plane.
Therefore, when you return to heaven, you will personally measure how much of your destiny you accomplished during the just-completed earthly lifetime. There are no judgments made by God or any guardian angels about how you decided to invest your energies on earth. It is your responsibility to take stock of your spiritual triumphs and failures, and this assessment will determine how you will make your decisions for future lifetimes on earth concerning your life’s work and issues to be addressed. Some issues may require a lengthy series of incarnations on earth to be successfully understood and resolved.
Rest assured that when your physical body expires, you will return to heaven along with all of the other souls on earth. You will not find yourself disgracefully banished to hell or to any other spiritual noman’s-land such as purgatory or limbo.
In channeling such a vast number of guardian angels and other spiritual beings who all confirm the same information, I have developed an unshakable faith that heaven—our true home—is waiting for each one of us upon the death of our physical body. The fear I grew up with that was fueled by my religious upbringing—about dying before I was somehow “good” enough to get into heaven—has blessedly vanished.
While I was relieved to learn that hell, purgatory, and limbo do not exist, I wondered about the fairness of everybody going to heaven. What about the people who deliberately commit violent crimes without any sense of guilt or remorse? What about murderers, abusers, rapists, and terrorists who have behaved shockingly during their earthly lifetimes?
That was indeed a worrisome reality. It didn’t seem fair that anybody could gain entry to such a special place. Was it possible that I could work so hard to become a good person, yet find myself in the very same afterlife as someone who willingly committed crimes against humanity? I wasn’t sure if I understood what the angels were telling me, and I didn’t hesitate to express my concern and confusion to them.
My angels gently reminded me that heaven is the home of all souls, no matter what their level of spiritual enlightenment. In heaven, all souls interact with one another at the highest level of their being, with unconditional love, respect, and affection. The behavior of a soul on the earthly plane is usually very different from how it interacts with other souls in heaven. The angels continued to explain that the entire purpose of visiting the earthly plane is to expand existing levels of enlightenment to more fully embody the selfless virtues of kindness, compassion, forgiveness, respect, and nonjudgmental love. The earthly plane is like a testing ground of opportunity that allows us to prove our mettle by working through unresolved issues and to accomplish a life’s work built upon the principle of contributing to the betterment of mankind.
The angels went on to explain that each of us has had lifetimes on the earthly plane in which we consistently acted beneath our level of enlightenment; these were lifetimes in which we were consciously hateful, cruel, insensitive, or prejudiced, even though at the time, we knew better because we had already learned the major differences between right and wrong. My angels suggested that I look inward to remember the opportunities I’d been given in my current lifetime in which I could have reacted with greater wisdom or maturity—circumstances in which my behavior fell short of my enlightenment. I was flooded with memories of experiences and encounters that occurred as I was still attempting to work through a number of very difficult issues.
As I took stock and objectively pondered how I mishandled certain situations, I came to the realization that I certainly would react quite differently now—given the same kind of opportunities—because I’d reached a greater plateau of spiritual awareness. This concept I could easily understand.
The angels continued to explain that human beings become sidetracked very quickly and easily on the earthly plane, and that is what makes irreproachable behavior such a burdensome challenge. Although we all have lofty and sweeping spiritual goals when we first begin a new physical incarnation, we often lose sight of our spiritual awareness, integrity, and self-respect as we’re bombarded with the negativity on earth. It is the responsibility of each soul to transcend human dysfunction, accomplish his spiritual agenda, and help others to do the same.
As I thought about my dialogue with the angels, I began to wonder about what they meant by “acting beneath our level of enlightenment.” Were they referring to the appalling remark I once made to my ex-husband about wanting to run him down with my car? Or were they instead referring to the behavior of someone like Adolf Hitler, who knowingly plunged the world into the Holocaust? When I compared my minor indiscretions to his heinous crimes, I was suddenly convinced of the innocence and acceptability of my behavior. Just at that moment of self-satisfied reflection, an angel named Arthur abruptly introduced himself and began to speak to me.
ARTHUR: “So, you take no responsibility for your actions?”
KIM: “Of course I do. But you can’t compare—”
ARTHUR: “Yes, I can. Bad behavior is bad behavior.”
KIM: “You consider all bad behavior the same? But Hitler—”
ARTHUR: “Let’s concentrate on you for a moment. When you were threatening your ex-husband, weren’t you deliberately trying to hurt him?”
KIM: “I was just momentarily angry.
ARTHUR: (Silence)
KIM: “Well, maybe I was.”
ARTHUR: “So you deliberately fantasized about hurting another human being?”
KIM: “I guess I did.”
ARTHUR: “But you acknowledge that now.”
KIM: “Yes, now I do.”
ARTHUR: “Do you see how one can mature and develop higher enlightenment and also learn to regard others with greater respect and kindness?”
KIM: “Yes, of course.”
ARTHUR: “Since his return to heaven, the soul you mentioned before, the one who was known as Adolf Hitler, has reflected and—”
KIM: “So what if he has ‘reflected’! How could he ever be trusted to return to the earthly plane? It’s utterly amazing to me that he was accepted into heaven!”
ARTHUR: “Where would you have him go?”
KIM: (Silence)
ARTHUR: “Heaven is the home for every soul in the universe. Even someone who fantasizes about crushing the life out of her ex-husband with a two-ton vehicle.”
KIM: “So you’re saying that bad behavior is bad behavior? No matter how small or how significant?”
ARTHUR: “In returning to the earthly plane, each soul assumes full responsibility to better itself and improve the quality of life on earth, where so many remain struggling and in despair.”
KIM: “I work hard to better myself.”
ARTHUR: “When you intend to hurt another human being you are not increasing the level of your enlightenment.”
KIM: “I see
