I

(Rev. 4-24)

How long have I been drifting? Minutes? Hours? Days?....

In that moment of death, time seemed to stop and fast forward - folding in on itself. My mind clinging to anything to hold onto as it stretched and pulled from my own skull. I rose and melted. My awareness tapered into oblivion in an instant and I could perceive all that was, all that is, and some things that aren't yet...

All in one moment I could hear thoughts of those I've never met and see cities I've never seen. Through wall and skin and stone I could see people doing what they do everyday... and then further, like I was being dragged into feeling them. I felt sadness, sorrow, and pain - suffering, and then further into the realization that there is little hope and much fear. I delved deep into the realization of darkness... then nothing...

All in one instant I drifted for a long time... not able to grasp at anything tangible, physically or mentally. Floating like driftwood through water of time. Up and out, and to places I've never been. Things became real suddenly, and I could see that there was much more to things outside of ourselves than I thought. Other people in other places just like us, or slightly different, doing things we find ourselves doing on a day-to-day basis... some of these people looked exotic and some very plain, and I could tell their culture was not that seperate from ours in all our diversity.

These worlds I perceived first were almost beacons of light. These worlds were like lighthouses in the void of space. They rose up and shined brighter and brighter. This power was a clear and brilliant light like none I had ever seen! This light was almost liquid, with no heat at all it licked and twisted out into space. The people on these worlds lived this reality, this love, and you could tell. These were places where war was never fought and anger was never heard of. The people on these worlds could see purity, they had hope for the future, they believed in each other and in perfection.

Then I could see that some of these other worlds had that tangible darkess... the same darkness as before only much heavier and much thicker... This darkess is so dense I can barely see the worlds underneath, as a cover it surrounds the world and closes it off, feeding that dispair and sadness. The darkness seethed and it was in fact almost alive. Pulsating and writhing, tightening its grip around these people and their worlds and suddenly something quite a bit closer caught my awareness...

There was a bright flash, and then another. The second strike made me realize that I was seeing it physically, behind my own eyelids. With all the velocity and force in all the world I ever felt in all my living life I had never felt anything like what was about to happen next. Like a bullet being shot into the dirt at point blank range I felt the universe jerk out from underneath me and I was blasted back down into my own flesh...