3 Tribes

When we reach the proverbial Pearly Gates –

obviously in the afterlife, as all humor assures us –

there will be at least three primary tribal cable cars,

and a pile of folks who can't make up

their minds about which one to board.

  The first car has stops labeled

  "Golden Paved Parkway",

  "Holy Harp Highway", and

  "Rulekeeper's Road".

  

The folks who race to a seat on this car –

ones you couldn't peel out with a pry bar –

are sure they're going to the mountaintop.

  They seem to have an incredulous

  facial expression, as if they can't believe

  some of the folks they've known for years

  are actually here with them.

I wonder if they might actually be stopping

back at kindergarten to learn rudimentary grace:

hold hands when crossing the street;

share what you have;

listen so you can learn;

forgive as you've been forgiven.

  The second car is hesitantly boarded

  by folks who aren't entirely convinced

  they should have been let through the gates.

They're looking over their shoulders

for a bouncer, sure that the ruse

will be up any minute.

  The stops on this car are labeled

  "Caboose AVE",

  "Skin of Teeth Street", and

  "Last Minute Reprieve LN".

These folks are convinced they're headed

for the Roach Trap Motel,

if not the Servants Headquarters.

  I think they might actually be headed

  for a big party - one thrown especially

  and specifically for each of them,

  where they'll see their own name

  written in the Lamb's Book of Life

  in the ink of love and the font of grace.

The third car doesn't really look like

it's on tracks that are going anywhere,

but the folks who are boarding it

don't seem to be concerned.

  They seem perfectly content to exit

  at stops labeled "Here Now HWY",

  "Leisurely Listening LN",

  and "Enough AVE".

If it looks like these people feel at home –

like they're natives - it's probably

because they realized long ago,

when the pretense and the pretending

fell away and they decided to live

a life of passion and abandon,

that both eternity and paradise

are present throughout our lives,

and not just a prize to try

and earn or fear losing.

  I want to be in the third car,

  but sometimes I find myself

  in one of the other two.

  How about you?

© 2016 Todd Jenkins