The Two Staircases

I had a dream a couple nights ago that turned out to be quite intense. Have you ever had one of those? One that is so distressing that affects you profoundly, and yet you can't get out of that dream?

I dreamt that I died. Then I found myself standing at the top of two staircases with rock walls on either side. The one stairway on the left was made of polished stone and led straight down. That way led to Heaven. The other stairway was also made of similar stone, but was grimy and not well-kept. It curved downward to the right and out of sight into the darkness below. That way led to Hell.

I had to go down one staircase. There was a sign that told me where I was supposed to go. It pointed to the right. At that moment in my dream, I panicked. I thought I was supposed to go to Heaven, but the sign was telling me otherwise. I stayed at the top of the stairs; I didn't want to got to Hell. But I couldn't take the staircase on the left. I wasn't being allowed into Heaven.

I suddenly found that I was not alone. There was a girl who I work with who had also just arrived. I know her to be a strong Christian. She also had to take the stairway to the right. She started panicking. Then a group of people arrived and they were allowed to take the stairway to the left. Then we were joined by another group of people who had to go to the right. But none of us went that way. We were all too scared. We didn't want to go to Hell.

I was seriously freaking out. Normally when I have a dream this intense I'm able to wake myself up. Not this time. I knew I was dreaming, but it had affected me so profoundly that I couldn't wake up.

This dream had played upon one of my biggest fears. The fear of "What if I got it wrong?" I'm terrified of the moment right after arriving in Hell, of the realization that I would be spending all eternity in damnation. I'm scared of God's White-Out. If someone's name is written in the Book of Life, can it be removed? As a Christian, that's just about the scariest thought there is.

There was no conclusion to the dream. I didn't go down either staircase. Eventually the dream faded, but I woke up the next morning still feeling its effects.