheap price. Lifting his hammer in midair, heaven was opened before him, and he too stepped into Paradise.

Finally, it was the mother’s turn. Saint Peter noticed that she was not holding anything, and so he asked her, “Where is your Key to heaven?”

She remained quiet and smiled at the old man. “My child,” Saint Peter asked her again, “how will you enter if you have no Key?”

The mother stepped in front of the Gates and closed her eyes. At once the entrance to Heaven was opened and she was allowed to enter.

Before she stepped inside, she said to the surprised Gatekeeper: “For my entire life I’ve been a bad example to my neighbours. I was cruel, heartless, and very selfish. I even raised myself to be materialistic and naïve. But when I became a mother and had my son, I don’t want history to repeat itself. I knew that I had to do something so that he will be good someday, so that he will not wander in darkness that I once walked on. And so there came a time when I gave him a gift far beyond any tangible object�"my Key to Heaven�"the Gift of Love…”