And while he spoke the meaning of that message fell upon the multitude
who listened. They felt that Peace of which he spoke falling gently
upon them as cold dew at the close of a day of intolerable heat. They
realised what it meant to them. The Peace descended upon them, and they
were sensible of its presence. The dread that had been hanging over them
all the day was swept away as the morning mist had been dispersed. The
apprehension of the Judgment was lost in the consciousness of a Divine
Love surrounding them. They seemed to have passed from an atmosphere of
foetid vapours into that of a meadow in the Spring time. They drank deep
draughts of its sweetness and were refreshed.
When he had begun to speak the sun was not far from setting in the
depths of a crimson sky, and before he had spoken for half an hour the
immense red disc, magnified by the vapours in the air, was touching the
horizon. With its disappearance the colour spread higher up the sky and
drifted round to the north, gradually changing to the darkest purple.
Even then it was quite possible for the people to see one another's
features distinctly in the twilight, but half an hour later the figure
of the preacher was but faintly seen through the dimness that had fallen
over the coast. The twilight had been almost tropical in its brevity,
and the effect of the clear voice of many modulations coming out of the
darkness was strange, and to the ears that heard it, mysterious. Just
before it ceased there swept upon the faces of his listeners a cool
breath of air. It came with a suddenness that was startling. During all
the day there had not been a breath. The heat had seemed to be so solid,
and now the movement of the air gave the impression of the passing of a
mysterious Presence. It was as if the wings of a company of angels were
winnowing the air, as they fled by, bringing with them the perfume of
their Paradise for the refreshing of the people of the earth. Only for
a few minutes that cool air was felt, but for that time it was as if the
Peace of God had been made tangible.
When the preacher ended with the words with which he had begun, the
silence was like a sigh.
The people were on their knees. There was no one that did not feel that
God was very nigh to him.
And the preacher felt it most deeply of all. There was a silence of
intense solemnity, before the voice was heard once more speaking to
Heaven in prayer--in thanksgiving for the Peace that had come upon this
world from above.
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