Chapter 17. MAN

I had been pondering over and over on my friends' last words and had turned to ask Dawn if she knew what they had meant when she simply pointed her hand towards the scene before us, effectively making me refocus.

My three friends had come together into a group, and it was evident that they were deep in conversation. And although I was a bit far away, I was still able to hear what they were planning to do now.

Suddenly, a thunderous voice came out from Abraham, and at His order, the elements came to their service. From the tiniest atomic particle, and sub-particle, to the more complex elements, they all started reacting and coming together into the most beautiful whirlpool of color. It seemed like a group of ballerinas who start to dance to a set tune. And soon enough, as if following an invisible blueprint inside the mind of the Three, a figure began to be formed.

However, it soon became evident to me that as wonderful, important, and beautiful as the physical event taking place right now was, there was something even bigger waiting to happen. So, while this beautiful magic took place on the sidelines, I saw as the Three changed their formation in such a way that Emmanuel stood out as the central figure. And what happened next took my breath away completely. Not only because it was incomprehensible unless it was seen through the lens of faith, but also because it meant that God Himself had decided to let me, and through me, others, witness one of the most crucial revelations of all.

Literally, He was showing me how deep was not only His love for Man but His relationship with Man.

As my friends stood within their formation, I saw several things happening in a series of steps that, if not for the power given to me by Michael, I would have never been able to believe.

Suddenly, the place where we were now, somewhere on Earth, became filled not by the sounds of the wind, or the water, or any living creature. In fact, I had become aware that all of these had become deadly quiet as if they too were eager for what was to come and did not wish to disturb their Creator. No, it had become filled by a beating sound, as if a heart somewhere were thumping, but very loudly.

I then realized that, although the sound was indeed like that of a heart, it was being produced by the pulsating power that was emerging from my three friends.

However, for an instant, my attention was called away from whatever was about to happen when Dawn suddenly stood up and moved away from me to join a group of Angels who looked very similar to her. And just like them, she too knelt down with her eyes focused on the Three, and what was about to happen as if it were the most important moment of their existence.

As one, all these entities began to sing and all of Nature, in fact, the Universe itself, responded to their angelical song and to the magnificent event about to happen in their own way. Indeed, when I looked up at the sky, I saw that it had become a veritable display of fireworks, with shooting stars moving through the atmosphere of the Earth as if there was a celebration taking place. Also, I noticed that within Earth, all creatures, alive and non-living, seemed to have focused their attention on this one central moment.

Yet, not everything was joy, anticipation, and excitement. From amongst the angelical song, and the song of Nature, came a dissonance, and soon enough, my eyes were able to see that not too far away from the Trinity, stood a group of Angels, whose appearance, at that very same instance, when the dissonance began, became grotesque.

This sudden change called my attention, but most especially the anger, jealousy, and dislike that poured out from them towards the Trinity.

I then looked closer at these entities, which were quite numerous, and I saw that in the middle of them stood one, who seemed to be the leader, and the angriest of them all. From its appearance, it was evident that this being had once been the most beautiful, but due to its dark song now, and that of its companions, which evidently carried a message of rebellion against the Trinity, and what God was about to do, had transformed it, and all of them, into veritable monsters. The other thing I noticed changing, as soon as these beings transformed into demons, was that their aura, which had once been brilliant, had become somber and malevolent.

At that point, the dissonance only grew stronger, trying to overcome the joy being transmitted by the choirs of Angels, and it almost seemed as if these demons were trying to prevent the Trinity from fulfilling Its goal. But then, as if this were all happening in two different planes of existence, the Trinity simply continued with their plans as if nothing were disturbing them, while another group of Angels began to push and fight the demons off.

To my very human eyes, the battle that ensued not too far away from my three friends became like a lightning storm, with the thunderbolts representing the Angels and the dark, malevolent clouds, the demons. It was also a show, like the one I had seen on the atmosphere; yet this one had not generated any excitement in me but inspired fear because my soul knew what had happened in that fight, and even my brain understood the consequences of what I had just witnessed.

Suddenly, the beating sound came again, and even the Angels' song stopped entirely. I moved my eyes back towards my three friends and released a gasp of shock when I saw as, what appeared to be two shapes, that moved and looked like a heatwave, emerged from Abraham and then Michael, and began to flow towards Emmanuel. However, before the two shapes reached him, they merged and formed a new figure whose characteristics became more discernible. And to my utter astonishment, these characteristics were literally a summation of the likenesses of their originators.

Then, when the new figure finally stood before Emmanuel, a new beat resounded and from within Emmanuel a burst of light and fire came forth that engulfed him entirely. In fact, the brilliance being emitted was so intense, that it felt as if I had been looking at the brightest of stars, and I had to cover my eyes while it diminished.

Not even a second later, I heard a voice that said, "you can look now" and following its lead, I opened my eyes to have my mouth drop open instantly. I had become so accustomed to my very human friend Emmanuel, that my brain had never truly registered that he was also the Second Person of the Trinity, and the person who stood before me now, was not the one I had spent so much time with. I knew in my heart and soul that this Divinity was also Emmanuel, but right now, it was only Michael's light that permitted me to understand this huge mystery.

So, while He had remained human in form, He had been totally Transfigured, and His body had taken a shape that I knew was meant more to be a symbol so that I could understand the enormity of what I was about to witness. When this realization crossed my mind, I felt my soul becoming inflamed by Michael's power again, and soon I understood, at least in part, what I was seeing.

Indeed, Emmanuel's body had become crystalline, as if He were made out of glass, or more, of a diamond, and there was a glow that encompassed Him entirely. I also saw that every inch of Him, from head to toe, seemed to have become filled by inscriptions, words to be exact, that glowed golden, like lines of stars. This really called my attention because I wondered about the meaning behind this symbolic appearance.

I also noticed something else. Through Emmanuel's transparent chest wall, I was able to see His very Heart, and what shocked me was that, instead of seeing a normal organ, like mine, His looked more like a Temple, and in that Temple, another figure that was very similar to the ones from Abraham and Michael waited, almost impatiently, for the Union to take place.

I wondered about all these symbols, and images, because I had never ever been taught about any of this, but soon enough, my curiosity was fed.

Suddenly, Emmanuel extended His arms towards each of His sides in a welcoming stance, and as soon as He did that, the merged essences of Abraham and Michael filtered right into Him and merged immediately with His own. When the three Essences had finally combined, a sudden burst of light, extremely sharp for me to see, came forth and I had to turn myself away for a few minutes.

As I did this, I saw that all the choirs of angels that had been with me here the whole time, began again to sing, and I soon understood that they were singing again their song of praise and joy and because of it, I decided it was time to turn around.

Once more, just as when I had received the precious gift of knowing the Trinity, I knelt down and allowed tears of indescribable emotion to fall down my cheeks unchecked. The miracle I was now witnessing, but most of all the immense Love and Joy that surged forth from the Trinity because of it, simply rendered me speechless and turned me dumb. Had anyone, ever, thought that any of us, humans, could have been not just planned out with such care, but known and wished for with such passion? Had any of us ever experienced, or known, such Love from our fellow humans? At this moment, I could only think of human parents who see their beloved baby for the first time, but even that paled in comparison to what I was seeing right now, or to what I was sensing coming from the Trinity.

At the same time that all this joy and emotion was coming at me in waves, I also began to sense an undercurrent of hatred and pure evil flowing from those awful beings who had been banished by the angels from this sacred place, but who remained somewhere despising the newly created being, wishing with all their hearts to hurt it, just so they could hurt God.

However, soon enough, that undercurrent was again dispersed and sent away, at least for the time being and I focused again on what was happening inside Emmanuel. For, in His Heart now lay a being, who, despite not yet having its full shape, I could tell was a human.

Then, I saw as Abraham moved towards Emmanuel and each touched with a finger two specific inscriptions that had been laying waiting on Emmanuel's very forehead. As soon as they did this, the words began to travel towards the Heart, and when they reached the little soul, they formed a capsule around it; like a seedling. Then, Abraham moved back towards Michael.

The expectancy I could sense coming from the Trinity was almost like that of a mother who excitedly waits for nine months for her little miracle to emerge from inside her body but multiplied by a thousandfold. And it became so intense, so strong, that it almost seemed as if it had caused all of Creation to hold its very breath. I know I was holding it.

Suddenly, the booming voices of Abraham and Michael called on the seedling to flourish, and when they did, to my astonishment, the capsule broke open to allow not one, but two very similar, yet not identical, perfectly formed human souls, to come out. Then, they emerged from inside Emmanuel's Heart and landed on His awaiting arms.

As soon as this happened, as soon as the two souls were out, not only did I hear both angels and the whole of Creation releasing their held breath, just like I did, but they all burst again in songs of praise and joy.

I dared to look for a moment at the Three, at their expressions, and I became overwhelmed again with emotion. The stares of devotion and tenderness coming from all Three of them was something I had never experienced in my life. And from them I could tell this; in Emmanuel's arms lay the very epitome of Creation. It was these two little human beings who were their most precious treasure as they were the only beings that had been made both in God's Image and Likeness.

I think that, with what little human rationality I had left, because I was totally overwhelmed, I focused on a detail that might have seem irrelevant, but wasn't. These tiny souls looked as if they were already part of a body, yet I knew this was not so because the process ordered by Abraham with the elements, was still underway.

But what this fact showed me was that our bodies, even if made out of physical elements, had also been wanted and planned by God and they had been shaped with as much love and care as our souls had, because they were going to become the very Temples into which our souls, and through them, the Divinity, would be able to interact and relate with us.

And sure enough, my perceptions were soon confirmed with what followed.

Emmanuel slowly approached Abraham and presented the two tiny souls to Him, almost as an offering, and as soon as He did, Abraham kissed each of the souls with a Love so deep, that not even a human father could compare.

Then, Emmanuel took the souls to Michael, and as soon as He reached Him, the latter not only extended His arms to receive the precious treasures but from His own being two tiny golden seeds emerged and sunk deep into the souls' chests.

Finally, followed by Emmanuel and Abraham, Michael approached the now completed physical body and then released one of the two formed souls, blowing on it until it floated to its body and entered it. When it did, I started hearing the very real sound of a human heart beating and I knew this person, had now come to be.

Sure enough, not long afterward, the human being opened his eyes and began to look around himself, just like a child. And what shocked me was to see that, while I was being able to see both the human and the Trinity, as well as the Angels, the man could not. And yet, it seemed that the tiny seed planted by Michael, which I assumed was the symbolic image of His breath of life, had taken root and was growing, and soon I saw as this man began to communicate in a weird way as if he could sense someone with him.

This moved me to the core of my being because it drove home something I had once learned about but had not really understood. Inside Man's soul had begun to grow the Tree of Life from the seed that Michael had planted, which symbolized the presence of God and His union with His Creature through the Holy Spirit. But Man, from the beginning, had been created to only be able to sense and communicate with God, to establish a relationship with Him, but not to see Him. The reason?

"Because We have always wanted Our relationship with Man to be born from a free choice on the part of Man, and not because he is overwhelmed by Me. True love is never forced, and if Man had been able to see Me from the start, then our relationship would not have been a pathway of discovery, of recognition, and of maturation, but rather an unavoidable result of a creature meeting its Creator," I suddenly heard Abraham telling me in answer to my mental question. I was a bit startled by His sudden address since all of them had been away from me for a very long time now. However, as I focused on Abraham, and realized that he had regained his human form, I felt calmer.

"So, We hid in your hearts and souls so you would know there was someone who had created you, but who wished to invite you to establish a relationship with Him by first learning to discover Him and His love for you through all of Creation, and as you matured, prepare you for the real face-to-face meeting."

I stared at Abraham for a second, trying to sift through what He had just said to me, but to be honest, I still had a difficult time understanding that logic. So, in the end, I smiled at Him and said, "Another mystery for me to get through this journey, I guess."

He smiled back and said, "Yes, the biggest mystery of all. However, pay attention as there is still some more to this". And then He moved away again.

When I focused again on the scene before me, I felt as if I had been placed in a movie that had been fast-forwarded. The newly created man, who had not yet received any name even though I had seen the inscription going into him, had established himself happily amongst all that was created, and peace and harmony reigned between him and all other creatures. He, moved by the Holy Spirit inside him, began to name all creatures and learned that the whole of Creation now belonged to him and it was his to govern and use as a means to reach his true goal: meeting with God, one day, face-to-face.

However, I also realized that the young man, despite having so much, felt lonely, and it seemed that my three friends too felt that something was yet missing. So, not long afterward, Abraham came closer to Man and induced him to sleep deeply. Once Man was out of himself, Abraham reached inside his chest and pulled out a piece of something I could not truly see, and from that, ordered the elements to form a new body. Not even a second later, a new body was presented to the Trinity and it was judged perfect for the second soul that had come out from Emmanuel earlier.

And so, with the same reverence and love as They had done with the first human person, Michael approached the body carrying the little soul with its tiny seed, and its own prescript and breathed on it to allow it to fly into its body.

As soon as the new soul entered, indescribable changes began to take shape over the physical body, and instead of looking like another man, the figure formed in such a way that a female emerged. Her heart soon began to beat, and when her eyes opened, the first thing she came to see was the man, who had been pushed by God to come closer.

As the two of them looked at one another, it seemed as if an invisible union had been formed between them. It was the first time they were seeing one another, and yet they had recognized each other as being similar and complementary, and as soon as this became clear to them, they embraced each other.

Suddenly, I heard Man claiming out, "This is, at last, the one I can call flesh of my flesh, and bone of my bone. My partner, my friend, my love, and my equal. With you, I will share the magnificence that we have been gifted with by our dearest Creator. We shall rule wisely, and name all that our Creator has given us. Blessed be He who created you, woman, to be with me, man, to multiply and rule over His beautiful and magnificent Creation, and to be my walking partner in this journey to meet with Him."

In response to this most beautiful hymn from the first man and woman, I heard a voice that came from the Three and said, "It is you that I have yearned for and you that I have loved into existence. I have made you in my likeness and image and to you, I have given a part of me. It is for you that I have done all that you see and to you thus I give it so that through it and as you perfect it and yourself, you can come to a full union with me. Be fruitful and multiply. Be free from here on to choose to come to me and love me."

It was at this point that I finally understood the concept of Man being created in the Image and Likeness of God. First, our souls and even our bodies had not just been shaped by the Trinity, but They had formed our souls from Their Essence so that each one of us actually portrayed in a small way the likeness of the Trinity itself.

But beyond that, when the Holy Spirit had implanted in the two original human beings, the Tree of Life, which was not just a connection between God and us, but also between human souls, and had converted our souls into the dwelling place of the Trinity, He had also imprinted on us what it meant to live in the image of the Trinity. And this is what it boiled down to.

God is a community, the union of Three Persons whose relationship, equal nature and essence, make them One. Man, too, had been made equal in essence, nature, and dignity, but they had been created with differences and the purpose of this had been so that in the union of man and woman, and even in the establishment of human communities, humanity could share and enjoy the union that the Trinity has. And how was that possible? Because we had all received the same connective characteristic; we all had received the Tree of Life, which connected us all. It was, in the end, this union of persons, this formation of communities, of families, that made us capable of sharing, at least in part, in the happiness that the Trinity enjoys.

Not long after, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I came face-to-face with a smiling Emmanuel. With just that one happy look I understood then that it was time to move on. After all, Creation had now been made complete. Pretty soon I was overcome by deep sleep and knew no more.

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Okay, so here it is. Maybe the most difficult chapter, only second to the one on the Mystery of God. I apologize for any mistakes. I hope if anyone can, you can comment on this chapter especially if you see errors in content. All the best