2047 AD.  One of the great things about being an immortal is that you didn’t have to go around with a security contingent everywhere you went.  That and the ability to conceal yourself meant you could turn up unannounced, and if you wanted, unnoticed at any venue.

Martin wanted to call up on an old acquaintance who was still mortal.  She had missed out on the chance to be immortal through… well actually Martin wasn’t quite sure why she had missed out.  He knew of other cases of those that seemed as they would have qualified to be transformed but didn’t.  The problem in those cases seemed to be a lack of genuine relationship with Jesus.  He didn’t know why Genevieve hadn’t made it though.  Her relationship seemed genuine and she had blessed him many times during his mortal past.

He stood outside her door and rang the bell.

Genevieve arrived at the door looking rather disheveled.  Martin had toned down his appearance to look as much like his mortal self as possible but she knew what had happened to him  – and hadn’t happened to her.

Genevieve’s husband shouted out from a room somewhere in the back of the house: “Who is it?”

“An old friend”, Genevieve called back.

“Tell him to go away.”  It seems Genevieve’s husband wasn’t the most sociable of people.

“Let’s go.” Genevieve grabbed Martin’s arm and went out to the car.  Martin was thinking that he didn’t need a car to go anywhere but he let it pass.  They got into her old Nissan Leaf (it was 30 years old) and drove to the nearest restaurant.

“What happened, Genevieve?” asked Martin getting straight to the point, “I remember when, even as a mortal, I could see you shining with the Holy Spirit.  You blessed me and everyone around you.”

“I didn’t want to leave him.”

Martin thought about that for a minute.  He could understand how that might be possible but he was surprised anyone could resist the loving tug that he had felt during the time leading up to his transformation.  He could have asked whether she thought it was worth it but her appearance and her husband’s response back at the house seemed to make the question redundant.  Martin decided to ask the question anyway.

“No.” Came the simple reply followed by a sigh.

2037 – 3036 AD

Entering the upwelling was a remarkable experience even by an immortal’s high standard for such things.

The best way to enter was with others and while singing.  Immortals from all ages knew various songs of ascents.  It was curious if you thought about it.  Timothy, who had been mortal during the first century after Christ appeared on earth the first time was able to sing in harmony with Brian who had sung in the 21st.  The styles were different but the combination was wonderful.

Sometimes people held hands, sometimes they just stepped forward together in unison.  The force of the water was such that no mortal could enter, they would have just been swept down the mountain, presuming they could have approached the place at all.

When Florence entered the most amazing thrill filled every atom of her body.  The space between the nucleus and the electron cloud of each atom resonated so that laser lights poured out through her.  Then there was the rush upwards, the deep intake of breath and suddenly out into the brilliant light.

And there she was with the others standing on the sea in the middle of heaven before the throne of God, still singing.

Everything had become heavenly, the music was intricate, multi-placed, harmonious and surprisingly loud.  Near the front were some huge drums (though that name didn’t do them justice) producing crashes of thunder and flashes of lightning.  The classical instruments of an earthly orchestra had their heavenly counterparts: flutes, trumpets, oboes, violins only these seemed to be living somehow.

The immortals standing on the sea were those who had been redeemed from the earth from every tribe, tongue and nation.  During this millennial phase they ruled with Jesus on the earth and were able to enter heaven and leave again through the sea.

Florence wasn’t keen on the leaving part.  She usually found some way of lingering there as long as possible.  The millennium could have come and gone if the Spirit didn’t tell her every so often that she was needed on earth during it.

Then there were the other creatures like the four living creatures beneath the throne.  They seemed to be of a different order altogether.  It was hard to relate to them and some of the other things going on in what seemed like the endless dimensions of heaven.  Florence thought she would have eternity to find out if she wanted to.

Though every time she looked up at Him on the throne she wondered why she would ever want to.