A great debate once raged in Heaven on July 4, 1985. It was over a most beautiful and precious new soul that God had created. His name was Gregory Maryland Jr. Once the angels saw him, they debated what should be done with his soul. One group of angels demanded that his soul remain in heaven. “He is too pure, too holy to face the ugliness of the lowly world,” they said. “Who knows what will happen to him in a world of temptation and evil. This soul must stay with us here.”
The other group of angels said the exact opposite: “Indeed Gregory’s soul glows with a unique divine glow. But for that very reason, he must go down to earth. Imagine the beauty and goodness his soul can bring to a dark world. What good is there in keeping such a soul in heaven? Let him descend to earth and shine her light.”
They argued back and forth, each side unshakable in their view. Until it became perfectly clear that they could not resolve this issue themselves, they needed a Higher Authority. The case was brought to God Almighty. The angels stated their arguments before the heavenly court. God listened to the two opinions – the first group of angels arguing that Gregory’s unspoiled soul is too holy to be plunged into the lowly world; the second group of angels countering that the world needed such souls as Gregory’s more than anything.
And this was God’s response:
“Indeed it is sad to send such an immaculate soul into such a dark world. But this is My will. I only created darkness so souls like Gregory can transform darkness into light. The whole purpose of creation was that the lowly world be refined by the good deeds of mortal human beings. This cannot be achieved by souls in heaven. It can only be achieved through souls in bodies. And so even this most perfect and pure soul must descend to earth.”
The first group of angels, who requested that Gregory’s soul remain in heaven, was disappointed. They couldn’t fathom how such a spiritual being could be expected to survive such a physical world. God turned to them and said, “As for your request to keep Gregory’s soul up here, I will grant it partially. Though she must leave us and go down to earth, I will allow him to stay 19 years before he will return to us. His sojourn on earth will be brief. Such a brilliant soul will not need to fulfill his mission. Soon he will be free to come back to heaven.”
God then turned to the second group and asked, “Are you satisfied with that? Do you accept that Gregory’s soul can only be on earth for a limited time?”
The angels replied, “Yes we do. Every day that he is on earth is a blessing.” This pure and perfect soul was descended to earth on July 4, 1985 and reunited in Heaven on November 20, 2004.