{"id":720,"date":"2020-12-22T22:20:58","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T22:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=720"},"modified":"2020-12-24T13:24:08","modified_gmt":"2020-12-24T13:24:08","slug":"heavens-gate","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=720","title":{"rendered":"Heaven&#8217;s Gate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Heaven\u2019s Gate\" width=\"819\" height=\"461\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NlpnDBvBj14?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption><br><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<i>Journey led me to a crossroads, in a sandstorm<br>Empty-handed, looking skyward for an angel<br>Dust cloud settled, I was saddled with a riddle<br>Is what we do the way we are?<br><br>My dreams got swallowed up by cheap desire<br>Long with my innocence and faith<br>I walked on water and through cold, blue fire<br>On the road to heaven&#8217;s gate<br>The road to heaven&#8217;s gate<br><br>Started walking toward a light on the horizon<br>Second nightfall I descended on a city<br>Children playing, preachers praying, lovers swaying<br>To mandolin and two guitars<br>Out on a crimson boulevard<br><br>My dreams got swallowed up&#8230;<br><br>And when I get there, there will be church bells ringing<br>And when I get there, there will be angels singing<br><br>Journey&#8217;s ending is a lot like the beginning<br>Drifter standing, not quite losing, not quite winning<br>On the outskirts of a town where he&#8221;s still living<br>Nursing wounds and healing scars<br>Beneath a sea of shining stars<br><br>My dreams got swallowed up&#8230;<\/i>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are playing a video game of our own creation. It&#8217;s the most spectacularly vivid and compelling video game ever made. The game is called &#8220;How Long?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How long can ego keep us believing it is something when, really, it\u2019s nothing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The game has more levels than Dante&#8217;s Hell and trillions of characters and &#8220;experiences&#8221; to choose from. You can win the Nobel Peace Prize or be an Army general; take first place on American Idol or marry your High School sweetheart and raise a family in Duluth.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we become more and more immersed, we forget we are playing a game and believe the virtual reality is true reality. Eventually, though, we all get to a series of &#8220;incarnations&#8221; in which little shards of truth slice through. At some point, the shards join to form a beautiful stained-glass walkway called forgiveness (or remembering, or undoing, or Love).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, finding firm footing here, the game becomes less and less compelling, the images and information less and less vivid until, at last, &#8220;poof,&#8221; it ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And we realize the trillions of seemingly separate beings in the landscape of the game were really just a single player who smiles, slightly amazed by such a bizarre and real-feeling game which he has already forgotten as his headset touches the carpeted basement floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The walls dissolve back into pure, infinite light, and he resumes weeping and laughing and dancing with joy, enveloped in the embrace of his loving creator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Merry Christmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/music.apple.com\/us\/album\/heavens-gate\/636454247?i=636454315\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"216\" height=\"78\" src=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/applemusic-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-190\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/0if2jHaQkOxFERy3rv8H6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"216\" height=\"87\" src=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/spotify-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-191\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:30px\"> Archives<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=717\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"717\">Slightly Aimless &#8211; 12\/18\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=709\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"709\">Better Off Without Me &#8211; 12\/11\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=703\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"703\">The Gift of Seeing Through &#8211; 12\/04\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=696\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"696\">Alcatraz &#8211; 11\/27\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=685\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"685\">Then December &#8211; 11\/20\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=679\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"679\">Anchor &#8211; 11\/13\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=675\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"675\">When I Put the Record On &#8211; 11\/06\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=669\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"669\">Bound to Be &#8211; 10\/30\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=664\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"664\">Lost in America &#8211; 10\/23\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=656\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"656\">In My Head &#8211; 10\/16\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=652\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"652\">Start Again &#8211; 10\/9\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=642\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"642\">Morning Sounds &#8211; 10\/2\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=632\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"632\">Saint Jude &#8211; 9\/25\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=622\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"622\">1970s &#8211; 9\/18\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=610\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"610\">Blue Sky Song &#8211; 9\/11\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=24\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"24\">Midnight Ghost &#8211; 9\/4\/2020<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Journey led me to a crossroads, in a sandstormEmpty-handed, looking skyward for an angelDust cloud settled, I was saddled with a riddleIs what we do [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-720","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=720"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":726,"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/720\/revisions\/726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}