Heaven -- Christianity; Near-death experiences -- Religious aspects; Private revelations
At length we emerged from the forest upon a vast plain that stretched
out into illimitable space before us, and far away we faintly heard the
thunder of the breaking waves of that immortal sea of which I had heard
so much but had not yet seen. But for their faint and distant
reverberation the silence about us was intense. We stood a moment upon
the verge of the forest, then as we advanced a few steps into the plain
I became aware that immediately to our right the ground rose into quite
an elevation; and, as I turned, a sight broke upon my bewildered eyes
that the eternal years of earth and heaven can never efface. Upon the
summit of this gentle slope a Temple stood, whose vast dome, massive
pillars and solid walls were of unsullied pearl, and through whose
great mullioned windows shone a white radiance that swallowed up the
golden glow of the twilight and made it its own. I did not cry aloud
nor hide my face, as at former revelations; but I sank slowly to my
knees, and, crossing my hands upon my breast, with uplifted face,
stilled heart and silent lips, laid my whole being in worship at His
feet "who sitteth upon the throne." How long I knelt thus I know not.
Even immortal life seemed lost before that greatest of celestial
mysteries. At length my brother, who had been silently kneeling beside
me, arose, and, lifting me to my feet, whispered gently, "Come."
I felt rather than saw that his face was colorless with the depth of
his emotion, and I yielded to his guidance in silence. A long flight
of low, broad steps, in gradations, rose from almost where we stood to
the very door of the Temple. They, too, were of solid pearl, bordered
on either side by channels paved with golden stones through which
coursed crystal waters that met and mingled in one stream far out upon
the plain. Ascending these steps, we entered the Temple, and for a
moment stood in silence. I do not know how it was, but in that brief
instant--it may have been longer than I knew--every detail of that
wonderful interior was fastened upon my memory as a scene is
photographed upon the artist's plate. Heretofore it had taken repeated
visits to a room to enable me to describe it correctly in detail, but
this, in a lightning's flash, was stamped upon the tablet of my memory
indelibly for all time--nay, for eternity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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