I suppose it would be easy
For this universe and the next
To collapse in on themselves—
Whether through fatigue or choice—
In response to the chaotic airwaves currently
Having their say,
Their way,
Their complete disregard for Who Jesus is,
Where He stands,
And what He sees.
Oh...
But what does He see?
Offence is a loud hum,
A pounding drum,
A wailing siren of
“You’ve done me wrong—
Woe is me!
You’re to blame for my
Partaking in these breads of hell and hades.
You are the reason
I sit at this table and dine on unforgiveness!
Oh woe is me
And shame
On
You!”
This table in the Second Heaven
Is populated with gossip,
Contempt,
And slander of individuals who are indulging in fear and war.
The atmosphere here is,
At this very moment,
Attempting to block my senses through control
And thus confuse me.
So should I let it?
Should I let it cover my head
With a black cube
Where inside static sounds
And ancient geometry
Mess with my mind
And produce fear to keep me entwined
Within a Matrix-like sequence
Of anger and resentment?
But why should I let it?
Why would I let it?
And then what of the Third Heaven?
What of the Third Heaven indeed?
“I’m right and you’re wrong”
Are not found in the Third Heaven—
No, they are not...
But I like the superior feeling,
The self-significance of my own rightness...
Hmm...
Am I really willing to let the Second Heaven go?
Perhaps I should just lift my eyes beyond what ails me,
What transgresses me—
Those things made up of
Dust and clay—
And spread my wings,
Breathe in the Spring
That is on the wind,
And follow the distant emerald glow
Up there...
Beyond the dusk and dawn;
Beyond the chaos and retaliatory behaviour,
To the place that is higher—
The place that is surrounded by a sea of glass,
Where One sits
Who is more powerful than the flashes of lightning
And rolls of thunder
That seem to be coming out of His very being.
And what is this?
Beside the One,
The Father and the Son,
Sits someone
Who looks an awful
Lot...
Like...
Me.
“Whatever made you think you would fit in a place like the Second Heaven,” He says.
“What was it about the Second Heaven that drew you in?
Did you feel better after you indulged in
Offence, self-hatred and confusion?
Hmm...
Did you forget that you were also seated beside Me
As you indulged in those things?”
Why did you decide to bilocate between My Heaven
And the Second?
A double-minded man is unstable is all His ways, you know?”
He winks at me
And though the words He has spoken are strong,
They are Truth and Life,
And they have just now shown me the Way...
Again.
My gaze wanders to the side
In shame.
“You know, Shame lives in the Second Heaven,”
He says.
“It is always hiding behind Self-punishment and
Self-atonement.
But You’re already atoned for
Because My family and I love you...
Even unto death.”
He smiles and waits.
My gaze returns
To the One I should have been looking at
Before I ever indulged in the Second Heaven—
That place where Eden once was,
But where the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
Is now worshipped.
He speaks to me again:
“You know, as you sit here beside me
In the Third Heaven,
Day and night
And night and day,
And I see into you,
I see such beauty,
Such breathtaking beauty—
You have yet to recognise the light
That radiates from your face,
The truth you hold in your eyes,
And the melody you carry on your tongue.
When you recognise these things, little one,
You will no longer enter the Second Heaven.”
“Come—
Walk with Me,” He says.
And so we walk...
We walk
Across space and time,
Through galaxies and universes;
By near-blinding lights and
Beside symphonies of stars,
And all the while the darkness is as day to Him,
Because no matter where my feet fall in Him—
Inside the One—
There is always a path,
A way,
A safety,
And a preemptive
“Amen.”
We stop at a juncture above the earth’s Milky Way,
And He turns to me,
Face-to-face,
Eyes-to-eyes,
Spirit-to-spirit,
Which sparks such vulnerability in me,
That I don’t know where to look—
I still don’t like when people see into me like He is doing—
But yet, here we are,
In this starry ballroom
We have visited infrequently.
I hope we visit this place more in the future,
Because
As I set my affections on things above—
On Him—
The Second Heaven loses its grip on my soul
And my spirit comes alive to everything He is
And everything He does...
But wait!
“I hope,” is a passive phrase.
No more passivity!
“I choose,”
Right here and right now,
Not to bilocate between the two Heavens anymore,
And to meet my Father here,
More frequently,
On this galactic ballroom floor.
Yes,
The Third Heaven is my true home—
The place I feel most loved
And most welcome,
Because,
After all,
He is the One who inspired the saying,
“Let us love one another,
For love comes from God;
Whoever does not love,
Does not know God.”
Surely,
If I am seated beside the One
In Heavenly places;
If I am dancing with Him
Through the stars;
If my gaze is fixed on Him,
Surely...
Surely without even trying—
Whether by osmosis
Or by accident—
I will become
A reflection of His love?
Because love—
True love—
Is not a simple emotion,
But rather,
The embodiment of the One person,
And the evidence of a life surrendered
To the limitless power of that One Person’s agape...
It is a heart bonded to
And sent by,
The Father.
Photo by Zoltan Tasi.
Because Souls Are Like Gardens 