#72. Sitting All Alone on Cloud 9

On a beautiful summer day in July, I was relaxing on the deck in my backyard with absolutely nothing to do. Peering off into the distant sky, I found myself admiring the reflection of the sun off the magnificent, luminous clouds above. I panned 360 degrees, taking in the awesome beauty that surrounded me. Just then, the thought flashed through my mind:  Wonder what it would have been like for a person living long ago ... without the benefit of our scientific knowledge of the cosmos. Imagine -- just the earth and sea and sky above. No solar systems, no galaxies, no comets, no asteroids -- just the invisible dome that covered the ground from one horizon to the other.

Though I don’t know why, my mind began traveling several thousand years into the distant past. I found myself reminiscing a nomadic tribe bordering on the southeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. I fashioned myself as a shepherd boy, lying on the ground watching over my father's flock. As the sheep were content -- grazing in the field -- and I had absolutely nothing to do, I began to ponder the world around me. Who created this monstrosity -- the sky, the stars, the water, the trees, the sheep ... and me? 

I thought to myself, "A Creator much smarter and more powerful then me must have made it all! But it's so huge, a monstrosity! It's humongous! There must be many Creators; one for the rain, one for the thunder, one for the sunshine, one for this and one for that. Ah! There just has to be many gods that live high above the sky-line."

Then I saw Him out of the corner of my eye. Much to my chagrin, having been caught up in my reverie, I had not even noticed the Creator Himself. There He was, sitting all alone on a nearby cloud, with absolutely nothing to do -- just quietly observing me in my imaginary world.

Then I watched the Creator as He pierced through the Milky Way galaxy into a myriad of galaxies, millions of them. The Creator reflected upon my perception of a "humongous" world, thinking within Himself, "Son, you have no idea what infinity is!"

Suddenly, the Creator reached down, tapped me on the shoulder, and offered me a ride into the future. "Come and I shall show you what is to come. I AM the Creative Spirit of All-That-Is". Immediately, I was carried on the wings of the Spirit through many time zones before we landed. "Here it is," exclaimed the Spirit, stating that we were viewing an upcoming Jewish culture that would realize there is only ONE CREATOR of all that is. "But they shall continue to refer to me as Elohim, meaning, the Gods. I suppose they must be utilizing the 'Royal We'.

Continuing on with our journey, we came upon an era when Moses would discover that Elohim had a name. Yahweh was His name, which means, "I AM!" The Creative Spirit was happy with this discovery. “When they say my name, they identify with me. I AM Love! I AM the Spirit of Life! I AM the Creative Source of all that you see and hear, my son." After pondering for a moment, He sadly stated, "Later, however, this Jewish culture shall call me The Lord out of fear that they might offend me when they say my I AM name foolishly."

Changing the subject, I asked the Spirit of Creativity if He had a home. He responded to me, saying, "I live everywhere, even in the hearts of humankind, but I was sitting on Cloud Nine with absolutely nothing to do when my eyes happened to glance upon you ... lying there in the meadow ... daydreaming ... about Me."

Before I could respond to His blissful words, the Spirit quickly whisked me away from this place-in-time and was quickly taken several hundred years further into the future to a time when the Romans would have control of this very land where I now live. As we viewed the hillside below, the Spirit said it is called Galilee and is occupied by several sects of Jews.

But without any forewarning, we immediately came to a screeching halt and the wise Spirit declared that we could go no further. Though I did not understand, the Voice of the Creator spoke cautiously and in a sullen manner, muttering something about a Trinity of gods replacing the One.

At last, the Spirit explained, “An offshoot of the Jewish faith has developed. But I shall not reveal to you what this cult shall do with my name. You don’t want to know and I shall spare you this calamity. You simply would not believe it anyway.”

Then, out of nowhere came a bolt of lightening and a thundering sound that shook the heavens and I was abruptly catapulted out of my reverie, lying all alone in the grass. I had been daydreaming for what seemed like hours. I had lost all track of time. Looking around to check on the flock, I discovered that one of my lambs was missing.  It had meandered away from its mother into the wilderness. And a storm was brewing from the west. Again, lightening flashed across the darkening skies, accompanied by the clamoring sound of thunder. A horrific downpour was imminent.

Without a second thought, I rose to my feet and haphazardly trotted into the desert to find my lost sheep. I had no choice in the matter. I had to leave my father’s flock to search for the lamb. She would be at the mercy of the wolves. Scared and disoriented in this torrential storm, she would be unable to find her way back from the wild to her mother ewe. Frantically, I sought high and low for my lost lamb when, much to my surprise, I heard the sound of ‘baaaa’ resonating from behind the rocks.

With my beloved on my shoulder, I joyously returned to the 99 waiting for our safe return. We were soaking wet from head to toe. But we all celebrated and thanked the one and only Creator of our heaven and earth for guiding me this way and that way till I was able to retrieve my lost baby. It was an experience I shall never forget! And I never ever told my father all that had happened ... on that earth-shattering summer day ... so very long ago.

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