Moral Stories
WHEN THEY MET
chris saji
June 15th 2061. It was a rainy night in the town of Washington. The city was all quiet except for the sound of rain pattering down. America was all in grief because one of their greatest presidents, Barack H Obama, had died.
The former president’s body was carried to the church. A great mob had already been waiting outside the church crying and mourning in grief.
The church bell started chiming and the procession began. When it was time for the speech about president Obama, his former advisor came up and said, “Obama was a great man. He had many roles in life such as a father, husband, a son, a friend and the greatest of all, a leader. He proved in life that he could accomplish these tasks. But there was one thing he wanted to accomplish most and that was to give justice to black citizens. In life, he continued the work of Martin Luther King. I strongly believe that he has accomplished this great feat. I believe that Barack will be meeting Martin Luther King in heaven.
Meanwhile Barack was making his way to eternal life in his coffin. Suddenly heavenly music erupted from the skies and gently the coffin doors opened. He got up from the coffin and the first thing that met his eyes was the large gold plated doors that led to heaven. Then a tall man with a huge beard and some huge keys hanging down by his waist said, “You must be Barack, welcome to heaven, the Messiah has been waiting for you but before that I need to go over some details. Your full name is Barack Hussein Obama and you were born in 1961 and died on June 15th 2061.”
“Yes” replied Barack. “By the way, what is your name?” added Barack. “Oh come on, I had told Mathew, Mark, Luke and John to write a lot more about me in the Bible. I am Peter, the greatest disciple of all,” replied Peter. Barack already had a feeling that Peter was a bit boastful.
The huge gold encrusted doors opened with the jingle of the keys. Barack took his first steps to everlasting life. He looked around to see the view. His eyes saw magnificent waterfalls, trees with beautiful fruits bearing down on long green branches. He also saw pure crystal clear water running down a long narrow river. He walked deeper into heaven and for the first time he saw humans riding on horses with outstretched wings that look a lot like Pegasus. Suddenly, a loudspeaker announcement said “Mr Barack Obama, please come to the reception area”. So Barack asked for instructions to get there and finally ended up at the reception area. He walked towards a receptionist with a name tag saying ‘Mary Magdalene’.
Barack asked Mary why he was called for. Mary replied, “The Messiah needs you in his office”.
Barack asked “which way is the Messiah’s office?”
Suddenly Mary Magdalene screamed, “Look, I don’t have time for this, I have a meeting with Moses in five minutes! Oh, by the way, you can find your way to the Messiah in that map over there on that ledge.”
Barack wasn’t listening and didn’t know where the map was, so he just stood there.
Suddenly an ear-piercing scream came from Mary Magdalene, saying, “For heaven’s sake, do I have to get you a map to find the map!” Quietly, Barack got the map and made his way to the Messiah’s room.
On the front door was a huge gold sign saying “MESSIAH” in bold letters. Barack opened the door and to his surprise, he saw the Messiah sleeping soundly. Barack went over and gently tapped the Messiah on the shoulder. Suddenly the Messiah woke up alarmed shouting, “Who? What? Where? I was not asleep. I was meditating.” Barack was a bit alarmed and tried to change the subject by saying, “Sorry to disturb you, but why was I called?”. “Ahh I thought you would never ask. Some one is waiting for you in the visitor’s room, and by the way, next time, knock”.
Barack made his way to the visitor’s room (he knew how to get there because he had his trusty map with him). When he got there, he immediately knew who it was. It was the man who had inspired his life. It was Martin Luther.
A single tear rolled down both their eyes as they came together and hugged. Tears of joy trickled down both of their eyes and at once Barack knew this would be one of his most treasured moments in life.
“Barack, I have heard before that dreams can come true. My dream was to give equal rights to black citizens of America. It was happening in front of my eyes but before I could see the outcome of my life’s work, I got assassinated. I thought no one will continue to guide all African Americans to freedom but people did and in the end you became the first black skinned person to be a president,” said Martin.
“ My dad used to tell me how my ancestors were captured and sold as slaves….. No one ever heard of them until some Africans went over to America and saw what was happening. When they came back they told us that some of the people were working as maids, farmers, servants, people who pick cotton and people who work on tobacco farms,” replied Barack.
Suddenly an angel came over and said that visiting time was over and it was lunch time. So Barack made his way to the cafeteria to have his lunch. While he was eating, he scanned the area to see anybody who was familiar. Then at a distance, he saw Rosa Parks and sitting next to her was Mother Theresa. Barack and Martin quietly made their way to both of them. They didn’t recognize them until Barack and Martin came a bit closer. Rosa was quite surprised and said,” Well I never! Martin Luther King and Barack Obama! I can’t believe two of America’s most important people standing together in front of a simple person like me.” “God bless you children, it is very nice to talk to someone other than Rosa,” replied Mother Theresa.
After talking to Rosa and Mother Theresa, Barack and Martin went to the Garden of Eden. For Barack it was the first time going to the Garden of Eden but for Martin, it was a daily routine. When they entered, Barack was surprised to see people swinging around trees as though they were little children.
“So Barack, do you like heaven?” said Martin trying to start a conversation.
“Well, it’s alright” replied Barack.
“What did you do when you were President?” asked Martin.
“I made a law to make all the Americans have health cover and……” that sentence was cut off because an old man wearing simple robes and holding a Bhagavad-Gita walked over. They immediately knew who this man was. He had inspired both their lives. He was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, or as the British used to call him “The half- naked Fakir”.
“Wow! Two surprises in one day!! Looks like this is my lucky day!! I am fortunate enough to be standing next to two of the greatest people in the world!” exclaimed Barack.
“Namaste, nice to meet two people who have done so much for modern America,” said Gandhi.
“But with all due respect, we think you have done much more than we have,” replied Barack and Martin.
“Well, let’s stop saying who is better; I think all of us are good in our own way,” replied Gandhi.
As they were walking along, enjoying the tranquillity of Garden of Eden, out of the skies, the sound of an innocent boy from Earth echoed, “I have a Dream, the dream for a world where there is no poverty-related deaths.”
Australian Prime Minister Congratulates Chris
Chris Saji had send this story with a covering letter to Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd. Prime Minister wrote back congratulating Chris. He said this is an imaginative and thoughtful tale about some very important and inspiring historical figures. Prime Minister encouraged Chris to continue writing. He said, stories can make powerful impact on peoples lives.
