Hanging With The Heavenly

In response to my Life With Crohns posts, my sister Mary asked me to relay a story about my visit with the Trinity...

So, here goes...

It was about 22 years ago... I was in high school and I was heavily involved with our church youth group. For me, it was during my teen years in which my faith was most pure... child-like almost. I had matured enough to understand the depth of my faith, yet I was untested by the realities of life that impede my ability to believe in it whole-heartedly.

Now, I come from a family of huggers… we greet each other with a hug, we say good-bye with a hug… we’re just touchy-feely in that way. And the one thing I wanted to do more than anything as a teen was to give Jesus a big bear hug. I wanted that so badly, to express my affection for Him the way I expressed it to my family… I wanted to hug Him and thank Him for all he has done, for all that he means to me and my family.

At one of the masses, a visiting priest came and spoke of different methods of prayer. One of the ways he mentioned was to imagine you're in an elevator, traveling down to your soul. And, when you arrived, the doors would open and you would meet and talk with Jesus in a setting that made you most comfortable.

So, one night I decided to give this prayer method a try. I lay in bed one night and concentrated… hard. I was focused and determined and full of hope and excitement that it would work. So, I walk into the elevator and the doors closed behind me. I could feel the elevator shudder slightly as it started traveling down toward my soul.

As I approached my destination, light started to sparkle in the crack at the bottom of the door. It continued to sparkle and become brighter until it seemed as if the light was literally dancing at my feet. I could then feel the elevator begin to slow and I was suddenly filled with a growing sense of love… encompassing love… it’s hard to describe the exact feeling. It was as if I was wrapped in a warm blanket of security and love. I knew the doors were about to open.

And they did…

As the doors opened, bright light poured into the elevator. It was so bright it should have been painful, but it wasn’t. Once my eyes were acclimated, I stepped out of the elevator and found myself standing on a beautiful beach. In the distance I could hear the waves gently crashing against the sand and the breeze blew through my hair. It felt like paradise.

And standing in front of me, His dark brown hair blowing in the same breeze, a broad, welcoming smile on His bearded face, stood Jesus. The sense of love pouring out of Him to me was so strong, so constant, so comforting… again, it’s hard to effectively describe. It encompassed every cell of my body, surrounding me, cushioning me, filling me until I couldn't take any more… truly amazing.

What surprised me at first was His appearance. It was as if he had stepped right out of biblical times. He wore a burlap-type material, brown and dusty, with short-sleeves. The cloak traveled down to just above His knees and, around His waist, a rope was tied as a belt, keeping His garment in tact.

His face was slightly dirtied, as were His sandal covered feet. I don’t remember seeing His pieced hands or feet specifically, but I don’t remember not seeing them either. To be honest, it was hard to take my eyes off of His face… His loving eyes.

I immediately ran over to Jesus and hugged Him as hard as I could. It was the best feeling I had ever felt. When I hugged Him I was again surprised as His garment didn’t feel rough at all, but like silk… like huggin light, if that were possible.

I hugged Jesus so hard and thanked Him for everything that entered my mind. He was so instrumental in my every aspect of my life, he was my identity, so my list of thanks was quite long… family, friends, places, things, events, feelings, dreams, goals, and so on and so on. The entire time, he just smiled back at me, His eyes beaming with compassion and joy.

After I finally let Him go, we walked down the beach, talking. I was so excited and perhaps the most amazing thing was that he was just as excited to see me! As I rambled on about every thought that occurred to me, His eyes continued staring, flowing love and understanding into my soul. His face warmed me with a single smile that shined with affection.

I, too, found myself smiling constantly. I had never been so happy.

After our journey down the beach I was surprised for the third time upon seeing that God and the Holy Spirit were waiting. I know this is going to sound like a stupid statement, but God is pretty hard to describe. He face was older, yet full of the same love. He had glowing white hair and a beard that extended out into pure light. He was light with a face. It was the brightest light you could imagine, yet not painful to look at. Pure, white light. Yet, somehow, I was able to reach out and hug this Creator of all, feeling that same sensation of hugging silk. I thanked Him for everything that was racing through my mind. He was so full of love and so happy to see me… it was such a joy.

And then I turned to the Holy Spirit… in a day full of surprises, His appearance was the most unexpected. The images of God and Jesus I saw I could understand were somehow affected by pictures I had seen before, artistic depictions of God and Christ. But the Holy Spirit I saw was unique to me.

The Holy Spirit wore a similar style robe as Jesus, but it was made of bright, pure white silk-like material. The sleeves were very short and the material extended down to about half-thigh. He was very young and muscular… healthy. And, perhaps the most striking images were His clean-shaven face and His short cropped, dark hair. Somehow it made me wonder if His appearance matched His duties… God had always been, Jesus came and resurrected, and the Holy Spirit was active now, in our everyday lives, running from soul to soul, the most active part of the Trinity. So, it made sense to me that he was full of youthful exuberance.

Of course, what did I do? I hugged Him and thanked Him incessantly. What else? Again, it was like hugging light. I thanked Him profusely for everything I could think of.

And then I talked to all of them… specifically of what I can’t recall, really, but I can tell you it was great. I can’t emphasize enough the overwhelming sensation of love that filled my soul during this time. It was everywhere at once. In me, around me, everywhere.

And then, I suddenly realized that I had to leave. No one said that I had to go, I just knew inside. My time in paradise had expired for the moment and I had to go back home.

It was so disappointing, but I didn’t argue. I wouldn’t have won the argument anyway. :)

So, Jesus led me back to the elevator and I hugged Him one last time, again thanking Him… especially for the experience I was just granted. He smiled brightly as the elevator doors closed and, as the dancing lights slowly dissipated at my feet, the feeling of encompassing love slowly left me.

The elevator darkened and my eyes eventually opened, revealing to me that I was once again in my bed, staring up at the ceiling, a broad smile still filling my face and tears of joy streaming from my eyes.

It was truly a miracle to me.

Some may call it a dream. Others may call it an illusion. But I know it was neither. It was an experience, a journey, a gift given to me by God to stand in His presence, talking to His three persons… Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

It was an event that has never left me. And I can’t wait to return to that beach, for eternity, in the presence of the Trinity.