Einstein's Compass

There was light. Johann wondered about that. Whatever its origin, a bright vortex of light seemed to be pulling him up. He felt oddly at peace. In fact, he felt terrific. As Johann transcended his body, a veil lifted, and it seemed to him as if he floated in space. He closed his eyes and drifted in his consciousness.

After an indeterminate amount of time, he awoke and found himself laying in a garden. Lush, green lawns with paths of iridescent stone that formed gentle rambling arcs through the greenery surrounded a glistening white building. A river with calm, blue waters flowed past where Johann lay. Sitting up, Johann saw that lush beds of giant purple roses and red-and-white tulips dotted a nearby hillside. On the far side of the building lay a valley where he could see people dressed in white walking. As he stared at the scene, Johann realized their legs were not moving; they were gliding just above the ground toward the building.

Johann’s mind rebelled as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. In confusion, he wondered what had happened and how had he gotten here—and where “here” was. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Receiving no inspiration, he opened his eyes to see a radiant young woman dressed in white approaching him.

The Light Initiate, Kendra, smiled, inwardly hearing Johann’s questions. “You are safe now, Johann,” she said, reassuring him.

Johann shook his head in disbelief. “Safe? I’ve been run over by a train!” To prove it, he looked down, and his eyes grew wide as he saw his body was whole and well. “What...? How...? Who are you?” Johann tried to stand but stumbled.

With a quick step, Kendra caught Johann’s arm and eased him back to the soft ground. “It’s all right. I know you have a million questions.” Placing her hand on her chest, she said, “My name is Kendra, and I am an agent of God sent to help you.” As Johann’s jaw dropped, Kendra squeezed his arm and sat. “Here, let me see if I can explain this to you.” Johann nodded blankly.

With warmth and caring, Kendra asked, “What is the last thing you remember?”

Johann gazed down and blinked several times, trying to capture his last moments. “I... I was on my bicycle, and the streetcar came along... and, I... fell.” As he said that, awareness hit Johann. “Oh my God! Am I, ah, am I... dead?”

With a compassionate smile, Kendra leaned in and took Johann’s hand. “Well, Johann, you are no longer living as you once did. Your body has been damaged beyond repair. It is, indeed, dead.” Johann gulped as Kendra continued. “But you, my dear friend, are far from dead as people on Earth imagine that state.”

Johann pinched himself. It felt like a pinch always had. “Um, I guess I see what you mean.” He looked around. “Yeah, no one with wings and harps that I can see, heh-heh,” he said, reaching for a joke.

Kendra kissed Johann’s hand. “Excellent, Johann. Some people take a lot longer to accept what has happened to them.”

Relaxing in the love that was the essence of this plane of existence, he asked, “But where am I. What am I?”

“Those are exactly the right questions,” Kendra said encouragingly. “You are in God’s Garden of Remembrance. Some call it Summerland and consider it Heaven. You will see people here whom you know, those who have passed on. You are what some people might call an angel—but not what people traditionally think angels are.”

“But what does that mean, Kendra?”

With another bright smile, she said, “It means that soon you will have a new role in which to serve the people on Earth. And some people very specifically,” she said with a wink.

Johann’s mind was reeling; he shook his head in disbelief. “But if I am dead, why do I have a body?”

Kendra laughed, her eyes sparkling with delight. “You have a body here because you are on the astral plane, which makes you appear as if you have a body. Many realms of beingness exist.

People are aware of the physical realm and can identify it. It is evident: You have a physical body, so you exist on that physical realm. The astral body is a replica of the physical body, but subtler. It is a sheath of energy that most people inhabit immediately after death. When we are alive, the astral body remains attached to the physical body via a stream or ribbon of energy. You can leave the physical body during sleep, coma, meditation, or when you’re in a kind of trance. Sometimes people extend out of the body under the influence of drugs, or as you experienced, in an accident.”

Then Kendra furrowed her brow and asked, “Can you recall what you felt when you left the Earth plane?”

Johann sighed and thought about it. “I was falling. Then I felt lifted in bright, white light."

He held his hand to his heart and closed his eyes. “Loving filled and surrounded me. It was so beautiful. I was floating. I think I might have fallen asleep. When I opened my eyes, I was here.”

With a gentle smile still radiating from her eyes, Kendra nodded and reached out toward Johann. “Excellent. Sometimes when people are in an accident or experience a violent death, they don’t recognize what happened and stay tied to their physical body. They wander around on Earth, not knowing they need to move on until someone of an elevated consciousness can guide them to their next level.”

“Really?” Johann asked, fascinated.

Kendra nodded solemnly. “Uh-huh. But you didn’t resist, and allowed yourself to follow the love and the Light here,” she said approvingly. “So, are you ready to discover what is in store for you? There is much for me to show you.”

For some reason, Johann was not feeling scared or sad or worried. In fact, he was amazingly calm and relaxed. This Summerland garden seemed somehow almost familiar, and all Johann really felt was... loved.

He reached out, took Kendra’s hand, and rose to his feet. He sensed the rightness of it all. “I’m ready.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” said a man’s voice from behind them.

As they turned, Kendra broke into a great smile. Two men stood there, both radiating peace. A sense of joy filled Johann as Kendra said, “Johann, I would like you to meet—”

Johann gulped, then tears filled his eyes. He fell to his knees, and the taller of the two men reached down and gently lifted him to his feet. “Now, now, Johann. No need for that.”

Johann wiped his eyes and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, uh...” Johann blinked and shook his head, trying to gather his thoughts. “You’re, um, Jesus, right?”

The man’s smile radiated from his eyes as he nodded and pointed to his companion. “Mm-hmm. And this is my friend, Moses.”

Moses nodded. “We have some special training for you in addition to what Kendra will be teaching you.”

“Training? For me? But why?”

Jesus put his arm around Johann’s shoulder. “Well, it has to do with a friend of yours. A boy named Albert Einstein.”