“I wouldn’t miss it. I can’t wait to catch up with Thomas’ team and all the others.”

  “Yes, I’m looking forward to it too. If you’re going to the communal meal this evening, let’s go together. I’ll race you to the bank,” she said, before taking a deep breath and kicking out with strong underwater stokes for where they had left their clothes.

  Johan coped well with his second sporting defeat of the day and was surprised to realise after they had finished drying and changing side by side that their nakedness had created no awkwardness or embarrassment. He mulled over how different it was to the way things were in the Previous Age as he walked with Sylvia to the communal meal served up by Yuri and his team of helpers.

  After the meal they stayed in the square to hear Helena and Clare performing a selection of songs that had been popular in the Previous Age. One of them reminded Johan of his childhood, and he thought about his parents and Gerty. It had been so good to see them six months ago on his travels through the neighbouring villages. He relished the freedom to travel and keep in touch with everyone, and knowing that they were here in the Eternal City brought such peace to his heart.

  Feeling tired but with a deep sense of contentment, Johan made his way back home and was soon sound asleep.

  *

  The table was set in the middle of a large swathe of lawn surrounded by trees and banks of flowers. Chairs had been arranged around it, each unique and made by skilled artisans. Figures emerged from the house that looked over the garden carrying trays full of glasses.

  “Yuri, would you mind grabbing the last tray?” asked Fran. “Adilah and I will set out the glasses at each place.”

  “I’ll start bringing down the jugs,” suggested Johan as he placed his tray on one of the tables. “How many do you think we’ll need?”

  Soon the four friends had finished setting the table and the sound of chatter and laughter signalled the arrival of Thomas and his team. Harmony, Anne, Sylvia and Carlos led the group, with Yan, Bull, Thomas and Yvonne a few steps behind.

  Yuri excitedly flung open the garden gate and took each of them in his arms as they entered. Adilah giggled and danced with delight, Johan wore a huge grin and Fran beamed as she led them to where the refreshments were laid out.

  “This is such a wonderful idea,” said Thomas to Fran as they sat in the bright afternoon light.

  “Well, it feels rather like a full circle moment, doesn’t it?” she said. “It feels right to celebrate. Ah, here come the others!”

  Every few minutes, more people appeared and gathered in pairs or small groups near the table. Johan looked around, drinking in the beauty of the scene, but his heart jumped as he recognised a smiling face approaching him. Though no longer wearing his small round spectacles and army uniform, there was no mistaking his friend Wilhelm with his distinctive cheeky grin.

  “I was told I could find you here, brother,” Wilhelm greeted him warmly as he embraced his former comrade.

  For a moment, Johan was lost for words. He hadn’t thought about the army and his experience of war for a long time. That period felt unreal, like a bad dream. Yet here stood a man who had shared his foxhole, drunk from the same water bottle and smoked more than his fair share of their cigarettes. Yes, this was a man who had died by his side in their dugout.

  “Listen, Johan, I want you to know that I always loved you. But I need to apologise. I took advantage of your kind nature. You were always so patient and generous. You showed me love, even when I didn’t deserve it. I now see that you had agape love in your heart, even then.”

  “Wilhelm, my friend, it’s so good to see you! Come, let’s tell each other our stories.”

  Yuri smiled as he saw the two men strolling around the garden, arm in arm, as he arranged the bread rolls on the table. Just then, someone cleared their throat behind him. Turning around he saw a tall man with a newly trimmed beard and short black hair. It took Yuri a moment to realise he was looking at Angush.

  Angush stood there, clearly nervous, waiting for Yuri to speak. Yuri felt a flush of shame – this was a man he had violently assaulted – and then the thought flashed through his mind that Angush might have come to take revenge. But as Yuri took a deep breath and felt the pure air of the City in his lungs, peace spread through his body.

  The moment was awkward; neither man could deny that. They stood, each hesitating to be the first to offer a handshake, but the momentary tension was broken by Johan and Wilhelm’s voices and laughter as they walked nearby. Yuri slowly extended his hand and Angush grasped it, letting out a relieved and grateful breath.

  “It’s all ok, isn’t it?” asked Yuri quietly.

  Angush let out a deep breath. “Yes, it is. It is.”

  “You look well,” said Yuri.

  “Fortunately scars don’t remain here in the City,” said Angush with a straight face.

  Yuri was unsure how to respond, but Angush immediately burst into laughter.

  “Don’t worry. Everything is ok. I know who I was – or who I thought I was. I’m not that person anymore.”

  “I can see that, my friend,” replied Yuri. It was true. There was no sign of the arrogant smirk that had always been on Angush’s face, and no false happiness, no projection of ego.

  “I am grateful to you, Yuri. Meeting you in my second jubilee set me on a new course. No one had ever stood up to me before, and no one had ever challenged the way I lived.”

  “I didn’t go about it the right way and I’m sorry for attacking you. I was so full of rage back then. But meeting you helped change my direction, too. For the first time I realised that I believed in some kind of justice and that I had a sense of right and wrong.”

  Angush nodded. “I think we were a mirror to each other. It began the process of purification and here we are now in the City as new creations. Fully alive and fully human – just as Papa God meant us to be. So why don’t I give you a hand with those bread rolls?”

  The two former enemies continued to talk as they headed to the kitchen to fetch more bread with the joy and relief of reconciliation filling their hearts.

  Fran sent off the next batch of fresh rolls with Yuri and Angush and clapped off some of the flour that was on her hands. She stood on the veranda surveying the scene when she noticed a familiar figure walking purposefully towards her.

  “Reverend!” exclaimed Fran.

  “Hello Fran. No more of the ‘Reverend’! Do call me Brian. I heard that you would be here and wanted to talk with you.”

  “Well, it’s good to see you, Brian. You’ve probably been here longer than all of us!”

  “Now, Fran,” said Brian gently, “you know it doesn’t work like that. It’s been a long journey and I have to admit I’ve only recently arrived in the Eternal City. Now that I’m here, I want to apologise to you and all my parishioners. I told you that God would only save a few chosen people who believed the right things and that everyone else would be punished for all of eternity. I feel ashamed that my idea of God was so small, so tribal and so vengeful.”

  “Yes, we thought we had it all worked out, didn’t we? We were right and everyone else was wrong. To be honest, I think we rather relished that idea.”

  Brian nodded. “I think you’re right. But I’ve been humbled. Meeting Jesus and then everything I experienced throughout many jubilees challenged my beliefs. Jesus knew exactly what was needed to free me from my spiritual prison, and look at us all now! God’s plan was so much bigger than we could ever have imagined.”

  “Yes, Jesus has been so patient and kind to us. It took a while but our hearts changed eventually.”

  “Amen to that!” said Brian with a grin.

  Back in the kitchen, Adilah was kneading dough for the final batch of baking with such concentration that she didn’t notice a figure appear next to her until another fist was plunged into it. Adilah looked up and Eshe burst into bright laughter at her expression of surprise.

  “Eshe!” Adilah flung her arms around her sister, and they held each other in a tight swaying embrace.

  “Let me look at you,” Adilah said through tears of joy.

  “I’ve come to find you. Our entire tribe has a place on the plains of the Eternal City. So many have come together there – many who were with the militia, and many who were captives. Oh, Adilah, it is the healing of our nation! You must come and see for yourself.”

  “Of course, I will come. My heart is so happy it is dancing! But first, stay with me for this meal. Let us celebrate with everyone here, and then I will come with you.”

  The sisters embraced again and talked of the paths that had brought them to this moment as they worked together on the final preparations for the meal.

  Soon it was time for everyone to be seated around the table and the food was served. Stories were shared about the journeys each had been on and how they had learnt the way of agape love. Gladness and gratitude flowed through the conversations as the dancing lights of the new heavens illuminated the garden. Across the ages, wherever people have formed communities there have been such gatherings, but here in the Eternal City, with no need to hide behind masks or fear being judged by one’s neighbour, they were free to enjoy the fullness of every moment.

  As people finished eating, Adilah stood and asked for attention. “Let us raise a glass to Jesus, the overseer of our journeys towards finding agape love, to Ruach dwelling within us and to Papa our Father, who, as promised, has given us this abundant life that will only grow richer in the ages ahead.”

  All stood and raised their glasses. As they looked around at the company gathered there, they were in awe of what agape love had achieved, and each renewed their faith in the future that Jesus was masterminding. It was true; there was indeed hope for everyone.

  Afterword

  There comes a point when language fails. The tongue falls silent and typing fingers rest. The search for words to articulate feeling ceases and a hushed reverence is the only possible response.

  The characters we have followed in this story are, of course, avatars through which we have explored some of our thoughts around the process of reconciliation. They are motifs representing elements within the wide spectrum of humanity.

  We leave our characters lost in awe at the magnitude of what agape love is doing. They have come to understand a little of the ongoing story of God. We do not know for certain what the future holds for humankind, but we believe we have glimpsed a vision of an unfolding story in which the source of all continues to create and recreate out of the generosity of agape love.

  If you have read our depiction of a town or village in the Eternal City and feel that you would not wish to live there, do remember that God loves variety. Human history is full of wonderful diversity, and we are sure that will not change in the ages to come. We believe that God will create settings appropriate for each individual once they have matured to live by agape love. Humankind will know a freedom to live as never before – to live and move and ‘be’ in an expansive and totally fulfilling environment.

  Have you ever known what it is to be loved? To be held? To be told that everything will be alright? At our core we all need to hear this. It’s good news, because so much in our world tells us the opposite.

  Many theologians from many faith traditions have expounded the virtues of love. Many believers trust in a God who is love. However, not many have attempted a theory of the mechanics of how such a God might love creation into eternity – the ages to come – and into individual and collective maturity.

  Whoever we are and whatever we have done, we are convinced that we are all included in God’s plan for redemption. Nobody has ever burned their bridges to agape love, and we believe nobody ever could. As the Apostle Paul wrote, this love ‘keeps no record of wrongs… It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.’

  The belief that everyone is loved by God gives hope to us all. This vision of the future leaves no one behind and that is why we have called it Hope for Everyone. God does not abandon any of us and no one will slip through his fingers into some abyss. To such ideas of eternal loss and punishment we say an emphatic, impassioned and prayerful ‘NO!’ This story and our accompanying online project, Love Above All Things, aim to encourage a thoughtful and honest exploration of this good news.

  Our modus operandi is not to argue or convince, but rather to invite and facilitate investigation into what we believe. We are far from alone in holding such convictions. People of faith throughout the centuries have believed that God will redeem and restore all things (the Greek word for this doctrine is apokatastasis). There are myriad books, blogs, talks, essays and histories about these beliefs to discover and explore. Indeed, the best stories inspire us to dream bigger dreams, hope bigger hopes and engage with life in a more energised and positive way.

  It is not possible to finish a story that continues into the eternal ages to come. We have explored the process – the how of love – and have stopped at a convenient point with our four main characters in the Eternal City. It’s difficult, and probably impossible, for us to fully comprehend what the ages ahead would hold for them and for us. Fundamentally, we believe that this strange, wonderful, terrible, beautiful experience we currently find ourselves in is full of meaning. Absolutely nothing is wasted – even our pain and our suffering. All things can, and will, be made new in the fullness of time.

  We believe we are all loved and that eventually everyone will love everyone and live an abundant life.

  Author Profiles

  David Bell and Dave Griffiths offer their second book ‘Hope for Everyone’, a sequel to ‘Emerging from the Rubble’. It has been created from their joint passion to spread the message that love is above all things and that all will be well eventually.

  David Bell spent much of his childhood helping on the family farm. After graduating he earned his living in various IT positions and has now been retired for over fifteen years. He has devoted much of his retirement to an investigation of how the afterlife has been envisioned and theodicy (the problem of evil). He was raised in a Christian family and has attended churches of many denominations. He no longer attends a church but enjoys the company of others in local clubs and societies. David’s second wife died of pancreatic cancer. He has three children, two step-children and, so far, five grandchildren.

  Dave Griffiths is a musician by night and a Children and Families Minister in his local parish by day. He has released several critically acclaimed albums with his bands Bosh, Chaos Curb and Held by Trees, as well as solo work. He graduated from Moorlands College with a BA in Applied Theology and lives with his wife, Jess, and their three kids, two cats and one dog in Dorset, England.

  This eBook is published by

  Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd

  Link House

  140 The Broadway, Tolworth, Surrey, KT6 7HT.

  www.grosvenorhousepublishing.co.uk

  All rights reserved

  Copyright © David Bell and Dave Griffiths, 2024

  The right of David Bell and Dave Griffiths to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  The book cover is copyright to David Bell and Dave Griffiths

  ISBN 978-1-80381-972-3

  eBook ISBN 978-1-80381-973-0

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to

  people or events, past or present, is purely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

 

 

  David Bell, Hope for Everyone

 

 

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