Postcards from the Fast Lane

After living what I felt was a “decent” life, my time on earth came to the end. The first thing I remember is sitting on a bench in the waiting room of what I thought to be a courthouse.

The doors opened and I was instructed to come in and have a seat by the defense table. As I looked around I saw the “prosecutor.”

He was a villainous-looking gent who snarled as he stared at me. He definitely was the most evil person I have ever seen.

I sat down and looked to my left and there sat my Attorney…a kind and gentle-looking man whose appearance seemed so familiar to me. I felt I knew Him.

The corner door flew open and there appeared the Judge in full flowing robes. He commanded an awesome presence as He moved across the room. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Him.

As He took His seat behind the bench, He said, “Let us begin.”

The prosecutor rose and said, “My name is Satan and I am here to show you why this man belongs in hell.”

He proceeded to tell of lies that I had told, things that I had stolen and in the past when I had cheated others. Satan told of other horrible perversions that were once in my life and the more he spoke, the further down in my seat I sank.

I was so embarrassed I couldn’t look at anyone…especially my own Attorney…as the devil told of sins that even I had completely forgotten about.

As upset as I was at Satan for telling all these things about me, I was equally upset at my Attorney who sat there…silently…not offering any form of defense at all.

I knew I was guilty of those things, but I had done some good in my life…couldn’t that at least equal out part of the harm I’d done?

Satan finished with a fury. “This man belongs in hell, he is guilty of all that I have charged and there is not one person who can prove otherwise.”

When it was His turn, my Attorney first asked if He might approach the bench. The Judge allowed this over the strong objection of Satan. The Judge beckoned my Attorney to come forward.

As He got up and started walking, I was able to see Him in His full splendor and majesty. I realized why He seemed so familiar; this was Jesus representing me, my Lord and Savior.

He stopped at the bench and softly said to the Judge, “Hi, Dad.”

Then He turned to address the court. “Satan is correct in saying that this man has sinned. I won’t deny any of these allegations. And yes, the wages of sin is death, and yes, this man deserves to be punished.”

Jesus took a deep breath. Turning to His Father with outstretched arms, He proclaimed, “However, I died on the cross so that this person might have eternal life. He has accepted Me as his Lord and Savior, so he is Mine.”

My Lord continued. “His name is written in the Book of Life and no one can snatch him from Me. Satan still does not understand yet that this man is not to be given justice, but rather mercy.”

As Jesus sat down, He paused and looked at His Father. “There is nothing else that needs to be done. I’ve done it all.”

The Judge lifted His mighty hand and slammed the gavel down. The following words bellowed from His lips…

    “This man is free.
The penalty for him has already been paid in full.
Case dismissed!”

As my Lord led me away, I could hear Satan ranting and raving, “I won’t give up, I will win the next one.”

I asked Jesus as He gave me my instructions where to go next, “Have you ever lost a case?”

Christ lovingly smiled. “Everyone who has come to Me and asked Me to represent them has received the same verdict as you…

Paid In Full!

Young Irena

Tomorrow, May 8 is Mother’s Day and mothers across the nation will be honored. However odd as it may appear, I feel it altogether proper and fitting that we celebrate the life of a lady who passed away May 12, 2008.

Listen to her story…

Irena Sendler was a Polish Catholic woman who rescued 2,500 Jewish children in Poland during World War II. She talked Jewish parents and grandparents out of their children, rightly saying that all were going to die in the Ghetto or in death camps, taking the children past the Nazi guards …and then adopting them into the homes of Polish families or hiding them in convents and orphanages.

She made lists of the children’s real names and put the lists in jars, then buried the jars in the garden, so that someday she could dig up the jars and find the children to tell them about their true identity.

The Ghetto enclosed 16 square blocks of the city and 450,000 Jewish people were forced into this area. Irena used her papers as a Polish social worker and papers of the workers of the Contagious Disease Department (as part of the underground Zegota) to enter the Warsaw Ghetto.

She used the old courthouse at the edge of the Warsaw Ghetto (still standing) as one of the main routes of smuggling children out. There were five main means of escape: 1. Using an ambulance, a child could be taken out hidden under a stretcher. 2. Escape through the courthouse. 3. A child could be taken out using the sewer pipes or other secret underground passages. 4. A trolley could carry out children hiding in a sack, in a trunk, a suitcase or something similar. 5. If a child could pretend to be sick or was actually ill, it could be legally removed using the ambulance.

Irena (code name Jolanta) was arrested on October 20, 1943 and placed in the notorious Pawiak prison, were she was constantly questioned and tortured. During the questioning, her legs and feet were broken. She received a death sentence and was to be shot. Unknown to her, Zegota had bribed the German executioner who helped her escape.

Irena 2007

During the remaining years of the war, she lived hidden, just like the children she rescued. Irena was the only one who knew where the children were to be found. When the war was finally over, she dug up the bottles and began the job of finding the children and trying to find a living parent. Almost all the parents of the children Irena saved died at Treblinka death camp.

“It took a true miracle to save a Jewish child,” Elzbieta Ficowska, who was saved by Sendler’s team as a baby in 1942, recalled in an AP interview in 2007. “Mrs. Sendler saved not only us, but also our children and grandchildren and the generations to come.”

We Shall Never Forget

A true angel lived on earth amidst the death and despair of the Nazis.

Irena Sendler…Holocaust Mother