– Some sort of low mystique.
– That’s an interesting opinion about writing – answered Vanessa, as she continued following the Witness down the mountain.
– A writer or, best said, a poet, attempts what mystiques do when endowed in God’s grace.
– What do you mean?
Anubis barked.
And rushed down into the Village.
– Never mind – answered the Witness.
Both kept descending in silence for a while.
– So this is the place – said Vanessa, when reaching the Pine Grove.
– This is it. Look at it – said the Witness, contemplating the mountain around them. – Looks like a natural amphitheatre for it, doesn’t it?
– Yes. An enormous one. Does it have a name?
– Mount Elias.
– Like the prophet?
– Just like the prophet. Do you know what primarily is, or was, related with the word prophet?
– I think it has to do with exaltation or ecstasy.
– Yes, exalted, ecstatic, to be out of oneself.
– The high mystique…?
– If you like – smiled the Witness.
– Could you tell me more about the apparitions that took place here? – asked Vanessa, putting down her backpack.
– First, Saint Michael appeared, so to prepare the seers. Then Our Lady.
– Sounds like the apparitions of Fatima, with the Angel appearing first and everything.
– Yes, like I’ve mentioned before. These apparitions are like the continuation of the apparitions of Fatima. In Her message here, Our Lady told that God will send a sign so to prepare the world for the great Miracle, the one that will leave a visible supernatural sign here, in this pine grove. When the Miracle happens, the ones here, if unbelievers, will convert, and the sick will be cured. Our Lady also told that if the world doesn’t change, if the world doesn’t turn to God after that Miracle, then a great chastisement will befall on the Earth, which could be interpreted pretty much as the end of the world.
– I thought you’ve said that this is not about that.
– Do you know one of my favorite things said about God? Is that God is alive. I didn’t make much of it when I first heard it, but gradually it became a very powerful expression for me. Tell me, what is one of your favorite answers of Jesus in the Gospel?
– It’s…
– Let me guess? Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s, right?
– One of the best.
– Also one of mines. But concerning this issue (of the expression God is alive), one of my favorites is the one that Jesus gave the Sadducees, when they questioned Him about the resurrection (that the Sadducees didn’t believe in).
– Why was that?
– I guess that party or sect dwelt mostly on the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. And since they didn’t see there any proof or explicit mention to the resurrection…
– Okay.
– But the question they presented to Jesus revolved around a law that the Jews had concerning marriage and family duties. If, for example, a man died and left no descendants, the man’s brother would have had to take in marriage his late brother’s widow so to provide offspring. So they went to Jesus, just to try to embarrass Him about the resurrection, with a story about a man who had so many brothers, who married and died without leaving descendants, and so one of the brothers took his brother’s wife, just like Moses instructed. That brother also died without providing descendants, and so on and so forth regarding all the brothers, as in, all died one after the other, ending in all of them taking in marriage the first brother’s wife. So the question that the Sadducees presented to Jesus was: in the resurrection, of all the brothers, to whom is she going to be wife, given that she married all of them? Jesus answered them that she will be the wife of none of the brothers, because, in Eternal Life, neither men will marry nor women will be given away in marriage, because everyone will be like Angels. And about the resurrection and Eternal Life, Jesus reminded them what God told of Himself to Moses: I Am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As in saying, God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, despite that, obviously, nor Abraham nor Isaac nor Jacob being around in the time of Moses, let alone in the time of Jesus, but, nevertheless, God, as in, an immortal Being, still identified Himself to Moses as in being the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. What can be understood of this is that those Sadducees, that went to Jesus with that question, after Jesus’ reply, must have realized that their faith in God really didn’t exist, as in really believing in an everlasting and supernatural Being and, as a natural follow up, a supernatural life, that, come to think of it, they didn’t believe in God at all. Not that they might have not acted piously, in truth or not, in some or many occasions, or with right intentions, but because they had yet failed to understand God properly when it came to His Revelation, in Scripture, that is; and grasping Him as a really Living and Supernatural Eternal Being. So, again, back to what we were addressing, this episode seems to ignite the expression God is alive. And by saying that God is alive, I’m saying that although I’ve said that this didn’t seem to be about the end of the world, God is alive…
– And…?
– And who is alive can always change his mind.
– …
– You shouldn’t lose sight about the state of the world that I’ve mentioned before – continued the Witness, as if reading Vanessa’s thoughts. – That is, the comparison of the state of the world to the one of God’s intention. What may seem normal to us, in this day and age, can be outrageous to God. And you always have to remember that God is Saint. Not that you might feel mistrust about Him or anything like that, but just remember where you are. And when I say where you are, I don’t mean while in church or something, but right here and right now, alive, that is. Life is God’s Place and consciousness is His Card.
Vanessa smiled.
– You look better now. Not so anxious anymore, are we?
– Sure, a talk about the end of the world always seems to pep me up. But I guess I am – sighed Vanessa, sitting on the ground, leaning against one of the pines. – I don’t have to tell you what I’ve been through to get here. Not geographically speaking, but in my life, where I’m at as a person.
– Are you familiar with the Letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament?
– Yes – answered Vanessa.
– Good. There’s this particular chapter I want you to read and meditate on for a while.
Vanessa took out her Bible from her backpack.
– Great timing, boy – exclaimed the Witness to Anubis.
That suddenly appeared.
– So, I’m going to leave you here with this fellow…
Anubis barked.
– … (Yes, that’s you, boy…) and you’re going to read chapter 11 of the Letter to the Hebrews, and then come meet me.
– How will I find you?
– Follow the dog.
– Where will you be?
– San Sebastian de Garabandal. Where else?