“No.” Nathan ran his hand over his head as if he could wipe away the memory. The awful realization upon coming out of the water that his parents were dead was the worst moment of his life.
“No one hears the whale above the water. Only underwater. The whale’s sound is echolocation, a vibration sent out that bounces or reflects off whatever is around. When it returns, the whale knows what is ahead and can determine its course.”
“Okay, but what, er, how…” Nathan hesitated. He did not follow the line of reasoning. Better to just listen.
He scanned up and down the path, knowing other watchers could be near and would most certainly detect him with his guard down. And hear me talking out loud like this to no one.
“I heard that.”
Nathan detected a chuckle in the Voice. Trees stirred. The sound seemed all around him.
“You only hear the whale underwater. That’s where it lives and moves and has its being. That’s where echolocation operates and operates well. So it is with the cry of the spirit. It’s from within, heard within, and operates well within. You don’t hear it with your natural ear, just as you don’t hear the whale while out of the water. The sound travels only in its own element.”
“I get that.” Nathan nodded. Makes sense.
“Now, not only do you have to be acquainted with the inner life to hear the sound, you need to understand what it accomplishes.”
“I’m listening.” Nathan allowed his back to slide down the tree, and he sat. There was a sense that he was protected from any onlooker. It was a new feeling. “I am listening,” he whispered again.
“Good, because this you must know and teach the others. Just as the whale’s echolocation reveals what is ahead, so does the cry, the prayer, the shout of the spirit. It goes out ahead of you into your future, for the cry of the inner man is made up of the same substance as Jajireh’s Spirit. It goes into your future, into the plans and purposes of Jajireh, and returns to you with wisdom so you know how to proceed, how to pray, how to deal wisely in the details of life. As you enter into the life of the Spirit, hearing and obeying King Glory, you will cry out and shout and pray in the Spirit. It’s like a wave going out. The wave coming back is from Jajireh and gives you wisdom.”
Nathan rubbed his forehead. “So, when we fell from the boat and I heard the whale, it was like I heard my grandparents’ prayer that kept me alive, while my parents’ cry brought them true life and took them to heaven.”
“Exactly, Nathan. Now walk in this. Make it a part of your daily life. Cry out, pray, shout in your inward man. It will bring wisdom to you and restoration to many. You hear Me now in your spirit, though My voice seems to be everywhere outside you. What you hear you will translate to language that others can hear and learn by. Many have already taught you from what they have heard and learned in their inner man. Be strong in your inner man, Nathan.”
“I will,” Nathan responded, noting he now had placed his head between his knees and his eyes were tight shut. As a watcher, he knew to always have open eyes, but now he was concentrating, trying to receive and remember all that was being spoken.
He felt a stirring within that matched the breeze in the trees. Moments later, a strong wind gusted in the landscape around him, but a stronger wind, a stronger current, blew within. It was like a trumpet blast. A glorious shout rose from somewhere in the depths of his being that he never knew existed. His whole body trembled as the shout grew like the sound of an approaching freight train.
Then he heard it within. King Glory lives. I live because of Him. My parents live with Him in heaven. Jajireh is true. Every word He speaks is true. He is merciful, full of love, and they who know Him are strong and accomplish great works. His love has put out fear. I always triumph in Him!
Nathan found himself on his feet, pumping his fists in the air above his head. He realized that he had truly entered a new world, a new way of life. If anyone had been around right then, they would not have heard a word. It was like not hearing the whale unless they were underwater. But then he tuned in to his body. He was twirling, dancing, jumping. Never had he felt such joy or such strength. He had tapped into real life, strength, authority. He fell to the ground, laughing, right as two watchers came into sight.
“Nathan, you drunk? What’s going on? Didn’t you hear us yelling?”
“No, I was shouting too.” He tried to transfer the laughter inside now, so they wouldn’t ask too many questions.
“Yeah, the wind was pretty strong, blotted out a lot of noise. Did you find anybody out here?”
“Nope, just me.” Nathan burst out laughing again. I found me! I found my true self!
“You’re weird, man. Come on, we need to get back. Things are tense in the colony.”
Nathan shouted “Thank You!” within himself and tried to stop laughing. A few chuckles still got out. The other watchers just shook their heads.
The colony meeting was in full strength as they arrived. Outwardly, it was a typical meeting. The watchers, though, were more agitated than usual. They must feel the changes, the growing strength of the inner man. Instead of looking harder for LAMBers, they spewed out more filth. It’s like they’re trying to make their outer man stronger by speaking their beliefs, just as we make our inner man stronger by speaking and shouting what we believe. Interesting.
He was thankful no one was paying attention to anyone, especially him. His position as a chief detector was secure, and he needed to maintain that so he could do as much damage, maybe more, to the darkness as he’d already done to the light.
* * *
At the cottage, Grandfather chatted with all the kids, telling more stories of Josiah growing up. Nathan had returned to the colony, the stew had been put away, and the cookies were brought out after everything was cleaned up.
Teleos signaled Josiah to follow him as he stepped outside. They stood on the brick patio and gazed at the night sky. The stars were brilliant dots on velvet. As they walked, gray mist enveloped them, and Josiah became aware that his feet did not feel the ground. A momentary panic set in. Did we go over the edge of the bluff?
Teleos simply looked at Josiah and said, “Fear not.” The words reverberated through Josiah’s body like a drumbeat or rolling thunder. Teleos seemed to glow. “This is the blessing of Jajireh, Josiah. You have it as well.”
Looking down, Josiah saw he too was iridescent. When his eyes again took in his surroundings, they were in a beautiful valley with majestic mountains towering around. A little brook, gurgling with song, flowed beside them. This is not Grandfather’s bluff!
“This is heaven, Josiah. You are being given a glimpse of that which few experience.”
“It seems familiar, Teleos.” Josiah searched his memory as to when he may have been aware of this place before. All memories ran up against a wall.
Josiah felt drawn to the brook. What had been a gurgle now was a song of praise, one that Josiah knew. He found himself singing along. They walked further, and Josiah’s attention shifted to a field of flowers. They had faces! And they, too, spoke and sang praises to Jajireh and King Glory. Oh, Grandma would love this. Wait. Josiah looked at Teleos as a little smile played across his face. She’s here. She does love it. Grandfather will be delighted to hear this. Grandma so loved flowers. She always talked to them.
“Yes, Josiah, everything here is extremely alive and in love with the Great Creator Jajireh and His Son, King Glory.”
“Thank you for showing me this, Teleos. Thank you.”
The young men continued walking alongside the singing brook.
“When you enter the ways of the Spirit, Josiah, yielding to the Voice, shouting the Logos, you are raised to the heavenlies. Knowing King Glory in your inner man is to have entered this place, and upon your death, you will be here. Many are amazed when they arrive, and they say, ‘I know this place.’ That is why King Glory told you the Kingdom of Jajireh is at hand and within you. This is your true home, and the things you deal with on earth are not wort
hy to be compared to the glory of Jajireh that you have in your inner man and in this place.”
“The Logos says we are seated with King Glory in the heavenlies.” Josiah wasn’t sure if he was stating an understood truth or asking a question. He was so enamored with the place that he didn’t know if he was talking or just thinking.
“Indeed. That is your position of authority, Josiah. Military officers do not apologize for their authority. They exercise it. Long ago when King Glory walked the earth, a military officer who fully understood the line of authority approached Him. The one with rank simply needed to speak and all those under him obeyed. They carried out what was spoken. King Glory was most impressed. He equated the military authority with faith and said He’d not found such faith before on earth. King Glory has raised us up and given us the authority of Jajireh to speak His purposes and plans into the earth around us. Do not forget who you are, Josiah.”
Josiah felt the ground under his feet. They were back in the woods near Grandfather’s cabin, looking down at the water far below.
“Here we are, high above the water.” Teleos tapped Josiah on the chest. “But in here, you are high above the troubles of this life. Exercise your authority and rejoice that you know King Glory. Many will follow your lead.”
The two stood a while as brothers, tied together in a great calling, gazing down at the beautiful vista before them. Quietly, they turned as one and walked silently back to Grandfather’s, knowing they bore much responsibility to teach, lead, and rescue in the days ahead.
TEN
Great Light
Phoseo approached Halal, SheMah, Rinnah, and Rhema as they danced on the surface of the vast and beautiful heavenly ocean. The light that emanated from Phoseo amazed even the angels that looked at him. It was difficult to pinpoint Phoseo’s face as he glimmered in and out of visible sight. When he moved, it was like fireworks of laser lights full of every tint and hue that color could hold. At the same moment, undulating sounds of song and the Logos flowed out of him. The angels could hear the sound, but written words on rays of light were also visible. One by one, they stopped dancing so they could behold Phoseo.
“Well named, you are,” stated Rhema. “You are the movement of light, and I do see every part of the spectrum of light.”
“Yes,” commented Rinnah. Her eyes sparkled and radiated dancing light. “The sound of light is proclaimed from your very being. You grace us with your presence.”
“Yes, I am light, the movement thereof and the sound that it gives in its shining. I must rejoice with you at the awakening of the humans that GREAT has made. It gives me intense joy to see the work you have done and the response they have had to the Voice.”
“It is so marvelous in our eyes,” said Halal. Every movement glimmered water and reflected Phoseo’s light.
“I have been commissioned to continue to give them the light of the Great Creator Jajireh. They need to know that the light of which I am made was infused into the creation at the very beginning. Oh, it was so exciting to stand with GREAT and fling His light into this world.” Phoseo paused, remembering. He bent, as if overcome. Then he stood straight, throwing his arms upward. Thousands and thousands of rays of light filled with words of praise emanated from him.
“The life they know in their inner man is the light of their Great Creator Jajireh. This light gives understanding and protection. The speed of light in their world is a mere 186,000 miles per second. My light within them is much greater. They have no need to fear, for the assistance provided by GREAT is quicker than instantaneous. Their capacity to learn and walk in light is only matched by our ability to protect and bless them.”
“Oh, I must dance,” cried SheMah. “The Great Creator Jajireh has set so much in place for the benefit of man, and we are chosen to assist in this stupendous plan.”
With that, all the angels again danced and sang. Light, color, sound, and water flowed in waving swirls, and rarely was so much joy seen in one spot in heaven.
Soon all of heaven was caught up in such praise that the universe of creation wavered at the sound. Rumbles like earthquake tremors registered throughout the earth. Buildings swayed, ground shifted, waves flew across still ponds. The hearts of many quivered with life and surprise. The LAMBers found themselves dancing, while those who sided with watchers cringed and cried out in pain.
* * *
The decision to rescue LAMBer prisoners from jail was made while Nathan visited Grandfather’s cabin. Grandfather knew in his spirit a prison was near. Everyone prayed that Jajireh would help a LAMBer discover the location.
Nathan was the one who discovered it. A fence indicated it was secret and private, but even the fence was almost impossible to see. Small hills called drumlins, barely more than mounds of dirt from the ice age, were common in the area and provided a perfect cover. The prison sat between a row of drumlins and a bluff.
Craggy bluffs followed anything but a straight line along the rocky shoreline and rose to varying heights. When going along the bluffs’ dangerous edges that twisted and turned abruptly, rarely did one have a true sense of direction. Roads and paths kept up the confusion, and the heavy canopy of pine trees and hardwoods added to it by blocking or filtering the sun’s light.
One simply followed the path made by a former traveler to get from one point to another. Only the most adventurous attempted to find their way by leaving a path. Nathan was that kind of person. As fearful as he’d been where water was concerned, he was fearless on land, no matter the terrain. He had a sense of where he was at all times. He could estimate distance and location like he was born to it.
That sense aided him greatly as a watcher, but now that he was a LAMBer, he noted the sense was heightened. It was uncanny. He wondered if King Glory was delighting in the way he could find his way around these woods. He was out walking one day, praying and practicing shouting the Logos within, when he felt drawn to the east and found a trail similar to a deer path. It was narrow and winding but distinct. Nathan traveled about four miles through overgrown thimbleberry brush, towering oak, and dense cedar and pine. He stumbled twice over roots but continued forward.
The trail, slight though it was, veered to the left when Nathan felt all his senses, outward and inward, on alert. He heard a vehicle. Drawn to the right off the path, he passed between two drumlins and entered a thick pine grove. It reminded him of the pines near the colony meetings. The pine scent blotted out all others and made him want to sneeze. He spent a full minute trying to stifle the sneeze, burying his nose and mouth in his elbow.
Upon regaining his composure, wishing he’d brought a bottle of water with him, he mentally calculated the triangular location of Grandfather’s house, the colony meeting place, and where he was now. The colony was to the southwest, Grandfather’s place to the northwest. He noted how extremely aware he was of each location, as if he were observing it from above and drawing a map to scale with every detail. He supposed that could be, though he didn’t know how.
Pausing near the edge of the pine grove, still hidden, he listened. Voices, doors shutting, silence. He knew that did not mean all clear for him. How often he had used silence to trick LAMBers into thinking they were in the clear. “Wait,” he heard within. Don’t move. Nathan obeyed.
Just then, a streak of light passed inches from his feet. Years of training helped him hold his breath and not react with a gasp of surprise.
A moment later, a voice called out, “Good distance, Jimmy. It covers the whole perimeter and swivels a lot faster than the old one.”
A new spotlight. Nathan knew immediately he was at the prison where adult LAMBers were kept and sometimes killed. Funny, I never knew where this place was. Not even my position as a chief watcher gave me the privilege of that information.
Nathan and other watchers simply brought those arrested to a building near the colony meeting place. Other people he never saw took them away. He occasionally wondered if the prison was nearby, but he had been led to believe it was far
to the south. Probably just as well.
Again, Nathan’s senses went on alert. He heard a thump not far from where he stood. Muffled voices and the sound of a struggle reached his ears. Once, those noises would have filled him with evil excitement. Now they tugged at his heart. He deduced inmates were being taken away to their deaths.
“I can’t believe they’re still alive. They sure smell like they’re dead.” Two or three voices laughed.
Another voice added, “If you’d put your face mask on, you wouldn’t have to smell these Lamers.”
“Yeah, I know. Forgot it today. Are we doing the usual? Putting them in the old pond?”
“Right. Can’t burn them. Too much of a fire hazard in these woods right now with the dryness.”
“Well, let’s get it done. I’m hungry, and it’s lunch time.”
Nathan’s training had not prepared him for this. He found himself face down in the pine needles trying to keep himself from crying and screaming out. He was not very successful. His muffled yells were close to giving him away.
“Nathan.” The Voice was within but as clear as anything he’d ever heard. “Be calm, be quiet, don’t grieve.”
But what should I do? Can I rescue them?
“No, Nathan, you can’t rescue them.”
Nathan’s body racked with grief. He wanted to scream and run and stop those men, and he wanted to curl up in a ball and sob.
“That’s because I just rescued them.”
Nathan paused and settled. You saved them? They’ll survive?
“I just brought them to heaven. They are very much alive and rejoicing with Me. But pay attention, Nathan. Find the tunnel they came out of, for you will need it to rescue Lily’s parents.”
Lily’s parents are here? Chills shivered through his whole body. I arrested them.
“I know that, Nathan. Now find the tunnel. Return to the colony. Find Drew and Jacob, and bring them with you to retrieve Lily’s folks.”
Nathan stood and listened. He heard the thump again. It must be the entrance to the tunnel. Nathan concluded the guards used the tunnel mainly to remove prisoners from the interior of the prison on the chance that someone did encounter this location. Onlookers would not realize anything unusual was taking place.
Society of the L.A.M.B. Page 14