This is the world in which we are.
No salvation, above.
No punishment, below.
It’s just earth,
Us,
And a choice:

To call it limbo,
And place within ourselves
A subdued but ever-present
Base of misery,
Built of a longing
For something.

Or to accept:
This is it.
This life, this earth
is home.
The only one we’ll ever know.
And to embrace it with wholehearted love –
A commitment to the happiness and wellbeing
Of all people and all things.

Choose the latter:
This is it.
And don’t think this conclusion is a blindfold
Or an easy excuse,
Self-imposed for the sake
Of pursuing blind bliss.

If you acknowledge that life
Is without intrinsic purpose
And do not recoil;
And do not fear;
But, instead, you welcome it,
Its supposed emptiness
Is made manifest
As endless opportunity.

For the difference between
An empty land
And a lush land
Is work.
Do work.

The difference between
A house
And a home
Is family.
Make a family.

The difference between
A city
And a community
Is friendship.
Make friends.

This is the world in which we are.
Heaven
If we choose to make it so.
Hell
If not.

This is it.

© P.D. Nym 2018