There was a show about a public hospital. Their policy was to admit anyone, regardless of ability to pay. But there were administrators who wanted to keep that a secret. It was working. Would-be patients stayed away even if it meant suffering. Without insurance, they felt undeserving of care. 

The director of the hospital wanted to change this. His driving force was to serve patients, rather than make a profit. He saw homeless people across the street whose wounds could be healed, and basketball players who were so leery of doctors that they eschewed getting their blood pressure checked. Many walked by the hospital every day, but did not feel worthy of coming in. It drove the director crazy. 

So he printed hundreds of medical ID cards. They were not attached to any company, but they did look legit. He and his staff started to hand them out. Walking into crowds of teenagers and locals, they tucked them in the palms and pockets of the community. Empowered from a three by four laminated paper, hurting people walked boldly through the emergency room glass doors. Then the healing could begin. 

I was chatting with a friend who grew up in a judgmental environment. Her family was strict, emphasizing the perils of mistakes, and the inevitability of getting it wrong. Although she tried to obey the rules, she had already swallowed the verdict that she was not good enough for heaven. The belief that she was undeserving kept her from holding her head high with hope. 

But recently she started to hear things differently. After a few conversations with someone who believed in her, the possibility resurrected that she might not be a failure. 

"For the first time I am excited about being an angel."

I have been friends with this woman for fifty years. The realization that she has lugged the anvil of being ineligible moved me to tears. I imagine the people who love her, that have already passed on, who will be ridiculously excited to welcome her when her time comes. They will throw open the glass doors, and the healing will begin. 

"In his divine love and mercy, the Lord wants to have everyone near him. He does not want us to stay outside in the first heaven but to enter the third. If it were possible, he would like to have us not just beside him but in him." Secrets of Heaven 1799