2/25/2023

The Voyage

Aside from the Angels I have seen, there was also one vision that I keep seeing repeatedly, communicating to me while I was reading my law books. There were images of two persons on the wall just in front of my study table. They took the form of little men with a smooth round head and bodice, like they have no hairs on their skin whatsoever. In the midst of the visions on the wall was a boat and the persons were standing on each end, which I took them to be the captain and the navigator. They relayed to me through signs and symbols that they were Angels too, taking other shape, in order to relay the messages on the wall more effectively---in order that their sign languages could be more emphasized.



Their hands would signal many pantomime in order to converse with me and their heads would nod or shake whenever I confirm their messages (whether I got it right or I got it wrong). Why they did not converse to me in spoken language is a question that I have no definite answers. My heart told me that if they came so vividly to me and spoke to me like usual persons do, I may be shocked beyond my wits and be overly consumed with the stream of supernatural things that came to me so rapidly without proper notice.

The captain was always pointing upwards, towards a destination, towards a place high up. Through signs and symbols, they made me write this poem, which is titled as “The Voyage”.   

THE VOYAGE 

Come my dear child,

follow the footsteps of my symbols,

towards a voyage curved in stone,

as I have murmured and whispered to your ears

from the beginning until the End of Times;

where humankind shall persist in eternal Peace and Love

among brothers and sisters all.  

Be the harbor of your patience,

like the child as you are  and grow into the strength and courage 

that I have seen in you,

 as you have to your own children. 

Mold them into the Light,

so that they may not be lost in the Darkness that you once knew. 

The Heavens are for you to dwell, and for those who believe shall be chosen;

that an enormous Love shall make you fly, with wings of the greatest span. 

Carry your brothers and sisters like you carry your own children

so that the evil forces shall be vanquished

by the armies I have sent to defeat and subdue them. 

And evil shall be vanquished indeed

by the Angels within us and around us.                         

The signs on the wall were a magical exposition. Like the visions of angels in the sky, it was hard to fathom at first that somehow there are sets of realities that are not as it were before, as they all happened beyond my wildest dreams. These were things that made sense only in movies and in children’s stories, and yet those were the things that invoked me to accept a newer reality.         

 “The Voyage” is a simple poem. It may be in metaphor but it does not confuse the reader as much. As we examined it, “The Voyage” speaks of things to come, of the promise that has been made known to us since time immemorial, the rewards of the faithful and of the obedient.              

Each and every one of us should prepare ourselves for the voyage towards eternity and beyond. There is a ship on dock, to receive those who have done good works and men of greatest faith and obedience to the dictates of the Creator. This is the voyage that could end all voyages and we shall not let pass this opportunity to be part of the ultimate adventure towards the life hereafter. It may not come our way as easily again.                      

Prepare your own gears and effects. The voyage may be long and arduous and yet the rewards are great. Be patient for the destination is almost at hand. Those who shall overcome their will against the temptation of the devil shall be aboard the ship, and when he is already aboard, the road ahead is less laborious; in fact it would be a skyway to Heaven, a trip that has no stop but only destination. Be patient so that you may have the purity of soul. A righteous man’s soul shall be your ticket to the Gate of Heaven. Do all things that are good and avoid every evil conduct. Is that too much to ask? What good does it do a man to receive the pleasures of a mortal world when he loses the Kingdom of God, an everlasting life?                    

Be prepared, for it is an enormous love that shall carry us towards eternity. Cultivate your heart so that you may be able to “carry your brothers and sisters like you carry your own children”, for an enormous love decides the purity of our soul. It is an enormous love to be a man for others, to look out not only for the self, but also for those who need help and assistance.                

An enormous love shall give us wings of the widest span and the Heavens are for us to dwell. In the house of the Creator, there would be temples in the clouds, and Paradise everywhere. The Universe is so wide that there would be limitless geography in which we could spread our wings. There would be everlasting joy, peace and harmony. A life of music and dances, of merriment and celebrations and there would be no daytime or nighttime, neither Muslim nor Christian, neither black nor white.                     

To those that have not been able to prepare themselves, they shall be cast away and shall not be aboard the ship that awaits us at port. They will have another destination, downward to the road of perdition where the vengeance of eternal fire awaits them.                

It is easy to prepare when patience is on our side. All we have to ask every now and then is: Would God desire to have me in His Temple? Would He allow me to live with Him and dwell with Him?  Am I worthy of His presence?

 “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither there shall be any more pain: for the former things have passed away.”                       

Am I a thief? Am I a fornicator?

Am I a murderer? Am I a gossiper? Am I an adulterer?                                  

Am I a Liar? Am I a blasphemer?                      

The life of each and every one of us is a voyage by itself. The voyage in fact starts now as we speak and shall end at the place and time God had promised all His children. Let us treat every day as a step towards the voyage, as a time and opportunity to prepare our souls, to carry God’s desires and wishes; to follow all His dictates and instructions.                

What does it do a man to have faith and yet do not have works? Does faith alone could save him?                         

Be patient and be disciplined. Have faith but know the meaning of real faith. It is not how much or how deep you practice your faith but how you apply righteousness in your everyday life. Not to be pious in men’s eyes and yet evil in the conclave of your homes. For God knows everything. To have faith as it is too often said is also to have enormous love, to have hope, and to have charity. For what is faith if we do not have the basic concept of goodliness? What is faith if we continue to do abominable things? 

I may not be perfect and yet I am imperfect without committing any sin. As a man, I am often envious and frustrated by anger, and jealous and yet I would not let my envy and anger consume and stain me. I may have nothing what others have but my lack of things would never lead me to steal. I may have the instinct of lust and yet I recognized that I have been given a heart and mind to dissuade me from bestial acts.  (From my book "The Night of Angels")