ONE



I still can scarcely believe that I am here.

One moment, I was driving down the baking, crumbling asphalt of Interstate 65 North, five miles out of downtown Nashville, glad to be able to keep the cruise control at almost eighty miles per hour, glancing up at the big black grill of the four wheel drive Dodge with a lift kit in my rear view mirror. I looked up for just a second….and the next moment…nothing.

Nothing but sound…a sound unlike anything ever heard by human ears. A sound like all the whales of the sea that had ever lived, singing in a consonance of harmony that was impossibly complex and sublimely pleasing to the ears of the soul.

 

Nothing but light…the brightest, purest brilliance I’ve ever seen. It was like the life cycle output of ten thousand times ten thousand suns, compressed in to an instant. Actually, compressed into 160 milliseconds to be exact…the twinkling of an eye.

I cannot tell you what happened to my car. It is my hope that it careened off the road and flipped end over end in a spectacular display of speed, flames, tires and metal, while at the same time managing not to hurt anyone. But in the end, I suppose it makes no difference. I’m sure there were many automobile accidents at that moment, as well as plane crashes, boats set adrift, and general confusion across the entire planet. One more empty car tossed to side of the highway, like so many discarded soda cans would have hardly been noticed.

I can only tell you that I felt drawn out of my car so quickly that it seemed as if I was stretched; that my foot was still on the carpet of the floorboard at the same time that my eyes were seeing another dimension beyond time and space so far away that no technology would ever be able to reach it. Except I was reaching it; I had reached it. I was in a place beyond dimension, time, space, or theoretical multiverses. Not by the means of man, but by the finishing of faith.

In that instant of extra-universal travel, I simultaneously felt both the sensation of travel and of fundamental internal and external change. I was transformed to the utmost; not merely restored…I was completely changed on an elemental and spiritual level.

The closest comparison I can make is something akin to bringing a piece of sunken treasure from the depths of the sea, perhaps some dark, crusted vessel, washing away a thick layer of silt and barnacles and revealing a brilliant gold and jeweled decanter. Then, imagine removing the lid of that ancient vessel to find it not full of decay and filth, but brimming with the spicy aroma of a priceless perfume, freshly pressed from the petal of some exotic, mountaintop flower that blooms once a millennia. As detailed as that sounds, it’s still a poor description. But that was what it felt like; a new creature, full of new thoughts, dreams, joys, motives, and yet…I was still completely me.

But enough about me; I want to tell you about Him. Because He is the reason, I am here. He is the one that came for me, the one that brought me here, the one that sits on The Thrones of this place. He is the one that had to present Himself to us in three different entities, because we could not take all His glory in at once. He has many names; He is everywhere, but His home is here. I know because the first thing I saw when I arrived was HIM.

A Man that is all God and a God that is all Man. All races and no race. Hair like the whitest wool, eyes like the brightest flame. He is garbed in a brilliant robe that is literally clothing of pure energy. Everything I have ever imagined and more than I could ever imagine. You know Him as Jesus, Yeshua, The Christ.

He sat upon His Throne, at the right hand of the Eternal Father, whose Names and description are not all contained in Bible, because no book, not even that Book could describe Him. All books could not describe Him. All universes cannot contain Him. He is simply larger than everything. He doesn’t have the whole world in His hands. He has the whole of everything in His hands. No wonder He told Moses that His name was simply “I AM”; an official introduction would take an eternity.

The third Throne on the left was empty and I knew why. Although His presence is everywhere, the emptiness is representative of His particular presence with Man. The Third one is Spirit. There has been conjecture throughout the ages that when He said He would not always strive with man, that He would leave the other side along with the Church. Now, it is evident that the Spirit has remained on the other side. Of course He has; He still has work to do. He will not always strive with us individually; there comes a time when we surrender to His call or our hope is lost. Only He knows when. Until then, He remains.

Standing there, I realized that I had reached the pinnacle of my existence. I had arrived in New Jerusalem, the only place I should have ever truly called Home. I saw the untold millions of rescued faithful around these Thrones and found myself on my knees before my mind could tell me that I should do so. I fell upon my face and poured every last tear out of my soul, weeping myself completely dry for the very last time, because the presence of the Eternal Father drew the tears completely from me, wiping them away for all eternity.

I sang a new song that poured from me in a torrent that harmonized with the songs of those around me. Every soul sang different words and a unique melody, yet they all forged an intricate arrangement that was like unto every utterance of praise that had ever been performed by man, creature, wind, thunderclap and ocean wave. Cacophony became symphony. It was music that could be heard, tasted and seen.

I felt His hand, HIS hand stroke my cheek, as He spoke directly into my heart. “Well done, son. I am so glad that you have endured. You have been a faithful child. Have you stumbled? Yes, surely. But you have trusted me and loved me, and I have forgiven your failures, perfected you and brought you home. Rest in My grace and mercy.”

I can still feel His touch, even now. He has not and will never leave me. I felt as if I could remain right there, prostrate before Him for all eternity. But after a time, someone else touched my shoulder. It was the hand of a child. When I looked up, I saw a beautiful young boy in a simple white robe with a smooth face framed in dark curls and big brown eyes. He looked at me and smiled in such a way that even though I had never laid eyes upon him before, I recognized the boy at once. “My name is Benjamin,” he said, “and I believe that on the other side, you were my father. I have much to show you and we have many, many people to see.”