Scars of My Guardian Angel

by Russell L Martin

  “Why three days and three trumpet blasts?”

  “If you haven’t noticed, God uses numbers to represent different things, like the twelve gates, twelve tribes, God created the Heavens and Earth in seven days, number of completion seven; Christ’s death and resurrection three days, Trumpets of Gathering three days, and so on.”

  “Uriel, what if I’m so far away and I can’t hear it, or maybe on the other side of the wall?”

  “Don’t worry, they can be heard even beyond the Great Wall, and you’ll also see everyone else headed for the center of Heaven. So tell me Chado, where do you want to go first?”

  “Well I would like to see my daughter and my dad. Heck, come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind meeting all my ancestors. That would be so awesome.”

  “You have eternity to meet everyone your heart desires, but let’s take it slow right now and work on just a few. Somewhere in the mix we have to complete your task, but we have time for a few visits.”

  21

  The Search for Summer

  “ O kay Uriel, what direction does my daughter Summer live in?”

  “I don’t know. We need to find out.”

  “What do you mean, you don’t know? I thought Angels knew everything.”

  “Hardly. You see, God knows where everyone is, but the Angels have to do a little foot work. If you would, follow me, we’ll head over to the Hall of Records.”

  “The Hall of Records, you mean Heaven has a courthouse?”

  “No, not exactly.”

  As I follow Uriel down the street, I begin to hear music, it is beautiful. This harmony of voices and instruments is something I’ve never heard before. I look over at Uriel, “Where’s it coming from?” He points toward a building down the golden path.

  I begin to have an overwhelming need to lift my hands in worship as we continue up the street. As we get closer to the Hall of Records, this soothing and wonderful music was now clear enough to make out the words.

  “Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him.”

  Suddenly I hear a change in tempo as they started a new song .

  “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;

  They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

  They shall run and not be weary,

  They shall walk and not faint.”

  We walk off the street onto a long walkway that leads to the entrance of a magnificent building. The front reminds me of our nation’s capital back on Earth. It had giant pearl columns with the architectural design of something I had never seen.

  Over its doors the words Hall of Records were written. This building has to be the size of the White House or maybe even larger.

  The angelic stone structures on both sides of the building couldn’t have been made from human hands. The granite marvels seem to be moving, changing form and color as I watch in amazement. It looks like the stone angels are worshiping with the instruments they hold as they slowly move.

  They are the source of this beautiful music. This scene reminded me of the scripture when Jesus told the Pharisees,

  “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

  Uriel stepped in front of me and as he passed, he softly whispered, “This is only the beginning of the mysteries of God.”

  I couldn’t seem to stop staring at this masterpiece as I slowly made my way toward the gold and silver laced doors that led inside.

  Something caught my eye that I thought was odd. Before we entered the Hall of Records, I noticed there’s no glass in the windows. As I look around at the other buildings they all have openings for windows but they don’t have glass either. After giving it some thought, it occurred to me, I’m standing in Heaven, the temperature is perfect and there are no insects, and no thieves, so why would you need windows other than to feel the fresh air of Heaven. What a cool place to live .

  Uriel smiles as he turns and opens the doors.

  I look down at a floor that has the appearance of glass. The floor has streaks of pearl running like water that were inset in the gold tiles. The inside structure is a huge dome. I look up at the ceiling and it’s covered in beautiful paintings.

  “Wow that looks like it was painted by Michelangelo. He was the guy who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel back in the early 1500’s.”

  Uriel grins real big, “How do you think he got his talent?”

  “Well God blessed him with it I guess.”

  “That’s right; and he is the one that created this masterpiece.”

  “You mean I’m looking at the work of Michelangelo?”

  “That’s right. Isn’t it beautiful? He and others with the same talent have paintings all over Heaven.”

  “This is truly amazing.”

  I look back across this massive domed building, and several hundred feet away, in the center of the room, a lady is standing behind a round desk.

  I touch both dogs on their heads as we take off in her direction. I hear the clicking sounds of their claws against the beautiful floor causing an echo across this vast dome.

  She sees us and waves to welcome us to the dome room.

  As we head in her direction, I notice doors on the edge of this giant circled shaped room. Above each door is a single letter, and the number of doors are twenty six. I am too far away to make out what the letters are. So I guess that has to be the alphabet, A-Z.

  Before I have time to ask Uriel, we step up to the counter. “What can I help you with on this lovely day, gentlemen?”

  Uriel takes a step forward, “We need information on the whereabouts of Summer Allyce Cole. Can you help us?”

  “Yes, what year did she arrive?” Being a bit choked up and having a hard time telling the lady what year my daughter passed, Uriel mumbles, “December of 2008.”

  “Okay gentlemen, if you would, follow me.”

  We walk back across the enormous room toward one particular door. As we get closer I can make out the letter on the door facing, it’s the letter C.

  I feel the butterflies rising in my stomach, What if we can’t find her name? No, she has to be here, I know she had to have made it.

  I feel Uriel’s hand on my shoulder and at the same time Moushie and Rex reach up and touch their cold noses to my hands. Suddenly I feel a sense of total comfort as I watch the lady open the door.

  When we enter the room, to my surprise it is totally empty except for a round stone table in the center. The room has no corners it is completely round just like the one outside. I whisper to Uriel, “There’s nothing here.” He holds his index finger to his lips and points to the table, then smiles.

  The table looks like it’s ten thousand years old. It has two handles, one on each side. The lady says, “If you don’t mind, gentlemen.” Then she points at the table. I’m wondering if she wants us to sit down. Heck there are no chairs.

  Uriel shakes his head, smiles and then takes hold of one of the handles and starts spinning the table very slowly. I jump in to help and after a couple rounds the walls light up with thousands of names dating back as far as 33AD.

  The lady motions with her hand for us to continue. We both push a little harder and faster and like a time machine the years are flashing by.

  She looks over at us, “Okay guys, you can slow it back down.” As we slow the rock wheel, the names come back into focus, I could see dates, we were around the 1600’s.

  Walking around this table, leaning against the wooden handles reminds me of the way they ground corn or sugar cane in ancient days, and here we were using it as a giant rolodex.

  She motions again for us to speed back up, we make several more fast rounds and we hear, “Okay fellows, we should be close.” After slowing down I look up just in time to see my birth year fly by, and finally we were looking at names in 2008. “Slow down guys, slower, okay you can stop. There she is.” The lady points to my little girl’s name.

  The excitement overwhelms me, “Uriel, I see it
! There’s my daughter’s name right there on the wall, Summer Allyce Cole!”

  Suddenly Rex and Moushie both start barking at the same time. They are as excited as I am. I wheel around, kneel and grab both my dogs around their necks. “Guys, we’re going to see Summer!”

  After calming back down, I stand to read her information. The lady had us stop the wheel directly at a point beside her name and the entire wall was covered with just her information.

  I asked the lady, “Is this normal to have that much information on one person?”

  “Yes, fairly normal, some people have more, others have less. It’s according to how often you ask for forgiveness of your sins. When someone dies and they haven’t asked for forgiveness in a while, their sins are documented and they show up here. The sins you’ve asked God to forgive, He casts them as far as the East is to the West. In other words they are erased. It looks like your daughter hadn’t asked for forgiveness for some time.

  Let me show you something. If you would, move the wheel around a couple times. Okay, a little further, okay… stop. You see, here is a lady that was ninety-four years old when she passed and she has pretty much a blank page other than her location. So, on her death bed she was probably talking to God up to the time of her passing, and was continually asking for forgiveness. ”

  “Yeah, my daughter was killed after a night out on the town with her buddies Christmas shopping. God was probably the last thing on her mind before she passed.”

  “Well the happy part of this is you know she made it and you’re going to see her.”

  “Yes… thank you Jesus for your saving grace! Heck yeah, that’s the good part, and thank you so much for the short lesson on how all this works.”

  We roll the wheel back to Summer’s name and location and the lady reads it off, “Records show she is a volunteer in the Valley of the Children, and lives on site.”

  I turn and ask Uriel if he knew of this location? He shakes his head yes, and smiles.

  The lady asks if we have anyone else we need to find before leaving? “Yes, my dad and my grandparents, if you don’t mind.”

  After spending a while in the Hall of Records, I have locations for several family members and friends. Plenty to keep us busy for a while.

  I look over at Moushie and Rex, “Well ole friends are y’all ready? Come on, let’s go.”

  * * *

  We all four leave the Hall of Records and make our way to the outskirts of the city.

  “Uriel you say there are cities like this at all twelve gates?”

  “Yes all twelve, and they are pretty much the same, God set them up to make everyone’s entry into Heaven to have the same pleasantries that you’re experiencing.”

  “So the city where the throne is located, is it the same as the gate cities? ”

  “No, not by any means, the place where the Holy Trinity is located is beyond belief. Have patience, you’ll see in good time.”

  After we walk several miles passing mansion after mansion I see both dogs turn off the golden path and head down a narrow cobblestone trail. I whistle, “Come on Moushie; where are y’all going? Come on, this way fellows.”

  “Chado, just follow the dogs. I told them where to go.”

  “So Uriel, you can speak to animals?”

  “Sure I can, and you can to if you would just let your mind go and quit asking so many questions.”

  I start laughing as I apologize, “I know, I know, I’ll ease up.”

  We make several more miles disappear as we continue down the trail. I start thinking about how long the day has become. I’ve been inside the walls of Heaven for what has to be over twelve hours and I don’t seem to know what part of the day or evening it is. I remember camping in the barn and it was night and the length of day seemed to be close to what it was back on Earth.

  “Okay, I can’t help myself Uriel, what time of the day is it?”

  He chuckles, “Well Chado, there’s no such thing as time in Heaven, or at least like it is on Earth or outside the walls of Heaven. God has a timeline, but it’s not like anything you would understand. You see, inside the walls of Heaven, The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light.”

  “Yeah, Allayer and Nipper tried to explain this to me, and I wasn’t real clear on it then and I’m still not real clear now. Like for example, do we sleep inside Heaven?”

  “Sure, if you want to, you can sleep anytime.”

  “I’m not tired but I really like a good nap every now and then.”

  “I’ll tell you this, when the people of Heaven sleep, God always gives His children pleasant dreams and a refreshed spirit. ”

  “Uriel I’m still a bit confused, if God illuminates Heaven and we can’t tell if it’s day or night, will I miss seeing the stars and the moons?”

  “What do you mean miss seeing the stars and the moons? You can go outside the gates of Heaven anytime you like and experience everything this solar system has to offer.”

  “Oh, I get it. So God is the unending light inside the walls of Heaven. Now that’s a relief, because I do enjoy the night sky.”

  “Chado, God enjoys the night sky also, that’s why He designed it like He did. He travels all over Heaven, inside and outside the walls. Someday you might be standing right beside Him and not even realize it. Chado this is something you might want to know, He can appear in different forms.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well if He wants, He can take the form of an eagle, a giant bear, a mammoth or maybe just a little old lady. In other words, anything He desires.”

  “Wow that is so cool. You know Uriel; it would be such a blessing to meet The Almighty in person.”

  “Well Chado, how do you know that you haven’t already?”

  “I guess I don’t know.”

  As we continue down the stone path, I start thinking back over my journey so far. All the animals and people I met, their faces etched in my mind like a photograph. Wow, any one of those could have been God.

  “Oh my goodness, hey Uriel, I remember hearing a preacher quote a scripture that relates to this.”

  “Okay Chado, let’s hear it.”

  “He said, ‘Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so some have entertained Angels without knowing it.’ “

  Uriel grins from ear to ear. “That’s right, not only the people you met on your journey to Heaven, but all the faces you’ve seen on Earth, even from your childhood, could have been Angels or God himself.”

  “My goodness, when you think of it like that, it makes me wonder if I’ve always shown enough kindness to strangers.”

  “Chado Cole, can you imagine walking past a homeless person begging for food and find out later that it was the God of all creation?”

  “No, I couldn’t imagine, and I hope I never have. Uriel, do you know what panhandlers are?”

  “Yes, those are the people who have a deceitful mind and use poverty as a tool to swindle folks out of their money.”

  “Yep, they are the ones that hurt the people that really need it.”

  “I know; that is so sad.”

  “You know people that have a spirit of giving get burned one time by someone like that and they stop giving to the homeless all together.”

  “Hey Uriel where did Moushie and Rex get off to?”

  We walk a bit further, “There they are.” I see both dogs darting in and out of sight as we follow our narrow cobblestone path. Our smooth rock path winds around rolling hills and plush green meadows that are filled with wild flowers and dogwood trees. Uriel spots a couple fruit trees near a creek up ahead.

  “Hey Chado, would you like to sit for a while?”

  “Sure bud that would be great.”

  Before we find a comfortable place to sit, Uriel plucks a handful of tangerines, tosses a couple over to me as we plop down at the edge of the stream. W
e both take our sandals off and ease our feet over into the frigid water.

  “Oh, this feels good Uriel. You know this reminds me of Black Creek. ”

  “Yes it does resemble the creek of your childhood.”

  “Well, duh, I guess you would know about Black Creek, if you’ve been assigned to me before birth.”

  “Yes, I followed you up and down those creek banks for years.”

  I chuckle, “Uriel, I wish I could have seen into the spiritual realm back then and got to meet you. I believe we would have been close friends.”

  “Chado, we’ve always been close friends, you just didn’t know it.”

  “Well, I’m glad to finally meet you Uriel.” I held my hand out when my Guardian Angel reached over with a firm grip and shook my hand.

  I ask Uriel, “Hey bud do we have time for a quick dip in the creek?”

  “Sure, I believe I’ll join in.”

  We both strip down to the linen cloth covering our privates, and splash.

  I was amazed at how clear and cold the water is. The depth from the shore only looked to be a few feet deep, but after heading for the bottom I realized the water was at least twenty to thirty feet depth.

  As I surfaced, I see both dogs had already joined in the fun. I start laughing out loud, “God I can’t believe I’m in Heaven, swimming with my two favorite dogs and my Guardian Angel in a creek just like the one I swam in as a kid. Hallelujah, thank you Lord!”

  After we sloshed around for a while and got our fill of this amazing blessing, we all felt the need to move on.

  As I got dressed into my white cotton clothes that had the awesome smell of jasmine, I watched Moushie and Rex shake as much water out of their thick fur as they could.

  I glance over at Uriel to ask if he is about ready to head out, and I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Uriel is facing away from me and hasn’t put his shirt back on. His entire back is scarred, like he has been whipped by someone with no mercy.