“They believed they deserved Charis—and therefore failed to accept the only gift that could get them there. Erebus has its own peculiar clarity. In the face of truth, illusions and lies collapse. But too late.”

Then another portal materialized, right next to the first, and I beheld a wondrous realm of delight and discovery, excitement and exploration. I saw people embracing, walking, talking, working, and playing. I felt its bursts of joy, experienced the adrenaline rush of the great adventure. I heard the music, and my heart rode upon it.

Suddenly I recognized a man whose face had also been on the television news—a molester and murderer of children. Revulsion welled up in me, and I couldn’t hear any music now.

“What is he doing in Charis?”

“What everyone else is doing,” Marcus said. “Enjoying the presence of the King.”

“But … it’s not right.”

“Because he doesn’t deserve to be there?”

“Yes!”

“Do you think you deserve it in some way he does not?”

I shrugged.

“None of your bent race deserves the King’s gift. Every sin is a capital crime requiring World-Maker’s death to atone for it—and atone he did. No sin is greater than the provision. Do not be scandalized by his grace.”

“Still, it … troubles me.”

“Would you instruct the King whom to offer his grace to and whom not? Those who know their unworthiness seize grace as a hungry man seizes bread; the self-righteous resent grace. Those you thought ‘good’ men are far worse than you suppose, just as you are far worse—did you learn nothing about yourself when you looked in those buildings in the town? Evil men are the objects of God’s grace—be glad for that.”

“It’s troubling enough that evil people can end up in Charis,” I said. “But it bothers me even more that decent people end up in Erebus.”

“You think they are decent only because your standards are so low. You thought you were decent until you saw the chasm, did you not? And you thought so again until you saw what you did to your child and your father. And already you think yourself decent again, do you not? By thinking men better than they are, you make the King’s grace seem less amazing than it truly is.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“Erebus is earned, Charis is not. You take for granted the King’s love and are amazed at his wrath. Yet it is his wrath, not his love, which you deserve, every one of you.” Marcus paced and gestured furiously, speaking with an intensity that frightened me. “Do not wonder why he might despise you—he has every reason to. Wonder why he would love you. It is not his wrath that should amaze you, but his grace. It is not Erebus that should astound you, but Charis!”