“Hi!” said the dead man as he arrived at the Pearly Gates, “May I come in?”

“You’ll have to wait,” said the angel, “St Peter is busy, and may take eternity to attend to you!”

“So, what am I supposed to do?” asked the dead man at the Pearly Gates.

“There’s some strange creatures waiting for you,” said the angel, “I suggest you go along with them, though be careful, don’t step on their tails, they get very annoyed and might poke you with their three pronged tridents, if hurt!”

“But I’m supposed to enter heaven,” said the scared man, “look at my records!”

“That’s exactly why you’re being asked to wait out eternity!” said the angel at the Pearly Gates, “Your records say, you were always telling people you were busy! Here are some of your replies to people who wanted your time….”

“I am busy as I’m travelling and can’t look into the matter…” read the angel.

“But I was,” said the man.

“Yes, in a car, where you had a driver, and could have easily answered that query!”

“To that stupid question?” asked the man angrily.

“Aha,” said the angel, “that was your problem! Other than what would uplift and enhance your career, your name, or prospects of family members, everything else wasn’t worth your time.”

“But I was busy going to a camp to spend two days teaching and preaching,” said the man outside the Pearly gates.

“Yes ofcourse, preaching and teaching, so your name would be put on their letterhead. In fact, the only time you weren’t too busy was where you would appear on letterheads, annual reports or have the organisation’s name on your visiting card!”

The man looked frantically at the three devils who had come to escort him, “Couldn’t I have been warned on earth about being wrongly busy?” asked the man, “Some story, some parable, something from the Scriptures?”

“You remember the story of the Good Samaritan?” asked the angel, “The Samaritan must have been a very busy man, but unlike the other two who like you were too busy to stop and care for their own member,…why just listen to the words of Jesus, “A Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii^[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

The man wept as the tailed creatures roughly led him off and he heard the angel say, “Be careful not to stamp on their tails, and do say hello to the priest and the Levite, who walked passed the wounded man, you may find them good company, as you three discuss how busy you all were..!”