Filling his lungs as full as he could, he lowered his head and entered the deep. The sunken log lay straight ahead. He saw brightly colored little fish swimming about, and perhaps a poisonous frog or two as he plunged. There were many bright colored creatures in the Amazon, but he was not one of them, the better to blend in.
The log was heavy with weeds, soft with rot, and half sunk into the silt floor of the lagoon as Yinney latched hold with his great back claws. Now that he was anchored, he could fully focus on the beauty of his underwater sanctuary. Looking upward, the sunlight lit the waters, slowly dimming as it filtered down. The world around him was cast in a greenish hew, yet he could see clearly. It was wonderful!
His heart wanted to race with the excitement of achieving what had been a long-time goal. This was it! He was deep in a lagoon and preparing to meditate. He was at the bottom with a single breath of air sustaining him. His heart beat slower and slower as he focused.
Yinney did not know how long he could hold his breath, but it was a long time. There has always been something about water that is spiritual. Even the sound of rippling water is instantly soothing to the soul. And the sound of being underwater is a world of its own. He was sure this secluded and quiet environment could take him to a place he had not yet known, deep in his soul.
And so it began… his back claws hooked into the half rotting log… the air in his lungs gently lifting him upward like a hot air balloon, it was as if he were suspended between two dimensions. It was a floating, and his heart beat slower and slower until finally Yinney was entering more spirit than flesh, a place where the voice of God can speak more clearly, if God decides to. But whether God spoke or not, he always felt his Presence, and the Presence was enough.
Several minutes passed by as he floated. His eyes were open. He felt no need to close them. He was not sure if he was even blinking? He floated in peace, love, and patience. It was complete satisfaction. His 7th Day Tree was waiting for him above, and what more did he need than his tree, this water, and the Presence of God?
And so it was when the unexpected happened. There is no preparing for the unexpected, because it is unexpected! To open oneself and invite the unknown. God does not fit any box man nor animal has made. The vision was sudden, strong, and overwhelming! The voice spoke and there was no ignoring it! It started with the words… “You will…”
“You will live a long life and see many things from your tree, Yinney, and much of it will not be good. Storm clouds come your way, but your tree and this lagoon will be a protected place, for I have declared it, and your prayers have spared it, even as I set mighty angels to guard it.”
“Many animals will come. They will be on the run. Your community will grow. Your tree must be a place of refuge. Your words must speak the truth of the All-Creator to his creation. And there will be a man.”
“A man?” The response flashed in Yinney’s mind before he could stop. He did not want to miss a word of what he was hearing, but this was beyond anything he had experienced before, and the voice spoke of a man? Quickly refocusing, he hoped he had not missed anything important, but it was all important!
The All-Creator heard him when his mind repeated, “A man?”
“Yes, Yinney … a man. You will be able to speak in your mind, and he will hear. I will make it so. It will not be spoken out loud, but your thoughts will be heard in his soul. He will know it is a miracle. And he is a special man. He will hear my words through you, and will carry my words back to his land, where he will suffer much because of my message in him.”
“You have three years to prepare. Your 7th Day Tree must become a focal point, a flowing point for teaching what it means to ‘commune’, to have ‘community’, to have true spiritual ‘communion’. You are a chosen vessel, and this holy task is my blessing to you. Heed my words and do not forget. Do not slack in your mission, and one day you will hear the words, well done, my good and faithful servant. And yes… be slothful, Yinney. Rest in me to do the work. For it is not by might nor power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. Amen.”
Silence followed. Yinney was in a daze and hung there as long as he could in the greenish hew without moving. The need for air was growing stronger, but he did not want to leave. “Might there be more?” he waited, and he repeated what had been said over and over so as not to forget a single word! And when nothing more came, with his lungs screaming he finally released. His body immediately began rising, and with two great strokes of his long arms, his head broke water as he sucked a long and very deep breath!
“What was that?” he asked himself. But there was no denying what it was. He stared at his tree standing humble on the bank. There was nothing to distinguish it as special in any way. But the voice had said they would come. “And a man! How can this be?” he questioned.
If his strokes had been slow before, they were even slower now, because he was still in the grasp of the meditative state and the vision it had revealed. He would spend days pondering these words and what it meant. He would write them down in his book, and read them over and over, but he must not only read the words, he must do!
<The continuing story of Yinney is the property of Don Allen, alias: Grandpa White Feather.>
Path Without End 