Looking for Cover...looking for a way out

Looking for Cover…Looking for a Way Out

The battle raged all around me. The noise of artillery bursting nearby deafened me. The air smelled of oily smoke. Swirling dust filled my lungs and I gasped for air. I clung tightly to my chest as each breath was labored. My eyes were misted, not by tears but by my profuse sweat pouring from my forehead. A foreboding aura of dread coursed through my body. In the haze, my mind conjured up fragmented thoughts, snapshots of my past. Where am I?  

Drifting alone, ethereal, and surreal in my surroundings. I hear words.

An abundance of words…

“The shooter has been taken down. It seems like that was the only one. Mass casualties; heavy numbers. Bodies are strewn all over. Streams of blood flowing into the streets.”

More words from another direction:

“The bombs released noxious gases. People are choking and collapsing. The gas has colored the skies with a hazy yellowish green.”

And more:

“Buildings are obliterated and the rubble has fallen on top of the bodies. People are screaming while the flames engulf them.”

“The heat was so intense it melted the lampposts, cars, anything metal. Corpses lost human form; molten, disfigured.”

Still more:

“Her pimp left for dead. She was badly beaten and sexually assaulted.”

“The driver of the vehicle kept going. Running over the victims mercilessly.”

” Overdosed on fentanyl-laced cocaine and alcohol.”

“Found no reason why this murderous assault occurred.”

Then a jumble of words ending in this: “he is flat-lining; clear…”

Let me introduce you to…

Where am I?

The haze cleared. I was surrounded by thick smoke. It was dank and smelled of death. My nose and throat were overwhelmed with sensations of bitterness, sourness, decay. There was an eerie, deep darkness. No light whatsoever penetrated. I was engulfed by a realm of darkness. Because it was so dark, I was not sure about the location of my hand and arms; I could not sense my torso or head. I remain transfixed, incapable of any movement. I was uncertain why I could even smell?

A moment later I was suffocated by a billow of sulfurous fumes. To my surprise, a pinpoint of light emerged then gradually expanded as it moved toward me. A tunnel of darkness with light at the end of it? Hopefully, this was my way out. 

The light took shape and I saw before me an angel of light. 

I felt a momentary sense of relief believing I was in a safe place. Then this angel of light spoke to me. He said, “You are in the Hinnom Valley. Or, perhaps you are familiar with the understanding of Gehenna. From your sheol, your grave, your soul has been marked for me. This is the beginning of eternity for yourself. You are marked with my sign; you are my child now.” I was incredulous upon hearing his words! I was relieved knowing that this angel of light would rescue me and ultimately lead me to the end of my frightening escapade. A calmness emerged within me.

That calmness was fleeting when the angel of light continued to introduce himself to me. He said, “I hope you enjoyed your descent into my realm.” When he spoke, his image transformed upon each declaration of his title. An image of a ravenous lion with blood dripping from his jaws appeared as he said “I am the Ruler of the Air.” Then, he transformed into a humungous warrior equipped with thick armor, shield, and many swords.  He announced that he was Babylon the Great, the Murderer. From that image he emerged as a brilliant star saying, “I am the Morning Star, the Day Star, the son of dawn, Lucifer.” Quickly thereafter, a hideous serpent formed hissing, “I am the Accuser, the Tempter.” He continued, “You may know me as the Adversary, the Destroyer, Shaytan, Moloch, Maara.” Then before me a terrifying dragon appeared. “I am Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.”  If I could have felt my body, it would have been trembling with incredible fear. He turned to me saying, “I know this is not what you imagined. Your thoughts have been corrupted by men who created frivolous images of me and my kingdom! It is amusing to me how they celebrate me as a horned devil with a tail. Ha! Or even better, they create putrefying corpses, zombies, alien life forms, monsters. I love the wickedness! Now, however you have seen the Angel of Light.” Finally, he transformed into a stately robed giant man, appearing in grand splendor wearing gold, rubies, magnificent garments. He triumphantly proclaimed’ “I am the Prince of Darkness, the Father of Lies, Beelzebul, the Evil One!” His intonation was one filled with sinister laughter reverberating throughout the darkness. 

His Kingdom…

I was petrified. I could not move; but, then as the angel of light had said, my soul was now in Hades and I was incapable of bodily movement. The images were so frightening I would have dropped dead from the terror; but I guess I was already dead so I was forced to witness these apparitions? The horror of this situation was that this was a vivid reality at this instance in time; or, had time ended for me? The angel of light appeared again. More calmly he proceeded to explain his realm of darkness. He spoke sarcastically, saying, “I too have many rooms in my kingdom!” I thought to myself where have I heard that before? “Let me show them to you because you may want to choose which one bests suits you. You were a man of many special talents. One of these may be more representative of your true self. Tell me which do you think it is?” as he chortled out the question.  Before He would let me answer, he presented me visions of his many rooms. “So here is my room of pride. Meet a few of my noted guests: Adolf, Stalin, Hirohito, Benito, Genghis Khan, Nebuchadnezzar, Haman, Caiaphas. These did some of my greatest bidding over time, especially Caiaphas.” 

He motioned, “Now to my room of greed. Overflowing to capacity, but here in my mansion there are no fire codes. Ha! Look, there is King Henry and Bernie. Surely you know Judas! He was a bargain for only 30 pieces of silver. Then, my savvy power of guilt compelled him to give it back! Ha! I really enjoyed watching that scenario unfold once he hung himself on that tree! His entrails bursting out all over the ground! Greed laced with guilt is a fabulous tool in my enticement arsenal.”

“Now to my room of lust and lasciviousness. Jezebel, Oholibah, Aristotle, John, Hugh, Marilyn, Larry and so many are crowded into this room. History has not changed behavior and more and more are finding their way into this room now. I am expecting millions more to come here soon!”

I was about to speak but he interrupted me. He continued on saying, “I think my boy you are beginning to see the vastness of my kingdom. I still have many more rooms to show you and more to indoctrinate you into my ways.” He proceeded to show me the rooms of envy, gluttony & drunkenness, wrath, sloth. He presented a special haven for murderers and liars, noting how this is one of his favorite places of respite. I saw familiar faces from other rooms. The rooms seemed conjoined and interconnected. Faces passing from one room to the other. There was one thing they all had in common. The things I did hear and see from room to room (as I shuddered in fear) were faces etched in despair; voices crying out in blood curdling wailing; continuous gnashing of teeth. I could see flames engulfing them all. Intense heat to the point of charring, unrelenting raging conflagrations roaring upon their bodies.  

The scene was the same from room to room, an endless raging inferno upon his “guests.” I was mortified. My soul was downcast.  

There was no way out.

The Angel of Light ambled deeper into his kingdom. He then proceeded to tell me of the opportunities he made available to those still now alive in their bodies. “There are cities of the world adorned and reveling in my works as I speak,” he said. “One of my splendid works is the most ancient city of the earth, Banaras. You may know it better as Varanasi, my “City of Light,” where homage is given to falsehoods and the lies of worthless images; empty hopes through reincarnation; purification into the waters of death. I can smell the putrid air of burning sandalwood, coal, and marigolds. Oh, so delightful!” he said as he smiled. “But there are others too you must know, a local favorite Las Vegas, my city of secrets, lies, greed, murder, and unrelenting passions of the flesh. Perhaps you know Amsterdam, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Moscow, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Melbourne displaying so many of my works! Oh, so many, many more,” he hysterically yelped.  Do you know of Pergamum? One of my devoted advocates Nicolaus led so many to the desires of the flesh as fornicators and purveyors of indifference, tolerance, and self-indulgence in the early Church.  I dwelt there in their religious temples.” And, then vociferously he cried, “My Masterpiece, the city of Jerusalem! Ha! There the so-called Son of Man, the so-called King of the Jews I slay! He has no power in my realm! His body is dead! I saw him bleed out and heard him cry out in despair! Death is victory! “, said the Father of Lies.

I choked on my words and could not speak. The angel turned to me saying, “Poor fool! I see your shock and disbelief on your face. You have been given the wrong impression of my kingdom from your kind. Dante tried to capture an image of my kingdom with his companion Virgil. It was my upside-down birthday cake of demonic layers. Ha! Nine layers and Dante claimed he rode my back to purgatory! Ha! He was a prideful sod and really not all that accurate. His Greek friends were so creative! A three headed dog named Cerberus. Ha! There is no river Styx. No souls floating up and down. Just my rooms as I had graciously shown you. I have so many Greeks and Romans here. Perhaps you knew of Pontius Pilate, a weak governor who had no backbone?  He resides with the murderers. He helped to kill the One who said he was God! His indifference made the difference! Ha!

I continued to hear the screams, and wailing of despair as the Adversary continued in his discourse. He would not let me speak.  He was reveling in everything he would tell me. Then he paused and read my thoughts. 

“There is no way out!”

In the vast darkness, a vision appeared of a great abyss. “No one crosses the abyss! One of my wealthy souls tried to appeal to Abraham on the other side asking for a drop of water from a beggar. Even Abraham told the poor sod he could not help him. Ha!”  

He continued saying, “I have instructed my demons well in the art of securing souls like you. I tell them to keep churchie people interested in the ordinary things. They whisper into their souls to stay focused on familiar things. Unfamiliar things bring questions and probing into the existence of God.  Make them feel disappointment, dissatisfaction, and boredom when they hear pastors speak. Oh, and even better have them develop a sense of smugness! Let them think they are better than the person sitting next to them in the pew. Better singers, better saints! My minions move them to think, I am not like them!” 

I tried to counter, but again the Evil One would not let me speak. He said, “My devoted minions make them so busy with the artsy church things they make no time for scripture reading! Too busy with this and that. Worldly stuff. Their prayers become shallow, full of themselves and asking for divine intervention to change the character of the person in their prayers. Even better yet, we alter their focus to the worthless idols and empty images as they kneel and worship ultimately forgetting about the Presence of their God.”

The accusations…

“Now to your answer your question as why you are here.” The angel of light said, “you are deserving of this place. You lived life alone, without honor. You believed in a mercy that does not exist. You lived a lukewarm life! You did not love your neighbor as yourself! You cared about no one but yourself! You believed you could earn salvation with your God! You are a murderer like me! Together you and I killed Him! We pounded the nails into his hands and feet. We hung him on the crux. We pierced his side with a sword and I saw the water and blood pour out of His side. You continued in your murderous rampage with your hatred, your lies, your indifference in your life! The world has never stopped hating Him and I was the instigator of this unforgiveable atrocity from the days of Adam.

I heard Him cry out in anguish that His Father had forsaken Him. He gave up His spirit! I even saw Him enter my eternal flames of despair after His death! Ha!

The Evil One paused wanting me to digest his accusations. But I retorted saying, “I do not belong here! You have no claim on my soul! Your lies and indictments are not binding to my soul! Jesus Christ came to your insidious place to proclaim His victory over you! ‘Where O death is your victory, O death where is your sting?’  

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ who died and rose again for my sins. You, Satan, are a Liar and there is no Truth in your accusations!” I continued in my declaration of faith. You have been judged Evil One, to eternal damnation. Even your fires of hell will not render me from my belief. Though I am weak, He made me strong. He has forgiven me for my iniquities.

Is that why you prevented me from speaking? You knew all along my faith rested in Jesus Christ and it was your ploy to destroy my spirit! But Ha! Back at you, verminous demon, and perpetrator of all lies! Christ is my King and regardless of my suffering He will remain my Lord and God!Only Jesus, in his suffering, death and resurrection is my way out!

A thunderous rage poured out like earthquakes, volcanos, and raging storms all at once from the Evil One. 

A tidal wave of immense proportion washed over us.

Seemingly far off, I heard a voice to me saying, “Awake my child, awake.” Then the voice said, “Lazarus, arise and come to me, for it is not yet your time. Your faith has saved you. Go now sharing your unwavering faith with the doubters and unbelievers.”

I felt moisture upon my head and another distant voice saying, “receive the Holy Spirit upon you. I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

My eyes blinked and I saw a crowd of people gathered around me, praying. My forehead was wet. I heard so many voices in the room. A voice said, “the doctor said he had been in a coma for four days since his heart had been restarted.” Another person said, “I saw him in church once in a while sitting in the back. Never sure what he believed in. He was so quiet.” Still another said, “I knew Lazarus from casual conversations. He said he was investigating Christ and not sure what he believed. That is why I baptized him.”  

Once the crowd saw I had completely opened my eyes, there were fervent prayers of thanksgiving and praise to God! I garnered up enough energy to sit up in bed. In a loud voice, I said to the group, “So little time, so many lost and in despair! We have got to get the Good News out! No time to waste! Get me out of this bed!”

acknowledgement to Reedys.com