Thursday, September 1, 2022

Valhalla

Death tried to take me again today.

Saw him coming.

Exhausted, but elated.

Here is a description of the experience, written to a dear friend as soon as possible after the fact.

"I was sitting at the edge of my bed, working on (a present for Barbara),
when I started floating backwards through the bed. I was not a ghost; the furniture became insubstantial as mist.

"I grabbed hold of something, I know not what, and pulled myself back to what I now see as the dream-world of this... I was about to say corporeal place, but it's the other side that's solid.

"Belle helped; I think that dogs perhaps have a paw in each realm.

"I am so very happy to stay."

I would not deign to stop for Death,
and so he stopped for me,
gently taking all my breath,
proclaiming victory,
but his lesson's not been learned,
for he should know me better,
and he perforce was badly burned
as I torched each fetter
with which he tried to bind me to
the carriage at his station,
but he's been vanquished, done and through,
and Valhalla's destination
to which will go this man of strife,
to fight through the Eternal Life.

The Five Minute Friday prompt this week is ROOT. Sounds like what pigs do, but I'll have a lash.

Each day I need to root around
like a hungry pig
eating that which can be found
and getting pretty big.
But it's not food I'm snorting for,
oh, no, oh no, indeedy;
I'm on the hunt for something more,
that for which I'm greedy:
I need a reason to survive
when house of cards doth fall,
a reason just to stay alive,
a cause to give my all
when cancer's fatal hemlock cup
makes me want to just give up.

Three minutes thirty. Snort, snort.

Music from Led Zeppelin, with Immigrant Song from Thor: Ragnarok. Join me, please, in the celebration.

 Sylvia is celebrating with ice cream.



 

31 comments:

  1. I am so glad that you've been given more time! What a blessing you are to this community. Praying for you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lauren, thank you so much. This experience somehow put me on a better and stronger footing, after I had slid into a kind of despair.

      Delete
  2. I'm so glad you carry on and post here as the first one every week...well second after Kate LOL! I pray you continue to live here and in heaven as we all wish to be like you...full of faith and humor!
    Jennifer, FMF #3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jenn, thank you from the bottom of my heart, for this gracious affirmation!

      Delete
  3. Andrew, I am so glad you are still with us! You are such a blessing and encouragement to so many of us. Praying for God to continue to strengthen and keep you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne, thank you! Long as God keeps me going, I'll carry my end of the log.

      Delete
  4. all I can say is Keep rooting! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. You're like a cat. Sus'

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes, as Annette said, "Keep rooting." God has the final say and death has been defeated. So when you leave this earth you will be even more alive, though we will miss you. But you will stay here as long as God wants you here. Amen! Blessings and love to you and Barb and doggies!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gayl, you're so right...one of the signal blessings of cancer is seeing death defeated, seeing the eternal sunrise beyond life's horizon.

      Delete
  7. This is a 'dream world, and the other side is solid' brings perspective to the verse that life is but a breath.

    For several months before my MIL passed away, she would "experience" things. One time, she said that her brother talked with her (he had died 2 years before her) and asked her if she knew she had 4 grandchildren in heaven, and she answered no. (We hadn't told our extended family about the 4 miscarriages we had. But it brought my husband and I a smile when we heard his uncle was in heaven playing with his grandnieces/grandnephews.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisa, wow...thank you SO MUCH for sharing this!

      Delete
  8. What an experience! You cheat death and live to tell about it. Andrew, what a blessing you are to those your life touches, including those you rescue, that come to you, and now cherish you. Sometimes, you help us see more clearly the gift that life is and that is, in itself, a gift of blessing. Carry on. (I'm glad you do.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My dear Norma, I am so honoured by what you have said, and doubly honoured by your deep and consistent friendship.

      I'll keep going to the last bell. And maybe a bit beyond!

      Delete
  9. i hope this weekend will find you rested, hopeful, and at peace, friend ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Linda, my friend, I am indeed at peace, and my hope, rooted in Christ, is evergreen.

      Sounds like a cliche, but it's rock-ribbed truth.

      Delete
  10. Keep rooting and snorting! Your purpose is not finished!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rootin', snortin', and oinkin' up a joyous storm!

      Delete
  11. I'm glad you're still with us, Andrew!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lesley, I'm glad to be here still; not because I fear death, but because I love life.

      Delete
  12. That was quite a link you shared. Was it from a movie? Now I have to Google for more information.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Grams, it's from the third Marvel Studios 'Thor'. Great movie; Barb and I love it!

      Delete
  13. Impressive! 3 and a half minutes! You are awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Praising God for the gift of your life! He has every day numbered, and every moment has a purpose. You still have work to do Andrew, and we all rejoice in God rooting you here for now!

    ReplyDelete
  15. God's grace is so amazing Andrew. He gives us glimpses of heaven everyday.
    And yet some of us have experienced it through death & been sent back to share the Good News as it wasn't our time yet.

    I also think animals have an awareness of the Spiritual realm.

    You may enjoy my experience in heaven;
    https://teawithjennifer.blog/excerpt/
    Blessings, Jennifer

    ReplyDelete
  16. So glad that you are still with us! You are such a blessing and encouragement to this community, and I hope that we are to you as well.

    ReplyDelete
  17. God is not finished with you yet!

    ReplyDelete