In The Beginning, Part I: From the Ground Up

*What follows is a short story series I devised, but never quite finished, early in 2006. The story series, "In the Beginning," ultimately outlines the path one must take in order to achieve greatness or true success in life. While the story has Christian overtones, the message within it I hope could be considered universal, regardless of your religious beliefs or lack thereof... *

When I opened my eyes, I found myself at the foot of a crystal staircase bearing golden banisters. To the left of the stairs was a bronze sign bearing the words “Exercise caution and take two steps backwards before taking a step forward"; and to my right were a set of gold elevators. I started to proceed towards the elevators, but then I felt a tap on my shoulder. I spun around and saw myself facing an old man in a black and red bellhop outfit, his face bearing a good amount of gray stubble. On his right breast pocket was a golden nametag bearing the name “Father."

“Greetings, my son!" he said to me. “How are we today?"

“I’m fine," I told him. “But where am I? And I’m not your son."

“Oh, but I am your father, and you are my son," he said, a wide grin spreading across his face. “You may not yet realize it, but it is because of me that you find yourself here. You have been found wanting more than the others, unsatisfied with where the world has placed you. That crystal staircase over there" – and he gestured to the staircase – “is the path to greatness. It is the path that all those who aspire to do things beyond the notions and mindsets of this world find themselves taking to become better people. Where you find yourself now is on the ground floor."

The man called Father began walking towards the wall on our left, which was covered by a thin red veil, and he motioned for me to follow him. He pulled back the veil, and I was almost startled by what I saw: behind the veil was a window that showed a city filled with dirty streets, lots of neon lights, and buildings that might once have looked beautiful, but were marred either by time or terrible usage. People were scattered all throughout the streets, some wearing little to no clothing at all. Young kids could be seen passing around packets of a white substance and handing out thin objects that looked a lot like the “red tip" needles used and abused by drug addicts.

In some of the alleys and department store windows, people indirectly put themselves on display by either flashing those who randomly walked by or having sex in plain view of the other people. On the roofs of the few police cars visible in the streets lay individuals covered in food, with those bearing police uniforms opulently eating the food off of these individuals. Stretching from one building to another were banners bearing such slogans as “God? What God?!"; “Hedonism is my only religion"; and “Why Pray When You Have the Freedom to Choose?" It was quite a sight to see.

“My son, when you were born, you like all people began on the ground floor, embedded in original sin. Those who exist on the ground floor have found themselves believing in something other than the Creator. Their gods may be anything, from money to sex to public appeal. They are indeed free to do whatever they wish to do, for they have the freedom to choose.

"However, because there is so much freedom, these people have no limits. Without these limits, the people have no morals or beliefs to adhere to, and are prevented from exercising such notions as decency, respect, and considerateness. They fact that they are aware of the power of their choices means that these people possess a large amount of potential to be greater than they are. But either because their lives have been hard on them, or because they felt I did not answer enough of their prayers, they have become victims of their own hunger. They possess a desire and a need to be in a better position than they are in now… but they have instead grown content, believing this is it for them and so they will just settle for what they have.

“My son, you too have the power to choose." He pointed towards an area outside that I had not looked towards previously, towards a man wearing a soiled dress shirt and blue jeans covered in dirt. The man turned to look back at something… and I saw that the man was me.

“You have the opportunity to stay here, on the ground floor, and exist as a person who is free to choose. You will be able to do whatever you wish whenever you wish, without having to worry about who you may hurt, offend, betray, or even kill. There will be no repercussions or accountability for your actions because your freedom will eliminate any notion of accountability or responsibility. Here you will exist as your basest, barest self. And, more importantly, here you will exist without the presence of God in your life.

“On the other hand, if you are willing to seek and be more, if you desire to be a better person, if you find yourself disgusted or offended by what you have seen here and would like to move in the direction of a more ordered life, of a greater life… then proceed up the crystal staircase. I cannot promise you that your journey up the crystal staircase, and on towards greatness will not be long, but I can promise you that the journey will be worth your time.

“No matter what you decide, my son, I will support your decision. Because you are my child, I love you so much that I will accept whatever it is you choose to do, and I will continue loving you until the end of time."

I took a moment to ponder Father’s words. It was interesting to imagine living in a world with no morals and no accountability. While the sight before me seemed very disgusting, the thought itself seemed intriguing: being able to live without having to check my motivations, being able to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it without having to answer for it. At the same time, I asked myself if I could truly see myself living without God, especially after having been so dependent on Him for so long.

I looked back through the window, took in all of the visuals. I found myself the slightest bit tempted by some of the naked women running around in the streets, the free TVs and iPods that people kept taking out of broken store display windows, the complete disregard for authority figures to all that was going on around them.

And that’s when I saw it: when I looked upon the figure who was myself in that crowd of the dingy and dirty, I saw him look back and upwards towards me. I saw a wicked grin plastered across his face, but his eyes… I will never forget the look that was in his eyes. His eyes were watery and pleading, as if they had a hunger for more. It was then that I realized that, on this ground floor, we sometimes get caught up in the fact that our bodies might say something is good for us when our hearts and minds know it is unhealthy spiritually and mentally to indulge in such things. It was time to move forward.

I turned around and began walking towards the crystal staircase. I tried to look up the flight of stairs towards the next landing, but the stairs went up into a sort of cloud covering. But that didn’t matter: I knew a better life was waiting for me at the top of those stairs. But before I could begin ascending, I felt a tap on my shoulder again. It was Father, again bearing that wide grin of his.

“My son, before you begin making your way up those stairs and onwards towards greatness… I wanted to let you know that it will be a long journey. Keep in mind that you should take two steps backwards before taking a step forward: for once you leave any of the areas ahead behind, you can never go back to them. But keep in mind also that whenever you have doubt or questions, you can come to me, for I will always be with you, my son."I smiled back at Father and shook his hands with him. Then I took a deep breath, and proceeded onwards up the crystal staircase.