r and the Glory
By Kate Everson
Copyright 2011 Kate Everson
The time was now.
There was no other time.
“It has to be now … or never,” thought Thomas. And he jumped off the cliff.
Far below the ragged rocks caught his body and tore it to shreds. He lay there, lifeless, until the tide washed him out to sea, bobbing with the seaweed. Then mercifully, a giant shark popped him like a tart for breakfast.
That was it for Thomas.
“Well, that was a bad decision,” thought What Once Was Thomas, mangled and mushed inside the shark’s big belly. “Maybe I’ll try that again.”
No such luck. He blew it. Gone. No second chances.
At least not for him. However …
“Thank God for resurrection!” laughed What Once Was Thomas, as his spirit quickly escaped the meal of the shark and rose up above it all. He was in a new element, the ether, looking down at the ocean. The tide had just gone out, and already rescuers were searching for his body.
“Good luck!” he thought grimly.
And he set about rediscovering his new Self.
He was not solid any more, no flesh to weigh him down, but lighter than air, composed of mostly energy particles. Some of him shone brightly, especially near the heart, but the rest just kind of floated invisibly above the earth matter.
“Am I a ghost?” he wondered.
He could not see what he was. He knew he wasn’t human, but what was he?
Instead of looking down, he began to look around, look up and see the sky, watch the wind and forget about himself. Who cares what he was now? All that seemed to matter now was his space. It was incredible.
An unearthly glow all around him was a piece of heaven right here, right now. He could not remember having ever seen such a quality of light. There were shades of pink and purple and blue and green he had never known before. They were illumined from within. He felt himself rising with the Light, feeling lighter and lighter, letting it guide him wherever it chose.
“I feel … but I don’t really feel,” he said. “It’s more a sense of Being, that transcends all feelings. It’s like being space.”
In a few more levels, What Once Was Thomas would soon discover something even more amazing. He would reach the place of All Power and Glory. The summit of perfection. The Jewel of the Heavens.
He was not afraid. He knew this would be the ultimate travel destination. Reaching the heavens, he would become a part of it. Maybe he would never return to earth again.
Somehow, that was all right with the former Thomas. It had not been a particularly great life on earth, and he was ready to find something brighter. A happier place. If anywhere, it had to be here.
But he had no idea.
“Come here,” said the shape of a Man. Thomas trembled and fell at his feet. “I am here,” he said humbly.
“That way,” the Man pointed into a cave.
Thomas was surprised, but did what he was told. His invisible body slithered into the cave where everything was dark and dank. He looked around at the ancient paintings on the rocks, where others had gone before and left their mark. On the roof of the cave were bats hanging upside down by the thousands. This did not look like heaven.
“Where am I?” he asked, but nobody answered. Nobody was there but him.
He began to feel his body again. It felt cold and numb, but definitely shaping up to be skin and bones. Was the old Thomas coming back?
In a corner of the cave was a small campfire burning. He sat by the fire and tried to get warm, but he just shivered and shivered. This was a coldness he had never felt before.
“THOMAS,” a Voice said. It boomed and echoed around the cave.
Thomas shivered even more. He almost jumped out of his skin!
“I am here,” he said meekly to the walls.
“THOMAS,” the unnamed Voice repeated. “You are here for a reason. I have a use for you. On Earth. You are going back.”
“No!” screamed Thomas. “I wanted to end that life and I did. That’s over, done with. I have moved on. I am in a better place now. Aren’t I?”
The Voice laughed, and it echoed like a hollow drum. A few bats flew off and circled the fire, then returned to the cave ceiling.
“Oh, no, Thomas,” the Voice boomed. “It’s not that easy. Never that easy. You left too soon, Thomas. You had not finished your mission on earth. You have to go back.”
Thomas shivered and shook with terror. He did not want to go back. People were mean to him there. Even his family had hurt him. His girlfriend had run off with another guy, a cuter, taller, richer guy. He never had any luck. He just wanted to get out of there. So he had ended it all. Or so he thought.
“Thomas,” the Voice went on, rumbling like dry stones. “You will return. And you will try again. Only this time, we will give you a special Message. You must spread that message to others. It will be your only goal.”
“What is the message?” he asked, terrified. If he had to go back, it had better be something good.
“The Message,” the Voice boomed, “is Gratitude.”
Thomas waited. There was nothing more.
“That’s it?” he asked. It did not seem like enough.
There was a deep silence. Then the Voice said, as if from a distance, “That is Everything.”
Suddenly, the cave went black. The fire was gone. Thomas could see nothing, but he felt the wind all around him. He heard it howling like a lost wolf in the timbers, looking for its home. A thousand bats blew by his head, within inches of his face. He jumped back, but they were gone. Then the sky burst open with one last glimpse of Glory, and it too had vanished.
Thomas was home.
He landed on a patch of green grass, not far from his house. He walked shakily on his newly restored limbs. He felt weak and hungry. But, looking down, he realized gratefully, that his body was still intact. Everything was the same as it was.
“Now what?” he asked the Sky. “Here I am. Now what? What has changed?”
But he knew instinctively, that nothing was the same as it had been, because he was different. He had seen the Power and the Glory and returned with a special message to share with the world. Gratitude.
Thomas looked up at the Sky, and said, “Thank you.”
The Sky opened up and a beam of sunlight poured through. It warmed his face. He felt the heat moving through his whole body. He felt alive again, maybe for the first time.
“I am here,” he said simply. “I am alive and I am here.”
He felt grateful from his bare feet up to the top of his curly dark hair. No matter what life threw at him this time, he was ready. It couldn’t be worse than the bat cave!!
Thomas laughed, a huge luxurious laugh. The sound bounced off the clouds and suddenly birds came out of nowhere and started singing. Children on their way to school stopped and stared, then they too started laughing and skipping. It was a glorious day to be alive!
Thomas kept the image of the bats in his thoughts, to remind him of the alternatives to living a good life here on earth. He had to try harder. He had to make it work. And now, having talked to his Messenger, he knew what he had to do.
“I am on a mission to show the world the wonder all around them,” he thought. “There is so much to be grateful for.”
Thomas walked around his small town, and found something everywhere that needed encouragement. A tiny flower growing out of the concrete, reaching for the sunlight, shared his message. Grateful for everything it had. A child walking with the help of her brother was glad he was there. An old lady hobbling across the street was suddenly very, very grateful. He touched everyone and everything with the same message: gratitude for what
you have and who you are.
The Earth itself was a beautiful place. The trees were magnificent. Each one deserved praise just for being there, offering oxygen and shade to the world. Thomas was not afraid to hug a tree. He joined millions of other tree huggers all over the world. He did not care what people thought. He was just glad to be alive.
“I love it here!” he said to the woods, to the flowers, and to every person he met.
But there were some, of course, who did not share that feeling. They were too deep in their own pain to feel the joy. There was no gratitude, only despair. Thomas knew he had to change that.
“God loves you,” he said to an old man who had just lost his wife of 56 years.
The man shook his head. He could not understand love now. He was alone and miserable. “Go away!” he yelled at Thomas. “Get out! Where is love now? Why did He take her away from me? ”
Thomas was not so easily dissuaded. He put his arm around the elderly man and spoke gently into his good ear. “It’s okay,” he said. “I understand. You are feeling sad now, I know. But life is still a beautiful place. You are still alive and there are more things here on earth that you have not yet seen or experienced. Come. Please. Come with me and I will show you.”
Reluctantly, but bowing to Thomas’ persistence, the old man was led by the hand to a town he had never seen in quite the same way.
“Look,” Thomas said, pointing to a gray squirrel climbing a