Elevator Ride 1.7

We are in free fall. The creaking and banging has escalated to a mind-numbing roar. With the increasing speed of descent, the temperature has plummeted unbearably . Ice instantly forms on the trusses and wires of the cage, and showers down upon us in stinging granules, knocked off by violent vibrations.

I lie still and quiet. Terrified. Frozen. Resigned. Death is imminent. And it will not arrive humanely.

"Do you want to be saved?"

The noise does not diminish, but the voice dwarfs it, not in volume, but in sheer strength and quiet authority. I do not know if it spoke directly to my mind or aloud, but the noise of splintering wood and tearing metal diminishes to background static.

"Do you want to be saved?"

The question seems irrelevant, but the the insistence of his voice compels a response.

"It's too late. I'm already dead. Look, listen... it's too late."

"No. It's not too late. As long as you can still hear my voice, how can it be too late? Do you want to be saved? Do you want a new life? Is there something in you that desires to live?"

There is light burning against my shut eyelids. I open my eyes. A million tiny shards of ice are reflecting crystal light as the fall and collide. We are dropping so fast they seem to float in absolute freedom from gravity. Shimmering and dazzling in an orchestrated dance of exquisite beauty and freedom.

I search for the source of the light. It comes from the lift operator. Gone are his cap and sad eyes. His face beams out power and light. His eyes shine with beauty and fierce love.

Its difficult to maintain the attitude of a corpse in certain circumstances.

I can feel His love and power penetrating into my skin, through my veins and arteries. Down into the deepest recesses of my dark being. And as it touches my heart, an explosion inside me so intense I am splitting apart. My heart screams as ice and rock shatter in excruciating pain. And then a feeling of life. The feeling of dead branches being cut off and new branches being shaped and nurtured. Life.

In the rage and beauty of my plummet with this being, as I lay curled with my knees pressed against my burning chest, as the harsh and sparkling ice crystals danced in the air, I saw life and desired it. I opened my mouth.

"Yes. I want to be saved."

Peace. Warmth. A feeling of gentle but intense upward flight. And then complete calm.
He reaches down and takes my hand, effortlessly lifting me to my feet. I stumble on unsturdy legs, but He does not let go. With His other hand He reaches out and lifts the slatted wooden gate of the elevator. Together we step out. I feel strength flowing through His hand into me. My body tingling with the power emanating from Him. We have come out onto the roof. A trillion blazing stars shine in miniature caracachers of the face of my guide.

I look out over the city with Him by my side. And now where do I go, I wonder. He feels my uncertainty, and with a smile, tightens His grip on my hand.

"We'll walk together."