In Both WorldsHolcombe, William H. (William Henry)
Religion
In Both Worlds
Holcombe, William H. (William Henry)
Lazarus, of Bethany, Saint -- Fiction
“He comes! He who is the resurrection and the life! and these dry bones
shall live; these dead souls from all pagan lands shall come out of their
graves; and the power of death and hell shall be overthrown!
“Descend, my son, into the grave that leads you back into life.”
My spirit-friends now bade me a tender adieu, pronouncing benedictions
upon me and speaking words of encouragement. Bewildered and amazed,
wondering and fearing what would happen next, I went down the steep slope
toward the cold and silent plain. As I moved along, a great change came
over my spirit. There was a perceptible closure of some window from above,
through which the vital currents descend into the soul. This was followed
by a loss of memory, a vanishing of thought, a sense of fainting or death.
The last thing I remember was the music of a sweet hymn wafted softly from
the brow of the hill. The words were these:
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil.”
It was my father and John the Baptist comforting to the last the forlorn
spirit that was sinking in the waters of Lethe.
Of what occurred after I reached the plain, I have not the slightest
recollection, if indeed I ever knew. What kind of people I saw, what they
were doing, what Christ and his angels did, what changes followed—all is a
perfect blank to me. I cannot account for this fact. It will all be made
plain to me when I ascend again into the spiritual world. Certain it is,
that a sublime scene of judgment and deliverance took place, but that it
did not come within the range of my consciousness.
The first thing I became aware of, was a sense of infinite pity. I did not
know whether I was in the spiritual or in the natural world. I was flooded
with a vast, deep, boundless spirit of compassion. I wept—I did not know
why. This was the communication to my soul of the life flowing from the
Divine Man.
“Jesus wept.”
He was not only weeping for me, as the Jews supposed who witnessed the
external side alone of this wonderful scene. The loving heart of the
Divine Being was touched with infinite, celestial pity for the innumerable
multitude of the spiritually dead. It was a drop of that infinite pity
which stirred my soul from the sleep of death. It was a drop of that
infinite pity which trickled down the face of Jesus, as he wept in the
garden for the brother of Martha and Mary.
That communication of the divine grief to me must have come from the
spiritual side of my perceptions. I passed again into a dreamy, almost
unconscious state, from which I was aroused by a clear sweet voice,
saying,
“Lazarus! come forth!”
I started to my feet. Blind, bound, bewildered, I staggered toward the
voice. The fresh air struck sweetly on me, and I revived.
The voice continued:
“Loose him and let him go!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account