Heavenly Council

Feminist Gloria Steinem. Jazz Singer Cassandra Wilson. Poet, essayist, novelist Wendell Berry. Actor Tim Curry. Country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It has been a rough week in the obituary column. At a time when we need their voices— whether their heart-opening singing voices or their mind-opening speaking-out voices— they have left us to keep grappling with the evil people in power using their precious life to hurt and harm. What’s going on? 

 

If you’re of the Heavenly Afterlife club, all I can imagine is that the angels are converging emergency meetings to try to make sense of the havoc down here on our confused and chaotic planet. And they need these people’s help. I can imagine Jesse Jackson, who left us this past February, heading the committee, welcoming the new guests briefly, asking Cassandra and Dolly to lead the group in the song (with recent arrival Sonny Rollins sitting in on sax) and Wendell to share a poem and Gloria and Tim to say a few words and then saying, “Okay, let’s get down to work.” 

 

Maybe they’re hoping that the attention brought to their lives will remind us lesser mortals of what they stood for and inspire us to step forth to fill the vacancy, in our own voice and our own way. 

 

Or maybe they all just shrugged their shoulders and admitted, “We did what we could as best we could. Time for a little rest.”

 

Who knows? 

 

Meanwhile, I wonder if Mitch and Lindsay are pissed off that they have to stoke the burning fires while their criminal cohorts are still gallivanting around in ballrooms and spaceships and getting such pleasure out of bringing the planet down to its knees. I hope they’re plotting to get them all to join the fire-stoking crew and finally leave the rest of us alone to get on with the business of building a heaven on Earth. 

If so, I hope they get to it soon.