Eyes on the Unseen Prize by S.J. Thomason - HTML preview

Chapter 22

Radiance in the White Sky

Piper walked along a wide road. Many people were on the same road as she and they all walked ahead, following the road as it led them through a dark forest. After some time, a tiny path branched off between two trees to her right, behind a narrow well-lit gate. She wanted to turn off the road she was on to open the gate and take that narrow path. Something inside of her told her that this was the right thing to do. So she left those around her and approached the gate, which appeared to be locked shut. She instinctively pulled the golden key from her pocket, and slid it into the key lock. To her amazement and joy, the key worked. Piper opened the gate and soon found her way onto a new path. She looked back to the wide road before the gate and noticed those walking with her hadn’t noticed her departure. They looked forward as they strolled ahead along the road.  

After walking for some time, she became aware of an increasing brightness in the world which surrounded her. Love overwhelmed her, unlike anything she had ever experienced before. The sky became whiter and brighter, yet she couldn’t see a sun. Looking under her feet, she noticed the path she was on was paved in gold and never-ending. On both sides of the path, she noticed colorful tulips, gardenias, sunflowers, roses, and orchids, which were arranged artistically within a meadow of soft grasses. Their floral scents gently mixed with the grassy aromas, offering a delightful bouquet of summer fragrances. Ahead of her, she saw rivers and streams rippling in the gentle breeze and a dole of doves. So peaceful. Hopefully this wasn’t just another dream.

Where am I?

After what seemed like hours, she came upon a great mountain range, which featured colorful waterfalls and thousands of pine trees. The mountains overlooked an immense lake of crystal blue water. Water within the lake was still, appearing as a mirror to the light that was becoming increasingly brighter. Above the mountains, she noticed figures. After some study, she realized the figures were human-like, yet bore wings. Large, white wings. Angels. They were floating in the air alongside colorful butterflies and birds. In a show of bliss, the angels sang beautiful melodies. She kept following the path.

A mild wind passed over her and released the delicious scent of an ocean breeze.  A short while later she sensed the fresh trace of a cool fall day as she watched the leaves change colors in all of the surrounding trees and bushes.  Soon after that, she detected the crisp aroma of a snowy winter day, which was followed by the floral perfume of spring.  The leaves changed colors with each of the changing seasonal scents in a magical sort of way.  She savored her pleasant surroundings as she rested on a soft grassy hill, enjoying each round of seasonal changes.  This was true serenity: the unattainable serenity for which she had been looking all of her life.

All at once, an enormous angel appeared a short distance away, dressed in a shimmering and glittering robe. His wings spanned wide apart as he flew towards her. A white unicorn appeared in front of her, and the enormous angel beckoned her to climb onto its back. She climbed onto the unicorn, with the help of the angel, and he climbed onto its back behind her. The unicorn started to trot lightly and Piper wondered where it planned to take them. After a short while, the unicorn flapped its wings and all were in flight. Piper wondered where they were going, noticing the unicorn’s path precisely matched the narrow path on which she was walking.

Ahead of them to one side of the path, she observed a glorious castle, laden with gold, jewels, and pearls. She marveled at the beauty of the castle’s exterior, which glimmered with extraordinary radiance in the white sky. The unicorn landed just in front of the castle and she and the angel dismounted. The angel beckoned her to follow him, which she did. She could see that the castle was one stop along the narrow path and she could see more stops beyond.

After walking through many of its passageways, she saw a small dog flying towards them. It was Chipper, her beloved miniature schnauzer, who had died a few years before. She hugged the little dog, so happy to see that she was in a good place.

Again, the angel beckoned her to follow him, which she did. They walked towards a large blue door, which he opened. The angel walked into the room beyond the door and Piper followed him. She couldn’t identify any lights in the room and there were no windows to bring the light in from the outside. Yet it exuded extreme brightness, far exceeding sunshine on one of Florida’s clearest and sunniest days. She heard peaceful melodies in complex tunes, yet couldn’t recognize the particular instruments that were being played.  The melodies were reminiscent of those from a harp, yet even more comforting and soothing.  Doves and butterflies fluttered around jubilantly.

The angel said with much kindness, “Welcome to paradise. I asked for permission to bring you here to give you a tiny glimpse of the magnificence in store for you once you complete your mission on earth. “Enjoy!”

Piper looked around the room. It was much larger than any room she had ever seen in her life, perhaps the size of a thousand football stadiums, yet much more welcoming. The ceiling and walls weren’t like ceilings and walls on earth: they gently shifted in and out to accommodate the population of angels, which was starting to grow.

Thousands of angels, and the spirits of righteous men and women made perfect, started to enter the room every minute, coming through doors on all sides of the walls.  They were all beautiful, mighty, and strong, just as they had envisioned themselves.  None appeared old and none had any of the physical imperfections that they may have had on the earth. They were eager to serve the King, the angel told her. They served Him by answering prayers, assisting those in need, and watching over and guiding all. The righteous spirits were walking the earth in all sorts of positions, from church leaders to world leaders to housewives, children, and the homeless.  All were brave and powerful warriors as they fought for the love of God and the eternal salvation of His children. She adjusted her eyes to see if she recognized any of the angels or the righteous. At first, no faces were familiar. Then she noticed the face of the pastor on the plane. David Miller. With the passion of light, he appeared radiant and jubilant as he stood among his peers.

As the excitement mounted, the angels and the righteous gathered in the middle of the room and joined hands together in unity and in praise. Lighter and lighter the room became, similar to the way the morning sun lights the earth. Piper knew the source of the light was the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. His love, passion, and nourishment engulfed her and she knew that she was close to Him, though she couldn’t see Him.

Piper followed the crowd’s lead and cheered with the angels and the righteous people as new ones arrived, bursting through hundreds of unopened doors.  The room expanded in size to accommodate thousands more angels and righteous people.  The cheering got louder and the crowd grew dramatically in number.

Her body quivered and shook until she could hardly stand. She felt unworthy to be in the presence of the righteous. Wobbling, she dropped to her knees, completely overwhelmed by the love and light within and around her. Tears of joy streamed down her cheeks as she knelt on the ground with her muscles of spaghetti. Realizing that she was powerless and unable to stand back up, she humbled herself and prayed the first prayer that came to her mind: the Lord’s Prayer. She said it over and over, again and again. With each prayer, her muscles grew a little stronger, so she didn’t stop. She focused on four words within the prayer, as those particular words seemed relevant at that particular time. “Thy will be done. Thy will be done. Thy will be done.” Her strength was improving.

Someone was praying next to her, who appeared to be trying to overcome the same obstacles that she was trying to overcome. He was deep in prayer as he knelt by her side, touching her body. Turning his head towards her, she recognized him well. Her beloved husband Nick was by her side. 

“Oh, my God. Nick! It’s you! It’s you! I love you.”

“Oh, Piper. I’m so happy to see you. I love you too and I feel united with you as one. And since you are here with me and we are as one, I know that we haven’t yet fulfilled our purpose. We’ll be going back.”

Piper, who was on Nick’s left side, lifted her right arm to wrap it around his body. Then he lifted his left arm and put it around hers. Now they knelt as one, balanced by their outside arms, still amazed that they were together. Neither was strong enough to stand up at that point, so they both returned to their prayers.

“Prayers help to make you stronger,” he said.

“Which prayer are you saying?”

“The Lord’s Prayer,” Nick answered.

“Me too. Should we pray together?”

The two said the prayer in unison for a while. Piper felt her muscles growing stronger with each repetition of the prayer, until she had a good feeling that standing up was again possible. At about that same moment, Nick lifted himself upward and took her by the hand to help her stand up. She stood up and moved in front of him, wrapping herself in his strong arms. Both cheered for the incoming angels.  

After the last angel arrived, their cheers turned to soft songs of praise and glory. The doors of the room closed and all waited in anticipation. Piper drew similarities between the mood of the room and the way a crowd of thousands waits for their favorite football team to enter the football stadium at the Super Bowl or at a college national championship game. But the anticipation and cheers of those games paled in comparison, similar to the way an ant hill pales in comparison to one of the great Rocky Mountains. Nick stood behind Piper with his arms wrapped around her, gently swaying to the soft rhythms that permeated the room.

All at once, a great wind penetrated the walls and entered the room, giving the angels and the newcomers a rush of love.  The wind pushed the walls far and the ceiling high and everything rumbled.  Within seconds, the walls and ceiling shook and gave out, disappearing into the radiant light of the heavens that had engulfed the palace.

Piper looked towards the sky as it shimmered and gleamed, revealing rainbow swirls of dazzling kaleidoscopic illuminations alongside millions of tiny twinkling white lights.  An immense pureness, freshness and cleanliness filled the air.

Thousands of angels rejoiced as they praised and blessed the Lord through songs of joy and glory. Their voices blended together perfectly, despite variations in high and low pitch, as if a great musician had preconceived the presence of each voice when composing the song.  Every angel was just as involved and passionate and audible as the other and none were out of tune.

The angels lifted Piper and Nick into the air and they rejoiced with them. Indeed, this was paradise, far exceeding the small glimpses of paradise they had encountered on earth. They sang and praised the Lord with the angels for hours. After a long while, she and Nick found themselves being carried downward. It was time to go home.

***

When she woke up, she realized she and Nick were wearing nothing as they laid next to one another in their bed under the warm covers. He wrapped his arms around her, gently pulling her body closer to his.  Feeling full of love and light, despite the darkness in the room that night, she turned towards her husband and smiled. Love, sweet love. 

“I just can’t stop thanking the Lord for bringing us together.”

“And I just can’t stop thanking Him for you, Piper. We’re in this one together.”

She covered his body in kisses as she caressed him, feeling his gentle hands as they moved over her body in return. His love filled her, soothing her soul and pacifying her senses. Spirits uniting as one, they moved back and forth to the rhythms of the heavens, until the light of the morning sun shone through their bedroom windows.

***

“Should we give up trying to get back to sleep?” She asked him, after an hour of silent cuddling under the covers. Neither could fall asleep. Both were reflecting on their heavenly experience. The curtains which covered the three windows in the room were no defense against the magnificence of the sun as it beamed through all corners.

“Yeah, let’s get up.” Nick answered as they pulled themselves out of the bed to begin the events of the day.

“What day is it?” She asked.

“No idea. I know that when we went to bed, it was about 11 p.m. on Friday night.”

A short while later that Saturday morning, they sat in the kitchen enjoying a cup of coffee and an omelette. Faith relaxed on her dog bed and watched them. The familiar experience of sharing breakfast with her husband was so mundane when compared with what they had just experienced. She found it difficult to reconcile the paradise within her mind against the normality surrounding her. 

Piper sensed the presence of something new, though, whether it be a new opportunity or a new realization or a transformation. Something about the morning was different from any other morning she had ever experienced in her life. Her body was pure and clean. The thoughts in her mind were of beauty, love, and peaceful serenity. It was as if she were surrounded by the paradise of the heavens within the confines of her kitchen. The kitchen was more surreal and contrived than real, as if something in a fairy tale.

Maybe this is just another dream.

Piper wondered if she would soon find herself back in her bed with Nick by her side. Maybe this world was the dream and heaven the reality. She pondered that thought for a while.

Her thoughts turned to the angel, the unicorn, and her surroundings just prior to entering the castle along the narrow path. Finding the right words to describe everything she had encountered along the narrow path to Nick was difficult. Human words couldn’t quite capture the way the love and the light overjoyed her soul. Even words such as ‘beautiful,’ ‘paradise,’ ‘magnificent,’ and ‘amazing’ fared poorly in describing her incredibly vivid dream.

Nick was also struggling to find the right words. “It’s so hard to describe,” he said. “I don’t know if we will ever be able to put the experience into words.”

Piper looked at Nick, knowing that each had access to the golden key that opened the gates of heaven. Others had access to the golden key too, as it was available to anyone who wanted it, though not everyone did. Many were indifferent about the golden key. They instead preferred the material treasure boxes that came without keys, those available within this world, which they could see and touch. Piper would do her best to change that with the tools and gifts given to her by God.

She came to realize that nothing she was experiencing on the earth was by chance. All interactions, encounters, and relations were orchestrated by God in His plan for her. They were learning and growing opportunities, both for herself and for those around her. Whether a missionary abroad, or one at home, the opportunities to minister were everywhere. God wanted her to be purposeful about spreading His message, whether it be in her office, in her neighborhood, or wherever He directed her to walk on this earth.

The End