As Eagle lie on the ground twisted and snared by the colorful flowing material, his ears attentive to the soft, gentle, distant strains of “Glory, glory, Hallelujah ..” waving through the dark night air, all of his strength draining as he gasped his last bit of air and as the song grew closer and closer becoming louder as his ears strained to hear that soothing melody, he caught a glimpse of the fire glow growing brighter and a strange thing began to happen to him.

His heart started to beat a little faster and words came flooding to his mind, words he had heard as the old timers had gathered around those campfires long ago, he remembered that Abraham had looked for a country whose maker and builder was God.

As this thought rushed through his mind, he felt strength start to stir deep inside him, he felt the will to live, the will to go on, the will to fight for what he had long known.

As his breath began to return and he found his second wind he struggled against what held him captive, his sharp beak pulling and shredding the thin, cheap material to bits as he struggled to freedom. He had fought too hard and had lived too long, and seen much too much to die conquered on the ground.

“His truth is marching on….” continued to fill the night sky as the camp lanterns grew brighter and brighter as those who watch in the night went on their journey. Soon he was free from that tangled snare and he sat for a bit, regaining more of his massive strength, the new-found joy in his heart, that it was not the end, there was yet a place, a country, a nation of nations where the Fathers true rainbow shone of His glory.

But where? Where was that place? As he brought back to his thought all the words quoted by those of long ago, who quoted the true words not words that man wanted to hear but the word of the Father of lights, the Father who created and controlled the entire universe.

He remembered how they warned, they preached with fire and conviction “that the days would surely come that men would no longer endure sound doctrine” that the days would surely come “that men would be lovers of themselves more than of God” that the days would come that “they would call evil good and good evil” and that “the way of truth would be evil spoken of” and Eagle knew those days had truly come.

He soon remembered the word spoken with power and authority that bellowed out in the night as the preacher quoted from the book of Revelation, “COME  OF HER, MY PEOPLE, THAT YE BE NOT PARTAKERS OF HER SINS, AND THAT YE RECEIVE NOT OF HER PLAGUES. FOR HER SINS HAVE REACHED UNTO HEAVEN, AND GOD HATH REMEMBERED HER INIQUITIES.”

Eagle knew that day as the days warned of long ago had now came to pass, that day also soon approached. Eagle knew he had to seek that new country, that country that is fashioned and formed and built of God himself. But how would he find it? How could he navigate there with his body still weakened form all he had endured. He thought, he thought about something they had preached that the Son had said, ” Wheresoever the body is, thither shall the eagles gather together.” His body, His physical body that would be offered as a sacrifice for all, but also the symbolic meaning that where His body, His followers would be gathered unto Him. 

Eagle mustered enough strength to start his flight, he flew and he flew trying to fly through the darkness, through the night, becoming stronger and stronger as his determination grew that he would go to that country, he would see that land. He thought what would it be like when all the eagles, all those who through strength only given from God had “fought the good fight” who had run their race with courage and boldness and would be given crowns for doing so.

He thought of a country where love, joy, and true peace would be the norm. A country so full of the love and light of the Lamb of God, that there would never be another night. He thought of a country where the lion would lay down by a lamb, the serpents food would be dust, and no one or no creatures would ever hurt one another again. There would be no more cruelty, no more starvation, no more pain, and “God himself shall wipes all tears away”  As he flew these words rang out through the now turning dawn night, he heard the description of that country to be sought, as one quoted the words written by John in Revelation 21:1-3,9-27:

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, NEW JERUSALEM coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, 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 there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew the thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. Having the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

And had a wall great and high, and has twelve gates, and at the gates were twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs, the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

And the building of the wall of it was as jasper; and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones The first foundation was jasper, the second, sapphire, the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eight, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: FOR THE GLORY OF GOD DID LIGHTEN IT, AND THE LAMB IS THE LIGHT THEREOF. AND THE NATIONS OF THEM WHICH ARE SAVED SHALL WALK IN THE LIGHT OF IT: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” 

Eagle is freedom, Eagle is truth and justice, and liberty and as those who truly seek these things must now “set their affections on things on high” and seek that heavenly country and remember the truth that is as old as time itself, we truly are strangers and pilgrims in this world and we are to leave the things of the world behind and be as eagles and soar above these troubles resting in the spirit of God and of the eternal hope that we are not quite home yet and as we strive to reach that heavenly shore, it is well on its way, New Jerusalem coming down to meet those who wait.

Φλογίζω Σαλπιζω NBJ 2016