Special to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

"I would rather die and come to Jesus Christ than be king over the entire earth. Him I seek who died for us; Him I love who rose again because of us.' ― Ignatius of Antioch

[Continued from Part One Part Two,   Part Three,   Part Four,   Part Five,   Part Six,   Part Seven,   Part Eight,   Parts Nine, Ten, and Eleven,   part Twelve,   part Thirteen,   part Fourteen,]

 

The white all around Teddy faded out, somewhat like fog, and there was a garden. Teddy inhaled and there was the scent of roses. Looking around, he could see a garden all about him. Here in this part were white roses in great profusion.

Under his feet, Teddy could see green grass. He was standing near the middle of an aisle about ten feet across, planted in a soft grass. In front of him for hundreds of yards were white roses on either side of the path grassy pathway. In the distance on the left side of the path were a row of fruit trees with some orange fruit. On the right were cherry trees in blossom. So many blossoms, each one perfect.

The sky above was a cobalt blue. Teddy had never seen a sky so blue. Looking around to his right, there were more white roses, some rising as high as his shoulders. Turning slowly to face the other way, the white roses went on and on, but toward the horizon there were trees of some sort, tall, majestic, maybe oaks. Their enormous trunks were huge, as if they had lived for hundreds of years.

Here next to him was a bench, finely crafted of some translucent, gently glowing material, almost like mother of pearl. Looking down at himself, Teddy could see that he was barefoot, and wearing a white tunic, belted at his waist with a wide white belt of the same material. The simple garment reached to below his knees, had loose arms, no pockets.

Everything was quiet, though there was a faint stir of wind. Nothing seemed amiss. Part of Teddy's mind understood that he did not have any of his things, his rifle, the clothes he had worn from Denver. A deep feeling of peace was all around him, though, suffusing his being. He didn't feel worried.

Drawing another deep breath, Teddy remembered the trip from Denver. The shock of the meeting at the junction where they had turned toward Bedrock, where the sheriff deputy had been, the deputy Darla had killed. The argument with Darla, the feeling of betrayal when she said he'd be left to walk back to Denver. The determination to take a stand during the firefight. Raising his gun. Seeing the gunner facing him, seeing the shot come at him, hit the ground in front of him, the feeling of detachment.

As Teddy stood there in this ethereal garden he remembered lifting up from his body, moving back to see himself from above and behind, see his body mangled and falling, and then seeing all white. Now he was here. But where was here?

As this question entered his mind, just past the other end of the bench, a globe of white light appeared. It was over six feet tall, and just a tiny bit above the grass, perfectly spherical. A spiral of gold thread appeared to move from the top around the globe, and as it appeared it grew thicker, and the globe dissipated and vanished along with the golden spiral.

Within the space where the globe had been was a man, dressed much the same way Teddy was dressed. Bare feet. A white tunic, belted in gold. From his shoulders, a golden cape was draped in gentle folds, reaching to about six inches from the grass. As the man moved, the cape rippled, and many other colours could be seen in its material. The man had reddish brown hair and a full beard that was a somewhat brighter red. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, but he also seemed ageless somehow. A light shown within his face, and his eyes were clear and gentle, a deep blue.

Gesturing to the bench, the man spoke.

"Please, Theodore, let us sit and reckon together," said the man.

Teddy glanced to his left, trying to imagine who this person was, how they knew his name.

"You know my name. I don't know you," said Teddy.

The man smiled, a very powerful and pleasant but also very simple smile. His entire face was illuminated by the expression. "Yes, Theodore Paul Josephson, I know you. I've known you always. You know me. You've been here before, many times."

Teddy considered these words. They felt fully true. He did seem familiar, this man standing in front of him. This place seemed comforting and right, as though it were familiar, but he had no recollection of ever being here. Where was he?

"Where am I?" Teddy asked.

"You are in my garden. This place is not related to the place where you have been dwelling, in the ways in which you are familiar with time and space. Your spirit has passed through a dimension doorway, a portal. Your consciousness is here because it is not needed where your body has been and remains," the man said. Seeing the beginning of an expression of concern come onto Teddy's face, the man continued, " Your body is waiting. The people with it are taking care of it, and from their way of seeing things you are in a coma. Soon, your spirit shall return to your body, and you'll awaken. But we have some things to discuss, so we're here together, now."

Teddy took in all these ideas. He did feel momentarily worried that his body might be dying, as it had been torn up when he left it. But he felt no pain. He felt whole.

"What name do I call you?" asked Teddy.

"You've always called me Jesus. I have been here from the foundation of the world. I am the Light, and the Way," said Jesus. Sensing Teddy was now awestruck, Jesus said, "Won't you please sit with me a little while?" and gestured again at the bench.

Stepping over to the bench, Teddy sat. He looked at his knees and then at the grass in front of him. He was in heaven?

"No, you aren't in heaven," Jesus said, taking a seat on the bench.

"Okay, but why am I here ... in your garden?" asked Teddy, now staring at his own feet.

"It was necessary to bring your spirit here before you took a life, as you were about to do. About twenty years ago, as you reckon time, you agreed to come into a life on Earth. Your soul remains connected to the spirit realm, and, making use of a dimension doorway, animates your body on Earth. When you felt that your body was about to experience overwhelming pain, your soul drew back from your body. That's the experience you had seeing your body from behind and above," said Jesus.

Teddy looked up from his feet and over at Jesus. Jesus smiled.

"Yes, I am aware of your experiences as you have them, if I so choose. It is an aspect of my nature to understand your soul and be able to grasp your experiences. It is difficult at your stage of development to understand how time is, and is not, so we'll let that lesson go until another era. Why are you here? You chose to come into a life on Earth to help bring about the end of the empires as foretold by the prophet Daniel. Sadly, during your time at university you misunderstood the direction of your path, and you went down a dead end. Every possible choice you would take led to that battlefield in Colorado, led to your life ending. Once you determined that people must be ruled, and that you would make sure they were ruled as you saw best, you were destined for death on that battlefield," Jesus looked away into the distance, in the direction of the cherry blossoms as he said these words.

"But I'm not dead, you said," Teddy paused. "You did say that soon my spirit would return to my body, right?"

Jesus nodded. "Yes, and soon it does. It is an aspect of my nature that sometimes I intervene. Several centuries ago, word was sent that I had come to teach my people myself, to dwell within their hearts, and guide them. In previous lives, you've always listened to that inward voice. Your college friends taught you to ignore my words, to disbelieve what they called your 'primitive bourgeois conscience' and accept their doctrines. Until the shock of the deputy's death you were unable to consider the deceit inherent in those doctrines. You were convinced that people must be protected and therefore robbed of freedom, free will, and possibility, forced to conform and submit. These are terrible views, terribly wrong. Such beliefs are themselves degrading and result in degradation and abuse."

Teddy searched the profile of Jesus, who felt the gaze and turned to face the young man. They looked at one another for a time.

"When your spirit returns to your body, you will feel everything is different. Your will is no longer bound by the incantation of communism, you are no longer spell bound by indoctrination. For several hundred years, your spirit has been dedicated to bringing about the freedom of everyone on Earth, an end to slavery and submission, an end to wars, an opening of possibilities. You've lived a number of lives in those centuries, getting closer and closer to the early goals of your work. All that I've done here is remind you of who you are. You still get to do the rest," said Jesus, with a sad smile.

Teddy frowned in concentration. "So, you broke the spell that had bewitched me?" he asked.

"Yes, Theodore. By causing you to be here, your spirit was necessarily freed of all burdens and relieved of all commitments. It is in the nature of this place that to be here one's soul must be completely free. This garden is in your memory as it is in the memory of everyone else on Earth. Knowing that true freedom is possible, knowing what it is to be unbound, unchained, and no longer hoaxed, is a part of every soul's journey. Creating that level of harmony on Earth is enormously challenging, and requires a great deal of self-discipline and determination. Doing so has taken hundreds of thousands of years, during which time other species have come and gone, other parts of your galaxy have been inhabited and other civilisations have risen and fallen. Once you get things sorted out where you are, the rest of the universe is open to you," said Jesus, smiling more broadly now.

Teddy turned his head in puzzlement. He looked to his left in trying to imagine a future that encompassed the entire galaxy, and the rest of the universe beyond.

Jesus grinned. "All of that is for another time. When you awaken, you'll remember being here, and the feeling of being truly free. You have always known what to do. Thank you, Theodore, for helping me in my work. "

Jesus raised his hand in benediction and touched Teddy on the forehead.

There were lights, sounds, and a feeling in his throat. Opening his eyes, Theodore saw white walls, white bed sheets, a pale yellow blanket, his feet sticking up under these, and the frame of a bed. Perceiving the tube in his throat, he began choking, struggling, and trying to sit up.

The automated system monitoring his bed immediately signalled for the attending doctor and nurses to come to the bedside. Meanwhile, its software recognised that removing the intubation would be preferable to further distress, so its four robotic arms held the patient's head, lifted away the tape, removed the tube, and elevated the bed so the patient was sitting up.

The most beautiful woman Theodore had ever seen came into the room. She was wearing a lab coat and scrubs, and had a stethoscope over her shoulder.

Picking up the chart tablet at the foot of his bed, she looked it over. "Nice to see you awake, Theodore. We were concerned your coma might last longer, but you are recovering nicely now." The doctor smiled.

[End part fifteen, continues in part sixteen]

 

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