You were on your way home when you died.
Nothing particularly remarkable,
The medics tried their best to save you,
Your body was so utterly shattered,
…you were better off, trust me.
"You died," I said, matter-of-factly.
"There was… there was a truck…
"Yes."
"I…"
"Yes."
"But don't feel bad about it."
"That's what I like to see," I said,
"You just died and your main concern is for your family.
That's good stuff right there."
You looked at me with fascination.
To you, I didn't look like God.
I just looked like some man or possibly a woman.
Some vague authority figure, maybe.
"Don't worry," I said, "They'll be fine."
"Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way.
They didn't have time to grow contemptuous of you.
Your wife will cry on the outside,
…but will be secretly relieved.
To be fair, your marriage was falling apart.
…she'll feel very guilty for feeling relieved."
"Oh…
Do I go to heaven or hell or something?"
"Neither, you'll be reincarnated."
"Ah,"
"All religions are right in their own way.
You followed along as we strode through the void.
It's just nice to walk while we talk."
…I'll just be a blank slate, right?
So, all my experiences and everything,
…everything I did in this life, won't matter?"
You have, within you, all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives.
You just don't remember them right now."
I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders.
"Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful and gigantic than you can possibly imagine.
A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are.
It's like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it's hot or cold.
You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel,
…and when you bring it back out,
…you've gained all the experiences it had.
You've been in a human for the last 48 years,
…so you haven't stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness.
If we hung out here for long enough,
you'd start remembering everything.
But there's no point to doing that between each life."
"How many times have I been reincarnated then?"
…and into lots of different lives.
…you'll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 A.D."
You're sending me back in time?"
"Well, I guess technically.
Time as you know it only exists in your universe.
Things are different where I come from."
"Oh sure, I come from somewhere, somewhere else.
I know you'll want to know what it's like there,
…but honestly you wouldn't understand."
"Oh…" you said, a little let down.
If I get reincarnated to other places in time,
…I could have interacted with myself at some point."
And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan,
…you don't even know it's happening."
"So, what's the point of it all?"
…the reason I made this whole universe,
"You mean mankind, you want us to mature?"
I made this whole universe for you.
With each new life you grow and mature,
…and become a larger and greater intellect."
In this universe, there's just you and me."
"But all the people on Earth?"
Different incarnations of you."
…everyone?"
"I'm every human being who ever lived?"
"And you're John Wilkes Booth, too."
"And you're the millions he killed."
"And you're everyone who followed him."
"Every time you victimised someone,
…you were victimising yourself.
Every act of kindness you've done,
Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human
…was or will be experienced by you."
"Why?
"Because someday, you will become like me.
You're one of my kind. You're my child!"
"Wow!," you said, incredulous.
Once you've lived every human life throughout all time,
…you will have grown enough to be born."