For much of the journey from here on I sensed being
flat on my back. I’m not sure what kind
of conveyance I was on, but it resumed the spiraling circular type of course we
had traveled in the track car. As
before, I was moving slowly backwards, seemingly descending along the outer
edge of a very large pit. I was unable to change positions or move my limbs,
totally at the mercy of the forces in charge.
Interspersed throughout the journey, however, were moments when I was
able to view my body as an observer looking on to the scene. These would become more frequent toward the
end.
Not surprisingly, many of the trials I was about to
experience were related to breathing. I
had suffered early on from the cutting away of my air line during the descent
to the in-processing station, but that was just a minor irritation in
comparison to what lay ahead.
My air supply was now channeled through a labyrinth-like
path of clear plastic chambers, pipes and connections leading into my mouth. Suddenly, I heard a series muffled popping
sounds off to my right, like people opening up bags of pressure sealed
snacks. Then I saw that a pipe was
growing out of that direction and extending overhead. It had the appearance of a round air
conditioning duct although smaller and also made of plastic. With each pop an accordion-style joint opened
out, extending the pipe until it was directly over my air supply. There was nothing visible supporting the pipe...no
doubt held there by levitation.
Immediately, several small blue balls began to pour
out of the pipe and enter my air supply.
I watched each one come bouncing and rolling through the maze of passageways
relentlessly toward my intake. All this was
obviously calculated to incite fear and build up the torment level before they actually
entered my throat to choke me. Unpleasant
as it was to bear, I somehow survived the experience of the first one dropping
into my throat and going down into the lungs.
Then, one by one, each of the rest eventually came through. I don’t know how many there were, but my next
fear was that I soon would have no lung capacity left because of all the balls.
But, once again, I somehow survived. And this was the recurring pattern…an
inevitable new threat, followed by a stressful or painful experience…yet always
surviving it to face an even harsher challenge.
In one of those brief moments when I became an on-looking observer, I
was shown what purported to be an x-ray of my chest. It revealed my left lung about one third full
of the blue balls and my right lung with two of the three lobes removed. I was supposed to have had only one lobe
removed in the worst case scenario of my surgery. More lies…
This experience seemed so real to me that even after
I became conscious again, I still believed I had balls in my lungs. One of the nurses who was working with me
early in my just-recovered state told me about suctioning out a large “ball of
mucous” from my lungs. I was sure that
this must have been one of the balls and asked (I had to write out my questions
then because I was still on a ventilator) if I could see it. Of course, it had been disposed of. I was very disappointed because I was certain
at the time that I had brought back a souvenir as evidence of my adventure that
was now lost forever!
What insight did I gain from this episode? Something
has often puzzled me in the Scriptures...Hell is described as a
place of eternal destruction. How could people
continue to suffer destruction eternally?
The dilemma was that if they are destroyed, they would no longer exist,
I surmised. Now I understand that in
that realm destruction is not annihilation but a process that can repeat
endlessly, subjecting its victim to the same agony over and over again.
…the
Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not
obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal
destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His
power… 2Thessalonians 1:7b-9
(to be continued…)
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