What It's Like

How can I describe what it’s like

To have ascended beyond anything previously known?

Is it like what the astronauts felt

When they floated into space for the first time

And saw the Earth below them,

This giant blue marble

On which they’d lived their whole lives,

But which they could no longer see in the same way,

View expanded so that

Now they finally understood how their little blue marble

Fit into the grand scheme of the solar system?

Is it like what Einstein felt

When he saw the space-time continuum for the first time,

Realizing that his previous views of space and time,

In which he’d lived his whole life,

Was but a single perspective of a multi-dimensional

Kaleidoscope of a world,

One which to which he could never return

Now that he could see

How space and time fit together

Into the grand scheme of existence?

Is it like what Peter felt,

When asked, “Who do you say that I AM?”

And that bursting of knowledge inside of his heart

Answered even before he knew what was coming out of his lips,

“You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God,”

And even though He didn’t look like

The Messiah that Peter had been waiting for,

About whom he had been told his whole life,

He didn’t want to return to that perspective,

Now that he could see,

Could sense something greater,

For it was revealed to him by His Father in Heaven,

This grand scheme of existence,

The Greatest Love Story ever told?

Is it like what Moses felt when he saw the burning bush,

And was told that he—yes he—would lead the entire nation of Israel

Out of captivity?

Or when Abraham met Melchizedek

After fighting in a battle,

And, spirit leaping inside of him,

He chose to bow before this King

And offer Him a tithe?

Is this how Gideon felt in a winepress,

When told he was a mighty man,

Even though he probably thought

He’d never been mighty in his life?

Is this how Elijah felt

When he first saw the whirlwind

And knew that he would ascend

On the chariot of fire?

How many others have been here,

And how could they describe their feelings,

What it’s like to ascend to a place

That they know is beyond any human experience,

Beyond everything they’d ever thought possible,

And even beyond words

Is this what it’s like?

How can I say?