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Devotion

Friends

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man

was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred

to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that

the dog had been dead for years. He wondered where the

road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall

along one side of the road. It looked like fine

marble.

At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall

arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing

before it, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that

looked like mother of pearl, and the street that led

to the gate looked like pure gold.

He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got

closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he

was close enough, he called out, “Excuse me, where are

we?”

“This is Heaven, sir,” the man answered.

“Wow! Would you happen to have some water?” the man asked.

“Of course, sir. Come right in, and I’ll have some ice

water brought right up.” The man gestured, and the

gate began to open.

“Can my friend,” gesturing toward his dog, “come in,

too?” the traveler asked.

“I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t accept pets.”

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward

the road and continued the way he had been going.

After another long walk, and at the top of another

long hill, he came to a dirt road which led through a

farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed.

There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw

a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

“Excuse me!” he called to the reader. “Do you have any

water?”

“Yeah, sure, there’s a pump over there” The man

pointed to a place that couldn’t be seen from outside

the gate. “Come on in.”

“How about my friend here?” the traveler gestured to the

dog.

“There should be a bowl by the pump.”

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was

an old fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The

traveler filled the bowl and took a long drink

himself, then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back

toward the man who was standing by the tree waiting for

them.

“What do you call this place?” the traveler asked.

“This is Heaven,” was the answer.

“Well, that’s confusing,” the traveler said. “The man

down the road said that was Heaven, too.”

“Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and

pearly gates? Nope. That’s Hell.”

“Doesn’t it make you mad for them to use your name like

that?”

“No. I can see how you might think so, but we’re just

happy that they screen out the folks who’ll leave

their best friends behind.”

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