Whether there was a heaven above the clouds, no one could say for sure, but the kingdom of heaven upon the earth lay before everyone's eyes.
In the Eastern Diocese, Central City, beneath the afternoon sun, marble spires gleamed with crystalline radiance, dazzling as crystal. Specks of light gathered together, like Stars beneath the blazing sun.
One magnificent cathedral after another stood upon the earth. Beneath lavish and extravagantly ornate decorations, each appeared solemn and majestic, each exquisitely conceived, each beautiful in a completely different way.
Around the hundreds of enormous cathedrals, more unfinished ones were still being built. Even the foundations and beams were carefully wiped spotless by the faithful...
When the bell sound rang out, prayers would rise from every cathedral, along with the praises of the Holy Hymn. Even in the streets and alleys, whenever it was time for praise, every passerby would devoutly kneel upon the ground, offering prayers toward the Central Diocese, toward Sky City.
Praise the gods, for granting me a new life. Praise the gods, for creating such a peaceful world. Praise the gods, for granting me eternal life...
Faces completely different from one another all bore the exact same devotion.
Why would they not believe?
How could they not offer praise?!
Brothers, sisters, were we not, at this very moment, dwelling within the kingdom of God? Had you never felt the Holy One's love and mercy in that gentle sunlight and tender moonlight? Were the lives you and I possessed not bestowed upon us by that sacred and supreme great god?
So offer praise, so pray. Turn toward Him for all eternity. Only thus could one repay this loving grace of rebirth; only thus could lowly mortals draw a little closer to that sacred throne...
That was what the so-called kingdom of