The bolded text was actually written months before on one of those spur of the moment pen-in-hand writing experiences. It just happened to be a perfect story to frame my interpretation. I did not edit it to fit the assignment, it already did.
In order to understand the unique fantasy type feel to this piece, please read Ezekiel 1 to understand what I was trying to picture.
I heard the second hand on the clock ticking as each second felt like a minute passing slowly by. No one had a clue as to what we should do while we were waiting. The teacher still hasn’t shown up, but we had seven minutes remaining before we could leave. It was one of those groggy Mondays where it was too early in the morning and the overcast sky with the misty rain only encouraged the silence of the sleepy people occupying the seats around me.
In the remaining time as I awaited my professor I decided to get ahead in my reading for one of my Bible classes. I reached down to my black bag resting against the feet of my chair to retrieve my recently bought Bible. As I opened my Bible to begin reading, I could still smell the scents of the large bookstore from which it was bought. I looked at the words on the page and tried to imagine the events that took place in the passage, but I could not focus. The silence of the people in the room gnawed at me like maggots eating away my sanity. The only sounds I heard were the cracking of knuckles, the scrapping of pencils, and the rustling of papers.
At last my mind was able to escape to another world. This world was not beautiful, this world was not serene, but the soft noises within the room grew to a loud symphony of an autumn forest just after a fire.
This dark and desolate forest was filled with an eerie mist that diminished any flames that resided. Trees, burnt as if from the inside out, came crashing to the forest floor below with a large crack, like the sound of thunder above your head. With each step I took I heard the leaves rustle and crunch beneath my feet and felt the presence of death and loneliness fill the air and absorb any spark of hope as the mist absorbed the dying flames from the burnt trees. Yet within this world filled with fear and uncertainty, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by the unique beauty of the scene that unfolded before me.
I continued crunching leaves as I aimlessly walked through the mist and past the death of the plants surrounding me when I noticed there was something sweet and innocent nearby. I couldn’t describe it; I didn’t know which direction it was in. But I knew it was there. Just like a soft harmony hidden behind the loud crescendo of an overpowering melody, it was there. Then I saw it. It was present all along, I just wasn’t looking for it until now.
Further into the heart of the forest was this grand tree that was untouched from the flames that destroyed everything else. It was as if the flames had avoided the tree and its close surroundings for fear of it. Even I could not get closer to it. This fear was not brought on by disgust, but rather by an immense amount of beauty. As soon as my eyesight reached the enchanting tree I stopped walking. I was so full of awe at the scene before me that I became powerless and could no longer move. This was not just some lucky tree that happened to escape a quenching fire. No, this tree was perfectly sculpted and radiated such elegance and ravishing beauty that even fire did not dare try to harm. It gleamed like a dazzling crystal among ashes.
Amidst branches and upon the roots of this tree, four beings dwelt in harmony. The eagle sat upon the flourishing branches of the tree, while the human, lion, and ox occupied the ground below. Just like the tree, each of these beings were shinning torches lighting up the darkness surrounding them. Each being had the power to at least harm another, but tension and fear did not exist between them. In fact, the opposite took place. Sometimes the eagle would swoop down and walk among the other beings as if they were all part of one family. As these beings walked about, they moved with such grace that they appeared to be floating rather than walking. Although there was innocence in their countenance, there was also power. As they moved about there was no sound of crunching leaves beneath their feet, but rather the babbling sounds of many waters nearby, or the sound of an army approaching.
Not one of the beings seemed to turn its head toward me, or perk an ear in my direction, but they knew I was there. It was as if the stars in the sky or the small water droplets in the mist were eyes watching over the entire forest. I didn’t get that creepy feeling of knowing that I was being watched, but rather a soothing feeling like when a king watches over his kingdom.
This glorious tree, along with the four beings, gleamed like a symbol of hope that the fire can be quenched, that the fire is not the most powerful thing in the forest. No, this tree had conquered the fire’s threat of destruction and shone bright with a likeness of a victorious king sitting upon his throne. It glowed so bright that one might fear that the light, in all its purity, would burst from the inside of the tree and beings for it is too powerful to be contained. This tree, was like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day.
As I turned my head to take in the contrast between the burnt trees and this single enchanting tree, my eyes snapped back into focus. The surrounding trees that were once burnt to the core were once again my classmates sitting in the black rows of chairs. The rustling noises of papers being put back into backpacks reminded me once again that I was awaiting the arrival of my professor to begin class. Alas, he did not show up. I was now left with the remaining thirty-five minutes I had just gained from class being cancelled to finish reading and ponder over the abstract vision that Ezekiel had in his first chapter. How I was ever to interpret this chapter was beyond me.
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